Angryman here with another post about under rated units. This time its the turn of the Ork Gretchin or 'grot' as they are affectionately known.
At a glance the gretchin don't look like a game winner or even a unit that could go toe to toe with anything else in the 40k universe. Their low WS, S, T and I would put most people off choosing them. Grots do have some redeeming qualities. They have a low points cost so you can take lots of them for your waaagh, grots can be taken in mobs of up to 30 which means they can 'tarpit' enemy units and take a lot of punishment. They are a troop choice so can take objectives, being classed as infantry they benefit from the plethora of cover saves now in 40k 5th ed. To cap it all off the models are tiny so will be harder to shoot at.
A Runtherd must be taken for every 10 grots in the unit,
these guys are the ones charged with keeping the grots in line. They are stronger and tougher than there grot brethren. Taking these grants the unit the following special rules
- Furious charge
- Mob rule
- Waaagh!
the addition of these rules can turn the lowly grots into fearless killing mobs. The Runtherd can be upgraded to have a grot-prod, this grants them poisoned attacks also his squiq hound allows a grot mob to re-roll failed morale test
s.
Last but not least grots can be used to clear mines (taking a helluva lot of casualties in return) so the rest of your force can progress un-hindered.
Grots have a lot of draw backs but used correctly they can be a great help to any ork warboss.
Thats it, I hope all you ork generals will think twice before overlooking the lowly grot.
Sorry man, but the Runtherd does NOT give the unit thoose rules.
ReplyDeleteIt specificaly states in the FAQ that the Waaagh! and "Mob rule" rules should be removed, and the Furious Charge rule doesn't carry over to the rest of the unit.
You seem to have forgotten the real use for theese guys though, which quite shocks me.
The true and most effective use of the Gretchin are in units of 19 led by a single Runtherd, forming a piece of moving cover for you Ork Boy mobs. Due to their size, Shoota Boyz behind them will be able to put some fire towars enemies, while they themselves will be given a 4+ save due to having intervening friendly models.
Some of you might say "But a group of foot slogging Orks would without a doubt have a KFF around them to, already giving them a cover save", and this is true. But the unit of Grots will be able to give the Mobs in question a higher cover save for at least a few turns. And once you get closer to the enemy, they give your enemy two choices:
1. Charge the Grots, utterly destroy them and then face the Orks "shoot and assault".
2. Stay back and get stuck in a long protracted fire fight.
3. Get charged by the Gretchin and perhaps tied up for a turn, or at least get their fire-lines blocked.
Also, the Gretchin have quite a nice use in a TGrukk/Battlewagon list to. Parking a unit of them on a objective is not a terrible idea. Seeing as your army is as "in your face" as it is when playing Mech, they might have themselves a nice and quiet time back there.
The final, and perhaps most unconventional use of the Grotz, is a big unit in the Backfield with a Big Mek with SAG in the middle of them. The Grotz will provide him with quite the nice bullet shield, and the unit itself getting hurt by a bad roll, isn't all to bad.
There, I think thoose are the points you missed about the poor little sods :)
As im not an ork player I can only comment on how I've seen others use them and how they could be used but I should have read the FAQ before posting the blog. I'll be sure to check the FAQ's for future posts.
ReplyDeleteOk ^^
ReplyDeleteI was only trying to help :)
I wasnt being arsey dude, what you said makes very good sense and you pointed out something I forgot all about, the FAQ's
ReplyDelete