Xan's Gruntz Army Blog (With Pics!)

[Xantige]

Hullo fellow Grunterz, Grunteez and Gruntz . I've been working on and off on this Gruntz army of mine, and I find myself always struggling with the stats. As an organic army, it's kind of hard to stat things out as vehicles and such. Also, I only play against one person, which makes me wonder if my stats are maybe too high or low. So I thought I'd get some help on all fronts.

I'm aiming to make an extremely fast, glass hammer/glass cannon army, if that's at all possible. I imagine most of the units in the army being deadly in close combat, but certain models might be better at shooting, and be either too slow or weak to launch a proper assault. I can see the focus being on speed over armor, but I'm open to what you guys think.

Anyways, without further, delay, lets jump into the pictures! First, here's the types of models I have at my disposal:



Next, here are all the Gruntz models I have that I can use:

From Left to Right:
- 7 Hammerheads
- 16 Assaulters
- 8 Infiltrators
- 8 Parasachnids
All by Khurasan of course, with the first 3 listed being from the Space Demon line. My opponent also suggested on making the Para's Specialists because of their bases, but I may have more than I need when it comes to specialists.

Here's the basic statline for the Assault Strand Space Demons:
Shoot: 3
Assault: 5
Guard: 13
Soak: 10
Mental: 9
Skill: 2

Weapons:
Basic CC Weapon (Claws, Teeth, Tail): Damage: 6
Plasma Pistol (Acid Spit): Range: 6", Damage: 7

Perkz: Ultimate Agility

TOTAL: 12

The only difference the Infiltrators have, is that they have Infiltration instead of UA, and the Hammerheads have an extra point in shooting (for having big eyes). The reason I went with UA over Swarm, is because I just don't have enough models to run 10 man squads right now. Also, the total cost DOESN'T take into consideration squad attachments that could bring the squad numbers up to 8.

The reason for the high mental is to try and simulate the fearlessness of Aliens in the Alien movies, and how Tyranids tend to play on the board. I face off against an elite, shooting army, so my army tends to get shot to ribbons, having a high mental at LEAST allows it to advance to about half way up the board before all of them are dead.

Next are the 25mm based models:



I'm not really sure what to do with the Para's, but I imagine the Hormagaunt (to the right of the Para) would be a fast, cheap mech or specialist, designed to force the enemy to fire on it, or face death. The Genestealer, on the other hand (black model on the end) would be an infiltrator, with a stronger attack than the Hormagaunt. The two types of Termagant (models with guns), I'm not sure what I want them to do. I imagine the one with the cone shaped gun having some sort of AoE or Template, with the other hitting once, but packing more of a punch. Basically, one would be anti-infantry, and the other would be anti-light vehicle or mech.

Next are the Ripper Swarms:



I'm not sure what to make these. Specialists? Gruntz? I have 10 bases with 3 models on each. My opponent and I have toyed with the idea of making them medics or mechanics, but neither seems to make fluff-sense to me.

Next, the 40mm based stuff:



On the left is my "Prime", which is my HQ in my 40k games. She and the other Warriors are magnetized (see image that follows). Next to her is a regular Warrior, then a Hive Guard, and then the towering Zoanthrope. I'm not sure how to work the Warriors. I can't remember if Mechs can assault things, or not, if they can, I might make the Warriors a balanced shooting-assaulting mech. The Hive Guard will hands down be a shooting unit, and I can see them having a higher guard or soak than models like the Warriors. As for the Zoanthrope, I'm not sure what to do with it. It's so tall that it'll get shot down really early, though, I suppose I could give it a regular weapon and call it a mind weapon?

Here are the options that the Warriors can take:



And finally, here are my two big 60mm based models, a Biovore (grey) and a Pyrovore (black):



I can't help but feel like I'm lacking in the "big guns" section... My opponent feels these should be artillery pieces. That would seem to make sense, but I can't help but wonder if making them Tanks might give them more utility? Also, I'm not sure if I should give them two different profiles, or the same.

A note on the sizes my opponant and I use:
- The 25mm stuff I showed would typically be "light" for us
- The Warriors and other 40mm stuff (minus the Rippers) would be Medium
- The 60mm stuff would be Heavy

In general, I'm not sure if I should make a cheap, swarm army, or a more elite/specialized army. Right now, the meta is strongly in the favor of elite and shooting (shooting I understand), so I want my army to stand some chance until the new rules come out and even things out a bit.

Thanks for your time! I apologize for the unfinished army, I'm still working on it.

[RuneCaster_Aris]

What method are you using to get that smooth color gradient on the rib's of the Warriors?

[Xantige]

Aug 3, 2012 15:47:09 GMT -5 RuneCaster_Aris said:

What method are you using to get that smooth color gradient on the rib's of the Warriors?

Layering mainly. I based the model with Old GW Hawk Turquoise, Washed it with Old GW Asurman Blue Wash, and then went over the top surfaces again with Hawk. I then mixed the Hawk with Vallejo's Light Turquoise in a 50/50 mix, and went over all the areas again, but leaving some of the Hawk showing underneath. Then I did the final highlight with pure Light Turquoise. Thats on the Prime anyways, the Warriors aren't finished, they've only gotten the second layer of Hawk on them.

[underfire987]

man Xantige, your force is look great , great paint jobs !!!!. I too look forward too what they answer here for your questions. we can also chat about it as well this sunday, i like the idea of instead those guys being artillery to be instead tanks, defo would be cool too see a group of them coming down the table at me !.

I would say too the people commenting on here, my force is not extreme elite, it is more in the area of veteran stats and what not. a few models will be reaching expert in their specialized areas in my force but over all the veteran stats is were their at in both shooting and close combat.

I think should also be tweaking the rules abit for suppression to be we first have too roll our moral checks and then roll again if we suffer any casualites or fail our moral check and become suppressed too see if we go condition brown.

[Xantige]

Aug 4, 2012 2:07:06 GMT -5 underfire987 said:

man Xantige, your force is look great , great paint jobs !!!!. I too look forward too what they answer here for your questions. we can also chat about it as well this sunday, i like the idea of instead those guys being artillery to be instead tanks, defo would be cool too see a group of them coming down the table at me !.

I would say too the people commenting on here, my force is not extreme elite, it is more in the area of veteran stats and what not. a few models will be reaching expert in their specialized areas in my force but over all the veteran stats is were their at in both shooting and close combat.

I think should also be tweaking the rules abit for suppression to be we first have too roll our moral checks and then roll again if we suffer any casualites or fail our moral check and become suppressed too see if we go condition brown.

Thanks. I found a bit of time to sit down and redo a few stats. I was hoping to turn the Prime (the painted modified Warrior Model) into my commander, but the stats don't work for a model of that size, which is too bad, I was hoping to eventually field an even bigger model as my commander.

When I said Elite, I didn't mean that all your stats are literally "Elite". I simply meant your army is overall better in every area then the average baseline soldier, which I see as being "Seasoned". In fact, I think your models have better weapons than mine, on top of better stats in all, over mine, except for Assault, where we may be tied, and Mental, where I may be higher than you. Really, that shouldn't be a problem, except with the current imbalance in the point system, which will hopefully be fixed soon. Then I can properly overwhelm your forces without us having to consciously muck with the game.

If I recall, the new update says that Supression now requires a Morale roll if your unit suffers a casualty or wound. Meaning that simply shooting at a unit isn't enough, they have to lose a member before you even check if they're suppressed.

[twogunsblazing]

Wow, these are coming along great...I love the colour scheme, it's going to be a fantastic looking force when finished!!!

[inrepose]

The blue and bone scheme is stunning. I now want to pick up a selection, I think they make excellent monster models.

[inrepose]

Just thinking about those big walkers. I think Walking Tanks works, you get the hitting power and damage capacity.

[Xantige]

Aug 5, 2012 14:56:00 GMT -5 inrepose said:

The blue and bone scheme is stunning. I now want to pick up a selection, I think they make excellent monster models.

Thank you . I wasn't sure how well they'd scale in a 15mm game, but they do fit in pretty well.

Aug 5, 2012 14:57:45 GMT -5 inrepose said:

Just thinking about those big walkers. I think Walking Tanks works, you get the hitting power and damage capacity.

That will probably be the route I end up going, a few people seem to agree on them being tanks. Thanks.

Does anyone have any idea for the floating big headed model (Zoanthrope)? If I recall, there was mention of an ability that would shut down the opponents technology/vehicles for a turn, I think that would work best, since the model is meant to attack psychically, but unless I missed something, that component of the game isn't done yet. Aside from that, I'm not even sure what to class the model as, it's almost too tall to be Medium, but maybe not big enough to be a Heavy. It's not quite a tank, mech, or an air Vehicle....

[comstar]

Not ideal but here is a possibility for you

Specialist
Light so damage 5
Guard 13
Soak 13
Grav so speed 10
Shoot 2
Assault 2
Mental 8
Skill 6
No weapons so close combat damage 4
Perk telepathy : mental control of unit or specialist within 8 inches. Make a skill statistic roll equal or higher than target guard.

That's only 10 points currently

Things you may want to change is the subcommander ability (not sure of points)

To make it a bit more aggressive a plasma gun with say higher mods and a reasonable shoot skill would bring it into a real threat on the table top

[Xantige]

Aug 7, 2012 8:34:24 GMT -5 comstar said:

Not ideal but here is a possibility for you

Specialist
Light so damage 5
Guard 13
Soak 13
Grav so speed 10
Shoot 2
Assault 2
Mental 8
Skill 6
No weapons so close combat damage 4
Perk telepathy : mental control of unit or specialist within 8 inches. Make a skill statistic roll equal or higher than target guard.

That's only 10 points currently

Things you may want to change is the subcommander ability (not sure of points)

To make it a bit more aggressive a plasma gun with say higher mods and a reasonable shoot skill would bring it into a real threat on the table top

I hadn't thought of making it a specialist, especially a light one. So far, I've been choosing size based on -- well -- the literal size of the model. I hadn't considered seeing size to simply mean how well armored a model is. Or was I right in going for literal size? I've also been using the same size scale regardless of the type of miniature (ie, Specialist, Mech, Tank). Maybe I should rethink how I statted my units, it'd certainly make them less homogenous if units of similar literal size had slight variants to them... I can see some models being faster but less armored, while others being the opposite.

Also, I've been thinking, perhaps I should turn this thread into a blog-thread as I progress through painting and adding to my army. I was going to make a whole new thread for that, but threads stick around here for a long while, so I might as well recycle this one. I hope you guys don't mind.

[comstar]

Stay with this one as you say it evolves

Remember the above is with current rules but with 1.1 specialists are a little more varied so Guard and Soak are separate from Damage to give a little more variance which will help with this type of critter But points cost will go up a tad though!

Keep it coming as it's nice to see other monster style forces

[Xantige]

It's been a bit since my last post. I was hoping my next post would come with pictures, but I haven't made much progress on anything, neither in painting or assembling. I find myself coming to a lull in my desire for the hobby. Considering that I start college in less than 2 weeks though, that seems hardly surprising. Sadly, I'm not sure how much time I'll have for the hobby once I start school. As much as I love wargaming, it's not my main hobby, art is. I may also have to turn my work table into an art table.

Still, I'm going to try and get some progress in every week. I think I may take a picture of my worktable and what is on it sometime this week, just to keep this thread-blog somewhat active. I'm sure lots of people like peeking at the work table of other hobbyists... well, I like to anyways.

[timvidlak]

I think assault armies are great fun to play & play against, I have yet to put one together for grunts. I have got my first miniatures for one this week & once I pick up the rest I will paint them up.

[Mr. Harold]

These are great! twogunsblazing mentioned your army and I had to look it up... really cool tyranid models too!