Gloomspite Gitz

Gloomspite Gitz are the next battletome for Warhammer Age of Sigmar. Moonclan, Spiderfang, Troggoths and Gargants all joining together under the banner of Skragrott the Loonking. Here is where I’ll collate all the information about the Gloomspite Gitz and Moonclan Grots as and when we know it.

Gloomspite Gitz Preorders

Pre-orders for the Gloomspite Gitz start on January 5th. Up for pre-order in week 1 (there will be several weeks of pre-orders) are:

the battletome (standard, digital, Collector’s Edition)
warscroll cards
fanatics (5 in a kit)
squig hoppers / armoured variant
squig herd (10, plus 2 herders)
the Loonking
the Loonshrine terrain piece
the Endless Spells
the squig dice

Games Workshop have also taken the unusual step of showing the second wave of pre-orders (given grainy leaks started circulating). They are:

the Gobbapalooza – five wise-grots (a Shroomancer, Spiker, Boggleeye, Scaremonger and Brewgit)
Loonboss hero
Sneaky Snufflers
Mangler Squigs / Loonboss on Mangler Squigs
Rockgut Troggoths
Dankhold Troggoths

The Gloomspite Gitz battletome will be available in standard, digital and special edition versions with pre-orders starting on 5 January. You can also get a set of warscroll cards.

Gloomspite Gitz Trailers

We also have a teaser video and the promise of a full length video on Christmas Day. Merry Christmas to Destruction and Moonclan players.

And now we have the full length preview trailer:

Gloomspite Gitz Lore

A new lore video is up on Warhammer Community covering all the Gloomspite Gitz lore. The video confirms the release of a new giant Troll hero. I’ll write up the content of the video when I get a chance.

The Lore Summarised

loose coalition of Moonclan Grots, Spiderfang Grots, Troggoths and “a whole host of subterranean monsters“
united in their worship of the Bad Moon
the Bad Moon randomly travels through the heavens of the Mortal Realms, a thing of horror and mystery. Its path is unpredictable and those who seek to divine its path are driven mad
the Bad Moon fills the Gloomspite Gits with lunacy, which they refer to as “Gloomspite”. When the Bad Moon waxes, wars rage

The Gitz want to strike out in sight of the Bad Moon and win its favour so that the moon might stay, permanently eclipse Hysh and usher in a period of total domination by the Gloomspite Gitz
more Troggoths than ever will be joining the ranks of Destruction – Fellwater, Rockgut, and the new Dankhold Troggoth

the Troggoths will be joined by a new hero – the Dankhold Troggboss – very stupid, very powerful
the Moonclan venerate the Bad Moon as the lunar object that it is and as an aspect of GorkaMorka that they worship
the Spiderfang grots believe in the spider god that is a giant arachnid demi-god that bit GorkaMorka on the foot and got infused with the god’s power. The Spiderfang believe that the Bad Moon is the giant egg-sac of the spidergod. If they impress it enough, they believe the moon will hatch and rain spiders down on the Mortal Realms

you can field a mixed army or specialise in just a Moonclan army, just a Spiderfang army or just a Troggoth army (a Troggherd)
predicting where the Bad Moon will rise is of massive importance to the Gloomspite Gitz
the Bad Moon sends ill portents and drives seers mad. Skragrott the Loonking has abducted every lunatic seer and deranged prophet he can find before infecting them with a fungal strain that turns them into half-human, half-mushroom hybrids. The Loonking keeps these captives in his fungal asylum. He hopes they will foretell where the Bad Moon will rise

The Loonking wants to cover all the Mortal Realms in the Clammy-Dank and he has already achieved this in one part of Chamon

New Gloomspite Gitz Models

Boxing Day was the day of new miniature reveals on Warhammer Community for the Gloomspite Gitz. All the kits have been shown now, but not all the variants that you can build from the kits.

The revealed list so far is:

Skragott, the Loonking
the Loonboss
the Gobbapalooza
Fanatics (both Loonsmasha and Sporesplatta)
Squigs and Squig Hoppers
Armoured Squig Hoppers
the Sneaky Snufflers
new Manglers Squigs and Loonboss on Mangler Squigs
New Rockgrot Troggoths
New Dankhold Troggoths
New Giant Troll Hero – Dankhold Troggboss
Endless Spells
the Bad Moon Loonshrine, terrain piece

Notes from the Ben Johnson interview on Warhammer TV:

All the kits have been shown but all the variants have not been yet.
All the Moonclan, Spiderfang and Troggoth units are moving into the new book.
Forgeworld aren’t in book but have had keywords updated for keywords – Hag, Colossal Squig, Squig Gobba and Bonegrinder Gargantuas.
Scuttlings aren’t in the book (no longer available for sale)
Loonboss with giant cave squig (the Skarsnik model) is in the book.
Mollog’s warband and Zarbag’s Gitz are both in the battletome.
Mollog is a type of Dankhold Troggoth and just lives in a smaller cave

Skragott, the Loonking

Skragott, the Loonking, wants to conquer the Mortal Realms “because the moon told him to…”.

There are so many cool touches on this model, including that the moon on his staff is a mushroom and the pygmy helper squigs carrying his cloak. The pose of the model definitely apes royalty (whether of the royal family or beauty queen style).

The Loonking can manipulate the passage of the Bad Moon (a reference to the Gloomspite Gitz allegiance ability), and even steal enemy artefacts.

And we now have the Loonking’s warscroll – very resilient for a grot with 6 wounds and a 5+ then 4+ save.

The Loonboss

The Loonboss is the moon-headed hero to lead (and presumbaly buff) your Grot Stabbas. Proudly standing on a boss-fungus. Symbol of the moon to embody the power of the Bad Moon god and show status.

The Gobbapalooza

The Gobbapalooza are five wise-grots, each with their own particular powers and features from their fungal follies. The Gobbapalooza includes a Shroomancer, Spiker, Boggleye, Scaremonger and Brewgit. They can be used as individual heroes or as a unit.

Loonboss on Mangler Squigs

The Loonboss on Mangler Squigs is the hero for your all squig army, unlocking Squig Hoppers as Battleline and supporting them with an 18″ +1 to wound bubble.

Dankhold Troggboss

The Dankhold Troggboss is a new Troggoth hero (so you can now run a whole Troggoth army). The Troggboss is resistant to magic, has a command ability giving nearby Troggoth units re-roll 1s to hit, and unlocks Rockgut Troggoths and Fellwater Troggoths as Battleline.

The Bad Moon Loonshrine

Every new faction now gets their own free terrain piece and the Gloomspite Gitz get a shrine to the Bad Moon itself. This terrain piece is absolutely massive!

The icon of the Bad Moon can return destroyed units of Stabbas and Shootas to the battlefield – imagine new units of reinforcements pouring out of the grotto to overwhelm the enemy.

New Squigs!

Squigs are many people’s favourite models in the Moonclan Grots and now they have a full multi-part plastic kit that can be built both as Squigs or Squig Hoppers. We can see from the reveal video that there are 4 variants of the squig herders, including old classics like the goblin with cymbals. A number of the squigs also hark back to the Warhammer: Age of Reckoning MMO video game where you could play a squig herder. Have a look at the “angler squig” in the back left of the photo too.

The new kit allows you to build 10 squigs, with 20 unique faces interchangeable with different leg poses. The kit also allows you to build 2 herders.

Squig Hoppers

Squig hoppers now have their own modern plastic kit with interchangeable riders and customisable squigs.

Boingrot Bounders

The new Squig Hopper kit also makes an armoured variant called the Boingrot Bounders. Crazy goblin knights ahoy! Slower but hit harder and have more armour than squig hoppers.

“These guys are absurdly deadly on the charge – a unit of 10 will throw out 40 attacks, hitting on a 4+ and wounding on a 3+ with a Rend of -1, dealing a deluge of mortal wounds while they’re at it. 2 Wounds and a 4+ save make them pretty durable, too!”

New Sneaky Snufflers

The Sneaky Snufflers are six mushroom-hunting Snufflesquigs with handlers.

“These curious Squigs are the first to scent the growing looncap mushrooms that herald the Bad Moon’s arrival, and on the battlefield, the looncaps they harvest can intoxicate even the lowliest Moonclan warriors into fearsome fighters… though it might cost them their lives.”

New Mangler Squiggs and Hero

New plastic Mangler Squig kit that also lets you build a Loonboss on Mangler Squigs.

New Moonclan Fanatics

The new Fanatics kit allows you to build five Fanatics. Standard Moonclan Fanatics have now been renamed Loonsmasha Fanatics and can be concealed inside your own units. The kit will also build “puffshroom-swinging Sporesplatta Fanatics” which shield your units from shooting with choking clouds of spores.

Sporesplatta Fanatics don’t hide inside a unit but are line of sight blocking (except for flyers and monsters)! Looks like they could be cool little chaff units.

New Rockgut Troggoths

A new 3 troll Rockgut Troggoth kit is coming. There appear to be some more classic touches, including a reimagined Battle for Skull Pass troll.

New Dankhold Troggoth

And finally, a nice clear picture of the new Dankhold Troggoth.

“Antisocial and reclusive, these behemoths dwell in the darkest… well, dankholds, where they slumber away the decades, awakening only to feast on the magical fungi that grow upon the realmstone deposits in the roots of the Mortal Realms. Such raw magic doesn’t kill the Dankhold Troggoths as it would lesser creatures, but instead mutates them into the vast, lumbering monsters you see here. This gigantic plastic kit comes loaded with spare bits, enabling you to make a boulder club-wielding Dankhold Troggoth with a variety of alternatives.”

Gloomspite Gitz Endless Spells

As expected, Gloomspite Gitz get their own faction specific Endless Spells and they all reference the themes of the Bad Moon, mushrooms and now spiders with the inclusion of the Spiderfang. They are called the Malevolent Moon, Mork’s Mighty Mushroom, Spider Swarm and Scrapskuttle’s Arachnacauldron. The cauldron supports your wizards’ casting while doing damage to nearby enemy units. No more details at this stage, but you can expect the usual mix of damage dealing and support spells.

Endless Spells
Spider Swarm

Gloomspite Gitz dice

Squig dice – for all your wound-counting, command point tracking needs…

So what’s next for models?

The new models release video has a very fast page turn through the battletome with some images blurred out. My guesses – new heroes, new manglers, new trolls, and a giant troll hero (although we all want a giant centipede monster to be true). All of these probably have now been confirmed by Games Workshop but i’m leaving them in just in case there is the odd new shaman slipping through.

Gloomspite Gitz Allegiance Abilities

The Gloomspite Gitz will have three sets of allegiance abilities similar to the Beasts of Chaos battletome. This makes sense as it would allow you to play a Moonclan, Spiderfang or Troggoth army.

We also now have a Warhammer Community article on the Bad Moon allegiance ability. Started with the idea of the Bad Moon as it is at the centre of all the races. Then thought about how the Bad Moon could be brought to the table in a thematic, skittish and erratic manner. Team wanted the balance of randomness for Moonclan, but also being easy to use and not mind-bendingly crazy

At the beginning of the game, you pick a corner of the board for the Bad Moon to start in. From the second battle round, it’ll begin to move from one corner to another. The Bad Moon effects units that are wholly within the board segment it is currently shining on. If it hits the middle of the table, it affects the whole table.

Unclear if/how the movement is affected when there are two Gloomspite armies on the board.
The Bad Moon moves in one direction unless it is manipulated. Skragrott can manipulate the path of the Bad Moon – move it or hold it place.
Rules on warscrolls, artefacts, spells all influenced by the position of the Bad Moon.
Command traits and artefacts can also change the effects of the Bad Moon.
Timing important for maximising the benefits for your army. Where do you want to attack and when? Do you want it helping you late game or early? Are you playing defensive or looking for strong combat in turns 2 or 3?

Bad Moon effects table

Enemy Units anywhere on the board are bombarded with meteors from the Bad Moon, and take damage.
Gloomspite Gitz Wizards under the Bad Moon get +1 to their casting rolls, while all other wizards get -1
Gloomspite Gitz Generals get an additional command point in each hero phase they’re under the Bad Moon.
Squigs under the Bad Moon can run and charge in the same turn.
Moonclan Grot units re-roll hit rolls of 1.
Spiderfang Grot units deal mortal wounds on a 5+ to hit, rather than a 6+.
Troggoths can re-roll the dice to see if they regenerate wounds, or double the results of their first roll.

Gloomspite Gitz Artefacts

Day 2 of previews has shown the first few Gloomspite Gitz artefacts.

Moonclan artefacts

Spiderfang artefacts

Troggoth artefacts

Glinty Gubbinz That Troggoths Found…

Gloomspite Gitz Spells

Gloomspite Gitz spells include an old favourite.

Moonclan Spells

Spiderfang Spells

Gloomspite Gitz Battalions and Matched Play Profiles

Again from Warhammer Weekly Tom’s detective work, we know that there are 10 battalions, what looks like 2 unique characters, and 7 “battleline-if” choices! Thanks a massive increase in battleline flexibility.

Warhammer Community Coverage

Here is a list of all the Warhammer Community articles covering the release, I’ll also add the community reviews, release videos etc when the embargo lifts:

What follows is what I had started writing before the Christmas reveals.

Moonclan Grots Battletome

The Moonclan Grots battletome was teased at Blood and Glory, the UK’s largest Warhammer Age of Sigmar event, in the studio preview.

Moonclan Grots Lore

If you are interested in the lore and background of the Moonclan Grots in Age of Sigmar, I highly recommend you check out 2+ Tough and his awesome Age of Sigmar lore videos.

Moonclan Grots New Models

Now, we don’t have any more details to go on at this stage, but the Malign Portents Harbinger and the Warhammer Underworlds: Nightvault warband both represent the new design aesthetic for Moonclan.

Fungoid Cave-Shaman Snazzgar Stinkmullett

“The mushroom-gobbling grot maniacs known as Cave-Shamans are not right in the head. To these greenskinned nutters, to get lost in a brain-mangling vision is to grow closer to the side of Gorkamorka that epitomises cunning and trickiness over brute strength, which is the side that all grots like the best. Whether these hallucinogenic visions of carnage are gifted by Gorkamorka, or simply the side effects of ingesting deffcap mushrooms, doesn’t matter to his followers – so long as they lead to a good scrap. The Fungoid Cave-Shamans were the first to lead the hordes of Destruction into Shyish, the realm of Death, in search of the Waaagh! to end all Waaaghs!.

This multi-part plastic kit contains the components to assemble Snazzgar Stinkmullett, a Fungoid Cave-Shaman. He’s an… interesting figure, clearly quite mad, and has enhanced his already pointy features to more closely resemble the Bad Moon with some impressive metal prosthetics attached to his nose and jaw. You may think that he’s wearing a mushroom-shaped hat – the truth is much worse. He’s consumed so much hallucinogenic fungus that spores have burst through his brain, and an enormous fungus is growing from the top of his head. Further spores and mushrooms are dotted about his cloak and staff – which bears a caterpillar familiar – and he carries bags of potions and deffcaps on his belt. He’s armed with a moon-sickle, and on his base you’ll find an accompanying spore squig, which belches clouds of thick spores to hide Snazzgar from the foe. Topping off the whole ensemble is the spine of some unknown creature, which runs down the back of the cloak to trail behind Snazzgar like some dismal trophy.”‘ (GW site)

Zarbag’s Gitz – Warhammer Underworlds: Nightvault

“The Moonclan Shaman Zarbag and his scuttling band are an infestation spreading through the heart of the Mirrored City. While looting the ruins of Shadespire, Zarbag sniffed out a tantalising aroma indeed – towering clusters of deffcap mushrooms! The Shaman has taken it upon himself to spread this noxious fungus far and wide, drawing more and more of his numberless kin into the Mirrored City.” (GW site).

Zarbag
Snirk Sourtongue
Prog Da Netter
Stikkit
RedKap
Dibbz
Drizgit Da Squig Herder
Bonekrakka
Gobbaluk

Mollog’s Mob

Also, don’t forget Mollog’s Mob – Mollog the Dankhold Troggoth and his collection of Squiggly beasts (Bat Squig, Spiteshroomn and Stalagsquig).

Dark Fantastic Mills Terrain

Check out the Doomcap Deeps range from Dark Fantastic Mills for some great looking terrain that would suit Moonclan Grots.