The little Tunneller that Gunned

The Grinder Tank is a special little Unit. He's modest, sports some tank tracks and a short range turret on his back. He burrows, he shoots and he scores. Game on, I say. However, I don't know the stats to the Grinder Tank. I would imagine they wouldn't be far off from Mr Ral-Kurrilik, the Character Grinder Tank.

Subterran grinder tanks are known for their destructive prowess. Rumors persist of a particularly ferocious grinder tank that positively thrives on destruction. Its very presence incites the Subterran forces to a deadly and empowering anger.

A quote from the Monpoc Insider about Ral-Kurrilik, and to follow "IH8M" tradition, we give some of those tongue twisters a new nickname. And I think I shall name him Cranky. He's destructive, he's angry, and he's good at range and in melee.

Now I have your interest.

So we begin. He spawns out onto the field for a cost of 2. Considering he would be akin to an Elite of Grinder Tanks, it stands to reason. Being a Limited unit also stands smartly, as quite frankly the paradox of two sets of Cranky shouldn't be fathomable. Hence, the "Limited" ability. As staple, the guy burrows and at a Speed of 5 spaces. Raise your hand if you're surprised.

Frankie? You can put your hand down. You weren't listening anyway.

Now we move onto what makes him unique. To begin, lets go with the obvious: Rage. Rage is an advantage noted by the gigantic star tattooed with a tooth bearing grin to signify anger. Fair enough. The rule states that "if this figure hits with an attack gain +1 power die". Cool bananas, you hit with an attack you gain an additional power die. Doesn't matter what attack it is, brawl, blast, baked bean farts. It's all the same, so long as you hit. And with Crankys Brawl and Blast of 3*1, he's got a reasonable chance to hit stuff. If not, he's combined in an attack with either brawlers or blasters and he gives a reasonable benefit on top. Heck, if he's not an Eilte Figure then that makes for some powerful combos.

But you know what? You don't need him to shoot. No no, he doesn't need to be in a combined attack to give the full benefits of Rage. Why? Because he permeates an Aura of Rage. That's right, the Rage Ability is Red, so any figure within the 8 squares surrounding Cranky will suddenly get angsty and fire off with extra vim and vigour.

So now he has one last spot for an ability. What could be put there? Surely you'd think something to define him as a Brawler or Blasting figure? Or another ability that he can share to others to emulate his hissy fits. No, they give him an ability I haven't seen since Yasheth.

Sidestep: if an attack against this figure fails to hit, this figure may move 1 space.

It's an interesting choice, and makes me think of Warmachine a little. A figure called Beast-09 has ability called "Hyper Aggressive" where he advances closer when he gets hit. So I imagine Cranky gets nipped on a track, or the shoulder of the turret, and he looms closer, planning on getting closer to smack face against his new target. And with a Defence of 4, Def 5 if he's in cover, it's not like he's going to die easily unless he's the target of a reasonable combined attack.

But that is Cranky. He's the little Tunneller that Gunned, and he's coming soon.

Next: Not the Defender of the Universe!