If you can afford the points cost then field a giant. Oh, forget that, field one anyway ! Make room for a giant in your army and then stand well back.Giants ...
are aweome, they are not only cool, annoying for your enemy, tough to beat in combat, enjoyably unpredictable, they can even win you a combat by stumbling over ! (D3 str 6 automatic hits for the unforfunates who 'were standing' where they landed).Gone are the days when giants were a pleasant distraction from the real fighting and could 'almost' be ignored in your enemies plans. These guys no longer fall into brain liquifying stupidity at the drop of a hat.
If you haven't already got one then dash out right now to your nearest Games Workshop and pick one up. Then come back and enjoy reading the rest of this post in the knowledge that you've just added a seriously hard and impressively large combatant to your battle lines. (You had better buy yourself a mobile off licence aswell, to keep the big fella happy)
Giants are hard, very hard but they're not overly tough (T5). They are stubborn and have a leadership of 10 ! So, the enemy will not be persuading the fella off the battle field with a couple of dainty prods in the rear. However, your enemy can shoot the poor lumbering hunk to death in pretty short order if you're not careful about the way you use him.
Deploy your Giant last, if you can. It's even worth taking a couple of extra gobbo units to try and make sure you have more units than your enemy at the end of deployment. The you will know where all his missile units are before plonking your 40 ft of fantasy flesh on the board (ooerrr !)
Keep him away from all missile troops, especially bolt throwers and really (!) especially repeating bolt throwers.
Another classic mistake is to lead your giant into combat too soon. You will probably want to deploy him on his lonesome near the back of your army with maybe some boar riders nearby (but not too close !) for company and for flank charging when your giant gets into fisti-cuffs. Watch in satisfaction as your giant first 'spittle sprays' your foe before playing hop scotch through their rank and files.
I should probably tell you a bit about the giant's attacks. They are all special so don't use Ws, Str and A in the usual way. One of a giant's favourite pass times (second only to raiding the local brewey) is Giant dancing... Not break dancing (!) which is just aswell but more of a hop, skip and a jump type dance onto the enemy rank and file, in fact, when he starts he'll only stop if he stumbles and falls over (1 on a D6).
The jump up and down attack, which he will only do againt human size opponents, causes a whopping 2D6 str 6 automatic hits (that's a -3 save modifier !). There's a 1 in 6 chance he will do. The other attacks against human sized (or smaller than Ogre size) opponents are:-
Yell & bawl
- auto win combat res by 2 points !Pick up and either:-
stuff into bag
pickup and hurl into an enemy unit.
If he doesn't do the above he will...
Jump up and down (as mentioned) or
Swing with club
(there's an overall 50% chance he will take this option), it causes D6 str 6 hits so is pretty good.Against larger foes like Treekin, Kroxigors and Minotaurs there is still a 1/6 chance of him yelling and bawling and a 2/3 chance of him either thumping with a club (OUCH !!!) or a headbutt.
The club thump, wait for it... Causes 2D6 wounds ! (they hit automatically) with NO SAVE !!! This is providing the enemy target failed an initiative test on D6. Now that is an impressive attack.
The headbutt is not so impressive 1 auto wound, no armour save but it does stun the enemy so they lose their next attacks (in this round, if they haven't struck them yet, or the next round)
So what do you make of that lot ? I think it makes having a giant a must choice. They're one of the most entertaining models in the Warhammer World and they can turn a battle.
Just don't walk them all over the battlefield inviting missile fire and the likelihood they will trip over a fence, wall or a cow.
Image and miniature is © Games Workshop Ltd. All rights reserved. Used without permission.
