What makes a Grymn, a Grymn?

So in the big scheme of things, what is it that a Grymn has that a human doesn't...apart from height?

From what Kev has said, the Grymn were specifically built for mining the dangerous asteroids that float through space. They have excellent metabolisms that mean they heal fairly quickly, they are strong for their size, highly agile and are able to survive in extreme conditions. They are quick witted and able to soak up alcohol with less effect than a human but how does this effect the Grymn's stats in combat when thinking about wargaming with them?

Well the easiest way of looking at a Grymn is to start with a Human's stats and decide which way to adjust them to best match the Grymn's description.

Let's start with Warhammer 40k and the basic stats for a Guardsman.

Move - 6 (standard for infantry)
Weapon Skill - 3
Ballistic Skill - 3
Strength - 3
Toughness - 3
Wounds - 1
Initiative - 3
Attacks - 1
Leadership - 7

For other games that use size as a modifier to hit, the Human stat is a size 2 (Void 1.1).

Movement - I don't think that a Grymn should be penalised where movement is concerned. Yes, Grymn are shorter than a Human would be but that doesn't mean that they can't move as quickly so I wouldn't have them move slower.

Weapon Skill / Ballistic Skill - I would say that these stats would be comparable to a Human army trooper. The Grymn are a martial race and spend a proportion of their lives in the military as a matter of course...and pride. The Imperial Guard are the WH40k equivalent of Human army troopers so it would make sense to have the same stats for the Grymn.

Strength - Yes, the Grymn are a strong race but it would be too easy to bump up the strength stat and make them too powerful so I would be tempted to leave the strength as that of a Human...and say that, for their size, the Grymn are quite strong.

Toughness - The Grymn are bred for extreme conditions. They have an excellent metabolism and a strong constitution. I think that the Grymn should be tougher than a Human so I would give them an average stat of 4.

Wounds - basic troopers would normally get a wound stat of 1 and I see no reason for the Grymn to be any different.

Initiative - I would suggest that the Grymn are about on level terms with a Human...but maybe would get a bonus for being teamed up with other members of the squad. From what Kev has said, the Grymn work in fire-teams so maybe they should get an initiative bonus if their fire-team is complete? An initiative of 4 if the fire-team is complete, 3 if not.

Attacks - I see no reason to give a basic Grymn any more attacks than 1.

Leadership - Here is where things get a bit more in-depth. Grymn operate better when they have company; Kev said so. Referring back to the Initiative stat, it makes sense to link the Leadership stat to whether or not there are complete fire-teams in the unit. I doubt that a lone Grymn would be any worse off than a standard Human so a base stat of 7 for leadership may be a good place to start. If there is more than half the unit left alive, maybe there should be a bonus for the Leadership stat...if the unit is above 50% then a standard Grymn Leadership stat would be 8. If it drops below 50% it drops to 7.

Height/size - The big question...do we say that Grymn are size 1 or just count them as Human sized for the purpose of targeting? I reckon that a Grymn would be as easy to hit as a Human due to their 'developed' stature. Okay, they are short but they are pretty well built so I would be quite happy to think of them as a Human sixze for the sake of targeting...yes?

So...from what I have written, the Grymn stat for a game of WH40k would be like this:

Move - 6 (standard for infantry...including Grymn)
Weapon Skill - 3
Ballistic Skill - 3
Strength - 3
Toughness - 4
Wounds - 1
Initiative - 3/4(if above 50% unit strength)
Attacks - 1
Leadership - 7/8(if above 50% unit strength)

Size (Void 1.1) - 2 (for the reasons I have given above).

As for armour saves, the Grymn generally have a nice coating of plate armour. Whether or not you choose to count this as Flak or Carapace armour is up to you but my first thought would be Carapace...it just looks so much more hardy than Flak armour...don't you agree?

What about a few special rules?

I think we'll save those for another time.

I welcome any comments on what I have posted and will be happy to accept advice where people think that stats are too low/high.