File (unit)

"Grunt Reporting!"

- Grunt being recruited in Halo Wars

A File is the smallest infantry unit within the Covenant army. The group appears to be made up of around four to five Grunts or Jackals. A File is commanded by a Major Grunt, a Major Jackal, a Minor Elite, or a Minor Brute. A File is the Covenant equivalent to a UNSC squad. A Lance is the unit above a File.

Grunt File (Squad)
The Grunt File is the main backbone of the Covenant Army. The Squad Contains 3 methane breathing, minor Grunts and one Elite or Brute. Grunts will almost always be Grunt Minors under command of a Elite Minor or a Brute Minor. They are the counterpart to the Marines of the UNSC. Jackals can also be in the Grunt File in Halo:CE to Halo 3.

Upgradeable Content
"Peons Researched."

- Halo Wars Announcer.

The Grunt Squad is the main backbone of the army and can be upgraded three times as follows:
 * Peons - Upgrades the Squad with one additional grunt.
 * Needler - Upgrades the Grunts with Needlers rather than Plasma Pistol.
 * Deacon - Adds a Grunt Deacon to the Squad. Deacons will outlive their Elite/Brute leader and the entire squad. They guide the squad with battle cries and promises of the Great Journey.

Note: Deacon grunts carry Plasma Pistols rather than Needlers however, the Deacon will charge his plasma pistol when needed.

Flood-Infected Grunt Squad
On some levels, a Grunt squad might become infected by the Flood. Even though the whole squad is infected, the Elite/Brute will be separate as they are called infected Elites, infected Brutes and infected Grunts. The Grunts go through changes in the event.
 * The skin turns yellow.
 * Their armor automatically turns red.
 * Use Plasma pistols instead of needlers if bought.

Other than that, the only thing known about it is that the Grunts, like the Jackals, had more calcium in 2531 than in 2552 in the events of Halo: Combat Evolved.

Special Operations
Some grunts are in squads known as the SpecOps (Special Operations) team. These squads are far more organized than regular squads. The grunts will be given better weapons to lure the enemy to the Elites approaching. You see SpecOps grunt squads on the level Two Betrayals, The Maw, Keyes, The Arbiter, The Oracle and Gravemind. The special operations division was disbanded when the Elites began the Covenant Civil War although it may still exist within the Covenant Separatists with the Grunts and Elites.

Compared to Marines
Grunts are slightly weaker than the Marine counterpart. This is because the Squad consists of 3-4 Grunt, 1 Brute or Elite and 1 Deacon. It is recommended that you use two Grunt squads against a Marine squad or use the grenade attack straight away and shoot them to death. Grunt Squads are better with jackals staying back and shooting the marines from a distance. This has proven well when facing scout marines or Rebel Infantry.

In Halo 3 a grunt squad would rip apart a marine squad if carrying Needlers or Fuel Rod Guns. In Halo 2, grunts squads and marines are quite equal as long as the player doesn't give the Marines different weapons. In Halo:CE, the Grunt squad is slightly stronger than the marines as you can see that marines always run to the warthogs/cover from the grunts. This makes the marines quite pathetic as help against the squads and their mighty Elite leaders.

Other Appearances
The Grunt Squad is only usable in Halo Wars however, Grunts Squads appear in Halo:Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Halo 3 and Halo 3: ODST.In Halo:CE, a grunt squad is lead by two elites on average. In Halo 2, they are led by Brutes and Elites. Eventually, the most of the grunts are led by the Elites after the Great Schism. In Halo 3, grunt squads are led by Brutes and Elites (although you do not see the Separatists squads as Bungie found it confusing to put Loyalists and separatist grunts in Halo 3).Grunt squads also make two other appearances in Halo Wars. Special Forces grunt who have metal pieces of scrap in their hand and charge towards the enemies. They are much like the suicide grunts who have enhanced Methane tanks on their backs so the arbiter can cause a lot of splash damage and explosions. Suicide grunts are only available when the player chooses the Arbiter, Ripa 'Moramee, as their leader. The special forces grunt appear only on the level Relic Interior, trying to prevent Professor Anders and Sergeant Forge from escaping the relic and escaping Harvest itself. The Special Forces grunts are not seen again in the games until 2552 in the events of Halo:CE.

Quotes
Note: All of the grunt saying are said by Kamikaze Grunts as well.
 * "Grunt Ready" - after buying a Grunt squad.
 * "Grunt Reporting" - after buying a Grunt squad.
 * "It tickles"
 * "Me move fast. Me not get shot!"
 * "Go here. Go there." - common saying when told to move somewhere.
 * "Grunt moving" - common saying when told to move somewhere.
 * "Grunt. Go,go,go!" - after buying Grunt squad.
 * "AAA!" - After Grunt is killed and shot up into the air.
 * "Ewww! We got Grunt bits all over the hull" - Warthog Driver after running over Grunt(s) on Alpha Base.
 * "The Enemy is preparing Grunts" - Serina or the Prophet of Regret after the enemy is creating grunts.
 * "The Enemy sends his Grunts" - Serina or the Prophet of Regret after the enemy send grunts to attack you.

Trivia

 * Grunt Squads may have been in the heretic section from Halo 2. Lead by the Heretic Elite.
 * When a Brute is a leader of the grunt squad, he will throw a Plasma Grenade instead of a Spike Grenade. This maybe due to the Spike Grenade not being built in 2531 or for unknown reasons.
 * Grunt Squads existed ever since the Grunts joined the Covenant and until its deformation in 2553 when the Covenant Loyalists where defeated when the Prophet of Truth was killed by the Arbiter.
 * Grunt Squads may still exist in the Covenant Separatists or returned to their homeworld Balaho.
 * Grunt Squads are effective when partnered with Scarabs. While the Scarab destroys the vehicles and buildings, the grunts will destroy rebelling or retreating infantry.
 * Unlike their counterparts, Halo Wars Grunt squads do not run away if an elite/brute is killed.
 * There are Methane Refineries in Halo Wars that are protected by grunts so that they will have gas to breathe in the oncoming days. Destroying all of them will grant the player 2000 points.
 * The Thirsty grunt and the Cowardly Grunts squad was killed by the Flood and the Brutes.
 * Grunt Squads fight have a formation called the 'Lance' where the Grunts or the marine calls 'little bastards' up front while the elite/brute leaders stay behind.