The Book of Grunt

[MrNobody]

Yea

I'd like to see something like that Cap, Bucky, Hulk superbonding combo I mentioned tested.

[fret_gurglo]

Originally Posted by MrNobody

Yea

I'd like to see something like that Cap, Bucky, Hulk superbonding combo I mentioned tested.

Sure, but I think cap and hulk will greatly overshadow any 120 point figure. I will run it with my initial though

[LordVenoc]

Yea

I'd say throw Bloodshot in there as he's definitely one of our stronger soldier's right now.

[Lord Pyre]

Yea

[fret_gurglo]

Version tested

Spoiler Alert!

NAME = GRUNT
SECRET IDENTITY = ROBERT W. GRAVES

SPECIES = HUMAN
UNIQUENESS = UNIQUE HERO
CLASS = SOLDIER
PERSONALITY = PATRIOTIC

SIZE/HEIGHT = MEDIUM 5

LIFE = 4

MOVE = 5
RANGE = 5
ATTACK = 3
DEFENSE = 4

POINTS = 125

INFANTRY TEAM ASSAULT
After revealing an Order Marker on the card of another Soldier hero you control and taking a turn with that Soldier, you may attack with Grunt. If you do, you cannot attack with any other figures until you reveal another Order Marker.

COVER FIRE 3
Immediately after rolling attack dice for Grunts' normal attack against an opponent's figure, if Grunt inflicts at least one wound, you may move another figure you control within 5 spaces of Grunt up to 3 spaces. Figures moved by this special power never take leaving engagement attacks from the defending figure.

Army Test
Map: Swamp Lab
Units: Bloodshot (260), Grunt (125) (385)vs Alfred (60), Batman (200), Robin (120) (380)

Powers Used:
Infantry Team Assault: 0
Cover Fire: 0

Damage from normal attacks: 2

Spoiler Alert!

Round 1: Bloodshot makes the first strike on Robin and deals him 1 wound. Batman and Robin gang up and destroy Bloodshot in a single turn. Then they attack Grunt for 3 wounds.
Round 2: Grunt is able to destroy Robin before Batman destroys Grunt.

Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Alfred 3/3 Life remaining, Batman 4/4 Life remaining

Grunt is so team dependent and clearly needs more than one ally, but I wanted to start small to prevent Grunt from being overshadowed by others. Oh well, soldier team it is then.

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Army Test
Map: Swamp Lab
Units: Bucky (60), Grunt (125), Sgt. Rock (175), Thaddeus Ross (160), Warmachine (270) (790)vs Wrecking Crew (800)

Powers Used:
Infantry Team Assault: 6
Cover Fire: 0

Damage from normal attacks: 6

Spoiler Alert!

Ross chooses Wrecker for his soldiers to target
Round 1: Sgt. Rock advances and is able to deal 3 wounds to Bulldozer. Wrecker and Bulldozer get closer and each take a wound from Auto-chain gun. Bulldozer is able to hit Sgt. Rock for 1 wound. Bucky hits Bulldozer for 1 wound and then Sgt. Rock destroys him. Grunt shoots at Wrecker for 3 wounds. makes the first strike on Robin and deals him 1 wound. Batman and Robin gang up and destroy Bloodshot in a single turn. Then they attack Grunt for 3 wounds.
Round 2: Wrecker attacks Bucky for 3 wounds. Piledriver attacks Sgt. Rock for 1 wound. Bucky shoots Piledriver for 2 wounds. Rock punches him again for 2 more wounds. Warmachine destroys Piledriver and Grunt destroys Wrecker. Thunderball is forced to have to enter range of the Auto gun and takes 1 wound. Rock and Warmachine hit Thunderball for a wound each. Things do no look good for the Wrecking Crew.
Round 3: Thunderball swings at Rock for 1 wound and Grunt for 3 wounds. Next turn Thunderball destroys Rock and the Soldiers lose the rest of their OMs. Thunderball destroys Grunt.
Round 4: Warmachine destroys Thunderball.

Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Thaddeus Ross 4/4 Life remaining, Warmachine 4/4 Life remaining

The boosts from Ross and Rock and high ground gave Grunt multiple free attacks of 6 on the Wrecker. Very powerful…

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Army Test
Map: Swamp Lab
Units: Bucky (60), Captain America (240), Grunt (125), Hulk II (450) (875)vs Beta Ray Bill (420), Thor (430) (850)

Powers Used:
Infantry Team Assault: 6
Cover Fire: 1

Damage from normal attacks: 4

Spoiler Alert!

Round 1: Thor hits Bucky for 1 wound and later he attacks Grunt for 2 wounds.
Round 2: Cap is able to strike Beta Ray for 4 wounds and the Hulk jumps in to destroy him. Grunt is able to shoot Thor for 2 wounds (I was surprised). Thor uses God of Thunder for 3 wounds on Cap. Later Thor attacks Captain America for 1 more wound. After Cap fails to deal any damage, Grunt makes another free attack for 2 more wounds on Thor.
Round 3: Hulk hits Thor for 2 wounds. Thor destroys Cap. Hulk destroys Thor.

Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Bucky 3/4 Life remaining, Grunt 2/4 Life remaining, Hulk 7/7 Life remaining

Grunt did more than I expected by actually hitting Thor, not once, but twice for 2 damage each time. However that did not mean much as Hulk and Captain America completely overshadowed him and Bucky.

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Army Test
Map: Swamp Lab
Units: Bucky (60), Captain America (240), Grunt (125), Sgt. Rock (175), Thaddeus Ross (160), Warmachine (270) (1030)vs Energizer (50), Invisible Woman (215), Lightspeed (40), Magma (170), Mister Fantastic (235), The Thing (325) (1035)

Powers Used:
Infantry Team Assault: 16
Cover Fire: 5

Damage from normal attacks: 6

Spoiler Alert!

Ross chooses The Thing for his soldiers to target
Round 1: Invisible Woman and Thing are able to hit Cap for 1 wound each. Warmachine attacks Thing for 2 wounds. Mr. F reaches out and smacks Warmachine for 1 wound, while Magma advances and places a lava tile under her.
Round 2: Cap hits Thing for 1 wound. Magma attacks Bucky for 3 wounds. Rock pineapples Invisible Woman, Energizer and Lightspeed for 2 wounds each. Warmachine destroys the Thing. Energizer destroys Bucky and blasts Cap and Rock for 1 wound each. Invisible Woman hits Rock for 1 wound and Mr. F hits Rock again for 1 wound.
Round 3: Cap hits Mr. F for 3 wounds. Mister Fantastic hits Rock for 1 wound. Ross calls for an Air Strike and does 1 wound to Mister Fantastic, 2 wounds to Magma and 1 wound to Energizer. Mr. F destroys Rock.
Round 4: Magma hits Grunt for 2 wounds. Warmachine destroys Mister Fantastic.
Round 5: Grunt hits Energizer for 1 wound.
Round 6: Grunt hits Energizer for 1 wound. Magma hits Cap for 1 wound. Warmachine destroys Magma. Grunt hits Lightspeed for 1 wound. Next turn Grunt hits Energizer for 1 wound.
Round 7: Cap hits Invisible Woman for 1 wound and Grunt destroys Energizer. Warmachine destroys Invisible Woman and Grunt destroys Lightspeed.

Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Captain America 1/5 Life remaining, Grunt 2/4 Life remaining, Warmachine 2/4 Life remaining

This was a really fun game with multiple attacks per turn on both sides. Losing the Thing in Round 2 really hurt the Fantastic Many and probably was the cause of their loss. Grunt made a lot of attacks, but really only injured the children.

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THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT'S COST, BALANCE, & DRAFTABILITY: Although I think Grunt is pretty close at 120ish, the team of Soldiers is coming in strong. There are plenty of Attack boosts available to the team and Grunt’s free attacks take advantage of this. Going forward with Grunt and future Soldiers will they will either need to have higher point values or powers reduced.

GENERAL THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT: Grunt does an excellent job as a soldier support figure. Grunt will need a point increase or more restrictions on Team Assault.

[Tornado]

GRUNT

Army Test
Map: City Park
Units: Grunt(125), Sgt. Rock(175), Captain America(240), Bucky(60) [600] vs. Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Jewel

Spoiler Alert!

R1: Jewel and Cage move. Bucky and Cap move. Fist and Cage move. Bucky misses, Rock moves, wounds Cage, Grunt moves, misses Cage(0/4skulls). Fist moves, KOs Bucky, which creates an opening for Cage to move in and miss Cap. Rock moves, throws a Grenade, wounds Cage, 2wounds Fist, Cap wounds Fist.
R2: Fist Leaps, misses Rock, heals, Cage misses Cap. Cap wounds Cage. Fist 4wounds Rock, Cage blanks out. Rock 2wounds Fist, Cap wounds Cage. Fist KOs Rock(OM3), Cage wounds Cap.
R3: Cap KOs Cage(OM1). Cap moves, KOs Fist. Jewel moves, misses. Cap wounds Jewel who misses.
R4: Jewel misses. Cap 3wounds Jewel who KOs Cap. Jewel moves, blanks out. Jewel misses Grunt(3/4shields)
R5: Jewel 3wounds Grunt(0/4shields) who KOs Jewel(2/3skulls).



Cap and Rock refuse to miss so Grunt was left to clean up and did so.


Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Grunt 3/4wounds.

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Army Test
Map: City Park
Units: Grunt(130), Sgt. Rock(175), Captain America(240), Guile (130), Hulkbuster Soldiers (125) [800] vs Dark Judges

Spoiler Alert!

R1: Soldiers slowly advance as a group as they DJs wait and then Teleport all around the Soldiers.
R2: Cap wounds Fire. DJs move, Mortis misses, Death KOs a HBS, Fire 2wounds Rock who 3wounds Fire, Cap 3wounds Mortis. Fire wounds Rock, Mortis wounds Cap, Death KOs a HBS, Fire misses Rock. Rock KOs Fire, Cap wounds Mortis who wounds Cap, Death takes a swipe, KOs HBS, Mortis wounds Cap.
R3: Mortis wounds Cap, Death moves, KOs Cap(OM1), Mortis moves, KOs Rock(OM2). Death moves, misses Grunt(1/1shield). Death 2wounds Grunt(0/1shield). Grunt wounds Death(1skull).
R4: Grunt misses(1skull). Death missesGrunt(0/1skull). Grunt misses Death(1skull). Death wounds Grunt(0/1shield). Grunt misses DEath(2skulls) who misses Grunt(.
R5: Grunt 2wounds Death(3/3skulls). Death KOs Grunt(0/1shield).

The Hulkbuster Soldiers were perfect fodder for Judge Death, who was able to parley that into bonus turns for the DJs.



Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Death 4/5wounds, Mortis 3/5wounds, Fear: Full.

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Army Test
Map: City Park
Units: Grunt(130), Sgt. Rock(175), Captain America(240), Bucky(60), Thaddeus Ross (160), Oracle (110), Hulkbuster Soldiers (125) vs. F4 [1000]

Spoiler Alert!

R1: Thing is Priority Objective. F4 move. Bucky and Cap move. Thing moves. Bucky moves, misses, Rock and Grunt move. Torch moves, misses, Sue moves, misses, Reed moves. Bucky misses, Rock moves, 2wounds Thing, Grunt moves, misses Thing(3/6skulls +1 SAP). Thing 2wounds Rock, Reed moves, misses. Bucky misses, Rock misses, takes a wound RWD, Grunt startled that someone misses, attacks, wounds Thing(3/6skulls), Cap moves, misses.
R2: Ross calls in an airstrike but misses Sue, wounds Reed. Thing wounds Rock, Torch KOs Rock, Sue misses, Reed misses. Bucky wounds Reed, misses, Cap misses(SAP), wounded by RWD, Grunt misses Thing(4/5skulls). Thing wounds Cap, Torch and Reed miss. Bucky misses, Cap wounds Thing who KOs Cap.
R3: Bucky misses, Grunt misses Thing(1/4 +1 skulls, SAP). Reed moves, misses Grunt(2/4shields) from low ground. Bucky misses, Grunt misses Thing(2/4skulls). Thing moves, wounds Bucky, Reed 2wounds Grunt(0/4shields). Bucky misses, Grunt misses Thing from high ground(2/5skulls) who KOs Grunt(0/4shields), Torch moves, 2wounds Bucky, Sue moves, Kos Bucky, Reed moves.
R4: Sue and Reed move. HBS move, miss. Thing moves, KOs HBS, Sue moves, misses, Torch moves, misses, Reed moves, misses. HBS KO Thing. Torch moves, misses, Reed KOs HBs. Ross moves, misses.
R5: Torch KOs HBS, 2wounds Ross, Sue 2wounds Ross, Reed misses. Ross misses. Torch takes a swipe, KOs Ross, Sue 2wounds Oracle, Reed KOs Oracle.

Grunt was able to get some free attacks here which was nice but the F4 overwhelm the Soldiers.


Who won? List figures remaining in the winning army (include life remaining for heroes): Mr. Fantastic 2/5wounds, Sue & Torch: Full.

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THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT'S COST, BALANCE, & DRAFTABILITY: He feels costed correctly. His usefulness will certainly vary depending on build and match-up.

GENERAL THOUGHTS ON THE TESTED UNIT: Grunt is a nice support piece for Team Soldier. I think he will really shine once the Joes develop a little further.

[fret_gurglo]

Grunt needs some adjustment because there are currently many easy boosts for Soldiers (allowing Grunt to get up to 7 attack dice at one point). Right now I'm thinking of adding a line to Infantry Team Assault so that it only can activate if the first Soldier dealt no damage. Thoughts?

[IAmBatman]

Originally Posted by fret_gurglo

Right now I'm thinking of adding a line to Infantry Team Assault so that it only can activate if the first Soldier dealt no damage. Thoughts?

I like that.

[Ronin]

That's a pretty significant limiter, but it would push him away from big heavy-hitter types and toward lower-level Soldiers, which would be good for some of the recent factional concerns about high-powered Soldiers.

Another option could be to make his bonus attack a special attack.

[Tornado]

Both great options. Really depends on what you want. A back up who can get boosted and bat clean up or a consistent extra attack at a specific number of attack dice

[MrNobody]

Just a spitball, but what about something like;

INFANTRY ASSAULT
After revealing an Order Marker on the card of another Soldier hero you control and taking a turn with that Soldier, you may attack with Grunt’s M-16 Rifle Special Attack. If you do, you cannot attack with any other figures until you reveal another Order Marker.

M-16 RIFLE SPECIAL ATTACK
Range ?. Attack ?.
Maybe a multi-attack?

I dunno if that’ll have further Joes with the Infantry Assault power running into text space room, but I like the idea that they each have a different gun or weapon they can use with Infantry Assault, making it feel more like a strategic decision instead of “which of these dudes is in position and has the highest attack stat?”

[Yodaking]

I kind of like the idea of the free attack only when the first attack fails. Gives it a support "I've got your back" kind of vibe and as already said would be better when playing with other Joes rolling 4 attack dice vs. super soldiers rolling 6. Making the free attack a SA means every Joe with the Assault power has to also have a SA. At that point you are telling Cap to get lost.