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The Book of Arrow Gruts

dnutt99

Well-known member
The Book of Arrow Gruts
Malliddon's Prophecy - Collection 1 - Grut Orcs

arrowgruts.jpg

HQ Scan PDF Download
Card with grey background in spoiler:
Spoiler Alert!

Character Bio: Arrow Gruts, the archers of the Orc army, have always attended the Orc cavalry. Trained from a young age in the art of archery, Arrow Gruts are fiercely loyal to their cavalry leaders and show little concern for their own safety. While Arrow Gruts are not particularly good fighters or defenders, their sheer numbers and their ferocity are intimidating to the enemy, and are often very effective in protecting and preserving their cavalry commanders. (Hasbro)

Special Powers said:
BEAST BONDING
Before taking a turn with Arrow Gruts, you may first take a turn with any Beast you control.

DISENGAGE
Arrow Gruts are never attacked when leaving an engagement.
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-Rulings and Clarifications-
- BEAST BONDING : How Many Beasts
How does Beast Bonding work? Can I take a turn with all the Beasts I control first?
No, you can take a free (move & attack) turn with any one Beast you control before taking a turn with the Arrow Gruts. (Hasbro FAQ)
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-Combinations and Synergies-

Synergy Benefits Received
  • SWOG RIDER : Orc Archer Enhancement
    As Orc Archers, Arrow Gruts may benefit from Swog Rider’s ORC ARCHER ENHANCEMENT attack and defense bonus.
  • NERAK THE GLACIAN SWOG RIDER : Orc Defensive Aura 1
    As Orcs, Arrow Gruts may benefit from Nerak the Glacian Swog Rider’s ORC DEFENSIVE AURA 1.

Synergy Benefits Offered

C3V and SoV Custom Synergies
Spoiler Alert!
_________________________________________________________________

-Heroscapers Community Contributions-

Power Rankings
  • @Jexik: Arrow Gruts- Bonding, potential for higher attacks, cheap cost. Once one of the most competitive squads around, they seem to be in decline. B+
  • @OrcElfArmyOne: Arrow Gruts- The worst orc squad still has quite a bit going for them with a great threat range and solid bonding choices. Swogs make them offensively relevant and Krug is a tank. B+
  • @dok (VC inclusive): B+
  • @Cleon (VC inclusive): Tier 7 (77/319)

Master Index

Unit Strategy Review
 
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Pure fun playing these guys with some beasts.

I love stacking those Swogs and adding up the attack dice before rolling.
It's also a nice option to kamikaze an archer by running in and engaging a big hero who may be coming after one of the beasts.
I had shortest-straw archer head in and engage a sizeably wounded Charos just to keep the dragon king off my Swogs and my beefed-up Krug. The many beast options keeps these guys a potent army.
 
I would definitely have 1 swog rider for every squad of 3 arrow gruts.
Adding Nerak in the mix too would be a good idea to give them an extra defense bonus.
I find battling with all gruts is fun!
 
Arrow Gruts are deceptive. Individually they're so weak you're tempted to pass them up, or, even worse, buy just one squad to make weight. You need lots of them. I once fielded 400 points of them and they were devastating. They move quickly, and are easily enhanced with height, glyphs, auras, etc. I often draft a squad of gruts and a swog rider together, and consider them the same unit. Cluster the gruts around the swog, and move them like a formation of archers. Worth the 25 extra points to see orcs maneuvre like a marching band! Don't be afraid to take casualties with them, though. To win, you're going to approach 50% casualties or more.
 
These guys (with Krug and some Swogs) are just downright dominating in relatively low-point games when glyphs are present. If you get +move, attack, or defense, they're nasty. Their base range and speed are so solid, that once you get them on height and with some swog support, your opponent will need to take notice when those little 13 point peons start rolling 3 or 4 attack dice.
 
Not a fan of the arrow gruts. In fact, I think they are what make the orcs stink. You just need too much stuff to make them worthwhile. First of all, you need at least 3 squads to do any good. Secondly, you need a Swog Rider for each squad. Now it is true that all of that will only cost you 195 points. Cheap for all you get (12 figures). But I think the out-of-game cost of the arrow gruts and swogs makes them a pain in the neck. Seriously. I think the arrow gruts and swog rider should have been packaged together. Then, I might like them better because they would be easier to get in mass quantities.
 
Oyhedwig said:
Not a fan of the arrow gruts. In fact, I think they are what make the orcs stink. You just need too much stuff to make them worthwhile. First of all, you need at least 3 squads to do any good. Secondly, you need a Swog Rider for each squad. Now it is true that all of that will only cost you 295 points. Cheap for all you get (12 figures). But I think the out-of-game cost of the arrow gruts and swogs makes them a pain in the neck. Seriously. I think the arrow gruts and swog rider should have been packaged together. Then, I might like them better because they would be easier to get in mass quantities.
Yours is the first comment of dislike I've ever read of the Wave 1 & 2 packaging of the Swogs and Gruts.
When Wave 2 was released, I'd bought my standard of four commons for the KoW.
As well, I purchased two additional sets to make custom knight units. So I was fortunate enough to acquire six Swogs.
But if I recall correctly, the most Swogs I've drafted is five in a game and four, the average.

The Orcs pack is definitely a larger purchase quota than some of the other common boosters, but we do get two different common squads of the same point value.
And you only need one Mimring.
And you only need one Krug.
I don't think the payout for a decent Arrow Gruts army is all that bad.

I suppose it's about what a player wants to fork out to play the game, how passionate they are for Heroscape, and what size armies they generally field.

I like the way a general's army can be spread out among waves - though the Gorillinators holding out for the Nakitas' arrive was a long overdue synergy!

------

arp12 said:
Packaging squads that don't work together is how Hasbro makes a lot of money. It works when people want the things though. :|

Although there is a picture of a prototype Orc booster that had the Swog contained with the Blades and Arrows.
:drool:
 
everybody talks about how low the ashigarus' defense is, but they make no note of how low the arrow gruts' defense is.

1 attack, is shit. I could do better with a rubber band.

to boost that attack you have to depend upon height and a swog rider.

Swog riders have 3 defense and one life... no. It's going down. That is going to be my first target. Boom, one or two attacks later, no more swog rider.

the swog riders are common... I have to spend alot of money to get them. Real money.

Personally, I'd take ashigaru. they will have something to make up for the lack of bonding, Kato.
 
For the most part, the best chance the Ashigaru Yari have for boosting their defense is also using Hatamoto Taro in your army. Even then, no additional die is gained, just the Einar symbol counts as a shield. The boost with Arrow Gruts/Swog combo is better, since you get additional attack and defend dice.

This is part of the concept of the orcs. They're low stat/low cost units meant to be used by the masses.
 
TSA,

The relative frailty of the AGs and Swogs needs to be covered by also using Mimring or Krug. You don't have time for a Swog hunt when Mimsy is mowing down your 4th Mass...

~Aldin, professional toothpick thrower
 
Oyhedwig said:
I understand that the way to win with orcs is to outnumber your opponet.

yeah that is true, but never use orcs when your opponent has multi hitters, like Q9 and Q10, or someone with counterstrike, or both (kameon awa), for their defence wil not save them from anything, it is just 1. now back to arrow gruts, i really only use these for bonding, if they have the swog rider, well he dies way to quikly. but they are good swarmers, with just a few points, you can have quite a few, but like i said before, just watch out for multi hitters.
 
marro_master said:
Oyhedwig said:
I understand that the way to win with orcs is to outnumber your opponet.

yeah that is true, but never use orcs when your opponent has multi hitters, like Q9 and Q10,
That's what Krug is for. (Also, those multi-hitters need to kill a lot of Orcs to get back their points.)

marro_master said:
or someone with counterstrike, or both (kameon awa),
Arrow Gruts have Disengage- there is no reason for them to ever be affected by counterstrike.

marro_master said:
for their defence wil not save them from anything, it is just 1. now back to arrow gruts, i really only use these for bonding, if they have the swog rider, well he dies way to quikly.
With height, which is easy to acquire with a move value of 6, and a Swog Rider, they have 3 defense. Toss Raelin in there, and you've got 5. And they're still pretty cheap. I like them better than the marro, perhaps even the Stingers.
 
marro_master said:
Oyhedwig said:
I understand that the way to win with orcs is to outnumber your opponet.

yeah that is true, but never use orcs when your opponent has multi hitters, like Q9 and Q10, or someone with counterstrike, or both (kameon awa), for their defence wil not save them from anything, it is just 1. now back to arrow gruts, i really only use these for bonding, if they have the swog rider, well he dies way to quikly. but they are good swarmers, with just a few points, you can have quite a few, but like i said before, just watch out for multi hitters.
Worse than all those is deathwalker 8000. He can mow down tons of your orcs if your not carefull. And as Jexiv said that is what krug is for.
 
If you're really crazy, you can get 6 Swogs around an arrow grut if you put them in a radial pattern- that would give that one arrow grut 6 defense and attack.

However, I very rarely put more than 1 next to my Arrow Gruts, because I try to keep most of them out of range of enemy units until I want to use them. Losing 2-3 Swog Riders in one turn really hurts.
 
Army Idea:

Krug (120) (2 spaces)
Swog Rider x7 (175) (14 spaces)
Arrow Gruts x6 (200) (18 spaces)

Total: 495 points, 34 spaces

Get you're AG's and SR's in position, then send out hard hits :twisted: After that goes down, (if it does) then send Krug to clean up :utgar:
 
Army Idea:

Krug (120) (2 spaces)
Swog Rider x7 (175) (14 spaces)
Arrow Gruts x6 (200) (18 spaces)

Total: 495 points, 34 spaces

Get you're AG's and SR's in position, then send out hard hits :twisted: After that goes down, (if it does) then send Krug to clean up :utgar:

It's a good concept, however your math is wrong (6 sets of Arrow Gruts @ 40ea. is 240, not 200), and the amount of spaces it would take up is far too many. The limit for a competitive 500 point battle is usually 24 points. It would be better to throw in either Mimring, or another strong hitter. Some armies I have come up with are:

Arrow Gruts x3 - 120
Krug - 240
Mimring - 390
Swog Riders x4 - 490
Isamu - 500
Starting Zone Spaces - 22

Three beasts to choose from, and plenty of Arrow Gruts and Swog Riders. Should be a decent army.

or

Cyprien - 150
Sonya - 195
Arrow Gruts x2 - 275
Krug - 395
Swog Riders x4 - 495
Starting Zone Spaces - 18

Plenty of Swog Riders to go around, however only two sets of Arrow Gruts may be a problem. You would want to get Cyprien and Krug in the front as fast as possible, and shoot from range with the support of your Swog Riders.
 
I almost never draft the swogs with arrow gruts. If you can avoid an odd point differential it doesn't make much sense to add a swog to an orc army. The swogs die fast and when you lose one, you lose 25 points and any bonuses they might offer and feel like a heel.

The arrow gruts are awesome -- sure a defense of 1 really sucks, but that is often why they are almost never targeted. They tend to last in battle because no one shoots at them thinking they are harmless.

Sure they drop like flies when Q9 Quiggies them, but while he's plugging away at 4 or 5 of the arrow gruts, you just smile because he's wasted an order marker wiping out only 40-60 points of figures. Meanwhile you can move in Krug to engage Q9 while you pelt him with the other 4 or 5 gruts who just gained height.

The orcs' maneuverablility is just awesome. Even the heavy gruts can swing out of harm's way and up a small bump in the terrain to gain +1 attack and +1 def. The arrow gruts are effective at this (which is why counterstrike usually isn't an issue and you have to be pretty creative with Q9 or DW8000 to get everyone in range and LOS to take more than a couple of 'em out).

The Arrow Gruts have exceptionally cool sculpts too, with three different poses that when mixed together look like a fast wild enemy. They are almost never disappointing to play unless you use them as a filler unit and draft only one squad. 120 points of gruts without swogs is a great addition to any army. 240 points with Krug makes them effective at killing almost any enemy (especially Q9) worth their points or more.
 
I would point out at this point in the discussion that Swogs can be used very effectively as "missles" independently of all other squads. Their movement of 8, their double base, and their disengage ability makes them hard to stop and quick to close ground. I've seen many a Krav unit go down to the Swoggies 3 attack dice when the kitty gained adjacency.

*markwars double caresses his 12 sets of Blade and Arrow Gruts*:twisted::twisted:
 
Whoops, wrong thread. Thought I was posting in the Book of Heavy Gruts. I'll think up something profound to say about the Arrow Gruts later, so... watch this space.

How about "remember folks - all it takes to kill a Deathwalker is a single skull and a little luck".

~Aldin, who has never managed to use Arrow Gruts well
 
Whoops, wrong thread. Thought I was posting in the Book of Heavy Gruts. I'll think up something profound to say about the Arrow Gruts later, so... watch this space.

How about "remember folks - all it takes to kill a Deathwalker is a single skull and a little luck".

~Aldin, who has never managed to use Arrow Gruts well

I really like what the Arrow Gruts bring to the table: low cost, movement superior to many ranged squads that will run you triple their price, and bonding with Krug and Mimring. What I don't like are the Swog Riders and their habit of constantly getting assassinated. I can't make Arrow Gruts work with just the two Swogs I own. I just bought a third Knights & Swog, maybe that'll help enough.
 
Whoops, wrong thread. Thought I was posting in the Book of Heavy Gruts. I'll think up something profound to say about the Arrow Gruts later, so... watch this space.

How about "remember folks - all it takes to kill a Deathwalker is a single skull and a little luck".

~Aldin, who has never managed to use Arrow Gruts well

I really like what the Arrow Gruts bring to the table: low cost, movement superior to many ranged squads that will run you triple their price, and bonding with Krug and Mimring. What I don't like are the Swog Riders and their habit of constantly getting assassinated. I can't make Arrow Gruts work with just the two Swogs I own. I just bought a third Knights & Swog, maybe that'll help enough.

I can't get them to work really well for me either, but I think it's my style of play. I normally don't play very well with "take up shop" armies - that is, armies that look to cluster together in a certain spot on the map and wait for reinforcements. I like to charge in, guns blazing, and not wait around for mistakes or to get positioning. The Arrow Gruts are fast, but they have to wait for Swogs (usually multiple) before they're ready to go in, and then they have to get Krug or Mimring going with them.

The same principle makes me a bad 4th Mass player, and not very good with the Vydar ranged pod either. Give me some 10th Foot, or Rats, or Minions that can just charge.
 
I've never played 2 squads of Arrow Gruts with less than 4 swogs. I find they get targetted before the actual gruts so I need more. And if you manged to keep the front swogs alive, theres nothing better than a squad of arrow gruts on elevation boosted by multiple swogs.
 
I know it can be said of everything, but Raelin definitely helps the swogs and arrow gruts stick around more.
 
I know it can be said of everything, but Raelin definitely helps the swogs and arrow gruts stick around more.

Still a good point though Jexik, especially with the Gruts. Raelin with Minions for example is simply overkill, and possibly a waste.
 
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