I’ll give everyone a moment to stop laughing/swearing… It’s okay… I’ll wait.
Please, just hear me out.
I have been playing Orks for just over 20 years, and I believe that one unit that has consistently been worth it’s points in every edition has been Gretchin.
Why?
Always cheap, always good at tar-pitting big baddies you don’t want to deal with, (“Nice Carnifex… have fun chewing on Gretchin for the next 4 turns), always the best shots in the army, always cheap, always versatile, always underestimated, and mostly overlooked.
This has not changed in 8th edition.
Gretchin how I love thee… let me count the ways:
- Cheap models: When you figure the headcount of an Ork army, Gretchin are the least expensive models that the Orks have. For less than $50 at MSRP you can get 30 Gretchin and 3 Runtherds.
- Cheap troops choice: Being able to take units between 10 and 30 offer a lot of versatility. Even if you just need to fill out troops choices for a Brigade Detachment, you can do so for less than 200 points.
- Objective Secured: Because they are troops, they get the objective secured trump card. This can really help when you take small units or if a larger unit has been whittled down by the enemy while camping on an objective.
- Better bullet catchers: They can keep you from getting obliterated in the shooting phase by tying up your enemies in combat. Don’t forget that Gretchin have the same 6+ save that Boyz do, but at half the cost. This goes nice with cover saves and a red wine while camping objectives.
- Foiling fallback moves: Using Da Jump to throw some Gretchin behind your enemies is a good way to pen them in and keep them from being able to Fall Back. The bigger the squad, the more ground you can cover and prevent your enemy from being able to move out of combat.
- Board Presence: Even just 3 squads of 10 Gretchin each can effectively block your entire deployment zone from infiltrating shenanigans.
- They are the best Ork Shooting unit: It’s true. They hit on a 4+ and if there are 20 or more Gretchin in the unit then they get a +1 to hit with their Grot blastas. This means they hit as well as Space Marines. And since their guns are S3, that means that they wound most infantry on 5’s. Don’t forget that Grot blastas are pistol weapons and get to fire while you are in combat.
- They are Fearless: If you have a Warboss or a Runtherd with a Squighound within 3”, they are effectively Fearless at the cost of D3 mortal wounds/models.
- They’re ORK, <CLAN>, INFANTRY: This means they benefit from things like a Weirdboy Waaagh! Energy, Da Jump, Kustom Force Fields, Dok’s Tools, the Warboss’ WAAAGH!
Moving, advancing and charging with Gretchin sounds like a bad idea, but remember, if they have 20 or more models they get a +1 to hit because of their Surprisingly Dangerous in Large Numbers rule. They also get +1 attacks from Ghazghkull’s Great Waaagh! ability.
I’m not saying Gretchin will do a bunch of damage in the assault, but with some lucky rolls, they could. And more times than not, opponents get nervous when you are throwing 60+ attacks at them.
Heck, if you use the Mob-Up Stratagem to add another 10 Gretchin to the unit in the movement phase, then cast Warpath on them, that’s 120 attacks that are probably hitting on 4’s. That’s 1 attack per point spent on Gretchin!
If you have a Runtherd with a Grot Lash nearby you get to re-roll hit rolls of 1’s in the fight phase.
And if they last into your next turn, they will get to shoot their Grot blastas, probably hitting on a 3+.
At very least they are disruptive. This means they will have to dedicate something to dealing with your Gretchin instead of your other threats.
- Gretchin are fun: That’s really the best part about Gretchin. They are hilarious models. They have a ton of character, and since no one expects anything from them, any time they perform well it makes it that much sweeter.
I mean anyone can brag about beating face with Ghazghkull and a bunch of Nobz, but when you beat someone with Gretchin, you become legendary!
I find that most Ork players only include Gretchin as an afterthought to their army to fill Troops slots and maybe to claim some easy objectives for an extra point or two per game.
However, if you build your list and plan your tactics around them, you will find that they are the most points efficient and the most versatile unit that the Orks have.
And remember, Frontline Gaming sells gaming products at a discount, every day in their webcart!
