[mccombju]

Originally Posted by rdhight

And to cap it off, once the Gorillinators do get height, an attack of 3 will beat a defense of 3 almost as often as 2 doubled dice.

Hmm? I'm not sure I understand what you are saying on this one. How many attack/defense dice are involved?

(Except, perhaps, for the instance where I ask for clarification above...)
Statistically, what rdhight is saying is validated by Sisyphus' work and shown graphically in the Heroscape Magic Number thread.

Originally Posted by rdhight

It's fun at first to play such speedy ranged figures, but I'm thinking I should trade mine away. They are just unusable.

Originally Posted by eternaldream

The Gorillanators are one of the units that I desperately want to like... but can't. I love the models and everything, but... they just don't perform well. It's a shame...

My opinion on the Gorillinators is that they are great units (with great sculpts/theme), but only so in a drafting situation when you can come up with a clear answer to the opponent's special attackers. For instance, the following army won in a 2-on-1 game (500 points for each player i.e. my 500 points vs. their 1000 points):

Raelin - 80
Laglor - 110
Krav - 100
Nakitas - 120
Gorillinators - 90

I deviated from the common wisdom (pardon the pun) and only used one squad of Gorillinators. Admittedly, for 90 points 2x Deathreavers and Isamu might have been a better investment than the Gorillinators in terms of a meat shield (I didn't have the Roborats at the time). However, the Gorillinators performed admirably. Gaining and holding height was crucial on the (symmetrical, non-castle) map that we played, and the Gorillinators provided early engagement to offset the opponents' first wave advances while the Nakitas advanced/climbed/attacked and Raelin moved into position. From this vantage point, order markers were loaded onto the Krav who could outmaneuver opposing figures with the help of spending the odd order marker on the Nakitas for defensive repositioning of the surviving G'Nators and their own attacks. Laglor died like a chump at the outset of the game, so aside from taking some shots in the face he didn't factor into the gameplay.

My opponents' armies included the AE, Kaemon Awa, Q10, and the Marro Stingers among some other lesser troops (*cough* Zettian Gaurds *cough*). In selecting my army, I reasoned that the Krav backed by Raelin would be required to handle those major threats with special attacks while the G'Nators would be effective in other matchups. The G'Nators in Raelin's aura had remarkable defensive ability against normal attacks (as the stats would predict) and were often the only productive targets my opponents could shoot at given the effects of Smoke Powder (which triggered often) and Stealth Dodge. Like I said, I won the 2-on-1, but it came down to a too-close-for-comfort Raelin (me) vs. Guilty McCreech final showdown.

If you'll entertain another anecdote before I weigh in with my final verdict, then read this paragraph. If not, then skip down below. The Nakitas at full squad strength have fantatastic offensive firepower. Forget smoke powder. You don't need it when you can take height with your own Nakitas while simultaneously sending one or two Gorillinators into engagement with the enemy each turn (this only works well against armies without disengage fyi). The strategy I describe is one where you win by attrition. You must cycle your G'Nators from your start zone to the front line with movement bonding while making sure that the opponent is denied height. From height advantage, the Nakitas will be rolling 4A three times. The Gorillinators, through movement bonding, function the same way that Roborats do, by preventing/limiting the opponent's offensive capability through engagement. Engagement, in this case, is both a measure for denying the opponent height advantage and preventing your order-marker-dominant-Nakitas from coming under fire. In this scenario, you can expect to lose Gorillinators quickly (I've beaten an army of Krav, Q10, Kaemon Awa, MWs, and Raelin with this strategy). The only way and only reason this strategy can work is if you limit, as much as possible, the opportunities your opponent has to target the Nakitas. This is because you are relying very heavily on this squad having not only full squad-member firepower but also height advantage to inflict damage on the opponent at a rate faster than they can achieve (you should always be throwing 3A or 4A 3x, whereas they will be suffering lost attack firepower as you target units with order markers). When playing with this style, I have often ended my games so that a full squad of Nakitas were the only only units I had left at the end. As such, the Gorillinators perform as little more than glorified Roborats with incredible defensive weaknesses to special attacks, no order markers wasted for repositioning, and more versatility as attacking end-game figures. To be honest, I don't like the G'Nators for their base stats (especially their offensive firepower, which is lacking IMO) as much as I do for their movement bonding with the powerful Nakita Agent ranged squad. Furthermore, I've never used the G'Nators on their own, and I wouldn't consider doing so without either the massive range advantage conferred by Laglor or the movement bonding of the Nakitas.

My verdict on the G'Nators is that they can be tons of fun in drafting play, but I would probably never take them to a tournament unless the metagame seriously discouraged the use of special attacks somehow.

e.g.

Originally Posted by Rÿchean

Capture Raelin Tournament - GenCon 2008:
Army = Cyprien, Nakita, 2xGorillas (450 pts)
Lost to Cornpuff; win over Hendal
Results 3-1

As it stands, metagame threats like Q9, Braxas, Zelrig, and Nilfheim seem make to make winning a standard tournament with the G'Nators nigh impossible.