Piggybacks

Piggybacks Grymkin Unit Officer Command Attachment

Prime This model is available in one Prime Army, Grymkin. It can also be used in the Unlimited game mode. You can view the other Mk3 models that made it into a Legacy Army at this page. Note that the rest of this page is about the model's Mark III rules.

"Squeal for us, it sounds so nice. ’Tis your reward for gluttony’s vice!"

Living testaments to the dangers of overindulgence, piggybacks serve as a cautionary tale to all who would surrender to the pleasures of the flesh. The hogs chuff gleefully over the tormented moaning of their withered mounts—tortured souls who must forevermore bear their crushing burdens in battle for the Wicked Harvest of the grymkin.

Basic Info

Piggybacks
Missing Info
	COST {{{cacost}}} UNIT SIZE {{{casize}}} FA {{{cafa}}} Warcaster 0 BASE Medium SPD 5 STR 8 MAT 6 RAT N/A M.A. N/A DEF 11 ARM 14 CMD 7 ESSENCE {{{essence}}} FOCUS N/A FURY N/A THRS N/A HP 5 F. Field N/A WJP {{{wjp}}} WBP {{{wbp}}} IHP {{{ihp}}} FA 2 UNIT SIZE 3 / 5 +1CA COST 9 / 15 +5CA 3.3 each N/A N/A Warcaster 1 COST N/A N/A Understanding the Statblock

Abilities

• Entire unit
  • Tough
  • Impervious Flesh - When this model suffers a damage roll, roll one fewer die.
  • Shield Wall (Order) - Until the start of their next activation, each affected model gains +4 ARM while B2B with another affected model in its unit. When receiving this order a model can forfeit its Combat Action to gain +3” movement as part of its Normal Movement this turn. This bonus does not apply to damage originating in the model's back arc. Models in this unit can begin the game affected by Shield Wall.
  • Snacking - When this model boxes a living model with a melee attack, it can choose to RFP the boxed model. When it does, this model can remove d3 damage points.

• Officer only
  • He has +1 MAT, +2 CMD, and +3 HP
  • Officer
  • Defensive Formation [ Minifeat ] - This model can use Defensive Formation once per game at any time during its unit's activation. This activation, models not affected by the Shield Wall order in this unit currently in formation gain Reposition [5"]. Additionally, at the end of this activation any previous orders this unit was issued expire and this unit is affected by the Shield Wall order. (Reposition [5"] - At the end of an activation in which it did not run or fail a charge, a model with Reposition [5"] can advance up to 5", then its activation ends.)
  • Granted: Retaliatory Strike - While this model is in formation, models in its unit gain Retaliatory Strike. (Retaliatory Strike - If a model with Retaliatory Strike is hit by a melee attack made by an enemy model during your opponent's turn, after that attack is resolved the model with Retaliatory Strike can immediately make one basic melee attack against that model. The model with Retaliatory Strike can make only one Retaliatory Strike per turn.)
  • Tactics: Bulldoze - Models in this unit gain Bulldoze. (Bulldoze - When a model with Bulldoze is B2B with an enemy model during its Normal Movement, it can push that model up to 2" directly away from it. A model can be pushed by Bulldoze only once per turn. Bulldoze has no effect when a model with Bulldoze makes a trample power attack.)

Weapons

• Pole Arm - 2" reach, POW 5, P+S 13 melee attack
  • Brutal Charge - This model gains +2 to charge attack damage rolls with this weapon.

Theme Forces

• Bump in the Night. They gain Rise in this theme.
• Dark Menagerie

Thoughts on Piggybacks

Piggybacks in a nutshell

Command Attachment

Piggybacks are a slow heavy infantry unit. They advance in shield wall and become impervious to weaker attacks, forcing the enemy to engage them with heavy weaponry. Their Impervious Flesh rule makes their deceptively low armor quite impressive - while in Shield Wall an unboosted POW 12 can't do even a single point of damage to them.

Thoughts on the CA

Oink oink here he comes! The Piggyback Officer adds a bunch of cool rules to Piggybacks to really amp up their defensive game play as well as giving them some disruptive options. Defensive Formation is extremely useful for advancing up the board while remaining in Shield Wall, or allows a unit of pigs to charge and then switch order to Shield Wall at the end of their activation. The Officer gives the unit Retaliatory Strike while he is alive, which helps to deter attacks from softer targets and massively increases the hitting power of pigs locked in melee. Lastly, their Bulldoze Tactic gives them a useful scenario presence and can be used to set up charge lanes for Grymkin's diversity of hard hitting melee 'beasts.

Combos & Synergies

Piggybacks are a unit that does not work well in a vacuum, it relies heavily on combos and synergies with other parts of the faction. This is due to their reliance on defensive rules over raw stats, rules which magnify the power of support effects placed on the Piggybacks.

• The Death Knell is a key option that helps their ability to survive attacks. The +2 ARM is huge with Impervious Flesh, allowing them to shrug off POW 14 hits under Shield Wall.
  • Low pow shooting (pow 10/11) is very scary if the Piggybacks run to get up the board. The Death Knell helps to mitigate this threat. (note that this role can be largely fulfilled by the Officer or a Malady Man)
  • Take a high POW boostable shot, such as POW 15 from a warjack. At ARM 17 a boosted POW 15 will kill a Piggyback in one shot (forcing a Tough roll). At ARM 19 however it is more likely to do 2-3 damage instead of the critical 5. This massively increases the amount of resources your opponent needs to deal with a unit of Piggybacks, and makes it far more risky for them to engage with their heavy 'beasts or 'jacks.

• Piggybacks are the most durable Grymkin unit, and on top of that are the most expensive at 3pts a model. This makes them usually the best Revive target in the faction. While those revived must sacrifice their combat action, they can gain Shield Wall if revived before the Piggyback unit activates. (additionally with the Officer they can still use Retaliatory Strike & Bulldoze the turn they are revived)
  • The Twilight Sisters can return two per turn. The Twilight Sisters can also heal injured Piggybacks, making them an extremely useful support piece before any Piggys have fallen.
  • Old Witch 3 Can return an additional d3 of them per turn through Hellhole.
• Piggybacks enjoy damage buffs, as they have low base output but are good at hanging in melee. (this is especially true if the Officer is still alive providing Retaliatory Strike)
  • The Heretic provides Fury and his trump, making him often considered the best Piggyback caster. The Heretic also benefits from the relationship, as he likes to sit behind friendly large or medium bases to avoid shooting as he moves up the table to engage the enemy with his powerful personal output.
  • The King of Nothing offers Scything Touch, which on a mobile warbeast can pair wonderfully with stuck in Piggys. However the King has to stay away from his own Piggys, as his minus ARM aura cripples their durability.
  • Old Witch 3 has Curse of Shadows, and can blind their targets. She also has access to revive and a powerful anti-shooting spell in the form of Windstorm. Besides the Heretic, Old Witch 3 is often discussed as the premier Piggy caster.

• Piggybacks like to have a counterpunch, as once they are stuck in melee their output declines substantially
  • Neigh Slayers in particular are very good at this. They tend to like the same support as Piggys (recursion, damage buffs, anti-shooting tech) and are especially good against the kind of targets to which Piggys are most vulnerable.
  • Dread Rots are a cheap option which compliments the Death Knell (as a source of corpses) as well as the Piggys themselves. Piggys are one of the few reliable ways to deliver the Glimmer Imp, which is often the best support piece to take with Dread Rots.
  • Warbeasts like Gorehounds, Skin & Moans, and the Clockatrice all take the same kind of buffs as Piggybacks and are effective at trading up into the kind of targets Piggys typically struggle against.

• Piggybacks are very slow, and pair well with faster models which can outflank the spaces which the Piggys occupy. Additionally, they themselves love SPD buffs
  • The Malady Man is going to be almost an auto-include with Piggybacks, thanks primarily to Desperate Pace increasing their ability to get up the board early and into positions where they can tie down the maximum number of enemies. The Monkey is also extremely good at providing cover for the Pigs, whose Shield Wall does not work if attacked in the back arc. He can increase their durability even further thanks to Monkey Bite, potentially forcing your opponent to boost both attack & damage rolls.
  • Gorehounds are great at getting past enemy formations which the Piggys have tied down to get at the squishy support in your opponent's backfield.
  • Murder Crows are almost the exact opposite of Piggybacks, all offence with no defence. With the additional distance provided by the Officer and the Malady Man, Murder Crows arriving from Ambush will finally be able to engage those enemies which the Pigs have tied down.

Drawbacks & Downsides

• They're extremely slow, only moving 5" a turn if kept under Shield Wall
  • Sometimes they'll need to make it to scenario as fast as possible to become the anchors they want to be, but running out of shield wall exposes them to incoming gunfire. This is often the best use for the Officer's minifeat, allowing the Piggys to move a full 10" but retain their Shield Wall.
  • Their melee threat range is only 10". This often isn't a huge deal, but makes them awful if stationed on the flanks as they will be unable to support other elements of your army (Pushing to a 12” threat is why the Malady Man is such a significant support piece for the Pigs).
• They can't charge without making themselves much easier to kill (the Officer’s minifeat can be used to Repo back into Shied Wall post charge. Touch something soft enough and you might even be able to repo forward).
• They have a very low output for their points. One Piggy is 3 points, which equates to nearly three Dread Rots or two Hollowmen, both of which are much better at actually damaging the enemy.
• Extremely weak to debuffs (especially ARM debuffs) due to their reliance on rules as opposed to raw stats. Slightly counter-intuitively, this does make them much more resilient to rules like Armor-Piercing which are better at cutting through raw stats.
• They are very vulnerable to powerful sprays or AOEs, due to needing to be B2B to maintain Shield Wall. This isn't necessarily an issue due to their resilience, but becomes especially problematic if those sprays/AOEs carry debuffs or knockdown effects.
  • The reliance on B2B does mean that models which can split a packed formation (Gunbunnies with Bulldoze, Hellmouth) are particularly good against Pigs.
• Piggybacks require a lot of support to perform well, often taking up additional free slots or points beyond just their base cost.

Tricks & Tips

• Don't forget they have Snacking
  • This means that recurred and wounded Piggybacks have a reliable source of self-healing. It's often better to revive a dead Pig and let the others snack than to just heal a Pig.
  • Its an always-on remove from play, which is very useful especially into factions with recursion effects (do remember that is only applies to Living enemies with recursion mechanics, no messing up Cryx, Convergence or Exalted unfortunately).
• Their formation can increase or decrease how easy they are to kill
  • An hourglass formation (2 leading, 1 in the middle, and 2 in the rear) can be very difficult for melee attackers to reach the rear Piggybacks.
  • A standard Shield Wall triangle keeps the inner Pig very safe, creating opportunities for recursion or healing later
• Bump has Rise as a theme benefit, so make sure you stand all your Piggybacks back up each turn.
  • This makes it very difficult for your opponent to finish off even badly wounded Pigs, thanks to the combination of Tough & Shield Wall.
  • Being knocked down by a Tough check doesn't remove the bonus from Shield Wall, so it actually doesn't make them much easier to kill

Other

Trivia

• Base unit released 2017.06
• CA released 2019.03
• The Piggyback is a visual allusion to classical representations of greed. The little man on the bottom carrying the pig is the soul itself (the actual grymkin), the pig is a manifestation of the weight they put on others in life.
• The unit leader is a visual allusion to Snowball from the book Animal Farm, a pig who takes over the farm from the humans and eventually becomes an even worse dictator than the original farmer. He stylizes himself as a great general, in a direct reference to real world characters such as Stalin. The unit leader's admirals hat explicitly references this state-level greed.

Other Grymkin models

Grymkin Index       (Edit)
Battlegroup
Warlocks	The Child - The Dreamer - The Heretic - The King of Nothing - The Wanderer - Old Witch 3 Arcana Warlock Attachment: Baron Tonguelick
Warbeasts	Lesser: Crabbit	Light: Frightmare - Gorehound - Rattler
	Heavy: Cage Rager - Clockatrice - Skin & Moans	Gargantuan: Slaughterhouse
Units, Solos, & Battle Engines
Units	Dread Rots - Hollowmen - Mad Caps - Malady Man - Murder Crows - Neigh Slayers - Piggybacks - Twilight Sisters
Solos	Baron Tonguelick, Lord of Warts - Cask Imp - Defiled Archon - The Four Horseymans - Glimmer Imp - Grave Ghoul - Gremlin Swarm - Isiah, Dread Harvester - Lady Karianna Rose - Lord Longfellow - Trapperkin - Weird Wendell - Witchwood
Battle Engines	Death Knell
Theme Forces		Minions
Dark Menagerie - Bump in the Night		Refer to Category: Grymkin Minion
This index was last updated: 2021.08

Rules Clarifications

Rules Clarification : Powerful Charge  and/or Brutal Charge     (Edit) If you declare a charge but move less than 3", then the attack doesn't count as a "Charge Attack" and you won't get the bonus.

Rules Clarification : Tough - None yet. (Edit)

Rules Clarification : Impervious Flesh      (Edit) Impervious Flesh applies to everything, including stuff which "doesn't come from a model" like Continuous Fire.

Rules Clarification : Shield Wall      (Edit) You don't need to have the entire unit in B2B to get the bonus. Even just two models in B2B will give it to each other. Which way they're facing doesn't matter, either. You can still get Shield Wall while knocked down. Shield Wall works against all damage except damage originating in your back arc. If a damage roll doesn't have an origin point (such as Scather, Old Witch1's feat, continuous fire, etc) then by definition it can't originate in your back arc, and you'll get your bonus vs it. It won't work vs stuff that "leaps" off models in your back arc, such as Electro Leap. (Locked thread) If you start the game in Shield Wall, it will expire when you activate the unit. It doesn't let you run and be in Shield Wall on turn 1. Since models move in straight lines, it impossible to keep two models B2B while advancing. Thus you cannot benefit from Shield Wall while moving through acid clouds etc. Unless you have something that lets you move through models, like Tactician. Orders affect unit attachments, even if that attachment doesn't have the order on their card (such as a Soulless Escort benefiting from the Shield Wall order). (Infernal Ruling) You get your Shield Wall bonus vs continuous fire in the Maintenance Phase. Shield Wall doesn't expire until the unit activates. (Locked thread)

Rules Clarification : Snacking      (Edit) You can use Snacking to RFP your target even if you're at full health. (Locked thread) Snacking occurs at boxed, and thus: Doesn't prevent abilities that trigger at disabled (such as Tough, Self-Sacrifice, etc). Might prevent abilities that trigger at boxed, depending on who the active player is and whose model the ability triggered on. Refer the 'Triggers' section (pg 10 of the pdf) Does prevent abilties that trigger at destroyed (such as collecting soul tokens, etc) You can snack friendly models. You may choose where each individual point of healing goes. If you kill multiple models with a single attack (such as trampling over them) then you get to heal once for each model killed.

Rules Clarification : Vengeance and/or Righteous Vengeance and/or Retaliation and/or Swift Vengeance and/or Tantrum     (Edit) Vengeance moves do not have to be towards an enemy model. You can choose to not move, but still get the attack. One is not conditional on the other. In this case, you will not count as advancing and thus will not trigger stuff like Countercharge. (Infernal Ruling) Vengeance is not an activation. It does not prevent the model/unit from activating and acting normally later in the turn. Stationary and knocked down models may not perform Vengeance moves nor attacks. Units only Out of formation models cannot make Vengeance moves nor Vengeance attacks. However if the unit commander uses their movement to bring the Grunts back into formation, then they can move and attack. When resolving Vengeance, move all models in the unit before making any attacks. (Infernal Ruling) If you have more than one unit with Vengeance, move all of unit A then complete all of unit A's attacks, before starting to move unit B. If you manage to spawn new models during the Maintenance Phase (such as with Reconstruction or Blood-Bound) then those new models can also make Vengeance attacks. (Infernal Ruling) Due to the way it is worded Vengeance can be "inherited" by unit attachments that do not actually have the Vengeance ability themselves. For instance, a Soulless Escort attached to the Spears of Scyrah. If anyone is damaged, including the attachment, everyone in the unit gets to trigger Vengeance. But if everyone is killed except the attachment, then he doesn't get to trigger Vengeance because the rule is "no longer on the table". Granted [ Vengeance ] If the model granting Vengeance dies, the unit will not get any Vengeance attacks. It is "If you have Vengeance, and you were damaged last turn, you get a move+attack." It is not "If you get damaged, you get Vengeance next turn." If you lose Vengeance halfway through resolving Vengeance, then you stop resolving Vengeance immediately. (Infernal Ruling) Triggers Only enemy attacks trigger Vengeance. There are plenty of ways enemies can damage you without attacking you (such as Electro Leap) and these will not trigger Vengeance. If a CA has Granted: Vengeance then only models in formation have it. However, models that are damaged while out of formation can trigger Vengeance, they just will not benefit from it. (Locked thread)

Rules Clarification : Officer      (Edit) Even if they're not on the Officer's card, an Officer can give (and benefit from) any non-standard orders that are on the unit's card (such as Shield Wall). Refer main rulebook. A Ranking Officer can't do this, though. When the Officer dies, the Leader model becomes the new Unit Commander (you don't get to choose). But if your unit doesn't include a Leader model, then you do get to choose any of the remaining models to be the new Unit Commander. You don't swap the model, but it may be worth putting a token down so you can tell that grunt apart.

Rules Clarification : Defensive Formation      (Edit) Defensive Formation doesn't actually issue/receive a Shield Wall Order, it just causes the whole unit to be affected. This means two things: It doesn't interact with stuff which works on issuing/receiving orders (such as Rebuke or the Pandemonium Arcana). Models out of formation will also gain Shield Wall. (Infernal Ruling) Restrictions on "Any Time" abilities     (Edit)         [Show/Hide] "Any Time" abilities can be used at any time during a model/unit's activation, except: Before any compulsory forfeiture of movement/action. See step 2 of the activation sequence, appendix A. After the model with the "Any Time" ability has had their activation end "prematurely". By this I mean you resolved something which includes the phrase "its activation ends". Examples include: Running, failing a charge, or failing a slam. Abilities that include "then its activation ends" (such as Reposition and Teleport). In between declaring your charge target and making your charge movement. (Infernal Ruling) In between completing your charge movement and determining whether it was a successful charge. (Infernal Ruling) When you're in the middle of moving. (Note: Impact Attacks count as being in the middle of movement). When you're in the middle of an attack. Which also includes effects that occur "after the attack is resolved". (Although the attack is "resolved" at Step 11, in terms of using an "Any Time" ability the attack is not "finished" until after Step 14. Refer to the first paragraph of Apdx A.) Your opponent interrupted your activation to trigger one of their own abilities (such as Countercharge). Warcasters/warlocks/etc can normally cast a spell or use their feat "At any time". However, there is a core rule saying they cannot do so on the same activation that they run. So, they are subject to all the same restrictions listed above, plus they can't cast/feat before running. Units: See below. In general you can use "Any Time" abilities while you're knocked down or stationary (except Spells and Feats which specify you can't). If you have a gun with a random ROF, you can use an "Any Time" ability inbetween rolling the number of shots and actually making the first attack. (Infernal Ruling) Units with "Any Time" abilities You cannot use an "Any Time" ability before issuing/receiving orders. See step 1 and 2 of the activation sequence, appendix A. A model in a unit can't use an "Any Time" ability after they run (Infernal Ruling) or fail a charge. Because that makes that specific model's activation to end even though the unit's activation is still ongoing, and you can't use abilities on models that are not active. You can use an "Any Time" ability before running, however. A model in a unit can't use an "Any Time" ability after anyone in the unit has begun a Reposition move. (Infernal Ruling) Rules Clarification : Reposition      (Edit) Models out of formation cannot move via Reposition. Refer to the "Out of Formation" rules in the core rulebook. End of Activation (Edit) You cannot resolve two end-of-activation movement effects (refer to "End of Activation Movement" in the core rulebook). For EOA stuff that doesn't involve movement, though, it gets a bit more murky: Some EOA abilities explicitly state your activation ends as part of resolving the ability (like Reposition), and some don't (like Refuge). Whether it is explicit it or not, by definition an EOA ability is the last thing you can do for that activation. For instance, if you resolve Refuge and then continue your activation to cast more spells, then you have not used Refuge at the end of your activation. You cannot do an "at any time" ability during or after triggering an EOA ability; you cannot cast spells, purchase additional attacks, use a mini-feat, etc. If you start resolving an EOA movement (such as Reposition) then you cannot trigger abilities that occur "at any time" (such as Go To Ground). Because you can't trigger it while resolving the EOA movement, and after the EOA movement your activation has ended. (Infernal Ruling) For units: if any model in the unit starts resolving the unit's EOA movement, then no model in the unit can trigger an any-time ability. (Infernal Ruling) See also the training article: LPG - End of Activation.

Rules Clarification : Tactics vs Granted     (Edit) Granted = The unit loses the ability as soon as the model that grants it is taken off the table. (think "G for Goes away") Tactics = The unit keeps the ability for the entire game, regardless of who dies. (think "Tac-Tick = K for Keeps")   Granted [ Vengeance ] If the model granting Vengeance dies, the unit will not get any Vengeance attacks. It is "If you have Vengeance, and you were damaged last turn, you get a move+attack." It is not "If you get damaged, you get Vengeance next turn." If you lose Vengeance halfway through resolving Vengeance, then you stop resolving Vengeance immediately. (Infernal Ruling)

Rules Clarification : Retaliatory Strike      (Edit) "Basic melee attack" also includes Mount Attacks. Refer to the definition of 'Basic Attack' in the rulebook. You can't make Retaliatory Strikes vs free strikes, because the free striker is defined to be in your back arc (regardless of the actual model's facings) and thus you don't have LOS to it. (Infernal Ruling)

Rules Clarification:  : Bulldoze      (Edit) (Click Expand to read)

(A) People think Bulldoze works like a bowling ball hitting tenpins. But this is wrong because the models haven't been moved DIRECTLY away. (B) Whereas if you move models DIRECTLY away, you bulldoze the first guy okay, but then the next one's path is blocked (shown in red), and you get stuck. Bulldoze - General Models are pushed directly away from you at the point of contact. Some players do this incorrectly, refer to the section on moving models, below. You cannot cast spells or use any other "any time" abilities when you 'stop' to resolve the Bulldoze movement. It's just a pause, not a stop. The size of the Bulldozer vs the Bulldozed does not matter. A small model bulldozes a large model just fine. (Just don't expect to move a Colossal etc.) Bulldoze only works during your Normal Movement. This includes full advances, runs, charges, and slams, but doesn't include stuff like Reposition or Energizer. You can't make free strikes against models you Bulldoze (because for them it is involuntary movement). Enemy models with 2" melee range will still engage you after being bulldozed. Because they will be exactly 2" away and thus still within 2". An enemy model can only be pushed once by the Bulldozer, but if you have multiple Bulldozer models then you could push the same enemy multiple times. If you contact a model you want to Bulldoze while overlapping another model or an obstacle, then you can "pause" on top of that other model/obstacle while resolving the Bulldoze, then continue your movement off the other model/obstacle. (Locked thread) Bulldoze - Charges / Slams If you attempt to Bulldoze a model out of your charge lane but it does not move far enough, you can't Bulldoze again. You will continue your charge, contact it again, and stop. You can use Bulldoze to get the charge bonus against models between 1 and 3" away. Simply move into B2B, bulldoze them 2" to make some more room, then you can move 2" further forward to get to the "moved at least 3 inches" requirement. Similarly for Slams vs models within 1-3". If you Bulldoze your charge target out of your melee range, this doesn't break the "once in your melee range the target must stay in your melee range" rule. Bulldoze is an exception. (Infernal Ruling) Bulldoze - Moving the models A lot of people think they can bulldoze straight through the enemy lines, like shown on Image A. But what actually happens is more like Image B. This is due to 3 important factors you need to apply: Bulldoze pushes models directly away from your base. Not at an angle. Directly. Away. If there is a model behind the bulldozed model, the model will STOP. And in this situation, a model beside the pushed model is effectively behind it unless you're pushing at a perfect tangent. A model can be pushed only one time via Bulldoze. Push - General     (Edit)   [Show/Hide] Pushed models do not change their facing. Pushed models move at half rate through difficult terrain. Also, Pathfinder doesn't apply during pushes. Pushed models stop if they contact anything - a model of any size, or any obstacles or obstructions. You don't get free strikes against pushed models, because it is "involuntary movement" and therefore does not count as an advance. Pushed models suffer the effects of anything they move through (such as acid clouds). If you use a Push vs a charging model (via a free strike for example), this will stop the charge movement (refer core rulebook). However, if the pushed model is in melee range of its charge target after the push, then it is considered a successful charge. (Infernal Ruling) In that scenario, you measure whether the charging model moved 3" or less excluding the push distance. (Infernal Ruling) If you push a model to a position where it regains Incorporeal (for instance you push it out of range of an Exorcist) then what happens is (Being Checked by Infernals)

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