Gnoll/1.03.25

Gnolls are assassin melee units.

=Factions=

Minotaurs
Gnolls are relatively average melee units (in every stat) which are quite easy to produce if the Minotaur player is using Basilisks (since half of Gnolls' cost is of stone, they cost the price of a basic infantry as long as the Minotaur player has enough Basilisks or stone production). They add little to the Minotaur race power wise, but their real distinction is in their ability: Assassination. A group of Gnolls can easily be used to scare off all but the most bold or daring of Heroes as they will not risk the chance for their hero to be assassinated. Other than this, Gnolls may also be used to harass and take out particularly tough enemy units. Usually, later on the Minotaurs will have better options such as Minotaur Kings for this.

Benefits from Training and Eagle Eye researches.

=Quotes=


 * Ready: "*Sniff* *Sniff*... I smell dinner!"
 * Select: "*Growl" "Really?!" "Don't poke me!"
 * Order: "*Short Growl*" "Keep away!" "Who's 'a lose a finger?!"
 * Deathblow: "Go for the throat!"

=Trivia=
 * The wiki is correct in stating that the Gnoll is tagged as being an Orc racially as this information was pulled directly from the game's files. But this is clearly a bug and within the game itself.
 * Although this fantasy creature doesn't seem to be related to any folklore, it appears at first in fantasy novels, by the name of Gnole, depicting a secretive and dreadful kind of gnome or genius. The origin of the name is unknown but 'cnoll/knoll' means 'hillock/clod/mount' in all old Germanic languages. It turned to have a figurative meaning too, that of a dumb person. Thus, etymology keeps with the chtonian/earthly aspect of the novels. Then, first Dungeons & Dragons game made them explicitly as hybrids between gnomes and trolls (to explain the name), and an evil kind of humanoids, an oddity abandoned later when AD&D came out. From then on, Gnolls have been depicted barbarian, bloodthirsty, hyena-men creatures, no more related to the underground riches. However, WBC3 artwork is not quite that of dog/hyena-headed humanoid! Moreover, the speech lines would rather relate it to the Bugbear of the legends (a giant goblinoid in AD&D).