In comparison with the gleaming warriors and vile monsters we’ve already seen, you might be forgiven for scoffing at the notion of the Gloomspite Gitz – a ragtag coalition of cowardly grots, (barely) sentient fungus, and lumbering troggoths.
But that would be unwise, for this unruly gaggle of dwellers in the dank are a force to be reckoned with: while the squigs and troggoths cause untold havoc from the front, the cunning, vindictive grots weave cruel plans to ensure the downfall of their foes.
United under the ghastly pall of the Bad Moon – a malevolent planetoid that moves almost at random through the void, spreading destructive magic across the Mortal Realms – the Gloomspite Gitz battle in great hollering hordes. They are supported by the denizens of the underworld, troglodyte monsters that crawl, bound, and lumber out of the depths.
Overview
Each grot possesses a well of cruelty that belies their diminutive stature and fills a void where honour, compassion, manners, or hygiene are missing. In massed groups, their cowardice is outweighed by their viciousness and the easily shaken belief that they won’t be the one to personally take that arrow or sword to the face.
When the Bad Moon’s erratic orbit passes close to a realm, it bathes the land in sickly light, inducing a mania in those who dwell in dark caverns and damp grottos. This fervour is known as the Gloomspite, a delirium which brings the grots together in a shrieking mass, a huge mob of mushroom-addled destruction.
They are joined by other horrors from the depths: giant skittering arachnoids that tear holes through reality, lumbering rock-skinned troggoths, and the ceaselessly bouncing and gnashing balls of teeth known as squigs. They spill onto the surface in an effort to usher in the Everdank, a gloomy and moist utopia in which grot-kind has supremacy.
The Gloomspite Gitz may have schemes in abundance, but when they wage war, they are driven by little other than a primitive urge to ruck. Their animosity knows no bounds and as long as they’re giving the big ’uns their comeuppance, a grot will stay their scheming for a moment at least.
Battle Traits
The origins of the Bad Moon are unknown, but its hordes of madcap devotees are sure to follow in The Bad Moon’s Orbit, basking in its sickening aura and reaping the benefits. As this celestial body crisscrosses the realms, those Under the Light of the Bad Moon become more powerful in their own special way.
Grots are emboldened on objectives, squigs boing faster and higher, troggoth hides thicken, and spider venom increases in potency.
Battle Formations
Few beasts are as destructive as squigs, which are little more than big mouths filled with fangs and an appetite to match. From tiny ones to huge ones, they are constant companions to the Gloomspite Gitz, to the extent that you can play as a Squigalanche.
This is an unstoppable swarm of bouncing red brutes, whose momentum generates extra Attacks on the charge.
Other Battle Formations allow for swarms of Spiderfang Riders, tough herds of troggoths, and a teeming legion of mad grots.
Arcana and Incantations
Glootmspite Gitz Shamans generally invoke the power of Gorkamorka to smash their foes, but they’re natural-born schemers too. Sneaky Distraction is the favoured cantrip of those who channel the Lore of the Clammy Dank.
This unsightly display of screaming, shimmying, and magical sparkling is the perfect diversion, and subtracts 1 from hit rolls of attacks made by enemy units while they are wholly with 12” of the caster – useful when scraps of armour and hooded robes only confer a 5+ or 6+ save.
Unit Focus
Few grots can hold a candle to Skragrott the Loonking, so called because after waking from a particularly vivid dream of the Bad Moon he found himself wearing a fungal crown, with its roots worming their way into his brain.
By sifting through the prognostications of captured mages and seers, Skragrott is able to control (or at the very least predict) the course of the Bad Moon, and is able to stay it for a moment with The Loonking’s Entreaty. His signature spell, Fangz of Da Bad Moon causes it to vomit loonshards down on nearby enemies, and should this oral assault fail, he can always use his Babbling Wand to guarantee a swift 4” Redeploy for his allies (or more likely, himself).
Any Bossgrot worth their bottles is sure to have at least one Gobbapalooza under their command. A cackling gang of loon-priests and petty shamans with a diverse set of skills, they employ their Gobbapalooza Know-Wotz in battle to great effect.
The Glareface Dance implores allies to hotfoot it into battle, Nasty Poisons help diminutive grots punch above their weight, and Boogleyes can be used to Mesmerise foes and cause them to forget their basic martial training.
Herding Squigs is a dangerous job, but so long as the heavily armoured Squig Herder stays alive, they can easily lure more Cave Squigs into the battle with the promise of fresh meat.
In the heat of battle, Squigs Gone Wild may continue chomping after they’re dead, inflicting mortal damage before succumbing. However, they have little in the way of battlefield acumen and only ever have a maximum Control score of 1.
The Bad Moon is a capricious orb of lunacy, so resourceful grots might find loonstone meteorites and carve them into simulacra of their delirious deity – the Bad Moon Loonshrine.
An Effigy of Da Bad Moon exudes a 12” aura that confers lunar power, and as they are generally situated atop Moonclan Lairs they can replenish destroyed units for the cost of a single Command Point.
The Word from the Studio
Jimbo: “Gloomspite Gitz are a vast horde of an army that can call upon a variety of different styles of unit to deal with any threat your opponent presents. If you need a lot of bodies, call forth the pointy mobs of Moonclan Grots, and if you need some tanky hard-hitters to hold up the enemy, the troggoths will lumber into position.
“Bouncing rapidly forward with fangs bared, squigs are your aggressive cavalry option – just don’t expect them to stick around too long – and if you want to capitalise on the natural cunning of grots you can get sneaky with some interesting movement shenanigans with the Arachnaroks and Spider Riders.. There’s really something here for everyone, and you can mix and match, or go all in on one specific archetype.”
Spearhead Spotlight
Spearhead is the perfect game for the Gloomspite Gitz, who only stand chest high to a human. The Bad Moon Madmob is the platonic ideal of a ragtag Gloomspite Gitz force, featuring a collection of grots, troggoths, and squigs all working with a Loonboss together Under the Light of the Bad Moon, which deigns to beam its delirious energies on both halves of the battlefield over the course of the game.
Both units of 10 Moonclan Stabbas have that all-important REINFORCEMENTS keyword to provide bodies when the ferocious and toothsome Squighoppers bound into the thick of combat – they’re definitely here for a good time, if not for a long time.
The plodding anchor of the force is the Rockgut Troggoths, whose Regeneration ability reliably heals wounds.
Tomorrow we’ll be getting ghoulish as we cast an eye on the ethereal Nighthaunt, the legions of tortured souls forced into the service of Nagash, the Supreme Lord of the Undead.
