Ok, today we will build the Grunts, the basic units of our covenant armies. For this I will use a clear battlefield, units starting at 12 inches and trying to just Kill themselves with basic weapons (Magnum vs Plasma pistol).

  

Units involved: 1 marines vs 2 Grunts.

 

Battle 1

 

Round 1 (Marine go first)

·         Marine Activates: Shoot at Grunt A, he need a 6+ to hit Def 8; Hit (2d5 = 4+2 + 2 Attack = 8)

·         [ Grunt A health drops to 1 and becomes fatigated ]

·         Grunt A Activates: Shoot at Marine, he need a 8+ to hit; Miss (2d5 = 3+2 + 2 Attack = 7)

·         Grunt B Activates: Shoot at Marine, he need a 7+ to hit; Miss (2d5 = 2+1 + 2 Attack = 5)

 

Round 2 (Grunt go first)

·         Grunt A Activates: Shoot at Marine, he need a 8+ to hit; Hit (2d5 = 6+2 + 2 Attack = 10)

·         [ Marine health drops to 2 and becomes Fatigued]

·         Grunt B Activates: Shoot at Marine, he need a 6+ to hit; Hit (2d5 = 4+4 + 2 Attack = 8)

 

Result: Grunt Victory

 

Battle 2

 

Round 1 (Marine go first)

·         Marine Activates: Shoot at Grunt A, he need a 6+ to hit Def 8; Hit (2d5 = 6+5 + 2 Attack = 13)

·         [ Grunt A health drops to 1 and becomes Fatigued]

·         Grunt A Activates: Shoot at Marine, he need a 8+ to hit; Miss (2d5 = 5+1 + 2 Attack = 8)

·         Grunt B Activates: Shoot at Marine, he need a 7+ to hit; Miss (2d5 = 2+1 + 2 Attack = 5)

 

Round 2 (Grunt go first)

·         Grunt A Activates: Shoot at Marine, he need a 8+ to hit; Hit (2d5 = 4+5 + 2 Attack = 11)

·         [ Marine health drops to 2 and becomes fatigated]

·         Grunt B Activates: Shoot at Marine, he need a 5+ to hit; Hit (2d5 = 6+6 + 2 Attack = 8)

 

Result: Grunt Victory

 

Battle 3

 

Round 1 (Grunt go first)

·         Grunt A Activates: Shoot at Marine, he need a 7+ to hit; Hit (2d5 = 5+2+ 2 Attack = 9)

·         [ Marine health drops to 2 and becomes Fatigued]

·         Grunt B Activates: Shoot at Marine, he need a 6+ to hit; Miss (2d5 = 4+2 + 2 Attack = 8)

·         Marine Activates: Shoot at Grunt A, he need a 6+ to hit Def 8; Hit (2d5 = 5+5 + 2 Attack = 12)

·         [ Grunt A health drops to 1 and becomes Fatigued]

 

Round 1 (Marine go first)

·         Marine Activates: Shoot at Grunt A, he need a 6+ to hit Def 8; Miss (2d5 = 3+1 + 2 Attack = 6)

·         Grunt A Activates: Shoot at Marine, he need a 7+ to hit; Hit (2d5 = 4+6 + 2 Attack = 12)

 

Result: Grunt Victory

 

Notes - Reflexions

Is clear that the current Grunts was as strong (if not better) than the marines, so we do some adjustment to the points

Point adjustment (Grunt point cost raise from 5 to 7), new set up: 3 Grunts vs 2 marines (21 points vs 20).

Battle 4 (Using “Stand together” SR)

 

Round 1 (Marine go first)

·         Marine A Activates: Shoot at Grunt A, he need a 6+ to hit Def 8; Miss (2d5 = 5+2 + 2 Attack = 7)

·         Marine B Activates: Shoot at Grunt A, he need a 6+ to hit Def 8; Miss (2d5 = 1+4 + 2 Attack = 7)

·         Grunt A Activates: Shoot at Marine A, he need a 6+ to hit; Hit (2d5 = 3+3 + 2 At +1 St = 9)

·         [ Marine A health drops to 2 and becomes Fatigued]

·         Grunt B Activates: Shoot at Marine A, he need a 6+ to hit; Hit (2d5 = 6+4 + 2 At +1 St = 5)

·         [ Marine A is kill and removed from board ]

 

Round 2 (Grunt go first)

·         Grunt A Activates: Shoot at Marine B, he need a 6+ to hit; Hit (2d5 = 6+4 + 2 At +1 St = 13)

·         [ Marine B health drops to 2 and becomes Fatigued]

·         Grunt B Activates: Shoot at Marine B, he need a 5+ to hit; Hit (2d5 = 5+4 + 2 At +1 St = 12)

 

Result: Grunt Victory

 

Battle 4 (Using “Stand together” SR)

 

Round 1 (Marine go first)

·         Marine A Activates: Shoot at Grunt A, he need a 6+ to hit Def 8; Hit (2d5 = 5+2 + 2 Attack = 7)

·         [ Grunt A health drops to 1 and becomes Fatigued]

·         Marine B Activates: Shoot at Grunt A, he need a 6+ to hit Def 8; Miss (2d5 = 1+4 + 2 Attack = 7)

·         Grunt A Activates: Shoot at Marine A, he need a 7+ to hit; Hit (2d5 = 3+3 + 2 At +1 St = 9)

·         [ Marine A health drops to 2 and becomes Fatigued]

·         Grunt B Activates: Shoot at Marine A, he need a 6+ to hit; Hit (2d5 = 6+4 + 2 At +1 St = 5)

·         [ Marine A is kill and removed from board]

 

Round 2 (Grunt go first)

·         Grunt A Activates: Shoot at Marine B, he need a 6+ to hit; Hit (2d5 = 6+4 + 2 At +1 St = 13)

·         [ Marine B health drops to 2 and becomes Fatigued]

·         Grunt B Activates: Shoot at Marine B, he need a 5+ to hit; Hit (2d5 = 5+4 + 2 At +1 St = 12)

 

Result: Grunt Victory

 

Notes - Reflexions

Grunts still to powerful, not representing well the cowardly and nimble enemies we face in the games, so a new profile and points are set up 

New Test: Marine Vs Grunt (updated profile)

 

Units involved: 1 marines vs 2 Grunts.

 

 

Battle 1 (Using “Stand together” SR)

 

Round 1 (Marine go first)

·         Marine Activates: Shoot at Grunt A, he need a 6+ to hit Def 8; Hit (2d5 = 5+2 + 2 Attack = 7)

·         [ Grunt A health drops to 1 and becomes Fatigued]

·         Grunt A Activates: Shoot at Marine, he need a 7+ to hit; Hit (2d5 = 6+5 + 1 At +1 St = 13)

·         [ Marine A health drops to 2 and becomes Fatigued]

·         Grunt B Activates: Shoot at Marine A, he need a 6+ to hit; Hit (2d5 = 3+4 + 1 At +1 St = 9)

·         [ Marine is kill and removed from board]

 

Result: Grunt Victory

 

Battle 2 (Using “Stand together” SR)

 

Round 1 (Marine go first)

·         Grunt A Activates: Shoot at Marine, he need a 7+ to hit defense 9; Miss (2d5 = 1+5 + 1 At +1 St = 7)

·         Grunt B Activates: Shoot at Marine, he need a 7+ to hit defense 9; Hit (2d5 = 4+6 + 1 At +1 St = 12)

·         [ Marine A health drops to 2 and becomes Fatigued and def drop to 8]

·         Marine Activates: Shoot at Grunt A, he need a 6+ to hit Def 8; Hit (2d5 = 6+3 + 2 Attack = 11)

·         [ Grunt A health drops to 1 and becomes Fatigued]

 

Round 2 (Marine go first)

·         Marine Activates: Shoot at Grunt A, he need a 6+ to hit Def 8; Miss (2d5 = 1+4 + 2 Attack = 7)

·         Grunt A Activates: Shoot at Marine, he need a 6+ to hit; Hit (2d5 = 6+5 + 1 At +1 St = 13)

·         [ Marine is kill and removed from board]

 

Result: Grunt Victory

 

Point adjustment (Grunt point cost raise from 5 to 6), new set up: 3 Grunts vs 2 marines (18 points vs 20).

 

Battle 3 (Using “Stand together” SR)

 

Round 1 (Marine go first)

·         Marine A Activates: Shoot at Grunt A, he need a 6+ to hit Def 8; Hit (2d5 = 4+3 + 2 Attack = 9)

·         [ Grunt A health drops to 1 and becomes Fatigued]

·         Marine B Activates: Shoot at Grunt A, he need a 6+ to hit Def 8; Hit (2d5 = 6+3 + 2 Attack = 11)

·         [ Grunt A is kill and removed from board]

·         Grunt B Activates: Shoot at Marine A, he need a 7+ to hit defense 9; Hit (2d5 = 6+5 + 1 At +1 St = 13)

·         [ Marine A health drops to 2 and becomes Fatigued and def drop to 8]

·         Grunt C Activates: Shoot at Marine A, he need a 7+ to hit defense 9; Miss (2d5 = 2+3 + 1 At +1 St = 7)

 

Round 2 (Grunts go first)

·         Grunt B Activates: Shoot at Marine A, he need a 7+ to hit defense 9; Hit (2d5 = 4+5 + 1 At +1 St = 11)

·         [ Marine A is kill and removed from board]

·         Grunt C Activates: Shoot at Marine B, he need a 7+ to hit defense 9; Miss (2d5 = 2+6 + 1 At +1 St = 10)

·         [ Marine B health drops to 2 and becomes Fatigued and def drop to 8]

·         Marine B Activates: Shoot at Grunt B, he need a 6+ to hit Def 8; Hit (2d5 = 6+2 + 2 Attack = 10)

·         [ Grunt B health drops to 1 and becomes Fatigued]

 

Round 3 (Marine go first)

·         Marine B Activates: Shoot at Grunt B, he need a 6+ to hit Def 8; Hit (2d5 = 5+1 + 2 Attack = 8)

·         [ Grunt B is kill and removed from board]

·         Grunt C Activates: Shoot at Marine B, he need now a 7+ to hit defense 8; Miss (2d5 = 3+1 + 1 At = 4)

 

Round 4 (Grunts go first)

·         Grunt C Activates: Shoot at Marine B, he need now a 7+ to hit defense 8; Miss (2d5 = 5+1 + 1 At = 7)

·         Marine B Activates: Shoot at Grunt C, he need a 6+ to hit Def 8; Hit (2d5 = 2+3 + 2 Attack = 7)

 

Round 5 (Grunts go first)

·         Grunt C Activates: Shoot at Marine B, he need now a 7+ to hit defense 8; Miss (2d5 = 1+1 + 1 At = 3)

·         Marine B Activates: Shoot at Grunt C, he need a 6+ to hit Def 8; Hit (2d5 = 4+3 + 2 Attack = 9)

·         [ Grunt C is kill and removed from board]

 

Result: Marine Victory

Result

With this new profile and point cost the Grunt are finally taking their role in the game, At the moment we will keep these numbers. 

  

With all the core rules set (some changes have come recently) Im starting now the daring task of bringing to the table all the soldiers, we want to see in our battles. For this, I had to build a “point system” to calculate a base to start measuring the models.

 

The Golden Rule: Use the Human marine as a starting point, use these “rules” to calculate points, and then playtest, if you see is too weak decrease points if the opposite increases them.

 

The secrets of the dice: We use 2d6 to make all the attacks in HT, so is important to understand the bell curve that these dice tend to follow. The most common result when you roll 2d6 is 7 (58%) so, the “standard” defense is 7 and the lowest Attack value is +0. This will means that half the time standard attacks will hit a standard defense.

 

Statistics of 2d6

 

Roll a…	Probability
2+	1/36 (100%)
3+	3/36 (97.222%)
4+	6/36 (91.667%)
5+	10/36 (83.333%)
6+	15/36 (72.222%)
7+	21/36 (58.333%)
8+	26/36 (41.667%)
9+	30/36 (27.778%)
10+	33/36 (16.667%)
11+	35/36 (8.333%)
12	36/36 (2.778%)

 

 

With these In consideration, I made a set of Stats that are the “basic” non-specific model, this unit then will be modified to math our intentions.

 

“The basic Guy”

Speed: 5/5

Defence: 7/7

Attack: +0/+0

Damage: 1/1

Health: 1/1

 Note: Damage = health/2

  

THE FORMULA

Initially I made a formula to define the cost of the models:

 

Base cost = (Healthx2) + (2xDef bonus) + (Attack bonus) + Sp Bonus = Round to the closest multiple of 5

 

 After some testing this formula we dropped out of the window and when for the “classic” approach: Marine vs Unit.

 

 

 

 

MARINE VS UNIT

The standard marine (UNSC) is the cornerstone of the system, he will have a cost of 10 pts and all new units will be measured against him. So if a unit can easily kill a marine, it will cost more than 10, and if is defeated by the marine the cost will be lower. In essence, we will seek “how many marines” we need to defeat a new unit.

 

With this approach we started to set a new value to the units, we still use the formula (above) as a starting point, but then we measure in combats (always using the basic weapon of the faction) and set the value in this way.

 

THIS IS AN ART

Note that setting points to a model are not 100% perfect, as many external factors can improve the chances of a model in battle. For example, Grunts are really bad at attacking with a +1, but in big groups, they get a +2 and even better with an adjacent covenant ally with a higher combat value.

 

This may seem like the Covenant having a big advantage, having cheap troops that can be really powerful in groups, but these can be counteracted with grenades and area attacks (something that the UNSC has).

 

FINAL NOTES

These are the ramblings of how we will be doing the new points for the units, I hope we can build a fun and challenging game for all.

 

 

 After a long hiatus, I’m returning to overhaul these rules. A lot has changed since I made this, first new technology (3d- printing) allows us now to have any model we want on our table in an easy and affordable way. Second, a whole community has evolved around halo 28mm/32mm.

 

THE HALO VALHALLA AND 3D MODELS

A big community has evolved around 3d printed models of halo in the 28mm/32mm scale, you can find them on Facebook (X) and they (and I) are looking for good rules to play in our favorite sci-fi universe.

 

Also, many great artists in the community have collaborated to bring to the table the amazing units of Halo, people like Vincent and Sergio have graced us with great models of professional quality (see links below), helping to expand the hobby.

 

THE NEW RULES

Seeing this I started to revisit the old Halo tactics rules, so they can accommodate all the new models and are both easy to learn and rewording in tactical options.

 

First I change some mechanics of how activation works and review all the special rules of the game.

 

Second, a new set of profiles and points is the way to go, and a lot of playtesting for the near future.

 

PLAYTESTING

If you want to help us, please check the discord channel (I will put all the updated files there) and give us feedback on points and rules in our Email.

 

Discord: https://discord.gg/PcXWknPPre

 

Email: halogcnewminis@yahoo.com

 

3d Models: You may get some models for free in the Halo – Valhalla FB group and in the Giorgio Donato website

 

https://kawassass00.gumroad.com/?fbclid=IwAR0WwpDpT1ASbRz7weNOgU79TQAbeSjmLxdBq1nEj9moCuNmLJXKx8DNmbk&sort=page_layout