Grotesquerie, how do you run it?

Up until now I ran them with no equipment. After being stuck in close combat with a storm sentinel (AV 12 front) and no way to harm them, I'll never leave home again with at least one pair of scissor hands...

fisheyes wrote:

I am very suprised people are talking about taking an additional IC to join with the second Grot squad. Half the point of the Grotesquery is that they are Fearless, and dont NEED the IC.

Grots don't gain Fearless until the second turn and in the meantime they're Ld 3. If you have them start in Reserve this isn't a problem, but if they are on the board and need to survive a potential alpha strike, you could find your Grots running off the board or reduced to WS 1 or some other such craziness. I know it's an edge case but it does happen. So as long as you are throwing in an IC to ensure that it doesn't, I suppose that it's worthwhile to have a character that will stand out in challenges and stuff like that.

The big thing with IC's for me is that they should provide something the squad doesn't otherwise have: AP2, squad wide 5++, thugs like that.

Is the Visarch with a Grotesquerie a legit idea for the AP 2? They provide him with T5 and lots of attacks and a good character (Aberration) to soak challenges. He won't benefit much from models or characters dying because they are tough, but he does a nice job giving them volume of attacks at AP 2 and their LD debuff + his Silence could be OK.

My biggest hesitation is the 150pts in a 180pt+ unit that rides in AV 10

Thoughts?

Definitely. Normalyl we'd use a succubus for AP2 there and that build winds up costing ~120pts. 30pts more for 3+, EW, the ability to regain wounds if you should happen to lose nearby unrelated eldar bodies , and the ability to force leadership tests at the lowest LD rather than highest is worth that premium. Plus the Visarch can be taken in an otherwise all covens army even without strict raw. Strict raw they can be taken in the formation itself. In reality the best way your likely to achieve that is with a covenite coterie. Though then the question really becomes is daily experiments worth taking a 3rd and 4th grotesque? To that my answer would probably be no.

Dont think you can join a Grotesquery with a Ynnari IC (if the Grots start in a raider, which they should).

Unless something has happened in the 48 hours since I last checked in. I would love to be wrong in this.

Nah running up the field line backer style in the same vain as using a corsair character. For that reason though I'd almost definitely prefer the visarch with voidstorms and a prince or voiddreamer with the grotesques for the 5++ on the squad.

Its now just as easy to add Harlie ICs to the Grotesquery, and they add HaR and more survivability than the Visarch. Just a matter of standing outside the raider for a bit while it warms up

If you take a Raider for the Grots as a FA choice from a Reborn Warhost, they can even start in it.

Jimsolo wrote:

If you take a Raider for the Grots as a FA choice from a Reborn Warhost, they can even start in it.

Can they? Have I missed a trick of how to get Grots into a Reborn Host? I thought Covens stuff was out. Unless it's the whoel dual-factions thing and they can jump in because they're both Dark Eldar...

Q: Can units from two Detachments with the same Faction embark in each other’s Transport vehicles during deployment?
A: Yes.

Seems to cover it. They're both Dark Eldar faction. You can't include them in a Reborn Warhost as they're not in the listed units but there's nothing to stop you from starting in an Ynnari Raider. Not sure why you need to though as they can have their own Raider which also helps to spread Freakish Spectacle (12" -1Ld bubble) around a bit.

Thought so, just wanted to clarify agreed that there's probably not a great deal of utility in it. Actually, talking about spreading the bubble about, does the Raider itself have Freaking Spectacle? Can't remember if it's all units in the Grotesquerie or just the Haemi. If it's the Raider too, you could swap it with a Ynnari raider and have two -1ld bubbles knocking around

As an aside, this really does make it nice and easy for me to run my combined Eldar/DEldar exodite lists

Yep, it's within 12" of models from the detachment. so that includes the DT's.

Aha so swap dedicated transports around (can you do that, or do you have to swap an FA Raider for a dedicated one?)

You still can't start the game in another unit's DT but nothing to stop you embarking T1.

If you want them to start in it, it has to be a FA one from the Reborn Warhost.

So I have two three man grot units, how do they use the squad? Kit out, transport etc.

I'd put each group in a Raider. And give each squad an aberration upgrade with a Scissorhand. Same weapon on your haemonculus.

Count Adhemar wrote:

You still can't start the game in another unit's DT but nothing to stop you embarking T1.

So if I use the Ynnead rule that any member of the Ynnead can be part of any Dark Eldar detachment, can I deploy the Visarch with a unit of Grots in a DT Raider?

Even if I can, is it better to purchase the Visarch as part of a CAD to give him ObSec and then have him embark on the DT Raider T1?

What are your thoughts?

The Visarch will never have obsec. Cads only provide it to the troops choices. A Visarch can never begin the game in a non-ynnari vehicle, no matter what detachment you take them in.

Can I ask a question? Why do people take scissor hands when they already have a fleshgaunlet that's instant death for free?

Scissorhands gives Rending, which is the only way some models have a chance of damaging vehicles.

Rending gives a slight advantage against Walkers and TEQ. And you'll still have tons of ID in the unit.

Plus its really cheap

Just picture in mind a situation where a storm sentinel attacks your squad in close combat. You can't harm them without scissor hands