Introduction
You were probably expecting my Gimmick article. But seeing as it is Christmas time (well, it's gone, just, but never mind that minor detail...), I thought I'd start uploading some of the tacticas and articles I've written during my forum years. This one may be a treat for some of you, as I haven't put it onto the main forum I frequent yet. This month and next will have a distinctly grotty feel, as I've just remembered a promise to an old forum acquaintance I made a while ago that I haven't got around to finishing yet. But hell, it'll be free promotion, so why not.
Okay, so, this is a tactica born mostly from my last 6 or so years playing a Grot Horde in Warhammer 40k. I've experimented with Grots in almost every combination over the years, especially as I've spent the last 6 needing them to do a pretty good job. I warn you, it is very long, but hopefully it will be informative. A friend is going to help me post a shorter/better version on forums soon, but I will be keeping the original here, for those who crave far too much information.
Well, so long as you haven't spent the last 5 or so years dead, or hiding from 40k players, you'll have noticed that the Orks have been back, for quite a while, and stomping heads in. One of their more perplexing units is Gretchin (or Grots for short); both Ork and other 40k players have a tendency to pour an awful amount of disdain and ridicule in their direction. Muttering about them being "too weedy" to be of any use. There are of course a lot of shrewd Ork players out there who actually know how to use them, and it has an awful lot to do with embracing their weediness...
The True Value of Weediness
So Grots are rubbish are they? A lot of people think so, and I don’t correct them. Being underestimated gives Grots a tactical edge, but also explains why Grots are a very love/hate unit. Ask most Ork Players what they think of Grots and you’ll get a mixture of responses. Mostly though it is likely that they will be dismissed as little more than cheap cannon fodder, cheap tactical maguffins and/or not as good as shootas.
There is a fair amount of merit to this. Grots are clearly no replacement for shootas, and they certainly die very easy and are rather cheap. Of course, it remains that many 40k players heftily underestimate the importance of cheap tactical maguffins, and are just as likely to look a gift horse in the mouth as far as anything that costs points, whether it’s a huge bargain or not.
A lot of people really don't seem to 'get' what Gretchin are about. There were a lot of 'Grots Suck' threads thrown around during 4th Ed after the Codex had just come out, despite that in my estimations they were better than before or since, even without the Grot Screen/unit cover rules. People do tend to place a lot of individual pressure on units as if they all have to perform to 'effective and optimal standards' and need to be made 'viable' to use. People should really start looking at their armies collectively, rather than just unit by unit, because if a force can't support itself well, having the odd unit being 'viable' doesn't count for all that much.
Believe it or not, but Gretchin are one of our most flexible units. Whilst it’s clear that there's one thing they can never deal with (vehicles), Grot mobs of all shapes and sizes have many uses in pretty much any Ork army. Before we get around to discussing how to use Grots in more detail, first lets explore The Weedy Side of Gretchin usage.
The Power of The Dork Side
The important thing to remember about Grots is to never fight fair with them. Grots in the fluff don’t fight fair, and neither should you. Grots are best used in underhanded ways, manipulating the course of the game or affecting it (or your opponent) in subtlety. Grots do not win fair fights, but if the odds are slightly stacked in their favour, they can perform much better than you’d anticipate. Expecting Grots to be a directly useful unit and successful in combat unaided is to misunderstand what Grots are about.
As a generally underestimated unit, they can have a massive impact on the outcome of games whilst still being a relative unknown to your opponent. The one thing that people do know is that the Grot statline is rubbish. They may be right, but they don’t know anything else. If you exploit this, your Grots will be a lot more effective.
Also remember that it is perfectly fine to dismiss your grots and treat them with utter disdain; casually letting them wander to their deaths. Regardless of the kind of Ork (or Grot) army you have, Gretchin mobs will not be the elite of your troops. They are there to fight a bitter battle, and unless survival is very important (kill point games for instance), one should not be squeamish with using them. Although their subliminal uses are far more useful, when these are done, Grots should be utilised viciously.
Grots have a number of subliminal uses that I will discuss in this section. Unfortunately some of them are increasingly more common knowledge than they once were, and are certainly the least sneaky things you can do with Grots, but are the most effective and commonly used ones:
Nabbing Objectives
As a cheap troop choice, Grots are ideal for ‘Objective Sitting’. If you have an objective (such as a bunker) in your own deployment zone, Grots are a very good choice for babysitting it. Even if you are using a Speed Freaks force, you should consider taking some Grots to ‘leave behind’. Whether it is about holding table quarters, bunkers or other objectives, Grots are cheap enough to throw at them, ‘weedy enough’ to forget about and generally out of range enough of enemies to spend most of the game going to ground.
Opponents really hate ‘wasting shots’ on Grots, so it really isn’t a problem for you to send them after valuable objectives. A cunning Ork Player will be giving their opponent far more dangerous things to worry about than a small group of runts! Don’t expect Grots to hold an objective from an awful lot that moves in to contest, but regardless they are still one of our best units for taking objectives.
I will discuss techniques for taking forward objectives in a short while.
Providing Cover
The ‘Runt Save’ as I like to call it, Grots have always been popular for their ability to screen the much more expensive and valuable units behind them. In the last codex, it was an inherent rule, and now it is incorporated in the 5th Edition ruleset. Runt Saving is so popular with Ork Players because it easily allows for Grots to revert to tarpitting when the ground is closed and with Grots moving directly ahead, they are also in a good position for grabbing enemy objectives.
Runt Save units can provide the odd unit (say, that your KFF cannot cover) with a very effective cover save and your opponent is unlikely to 'waste shots' on the Grots themselves. When they close ground they can help in assault, revert to tarpitting, send them after objectives and/or use blasta shots to annoy your opponent and score cheap kills.
The smaller the Grot unit, the more annoying they can be. They are easy to kill though, in combat and shooting, so they are not invulnerable. However a unit starting with 10-20 Grots can cover a large amount of Orks and make a difficult tarpit obstacle for the opponent. It can often be worth covering the Grots with a KFF. This may seem counter-intuitive, but this ensures grot survival and the save for the unit they are personally covering is already better anyway, just now, you might keep it a bit longer.
Obviously the main issue is running. If either the covering unit or the unit behind fall short, issues start to arise. I’ve found that the easiest way to avoid this if both units are running is to line the covering grots on the deployment edge in as few tight rows as possible, and give between 1 and 3 inches between them and the units they cover behind them. This will reduce the potential of the Orks sitting around with movement they can’t use.
The other main issue is that Grots being in the front almost definitely slows down the potential progress of the unit/s it covers. Usually, this is worth it, even with Shoota units who in most cases have the Grots providing the enemy with cover as well. Be aware of what your opponent is. Against Beakies, that cover is generally worthless, and if they go to ground, that is an advantage to you anyway.
In the poorly drawn diagram above, you’ll see a rough example of the kind of things you can do with Grot cover. Here, a Gretchin Mob of 20 is providing cover to a 30-strong Boyz Mob. Obviously a Grot unit could cover more, or less, but the principle I see is that, unless you are desperate, Grots should provide a long row that is at least 2 grots deep. 1-deep cover can be whittled away very easily, but covers more, so it is ultimately up to you.
You may be wondering why the Runtherds are on the ends. It is purely aesthetic on my part, really. I suggest experimenting with where you put your runtherds. I sometimes align them like that, and I definitely avoid placing them in the front line where possible. You want to try and maximise the location of those grabba Stikks/grot prods, so think about where you need them at the time. Remember that the Grots are probably an inch or so ahead, so better run rolls can be spent reforming whilst running. Also, sticking two on the end (whether they’re grots or runtherds) extends your LOS coverage slightly.
The distance between the two units isn’t always important. If you are using Shoota Boyz, you don’t need to be so far behind the Grots, as you’ll be shooting most of the game (and running for one turn might not account for the distance). Grots should run every turn, and even if you don’t want to move too far forward from the unit/s you are covering, you can use the run moves to form your Grots up into a useful tactical shape. There are many, but I’m going to talk you through two.
We will discuss tarpitting in a short while, but you can prepare for it whilst advancing. The formation picture above shows how I have moved the runtherds into the centre, deepened the flank sides, moved the Orks in and curved the front row slightly. The reason for all of this is control. When you choose to tarpit, you need only move your Grots the full distance, unload a volley of shots from the blastas and brace for the charge, taking any position you like (remember that this picture is showing a formation preparing for a tarpit, not the actual tarpit itself!).
The flanks of the Grot unit are deeper to allow optimum cover whilst making sure you won’t run into coherency issues (which is why the Runtherds are in the middle, as no matter what happens you’ll not remove the runtherds if you have the choice, and you still have coherency if they are sniped). The Runtherds are also in the middle so that they can be easily moved to get into b-t-b with any charge. You can have them on the front row, but that depends on what you are facing. Sometimes it is better to choose positions that allow you a better choice of placing for the first round of combat.
Always think about where your runtherds should be placed. Although no longer easy to remove in combat, these are your main combat elements and you do need to exploit your runtherds’ location if you want to reduce the combat impact. Your Runtherds with grabba Stikks in particular need to be deployed effectively, so always be wary of where you place them.
An alternative formation that I favour is a flanking formation. You use this if you intend to move the Grots and Orks in different directions, such as flanking an enemy unit. The main advantage of this manoeuvre is that it still provides cover but allows both Ork and Grot units roughly the same movement potential, but on the downside reduces the amount of Grots that could potentially provide cover, as well as being fairly predictable as to what your units are going to do. It is generally a good idea to face the Grots’ flank towards the largest mass of enemy firepower if possible. I will cover flanking shortly, but first let’s discuss tarpitting.
Tarpitting and Charge Blocking
Two terms you may or may not be familiar with, but mean essentially the same thing. The idea is to place a blocking unit that prevents the enemy from assaulting more valuable enemy units behind them. The enemy can ignore the Grots, but if they remain intact, the Grots will still be able to move freely, and either way, the enemy still cannot touch the unit behind in combat. More to the point, regardless of the result, the enemy will not be able to reach the protected unit/s behind and are now at the mercy of those units in the following turn.
The important thing to remember about tarpitting is positioning and bait. You want to make sure that the Grots are positioned in such a way that the enemy cannot easily move around them, and that your valuable units are a sufficient number of inches away that they are protected but able to counter charge in the following turn. Obviously, if your enemy units have larger charge ranges or fleet, you will need to take the extra movement into account (an easy way to do this is to widen your Grots and move your Orks back). Here is another bad picture to show a general tarpit setup:
As you can see, the Grots are set up to accept the charge from one opponent. The basic idea is to fully block the unit and a good rule of thumb is to prevent an enemy model from drawing any straight lines to the unit/s you are covering without passing through the Grots. Runtherds sit in the front (with grabba Stikks, accepting a charge is an easy way to reduce attacks no matter what the position, so positioning is only important if you want to neuter a specific character) and try to keep your grot rank deep if possible.
On occasion, you may need your Grots to protect valuable units from a number of enemy units. In these cases, the process is still the same. Spread your Grots wide enough to cover the unit/s the Grots protect in such a way that you cannot draw a straight line from the enemy units to any of them, and keep the rows of grots at least 2 deep where possible (this will mean that it is easier to maintain the protective barrier of grots if you have to remove shooting casualties).
Once positioning is sorted, baiting is usually the easy bit, and is also when you find out if your tarpit is successful, or if your Grots are lucky enough to be out of charge range (ignoring stuff that can fleet, anyway). To bait an enemy into accepting the tarpit, all you need to do is unleash a Grot Blasta volley. Some shooting at BS3 should be enough to suggest to your opponent that leaving the Grots alone is a reasonably bad idea. Plus, killing enemies increases the chance of the Grots surviving to at least attack back, so either way shooting them is good.
As Sweeping Advances are gone, fighting Grots is pretty much a death sentence if the enemy will promptly stare down an Ork unit that is within 12". A situation of tarpit trapping is the one main time you should consider not re-rolling with the Squig hound in combat. Although consolidation becomes an issue (for getting out of range of the Ork unit/s behind the tarpit), keeping Grots around for a second combat means even with fresh attackers on your side, without wiping the enemy out you will probably lose the combat if there are more Grots than attackers.
Because consolidation cannot lead to assault, there is not much stopping you from keeping your Orks a lot closer, and this is most recommended when trying to tarpit jump troops, as you’ll need to make sure they can’t get past the grots, and the best way to do that is have the other side of the grots being 1-2” away from Orks (which would be an illegal move for jump troops). Generally though against really fast things, the tarpit can fall down if you aren’t careful, so always remember to exploit positioning, distance and terrain if you can.
The main downside of tarpitting is that it can, on occasion, block your own units from getting into combat themselves. This is fairly rare though, as Grots are very easy to kill and the opponent is not really rewarded in success anyway. It is however, almost guaranteed to result in either a destroyed or fleeing Grot unit; an almost certain kill point for the enemy, especially in units of 20 or less (inflicting 11 or more casualties to a Grot unit in a single turn can be very easy).
Remember that often (especially with multiple units) it is easier for the foe to just shoot your grots dead. The speedbump/tarpit effect is the same, as they can only shoot you after moving, and it is unlikely that they’d be within 6” after shooting if you’ve placed them correctly. It is best to always be cautious about losing your grots to shooting, especially when nearby units can fleet. People can get around speed bumps, so always think twice when trying to deploy one.
Unit Flanking
Depending on the situation, tarpitting can sometimes be a waste. If you have the advantage of distance and your opponent’s unit/s lies within 6-12”, there is seldom much point in letting your Grots stand around doing nothing! A tactic I tend to favour is Unit Flanking.
This is essentially the final development of the flanking formation I showed you earlier (it may help to go back to familiarise yourself if necessary). The theory behind it is that the Orks have continued to gain cover from the Grots, but are merely less than 2” behind the front of the uppermost Grot rank. This means that the two units can split apart, and with the right amount of cunning, can do a number of clever things, and the distance travelled between them is very similar.
The flanking formation mostly protects a single unit geared for assault (but provides an impressive screen to other units behind as well!), but otherwise allows that little extra movement to deploy quickly and effectively into combat. If timed well with the rest of the army, this is a wonderful time to consider calling your waaagh and getting as many of your Orks into combat as possible. You should also bear in mind that Grots cannot ‘Waaagh!’ (and thus cannot fleet), so they may not have as much potential to move ahead as the Orks potentially have.
The main tactical advantage of the flanking manoeuvre is being able to surround an opposing unit from two sides; either to throw both units into combat, or to move off the Gretchin for a few volleys of shooting without interfering with charging potential.
Although this manoeuvre mentions a ‘double assault’ it is not necessary. The important thing to take note is that the Orks have a greater potential to surround the enemy if you are able to fleet that turn. If you have no need of running the Grots, even if you do not charge in, a volley of Grot Blasta fire (plus whatever the Ork unit has if they don’t fleet) is worth unleashing. This could potentially lead to the unit fleeing, but it all depends on what you want to achieve. If you are hesitant to consider any concept of charging Grots in to assist another unit, I will cover this later on when I discuss using Grots in Combat.
Alternatively, you may want to use this tactic to tarpit an enemy unit close enough to support the unit your Ork unit will be charging. In this instance you may need to utilise a run move to pull it off effectively (although avoid this if possible to get a volley of blasta fire off). Alternatively you could use this manoeuvre in order to make a sprint for an objective, leaving ‘da boyz ta get on wif watz proppa’. If they win the assault, consolidation is best spent making sure the tarpit works, otherwise ideally the enemy unit (if it survives) should provide an obstacle to aid the tarpit. Be clever if you can about where you place your charging Orks, and from where you remove casualties.
Flanking is very simple to do, although can be a little time consuming. It is however very effective for exploiting movement, if a little more predictable and easy to spot for the opponent. A clever opponent will tend to ignore the gretchin half (although depending on how well you did the formation it is possible to switch around in a turn if you have time. However the best way to get away with this is to make your opponent notice other rather dangerous Ork units and otherwise distract from the weedy nature of the grots (although they could be screening 30 boyz, which would scare anyone…) with more vital concerns. However if you want to deploy two units quickly in separate ways, it is a very useful tactic.
The Price of Weediness
The Price of Weediness is something worth paying, and (more to the point) not as expensive as you might think! I’m prepared to assume that a lot of “Mathshammer” will be thrown around to show that statistically, at least, Weediness isn’t much to be sniffed at. I am hoping the content in this tactica has at least got you to consider rethinking your position on Grots.
Obviously, the main failing of Grot units is the Gretchin statline. The 2s in particular are considered with a great deal of dismissal. For the most part it does mean that you at least know why Grots are so cheap. But Grots do at least have the saving grace of BS3. This is particularly attractive in other Gretchin units (Big Gunz, Grot Tanks and Kanz), and in a regular Grot unit this does mean that blasta fire can be reasonably destructive up close.
The main thing people tend to complain about with Grots is their apparently poor leadership. So I had a quick look through the codex. With Runtherds, a Gretchin unit has between 1 and 3 models that grant leadership 7 to the unit. More than half of the units in the Ork Codex with an Ld stat (some 11 units) have a maximum base of Ld 7 (outside of the Mob Rule and IC joining), and only two of these can greatly exceed a unit size of 8 without a significant cost. These two units are Grots and Boyz (the unit Grots usually screen). Weirdboyz, Nobz, Meganobz, Burna Boyz, Tankbustas, Lootas, Warbikers, Deffkoptas (who cannot exceed 5 models), and Big Gunz (who are in the same boat as Grots) are the others, and only really the Weirdboy can avoid leadership issues by joining Boyz units.
There are 9 units in the Ork Codex who have access to leadership 8 or greater, and of those about 80% of them are special characters or a unit that gains a higher leadership by having a special character upgrade: Ghazkhull, Mad Dok Grotsnik, Wazdakka Gutzmek, Old Zogwort, Warboss, Big Mek, Kommandos (Snikrot only), Stormboyz (Zagstruk only) and Flash Gitz (Badrukk only).
There are 4 Independent Characters with access to Bosspoles (2 of which are Special Characters), 7 units with access to bosspoles, and of those, only one Flash Git unit may have one (through Badrukk), and Storm Boyz (with Zagstruk) and Kommandos (with Snikrot) must do without a bosspole if they take their special character upgrade.
So on that note, Grots are very cheap, and runtherds provide the average Ork leadership as well as a leadership re-roll for the cost of a nob, whereas other units need an IC or pay an additional 5pts for the privilege. Oh and you can have up to three of these in a unit and are a lot harder to take out even with marksmen on the board. So what was that some people were saying about Grot leadership being rubbish? By the looks of it, they’re bordering on above average for Orks.
The major threat to Gretchin is just about anything that isn’t them, really. Specifically though, Grots really don’t like dedicated combat units (especially ones with a high initiative and armour save) and units with a high toughness value. In shooting, Grots can handle stuff a bit better, but with strength 2 attacks in combat, only your Runtherds have any hope of hurting monstrous creatures. As monstrous creatures tend to be common tarpit targets, this almost guarantees the slaughter of your grot unit.
Grots that aren’t protected by their own cover can be quickly whittled down by enemy shooting. Strangely gaming savvy opponents will determinedly deal with them, especially if you use a lot of tarpitting against them. Grots killed though are cheap casualties. This is one of their main advantages, but coupled with this, they do take a valuable troop slot.
Grots have some specific banes of course, which may appear to be an unreasonably short list. The truth is that most units can kill Grots. There are a few that are utterly perilous to come up against. Grots can always stand a chance of doing some damage to even the most dangerous of foes. I’ve beaten Khorne Berzerkers in combat with a Grot unit before. But here are a few things to watch out for:
Vehicles/Walkers: The obvious is unerringly true. Grots can never harm vehicles. Nope, your Runtherds can’t use furious charge, so you can’t even dent AV10. Grots make excellent tarpits against walkers (especially dreadnaughts), but they can only hold it up, and can never harm it. Dreads in particular will make you regret the day you dropped your grabba stikks for grot prods.
Pie Plates and Template Weapons: Like most Ork units, Grots don’t fare well against template weapons. By far, flamer weapons are actually worse, because even if you’re cunning enough to protect your Grots with a KFF, flamers will ignore any cover save your Grots have and still wound on twos. Templates are always an easy way to remove Grots. Your only solace really is that at least it isn’t your Orks this time (watch these though when covering, especially against hellhounds!).
Now is a good time to mention this. Watch out for pinning. It is a serious problem for Grot units that you have on the move.
Scout Sergeant Telion: Of the space marine characters, Telion is by far the worst for Grots, as he can easily take out your Runtherds, and has two shots within a very decent range. Scout squads are a bit nasty for Grots anyway (especially with snipers), but with Telion they are a very serious threat. Other space marine characters to watch for are Pedro Cantor (mostly as he’s so sodding popular) and Shrike (who is unlikely to be waisted on your grots, but stranger things have happened…). Space Marines are particularly tough opponents for grots, but they are not numerous, and they are very expensive in points. Every marine lost (especially terminators) to gretchin will be a major blow to your opponent, and a good way to pay for a Grot unit’s points.
Death Company/Sanguinary High Priests: I hate Blood Angels. They’re fast, as hard as any space marine, and now annoyingly able to hand out Feel No Pain to tonnes of units. Feel No Pain is one of the Grot unit’s biggest weaknesses. Grots struggle to make dents as it is, and FNP greatly reduces this even further. Count in power armour and it starts getting really annoying. Oh, you want to know about Death Company? Nobody likes Death Company.
Plague Marines and Berserkers: Chaos are quite nasty to Grots, but those two are my least favourites. Although you’d think I like Zerkers less, it’s actually Plague Marines. The FNP and high toughness are a horrible combination. The only time my Grot horde has ever been tabled and massacred recently was down to a Plague Marine army. Zerkers, have extra dice in combat. I have beaten them before, though, and the best thing about Zerkers is, you can always shoot them first.
Dire Avengers: If your panzee playing opponent is willing to waste a turn’s shooting on your grots with his avengers, in all likelihood, they will not be there afterwards. Avoid, where possible.
Before I move on, I’d like to say this isn’t an exhaustive list, and I invite people to suggest other examples that I can add. This is merely based on my experience of opponents. I’m yet to face the new Space Wolves for instance.
Constructing Gretchin Units
Okay, now I’ll give some advice on how to build up your grot units. It seems pretty simple, but it ultimately depends on what you want them to do. Grots are incredibly flexible, but how you build a Grot unit will have a massive impact on how it works in game.
Unit Size
How large to make your Grot units is probably the biggest issue you will face. Regardless of how you go about it, there are two things to remember: firstly, Grots take up a troop slot, and secondly, that Grot unit will be hugely cheap for what you’re getting.
A big deal in the Ork 40k community is the amount of Runtherds. A lot of people like to take up to one less grot than required to buy the next one. Previously, I used to oppose this as against the rules, but I don’t bother now. It can add army list flexibility and save points, but it is often not as practical as people make out.
You can indeed buy a fair bit with 13 points (two more Orks etc), but it is worth considering paying that little bit extra, for what you get out of it. For a start, there’s strength in numbers. It isn’t always important to just have lots of Grots. Runtherds are hard to get rid of without Marksmen, but it is still possible. Also, an extra runtherd adds a massive (for Grots) amount of extra combat clout to the unit.
I’d say the cons of not taking the extra runtherd usually outweigh the pros of leaving him out. Ultimately, it depends on the rest of your list. Grots need to work well, but the same is true for the rest of your army, so it is up to you.
Sizes vary, depending on what you want to do.
If you only have a few points to spare, a unit of 10-18 Grots can be a useful harassment and/or objective sitting unit. You can even use them to cover and tarpit, although I wouldn’t expect them to last very long.
In my view, Grots start getting good from 19 onwards. A unit of 20 preferably (or if you need to save points, 19 and a runtherd) will do what you want and survive quite well. The extra investment beyond this depends on the army, but you can do all of what I have mentioned previously pretty reliably.
The larger units can be quite unwieldy, but they also take a bit of shifting. Units close to the 30-mark pretty much need KFF protection. Otherwise the chance of them pegging it and you not getting the use of them becomes too irritating to budget for. Grot units of this size will attract firepower. This can be beneficial for you, but if you want them ignored, I’d stick closer to the 20 mark and no higher.
A lot of people advocate 29 grots and 2 runtherds. Seriously, don’t bloody bother. Go up to the bell, and ring it, or don’t go up to the bell. A unit of that size needs all the help it can get to be useful more than it does to save points. 120 points is not a lot for what they do. I fit 3 maxed out units in 1000pts and more than that I have 4. I know how those units work, and I find the lack of runtherd seriously detrimental.
A unit of 30 Grots is to be used as a combat unit. Seriously, if you’ve got that many, you want them in the thick of it. At that point, the extra runtherd makes a massive difference. If you keep them out of combat (which is difficult) then Grots are what you need for shooting. In combat however, it is all about the runtherds.
Runtherds
Always remember that Runtherds are dependant on the amount of grots you take. Those people who tell you that you can take 3 and only 10 grots are talking rubbish. Runtherds can only be bought per 10 grots. People exploit this by taking grots under 10 (i.e. 12, 19 or 29), but it doesn’t work both ways. You don’t get to choose when you buy runtherds. You take them when you need them and only when you need them.
When choosing how to equip your Runtherds, I suggest, that unless you have a specific reason not to, you take Grabba Stikks. You can take on some pretty nasty charges and claw enough back to potentially survive combat resolution. When charging they give an extra edge, but runtherd positioning becomes vitally crucial.
I heavily discourage Grot Prods. Unless you're facing a force that is likely to have some kind of monstrous creature, they're hardly worth it, and the Grabba Stikks are more useful anyway for reducing attacks. The Grabba Stikks have saved me from far worse Combat Leadership rolls countless times, and the Grot Prods are expensive for what they do.
You could always mix it up and take a bit of both, but I generally advocate that you stick to one type. If you’re going all out to wound, take Prods. If you’re going for damage limitation, take grabbas. Grabbas are much cheaper, and in my view, work best with Grots.
Grots On The Battlefield
Now finally, I’m going to mention a few basic pointers for using them in a game. I may have mentioned a few things previously, but these are just general thoughts I have put together for your delectation.
Deploying/Moving Grots
This will be the most important part of the game for your grots. Obviously the scenario/mission objectives will greatly determine where you place your gretchin. Ultimately though, it comes down to what role you want them to play in the battle. If you want them to lurk or sit on an objective, then finding cover is the best bet. Grots without cover are in serious trouble.
Usually, I advocate not deploying with the preparation procedures I mentioned above. It is best to move into them later, as the less time you give your opponent to think about them, the better. Most people undervalue Grots so greatly, that they doubt in the ability for Grots to do one purpose well, let alone multiple ones. However, this is no reason to give them the chance to consider it.
Unless you are playing a Grot Horde, always run with your Grots if you are covering something (even if you just use the run inches to reform them). In my experience, a Grot Horde should be moved with careful consideration, because once the enemy closes ground, you run out of chances to dictate when your Grots charge or are charged if you also close ground. If you can, draw your opponent in, then you can maximise firepower and combat clout.
Move your grots according to your expectations, and be wary of potential charges. Only take the charges you want them to. Remember what I said at the start; never play fair with Grots.
Grots In Combat
I was going to discuss Grots in the shooting and close combat phases separately, but seeing as Gretchin shooting range is so low it is almost inevitable that combat is going to shortly follow suite (either in your turn or your opponent’s).
In Combat, the true secret of Grots are 3 things: Runtherds, Squighounds and Grot Blastas.
As we’ve discussed Runtherds in some detail, let’s move on specifically to Squighounds.
Squighounds
They are part of a Runtherd's wargear, but they are so awesome I’ve decided to mention them separately. The Squighound re-roll is an outright godsend, but there are a few important things to know. The squighound re-roll costs Grots. The bigger your unit is, the better (in particular to keep above 50% unit size) because your Grots will fail A LOT of leadership tests, especially in combat. In almost every situation, if you fail you really have to re-roll. Losing more Grots isn’t always good, but making sure your Grots stay put is usually a better bet.
Important Note: Always remember that if you cannot sacrifice the amount of Grots needed for the re-roll, the re-roll does not happen. Squighounds will never eat Runtherds to make a re-roll, so you need the Grots. Bear this in mind.
As far as the Re-roll goes, it is amazing. People forget that a Grot runtherd provides the same leadership as most other Ork units and this unit has a built in re-roll. This makes them one of the best objective-sitting units in the Ork Codex!
The only disadvantage is the lack of Mob Rule, but if you expect your grots to be brave, you're in for a shock, but not as much as you'd imagine. On a good day, my Grots don't run. Ever. On a bad day, they do anyway, but it’s always funny.
One final piece of advice. If you may fail a leadership test and you have exactly half the size of the unit, it is worth considering (particularly if this is during your enemy’s turn) not forcing the re-roll and waiting. The logic is that if you force the re-roll and fail, you lose the Grots (because the casualties from the squighound will take you below 50%), however if you wait until the following turn, you will get two chances to pass it. It will limit what you can do with your Grots, but worth considering for a scenario involving kill points.
Grot Blastas
Grot Blastas are one of the most underrated weapons in the game. They're probably the most rubbish guns in 40k, but if you have enough of them together, they can be extremely nasty. Given the choice, yes, I'd plump for shoota shots any day, but Blastas are horrendously evil simply by nature of Grot BS. I've already gone over it earlier, so I just thought I'd add that Grot shooting is a seldom known effect. So many people (Ork Players included) have no idea how nasty Grots can be in shooting. People rule out Grots as a threat, but when they close distance, a turn's shooting will make most players re-evaluate their attitude towards them, whether you follow it up with a charge or not.
A turn's blasta fire is ultimate Tarpit bait. No opponent will leave those guys around to fire again. Also, never forget that Runtherds have sluggas. BS2, but sluggas. Don’t forget to fire them, it all adds up.
Grots can and often will do themselves proud, but it is almost always down to luck: good to wound rolls and opposing failed armour saves in particular. If you help Gretchin to soften up a unit with even a slight amount of fire support, Grots can take units down.
Expecting Grots to win assaults is extremely wishful thinking. Nine times out of ten Grots win assaults only by wiping out what they are attacking. Grot casualties are always going to be high, so usually you are relying on failed armour saves or an already weakened foe. Their numbers can be favourable and the Runtherds add a bit of combat bite to them, but expecting them to charge in and succeed can never be taken for granted, even against a weakened foe.
Grots are still very flexible, but they need support. Grot units work extremely well together. Putting them both into a combat is still a fairly large gamble, but a lot less painful than adding an Ork unit that will tend to be stuck with a lost combat regardless of how well they did.
Of Ork units to support in combat with Grots, generally it is better to keep them out of it unless you think the Orks could use help inflicting wounds. Grots however support Meganobz extremely well on occasion, because MANz generally have enough killy ability to destroy units, but the Grots give the enemy something else to attack (reducing potential dead MANz before they strike) and if the Grots are entering in the combat after an initial round, those extra attacks really add up. Plus you can surround any character with 3 grabba Stikks if you're smart enough. Only Khorne Lords tend to cope with that kind of restriction.
It is also worth noting that boyz units tend to lose anyway, so what exactly is stopping you from putting the Grots in? If the boyz are likely to remain fearless (even more so if Grots are dividing the enemy attacks) chuck the little sods in. If the Grots run, who cares? They did their job.
Grots As Retinues For ICs
Grots make good retinues on occasion, but here are a few things to consider.
There is much talk often on the Internet of using Mad Dok Grotsnik to make super grots with cybork bodies and popping him into the unit to grant feel no pain. This is almost always an utterly bad idea (and thankfully often discredited). Maybe in Apocalypse it'll be fun, but actually getting something out of FNP would be (other than against the likes of an Imp Guard horde) a rarity, and a 5+ invulnerable that although is VERY useful for Grots in assault, is a very expensive upgrade better spent on units that can do better in combat anyway, such as Meganobz.
Grots are never a good idea for Warbosses. Seriously, put them somewhere useful! There may be a debatable use of sticking a Bikerboss in a grot unit in case of first turn shooting, but as Warbosses are combat beasts, Grots are not the ideal candidate for retinue duty.
They might work for Weirdboyz (but shootas or Flash Gits are better imo) but the only real useful retinue job is Big Meks, and in most cases this is limited to SAG meks. As the SAG is a potentially disastrous weapon, Grots are a cheap babysitting unit that takes hits instead of the mek and doesn't hurt as much when he explodes. Generally though Lootas or Big Gunz teams are the best babysitters because of the dakka they chuck out as well (Big Gunz also don’t always restrict targeting the same thing). Grots, however, are a decent, and cheap alternative!
Most games I play at the moment are around the 1000 pt mark, and I tend to run 3 units of maxed out grots, covered by a KFF. There are so many Grots that players concentrate most of their firepower on them, rather than the much smaller but equally squishy unit of MANz and Warboss. The Grots at that size are unwieldy and tough to move, and seem to be useless, but 90 Grots makes up less than half of the army cost. Plus, when they close range, that grot BS starts to work wonders. I've dropped Avatars and many other 40k badasses with Gretchin fire.
Conclusion
…
**Sounds of evil cackling**
Welcome, my young apprentice, to the Dork Side!!!
MUWAHAHAHAHAHHAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
**Walks away muttering “I don’t think this whole ‘Dork’ Side thing is going to catch on…”**
TWC
