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Hi,
I have a squad of Grots at home and I play 5th edition, but you probably already know that.
Here is how it is built:
10 grot blastas (1 has 2 grot blastas)
1 grot has a stikkbomb
Runtherd has squig hound and grot prod.
How could I use this unit of grots? What is it best for?

I'm not holding my 5th edition codex right now, but I'm 105% certain that you can neither give grots multiple blasters or stick bombs.

you can't, but one grot model has 2x blasters, and another has stikk bombs, but neither actually benefits from them. There's no way to change grot's wargear of a single grot blasta and no armor. Only the runtherd has options.

As for utility of grots - 35 point objective holders. That's about it. Hold them in reserve and send them after objectives on your side of the board.

Grots are, without doubt or contest, the WORST combat unit in the game. Their only utility beyond cheap objective grabbers is to provide a screen for units for cover and to prevent charging.

For example, if you have grots in front of a group of nobz, the nobz get 5+ cover (mostly) from the grots, and enemies have to charge the grots before they get to the nobz.

My grot's (10-man squad) finest hour was once walking in from my board edge and somehow killing 2x terminators with shooting.

Big grot squads are better at screening, but remember they receive no benefit from MR, so it's easy to make them turn and run. Squig hounds help, a little, but not much. And if they are ever charged by anything, expect them to try to run and get sweeping advanced.

 morganfreeman wrote:
I'm not holding my 5th edition codex right now, but I'm 105% certain that you can neither give grots multiple blasters or stick bombs.

For your information, one of the grots in that set had 2 grot blastas molded onto him and arms holding a stikkbomb was also in that set.
The grots were nearly built anyway, so all I had to do on most of them was add the heads. Some were all the way built already, they had the head molded onto the body already.
I put all of them on 25mm round bases and there was a runtherd, all I had to do was put the head on, the squig hound on, the squig hound's mouth on, and the grot prod on.
But hey, you play 5th too! That's good.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Kap'n Krump wrote:
you can't, but one grot model has 2x blasters, and another has stikk bombs, but neither actually benefits from them. There's no way to change grot's wargear of a single grot blasta and no armor. Only the runtherd has options.

As for utility of grots - 35 point objective holders. That's about it. Hold them in reserve and send them after objectives on your side of the board.

Grots are, without doubt or contest, the WORST combat unit in the game. Their only utility beyond cheap objective grabbers is to provide a screen for units for cover and to prevent charging.

For example, if you have grots in front of a group of nobz, the nobz get 5+ cover (mostly) from the grots, and enemies have to charge the grots before they get to the nobz.

My grot's (10-man squad) finest hour was once walking in from my board edge and somehow killing 2x terminators with shooting.

Wow, killing 2 terminators with one shooting? Amazing...
This just makes me think that grot units just inflate the point cost of armies.

When I played, I played 5th, and I thought grots were pretty damn awesome - they're troops so can grab objectives, or can tarpit a unit, or just be annoyance, all for a low, low price. I would sometimes tie up a dreadnought for an entire game with a unit of Grots.

If the boys are getting shot, they grots are holding an objective, and If they're shooting grots, they're not shooting boyz - it's a can't lose proposition.

No idea how this works in whatever edition 40k is on now.

 Ouze wrote:
When I played, I played 5th, and I thought grots were pretty damn awesome - they're troops so can grab objectives, or can tarpit a unit, or just be annoyance, all for a low, low price. I would sometimes tie up a dreadnought for an entire game with a unit of Grots.

If the boys are getting shot, they grots are holding an objective, and If they're shooting grots, they're not shooting boyz - it's a can't lose proposition.

No idea how this works in whatever edition 40k is on now.

40K is now on 7th ed.

It was 10 grots (and a runtherd) shooting at 5x terminators - forced 3 saves, he failed 2.

But grots are, generally, little more than an annoyance. And they're not much of a tarpit either - they're guaranteed to lose combat, and with LD7 - # of wounds they lost combat by, odds of staying in combat is low.

V a dreadnaught with few, hard hitting attacks, I can see it, potentially.

The other thing I use them for is cheap required troops choices when I want to run lots of heavy support / elites.

Like Ouze said, grots are not totally without use, but combat isn't one of them, apart from maybe tarpitting walkers, which is risky, at best.

Throw thirty of them into one unit and watch the Terminators die in droves (one at a time).

They're cheap and small. You could have them hold an objective while staying out of LOS, making it impossible to dislodge them unless the enemy wants to come hug your orks anyway.

Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaabye v. Power fist or TH terminators, simply because they're I1. But you're 4s to hit (5s if terminators are WS5, which many can be), 6s to wound, and 2+ save.

Best case scenario, 30-man grot squad charging WS4 TH/SS terminators, you're looking at causing 7 wounds, including the runtherds. That's maybe 1 dead terminator. Then terminators turn around and crush a dozen grots, who then fall back.

If it's lightning claw terminators, it's a bad time for grots.

I had a game against Imperial Guard I won purely because of gretchin.

On turn 7 I was winning, but basically tabled - except for one unit of grots way in the back corner sitting on an objective in a forest. They had already scored two cards for me that game, so they'd done their duty. After going to ground to weather the last round of shooting, it was in the bag.

In my head I picture the grots, cowering in cover from the storm of autocannon and heavy bolter rounds, mortar shells, and missiles exploding all around them, certain that they were about to die... then the storm subsides, and one grot works up the courage to look over the lip of the shell crater - and sees the humies hoofing it the other away. He drops to his knees, overwhelmed more by his survival than of victory.

So, grots are good and bad.

Grots are great in dying in droves... Only reason I bring is for the "Waaaagh!" formation.

I recommend having them in back with no upgrades and have them try and hold objectives

The big problem with Grots is that fantasy has tons of support for Goblins so you end up liking them, then 40k shoves them into a single bland unit, wasting the flavour potential.

changemod wrote:
The big problem with Grots is that fantasy has tons of support for Goblins so you end up liking them, then 40k shoves them into a single bland unit, wasting the flavour potential.

I wouldn't even say "Support", I'd just say options.

Having the old Grotz Life (from 3rd) back would make them so much better. Another problem though is conscripts. Same PPM as Gretchin but a better gun, 5+ save, 1+ to T and S, higher moral, frag grenades, and can be made fearless (and given unit wide buffs) for the same price you pay for your Runtherdz.

Thanks for all your help!

I have a friend who runs gretchin all the time. They're extremely annoying. He usually runs them in conjunction with massive 30 boy squads...the boyz run screaming at me while the grots play marbles on objectives.

As a marine player I don't have a lot of resources to throw around...if I shoot the grots, the boyz become a huge problem later. If I shoot the boyz, the grots become a huge problem later.

I always like them because of their size. Depending on your scenery setups you can easily hide them right out of LOS behind hedges, small hills, any type of low building and even deep craters.
And they're cheap.

The only good thing about Grots is that they are cheap. This makes them good at screening stuff. Every weapon your opponent has to use to get rid of them is one that won't be fired at your actually more important troops.
They are also good for holding objectives.

I always use a squad of grots. The've proven useful many times. Not as a combat unit but just by simply being there. Denying area for droppods/deepstrikes, baublewrapping and denying charges to useful stuff, scoring points. I often consider a squig for rerollable ld7.

Grots are not nearly as good for the points as conscripts or forgeworld zombies. But even for what they get, you can use them effectively. I often throw them at the front.

Grots pretty much just inflate the point cost. Thank you all.