"WH40K "Grot Big Boss"?" Topic

I need some help with this as I am no expert!

I dabbled in GW stuff (mostly fantasy) when I was a kid but now my kids are into it so I have been cobbling together some armies.

To cut to the chase, I want to make a power-armoured Goblin leader. I have chopped up the bits and bobs. He is ready for assembly and will sport a bionic-eye, power-fist and chain-gun.

Now IIRC the 40K fluff places the goblins as slaves of the Orks. However didn't it also state that Orks respect size and strength above all else. Thus is it not logical and in-keeping with the game's spirit that they would respect a BIG STRONG goblin?

Why bother you may ask! Well I just detest the simian looking Orks and want to limit the amount I have to buy. However, I want to stay in the "spirit" of the rules.

Please tell me whether such an idea is 40K compatible or should I get them into a different system of sci-fi skirmish rules?

HELP!

According to the Rogue Trader fluff (the only 40k I own), not all Gretchins are under the Ork yoke. There are independent Gretchin warlords who control worlds, even small empires the size of a solar system (but that's about as big as it gets).

But it implies that if there are Orks about, they will be in charge (you can have Ork leaders of Gretchin forces). I don't see them taking orders from Gretchins.

Your Power Armour guy would be fine as a Gretchin warlord, but his minions wouldn't have it. Gretchins below Minor Hero level aren't smart enough to operate it. No doubt that rule no longer exists.

So with Rogue Trader you would have been okay. Heaven knows what the fluff says nowadays.

I doubt anyone would have a problem with the fluffy nature of your idea. I don't see why some Grotz shouldn't have overthrown their evil Ork oppressors in some Emperor-forsaken backwater of the galaxy and then declared a Waaagghh! (sp.?) on the back of their success. It should make for some nice conversions (even just gun and pack swaps) and I would happily slaughter them in the name of Nurgle or digest them as unique genetic material with my Hive Fleet.
Just make sure that it is clear what is what and who is who (so he may be a grot power-armoured bigboss but he'll use the standard stats and costs of a Big Boss) and where they sit in your list and everything should be OK. To be honest I'll happily accept any reasonable proxy from any manufacturer in any army.

Someone will probably be along in a minute to mention 5150, but I say if the kids are into the WH40K shiny stuff go with it until they grow out of it. Better that they play soemthing than get all moochy and turned off by Dad's insistence on a more "realistic" ruleset

Thanks for the suggestions. Very useful.

I could indeed turn the kids off and insist upon the Ostfront on Jackson's Valley Campaign but I am sure they would then embrace an alternative in reaction.

Proxying him for a standard Ork "Boss" is a good idea and nice and simple. Shame I didn't think of that – just leaped into the whole justification side. Over complication – bad!

Interesting re the Rogue Trader stuff. My original idea was that this weirdo was some kind of genetic freak who had attained power on a back-water planet. He leads some emancipated grots and has a few Ork mercenaries on his books – perhaps even a bodyguard (oo-er)

Once I have pinned him together I'll post a photo – perhaps it will be of interest.

Thank you

I'm pretty sure there are rules out there for the current edition of 40K which allow 'Grot only' armies.

Gretchin Army! Go for it!

I started one in the Ver2(?) days when I tried to figure out what to do with the forty gretchin that came with each box set, especially when I found three or four boxes for a deal. Needless to say my Grot army has expanded with each year! That would be an understatement. I must have near six to seven hundred now complete with a wild assortment of heavy weapons and vehicles et cetera.

After playing regular space marine or watching friends play other such incredible armies, I came to enjoy playing the gretchin. Here is an army with all the quirkiness of the Orks, where they go horribly wrong on a bad roll. They also have poor skills and weak hits overall. So if you can win using gretchin, you are doing quite good. You can even integrate some fantasy figures and traits into the sf game. Nothing screams success like a space marine getting gored by the spiky helmet of a doom diver.

On the fun side, if you play against your kids to encourage them, they have an opponent that they can both legitimately beat up and even win against, which may go along way in encouraging them to play rather than dissappointing them. It should also be a lot of fun for them to see the weirdness of the gretchin army.

I think your original fluff idea is a good one. And please do post pictures!

Isn't that Grot thing all part of GorkaMorka?

original fluff
just a quick note on ork history.
snottlings used to be the smart ones and they made the grots as works and the orks as war fighters, till the down fall.(some say the snottlings poisoned them selfs with mushrooms and some say the warp demons did it) the snottlings lost their control over their monsters/weapons (the orks) and they took over being bigger and way more war like.

Wasnt there a Grot Boss who was in charge of a "tribe" in that GorkaMorka game?

He wore a red star and it represented some sort of gretchin revolt against the orcs…?

Any other nerds out there who can dig that one up?

Ahh haa!

Found it!

Rebel Grots
Despite the fact that the Gretchin (Grots) of Angelis fight and die for their Orkish masters, Grots do not and will never receive tags- which means they won't be allowed on Gorkamorka when the time finally comes. This was and is very upsetting for them, and many years ago there was a city wide revolution, which was brutally put down by the Orks. Some of the rebellious Gretchin survived, and fled Mektown. These were the ancestors and founders of the "Gretchin Revolutionary Committee" (apparently modelled on some form of Marxist revolutionary organization), led by the infamous Red Gobbo, who dwell in Skid Row- a massive, relatively intact chunk of Space Hulk which lies at the opposite end of Da Skid to Mektown. The Rebel Grots' mission is to earn equal rights, the opportunity for Grots to get on Gorkamorka too.

Don't forget that the original Ork dreadnought used a Gretchin pilot. So a Gretchin wearing power armor would be well within fluff reason….

Rules-wise, I suppose it'd be counting as a normal Ork warbass? Perhaps the armour brings the Gretchin up to the level of an unenhanced Ork.

As for him leading Orks, it's a stretch, fluff-wise, but it's a big galaxy, and there's a lot of Orks.

Freebooterz might follow a gretchin warlord as mercenaries. Ditto Blood Axes. (They will ally with humans if the price is right, why not grots?)
Mad Boyz might happily follow anyone.

Snake Bites (traditionalists) would be least likely to put up with such a thing. Same for Goffs, the toughest, most "orky" of orks.

There have been all-grot armies in White Dwarf from time to time over the years.

Wasnt there a Grot Boss who was in charge of a "tribe" in that GorkaMorka game?

He wore a red star and it represented some sort of gretchin revolt against the orcs…?

Any other nerds out there who can dig that one up?

You're talking about none other then the legendary Red Gobbo, the leader of the Gretchin Revolutionary Army, If memory serves. I remember that the figure was blipping awesome, and easily the most heroic grot figure ever mare…let me see if I can dig up a link. Ah, here we go: coolminiornot.com/162614

Personally, I did a little converting on this figure, replaced the baton in his hand with an imperial powersword and painted his coat the colors of an imperial commissar's, and dubbed him 'Cap'n Zag, da toughest grot in the universe!' He currently leads the horde o' grotz in my ork army: He's their hero! Of course, the fact that his stats JUST HAPPEN to be identical to that of a standard runtherd is a coincidence, really!

Fantastic news that your kids have taken the red pill (quote from the matrix before anyone thinks I am advocating drugging people!).

David
tabletopreview.com

For another fantastic Grot Leadership figure, try hunting down the Goblin Commisar Fortress Figures used to make.

Leather trench coat, peaked cap, pistol and power fist. Kind of a Commisar Yarrick of the Grots as it were. A very keen gretchin to possess as an adjuntc to the Red Gobbo.

GW now is pretty good about 'Counts As'. As long as you are consistent (and it's GW models), you can do the sort of thing you mention.

You could say that all Grots in your army Count As Orks. By that token, you couldn't then field a unit of Grots to be Grots, though as that could potentially confuse them.

One fella did a Genestealer Cult Army using Imperial Guard and Tyranid minis at a recent (2008?) Grand Tournament without any problem. The army book he used was Orks.