The Book of Marrden Nagrubs

[scorpiusx]

The Book of Marrden Nagrubs

Swarm of the Marro - Master Set 2

Spoiler Alert!

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If you cannot see the Army Card graphic, check Hasbro's Unit Page for stats and special powers, plus "character biography" and other non-game unit info.

Character Bio: The Marrden Nagrubs are not of the race of Marro, but so often appear with them on the field of battle that they are always associated with them in the minds of their enemies. Appearing to be some type of deadly massive hound, they are fierce monsters showing even fiercer loyalty to their Marro Hivelord master.

Jungle thatches, swampy marshes, and mountain cliff faces seem to be no barrier to a running Marrden Nagrub as it moves swiftly over the most difficult levels of terrain. Ferocious fighting creatures, they show no sign of leaving a battle once the combat begins. In the thick of the deadliest fighting, the giant Marro often takes up one of the Nagrubs and eats it and the huge tears on the Hivelord’s body heal before its enemy’s horror-filled stares.(Hasbro)


-Rulings and Clarifications-

• - TBA

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-Combinations and Synergies-

Synergy Benefits Received

• - WARDEN 816 : Guard Leadership
  As Guards, Marrden Nagrubs may benefit from Warden 816's GUARD LEADERSHIP movement bonus.

Synergy Benefits Offered

• HIVELORD BONDING : Hivelords Units
  * Su-Bak-Na
  * Tor-Kul-Na
  * Wo-Sa-Ga

C3V and SoV Custom Synergies

Spoiler Alert!

Synergy Benefits Offered

HIVELORD LIFE BONDING:
* Kon-Tar-Na

Synergy Benefits Received

MORGOLOTH : SWARMING VERMIN
As Small figures who follow Utgar, Marrden Nagrubs may benefit from Morgoloth's SWARMING VERMIN ability.

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-Strategy, Tactics and Tips-

• - TBA

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-Heroscapers Community Contributions-

Power Rankings

Jexik: Marrden Nagrubs- The grubs might be tasty for the Marro leaders, but with just 2 defense, the big boys might starve before supper time. B+

OEAO: B+

Cleon: Tier 8 (43/208)

dok (VC inclusive): B+

Unit Strategy Review

• - TBA

[gamjuven]

I like them. They seem pretty sweet. Bonding with a hivelord is great. They can attack, although most of the time they will be worthless. but the ability to heal a hivelord is amazing. Subakna will see more play because of this. They are also nice and cheap. Our cheapest squad yet. Very nice. I look forward to trying them out.

[Metaknight]

I can't wait to use them! Could they replace the rats or should we leave that for the spiders?

[gamjuven]

Originally Posted by Metaknight

I can't wait to use them! Could they replace the rats or should we leave that for the spiders?

The rats won't be replaced. They are a much different unit and will stay effective for a long time I'm guessing. But they are a lot of fun. As for the spiders I doubt they will be incredible. They will be fun for sure, but I doubt they will work as much as I'd like.

bottom line: The rats will always be awesome

[rdhight]

Originally Posted by gamjuven

I like them. They seem pretty sweet. Bonding with a hivelord is great. They can attack, although most of the time they will be worthless. but the ability to heal a hivelord is amazing. Subakna will see more play because of this. They are also nice and cheap. Our cheapest squad yet. Very nice. I look forward to trying them out.

Ah, but to heal your Hivelord, two things have to happen. First, the Hivelord has to get hurt before the Nagrubs are all dead, which will be far from guaranteed. Second, in order to heal, the unlucky Nagrub must already be adjacent to its master before either moves; enemy squads that can choose their targets, either because they're ranged or have disengage, can concentrate first on the Nagrubs that ended their last turn adjacent to a wounded Hivelord.

The Nagrubs might be a good choice in an army with two or more Hivelords, but with multiple Hivelords and multiple Nagrubs, will you be able to afford enough range? I think in the vast majority of builds, I'd rather just trade in Nagrubs x2 for another set of Stingers. Even putting those points toward Drudge or Marro Drones would be less brittle: those squads can both regenerate via the hive and will continue to be effective if they survive their Hivelord's death, two things the grubs can't claim.

[scorpiusx]

rdhight, I see what you are saying. However, I wouldn't suggest looking at the bonding as a healing ability. Rather, I would refer to it as regular bonding with a slight bonus.

[Sisyphus]

I'm not too keen on the Nagrubs for the purpose of conventional fighter. 2/2 attack/defense for a non-ranged unit is in the kill nothing/killed by everything class. They remind me of the blade gruts because they have the same conventional stats and point per figure value. Except the Nagrubs are only a squad of only three, don't have disengage, and their meager stats aren't boosted by the figures they bond with.

But the Nagrubs life bonding interests me very much. The Nagrubs are 10 points/figure but each Nagrub is worth 1/5 of a Su-Bak-Na as far as damage removal goes. 1/5 of 160 point Su-Bak-Na is worth 32 points and most importantly a Nagrub can heal a hivelord without wasting a turn and without having to worry about getting a good D20 roll.

Su-Bak-Na + 2x Nagrubs should lay waste to most heroes including Q9 and Charos. Granted this combination is 220 points but it is a great deal considering it would be like getting two Su-Bak-Nas for your 220 points.

[rdhight]

You're right: to make them worthwhile, they'll have accomplish something besides acting as a reserve tank for your Hivelord. (Especially since they can only heal the one they bond with.) But even their regular bonding seems like it leaves much to be desired. If the enemy chooses to concentrate on your Nagrubs for a round, many armies, perhaps most armies, can credibly threaten to kill 6 of them in 2-3 order markers. And you'll probably be wanting to sacrifice at least one in the same time frame. So even if you have Nagrubs x2 and two Hivelords, you're taking a big risk putting that 3 marker on the grubs. Between kills and sacrifices, two full squads could easily have evaporated by the time you reveal your 3. If you start with just 6 grubs, more than likely you'll sacrifice one or two and then Q9 will suddenly see his chance and buzzsaw right through the rest thanks to your range-light build. I mean,

160 Su-Bak-Na
220 Tor-Kul-Na
120 Nagrubs x4

is 500 points right there, and you're not going to get very good mileage out of Hive Supremacy with that army either. What would make these guys good is if Wo-Sa-Ga came out in the 90-120 range, so you could have two heroes to choose from, and more than two squads of grubs for reliability, and still leave room for range or even the Warden.

[Sisyphus]

If your opponent targets your Nagrubs because of healing you still win. every attack on a Nagrub is an attack that is not on your Hivelord. You might not win as much as if you used Nagrub to heal but you would still win(I would have to check the math but surely the tradeoff depends on the defense of the attack value and which Hivelord it is). Also I have played with bonding armies and have never had a problem with lost turns due to all my squads being killed. This is because having bonding is a safeguard against turn loss especially since you can always leave one Orc Archer or one Nagrub in the back and away from danger.

Originally Posted by rdhight

160 Su-Bak-Na
220 Tor-Kul-Na
120 Nagrubs x4

I find your sample arming interesting but I have little desire to put two Hivelord's in the same army. Both Su-Bak-Na and Tor-Kul-Na have strong non-ranged attacks but if you have Nagrubs in your army you only need one hero with this quality. Instead of having both, devote points to more Nagrubs and string ranged units.

Just a couple of armies I was thinking of...

Su-Bak-Na - 160
Marro Stingers (3x) - 180
Marrden Nagrubs(4x) - 120
Deathreavers(1x) - 40
Total: 500

Su-Bak-Na - 160
Kee-Mo-Shi - 130
Marro Stinger(2x) - 120
Marrden Nagrubs(3x) - 90
Total: 500

Tor-Kul-Na - 220
Marro Stingers(3X) - 180
Marrden Nagrubs(3x) - 90
Isamu - 10
Total: 500

[scorpiusx]

What about this:

Tor-Kul-Na 220
Marrden Nagrubs X9 270
Isamu 10

P.S.: Avoid DED, Sudema, Ne-Gok-Sa, Runa, and Kee-Mo-Shi.

[gamjuven]

Originally Posted by scorpiusx

What about this:

Tor-Kul-Na 220
Marrden Nagrubs X9 270
Isamu 10

P.S.: Avoid DED, Sudema, Ne-Gok-Sa, Runa, and Kee-Mo-Shi.

well considering that army takes up 30 hexes, you'd have to lose 2 full squads of nagrubs just to be able to place your army for most maps and tournament settings. I dunno, only having one real attacker in your army can't possibly be good. Tor can only heal once a turn, 1-2 good rounds of shooting will crush him.

[netherspirit]

Originally Posted by scorpiusx

What about this:

Tor-Kul-Na 220
Marrden Nagrubs X9 270
Isamu 10

Other than the number of start spaces required, that could be fun.

Nadgrabbers FTW!