So, I had this idea to write a series of tactical analysis articles about a dead game I've hardly played, and am not likely to play for the foreseeable future. Why? Well, its something to do. I'm building some Ork Ships, so why not use the creative energy that's there?
Appearing in the original BFG rulebook, the Brute Ramship was possibly the one thing people actually liked about the Ork Pirate Fleet. Why? We'll get into that shortly, but one reason was that it was simply a unique ship that lent itself well to minmaxing. Over time, new ships where created and things improved, but the Brute remained popular. Advance to the 2010 compendium, these end up being the basis of another ship, the Grunt. Its just matter of plopping a Brute onto a battleship base, and you're done. But is the Grunt any good? Is the Brute also any good? Why might either be good or bad? For my ill-informed answer to these and similar questions, read on.
The Brute Ramship and the Art of the Head-on Collision
Now seems a good time to talk about ramming actions in general, before going onto the merits of the Brute. Ramming is usually a matter of three things, lining up, going on All Ahead Full, and then passing a leadership test to connect. Hull type and armour is important, as both ships inflict damage based on their maximum hull points, with the rammer taking the impact on the prow, and the ramee on the facing being dented. Another layer of complication comes from the size and orientation of the target, as its easier to hit a big ship with a small one, and “t-boning” results in the most reward for the least risk. Finally, ramming will always result in your ship moving its maximum distance, so its tricky to go from a ram into a boarding action on the the same target. Orks are pretty good at all this, due to THE BIG RED BUTTON, 6+ Prows, lots of hull points, and most weapons being front facing. An Ork ship can be confident of being in a position to attempt this, do it well, and then suddenly find in the middle of one of those fancy Imperial formations where it can have fun. Brutes are all about that. As escorts, these will almost never fail to hit their target, then inflict 4 dice worth of damage as their defining feature. These somehow ended up as the closest Ork thing to a regular escort too, having 90 degree turns and a reasonable pace of 25cm. Its most directly comparable to the Chaos Iconoclast class,while still having a 6+ front and all the other ork traits. Its the best of both worlds, and while its multidirectional gunz are weedy, it is very cheap at 25 points each. That said, a lot of people get rather excited by the Brute, not unreasonably, but let's not oversell it. As a weapon platform, its significantly outperformed by the admittedly inconsistent Onslaught. Sure, its relatively agile, but it's not got too much dakka. Also, by nature of its job description, it's got a life expectancy of about 20 minutes. It only takes one hit in a ram to destroy a Brute, and while you can chance that with a 6+ Prow, trying to headbutt a battleship is asking for a comedic end.
The Grunt Assault Ship and the Art of “Inspiration”
Designed for boarding Actions with a secondary ram function, the Grunt is similar to the Brute, but dakka is proportionately less, and handling is much worse. The 45 degree turns and inability to Come To New Heading means it can't do the agile stuff. The larger base obviously makes it a bigger target for ordnance too, although it does have two turrets to compensate. As for its primary function? Boarding Actions are much easier overall to connect with than rams, as you only need to touch the target with that bigger base, but present a greater amount of risk. As escorts have only a single Hull Point, can be destroyed by a Critical Hit, with the latter maybe happening even if you win, you have to be prepared for these to die. Against other escorts, the odds are likely in your favour, but you probably need to gang up on something. This is less than ideal, as boarding results get applied to all ships, so whole squadrons can disappear if they pile-on and loose. Your bigger Kroozers don't have this concern, as while boarding is still chancy for them, they have a lot of Hull Points and other bonuses to make them good at it. Meanwhile, the Grunt has half the Ramming ability of the Brute, but the turning radius and larger base muddies the space waters. Grunts have a harder time aiming, but don't need to be as precise. However, these ships can buy the Klaws upgrade and become significantly more compelling. The possibility to inflict 2 damage before boarding commences largely compensates for the concerns above, and presents the amusing possibility of latching on. As Klaws damage on a 4+, they also offer a Lance substitute, and compensate for the reduced raw ramming damage. All things considered, with or without Klaws, a Grunt feels like an Orky answer to Tyranid escorts. That was probably the idea. However, this means that you have to be right on top of the enemy to do anything though, and the cost comes to 35 points each with grabbers.
Conclusion: Apples & Oranges
I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting the Grunt to have a such a clear distinction from the Brute, but neither being overtly superior to the other. It goes like this. The Brute is great at ramming, good as a conventional escort, and rather cheap. The Grunt is good/great at boarding, OK/good at ramming, but costs more and handles like a shopping cart. There is overlap, as both are based on high risk ploys that involve touching the enemy, but has its own unique selling point. That's a stark contrast to Ork Gunships, which tend to have only one function, as they have one defining weapon, and so are easily chosen. I feel actual playtesting is needed to decide a winner, but neither strikes me as a bad choice.
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