The Grimnyr in 10th

Since the 10th edition Leagues of Votann index was released, several people have talked about the Grimnyr being bad, mostly because he can only give his +1 Toughness buff to Hearthkyn. To quote the good people over at The Art of War 40k: "Garbage". And they probably know better what they're talking about than me. Even so, I'm not entirely sure they are right. Let's have a closer look.

The Grimnyr are the psykers of the Kin , except they aren't really psykers. Instead, they have cloneskeins that let them interact with the warp through devices, which is supposed to be safer than just opening your mind to the warp. Or something like that, I need to read up on the lore.

Either way, in 10th edition the Grimnyr has three noteable abilities: He can make his unit of warriors pass battleshock once - rarely an issue with a unit that has sticky objectives, but it could matter. He can give his warriors +1 toughness, which takes them from 5 to 6 - not amazing on 1-wound models, but it makes them last a little bit longer. But significantly, he has a really big... gun. Staff. Mind. Thingy. He makes things dead by thinking angrily at them. We'll get back to that.

Tactical value

A grimnyr has limited tactical value. He has a movement of 5, an OC of 1. Leadership 6+ is better than most Kin, and it will be used for his unit. Being able to pass battleshock once is good in a pinch. You'll use these once in a while to keep an objective from a minor incursion into your backfield or something. But it's not really anything to write home about.

It is important to note that he is a Character. This can be a disadvantage, giving up assassination points, but it can also be an advantage if you're playing Sites of Power.

Defensive stats

At T5 (+1 while in a squad), 4 wounds and a 4+ save, the Grimnyr isn't a big tank. With a few hearthkyn, he's able to let the CORVs take damage first, keeping slightly-more-valuable Kin alive longer. But the CORVs won't help against Precision (they do not have the Character keyword).

Technically he could be fielded without a bodyguard squad, which would let his CORVs take precision shots against him. It'd leave him at T5, but he could still pass battleshock. This is a fine way of fielding him, but if you happen to have a leaderless unit of hearthkyn he's probably marginally better with them. Marginally.

Standard Kin toughness then, though with an invulnerable save. Nothing to write home about.

Offensive stats

And now we come to why I think a Grymnir may be worth his points. At 75 points, he comes with two autoch-pattern bolters and his Ancestral Wrath Witchfire.

Ancestral Wrath Witchfire should probably be used in the focused mode most of the time, even though it's hazardous. At least as long as the Grymnir is at full health. There is a 1 in 6 chance (rerollable) that he will take 3 mortal wounds. Bad on a 4 wound model. But that risk isn't so horrible you shouldn't take it to get twice the number of shots with this "gun".

Note that the numbers for Marines, Terminator and Gravis targets are slightly exaggerated, as I haven't entirely accounted for overkill there when it takes multiple damage rolls to take down a target. But you can in general expect a Grimnyr to kill one such model in an activation.

These numbers are okay for a 75 point model, especially as it's pretty good into anything.

One token will (almost) never help this guy, but two will significantly increase damage output, especially against tougher targets.

Three Thunderkyn with Graviton Cannons, at 95 points, only do 1.75 points of damage into the Monster statline. Or they kill 5 guardsmen. They do significantly better against vehicles because of their anti-rule, but the Grimnyr certainly isn't bad. And he does this at 24" range, vs the 18" of the graviton cannons.

Conclusion

I think the Grimnyr is okay. Not garbage, but not amazing either. He's a somewhat fragile artillery piece with some rules that will help you hold an objective once in a blue moon. He'll usually need a little bit more than two activations on his shooting to make his points back as an offensive unit. He's far from an auto-take, and we have so much other good stuff that it can be hard to fit him into lists.

Wishlisting

I feel there is room in the Votann index for a CP-regenerating character, and the Grimnyr would be a fine pick for that role considering the powers he had in the 9th edition codex. Otherwise, I feel his CORVs should be able to take precision hits for him. I also wish they'd get their old rule back to absorb "perils of the warp" (hazardous damage from Ancestral Wrath in this case). Finally, it seems he should be able to join Hearthguard, as the lore says they act as bodyguard in battles.