Group (X) is an interesting rule, and sort of epitomizes what I think of as one of WZE’s big strengths – it looks fairly straightforward at a glance, but once you dig into it, a whole world of possibilities start to show themselves, like the a tender blossoming of a flower. A delicate, well-tended flower. A flower that you will use to repeatedly bash your opponents’ skulls to well beyond the point where they are able to beg for mercy.

That is a gardening metaphor, people.

There’s a lot to go over here, so let’s start off with the actual text of the rule:

Group (X) – During Game Setup, X number of Units of this Unit Type must be deployed at the same time all within 6” of each other. When any Unit of this Unit Type is Activated, X Units of this Unit Type without an Activation Counter must be Activated as a single Activation, the player choosing the order in which each of these Units is Activated, performing the Actions of each Unit independent of the other Units in the Group. If a player cannot deploy or activate X number of Units of this Unit Type, the player must deploy or activate as many as possible.

Seems simple enough. Right now, there’s only two units in the game with the Group (X) rule – Trenchers and Undead Legionnaires, clocking in at Group (2) and Group (3), respectively. These are also the cheapest models in the game, each falling below the 4DP standard for basic troops.

From that standpoint, this rule seems to be more of a balance consideration than an ability. A game of alternating activations needs something to keep players from nickel-and-diming their opponents’ activation economy by front-loading their own activations with hordes of cheap gribblies and then have their bigger, nastier models start blasting away with near-impunity. Group (X) is the flip-side of Pass Tokens, a rule that constrains activation spam capacity at the unit level.

So, at first, it looks like a Nerf. Look again, though, and you might start seeing LEGO.

First off, let’s examine what the rule actually does, and, importantly, what it does not do. For example, it does force you to deploy and activate multiple models in groups, just like the name suggests. Multiple models with Group (X) do have to be deployed within 6” of each other at the beginning of the game.

What it does not do is force you to activate the models in the same groups in which they were deployed, or put any range restrictions on which Group (X) models can be Activated at once. It also does not force you to activate the models simultaneously, but sequentially. With a single Activation, you’re getting four (or more!) Actions. That’s a lot of movement, a lot of shots, a lot of general capacity, all for a budget price. It’s not all upside, but the upsides are there if you look, and once you’ve grasped that, you can start understanding the toolset that Group (X) gives a model.

Let’s look at some of the fun little tricks a canny player can deploy with just a little bit of planning.

Mob Tactics

“GROOOOOOOOOOOOOOUP (X)!”

Currently best employed by the Undead Legionnaires and their hefty Group (3) ability, you can re-enact every zombie movie you ever caught on late-night television. This one requires you to keep a Group close together and focused on a single nearby target. Activate the Group, nominate your first model (hereafter known as “The Sucker”) and nudge it towards the target – Reposition, Move or Charge, whatever’s handy and/or necessary.

Now, if your target’s already been tagged with an Activation, Reaction or Pinned Token, all the better for you – the Sucker can, barring the intervention of third parties, go right for the jugular, bounding in to claim that juicy initial Charge attack and all its bonuses, and then even take a second swing if needs be.

Outside of that ideal situation, though…well, that’s why we call this poor bastard the Sucker. Maybe they take a shot in the chest, get sliced up in a counter-charge, or find themselves char-broiled out of existence by the precise application of a Gehenna Puker. There’s a lot of ways to die in the world of the Mutant Chronicles. Pick one, apply it to the Sucker.*

Don’t feel too bad for the poor dumb bastard, however. They’ve served their purpose, because now you have an enemy model standing there without any options when the second and third models in the Group come shambling in to finish the job. It’s not pretty, but if you wanted clean, you’d play Bauhaus.

This isn’t exclusively a close combat tactic, mind you. Six Kratach shots – or three Aimed ones – is something that very, very few models will be comfortable facing down, and that’s just what you can do with shambling hordes. What about Imperial’s human shi- er, stalwart, salt-of-the-earth soldiers, the Trenchers? Read on, children.

Bait-n-Shred

How to Win Friends and Influence People and Sacrifice Them For Victory Points

This is the Advanced Version of the tactics above. Unlike Legionnaires, Trenchers are actually trusted with the Big Guns sometimes, and this is a perfect tactic to clear the way for that Charger HMG to do its thing.

Now, with Trenchers, you’re looking at a less-robust Group (2), but that’s precisely what’s called for in this situation. Activate a Trencher Trooper to try and bait out the Reaction from your target. Maybe they take it, or they take a pass and face a free, possibly Aimed shot with an Invader Assault Rifle and its unappealingly strong Damage stat. Maybe the Trencher lives, maybe he dies (technically, he is also the Sucker in this little gambit), but you’re putting your enemy in a position to make one of several bad choices. Smells like victory.

After that? Well, assuming your prey still breathes, Activate your nearby Trencher Support, Brace and apply a dose of HMG liberally to the affected area. Side effects of Burst (3) include maiming, death and the salty, salty tears of your opponent.

Multi-Score

“Look, we’re both Group (X) units, can’t we be friends? No? Well, at least I tried.”

There is more to life – and, indeed, Warzone – than just bloody mayhem. Body count’s all well and good for bragging, but there’s Scenarios and Secondaries to be concerned with if you’d like to win a game every now and then. Here once more, Group provides the tools to let you prevail!

Now, this is a strategy that’s a bit more situational, but thankfully, the situation set here is pretty broad. It’ll help you out in Scenarios like Breakthrough, Key Positions and Sabotage, and you can use it to grab Secondaries like Flanking Maneuvers. Less so in Lead From the Front, Hold Ground and some others, but all the other tactics mentioned here should do you fine.**

For all of this, you’ll need to have patience and a mind for clever maneuvering, because the goal will be to get several models in a forward operating range but away from the prying eyes of the enemy. Unlike the previous tricks, this one wants a group that’s spread far and wide, aimed towards multiple points of interest. Use terrain, clever Repositions, Smoke Grenades and any other tools at your disposal to get your grunts up the field over the first turn or two.

Then – ideally after your opponents Activations have been exhausted – you strike. There’s different ways this all shakes out, but the idea is the same. Maybe you walk up to an Objective Counter and press a button. Maybe you’re just trying to get models into your enemy’s half of the board/back edges. In any case, you can do twice or even three times the amount of last-minute scoring than your average model. Games are won and lost on such things.

That’s not even the only way to use Group (X) to rack up Victory Points. A favorite example is Escort – a trio of Undead Legionnaires can run up the board and, with a single Activation, then use their next turn to herd the Objective Model up to 12” away from their starting point. There’s something deeply special about Three Stooging a confused Archangel Pilot off the board with a gaggle of pushy zombies. Alternatively, if you’re of the Darkness persuasion and took Acceptable Casualties, having two or three models walk out and beg the enemy to shoot them is a nice way to make your enemies decide between their models’ safety and giving up Victory Points during the endgame. Never a bad place to put an opponent.

So, there we are – some pointers to help you get started with Group (X) troops. Now, these are basic situations that don’t take a lot of externalities into account. We’re ignoring things like multiple models with potential Reactions, the need for Legionnaires to have a nearby Controller to do several actions, etc. Warzone’s a big game with an almost endless set of possibilities, and keeping an eye out for opportunities to best utilize your models is a key component to becoming a better player.

Bye for now, folks. Remember to keep your Legionnaires topped up on raw meat, and may your Chargers never need a Reload!

_{* yes, it is possible the Sucker survives this attack and continues on their merry way, but then they’ll have to go through the rest of their (un?)lives knowing how little they meant to you. Do you really want to visit such a fate upon them? Of course not. You’re not cruel.}

_{** or not, but you have Group (X) before you, so really, whose fault is that?}