We began our epic journey through 40 years of Warhammer history with two miniatures that have defined the core imagery of the hobby. Skeletons came next – iconic evil minions who fill the ranks of Death armies to this day.
Today, it’s the turn of one of the first special characters to grace tabletops in miniature form.
Make plenty of room for Grom the Paunch.
Some consider this corpulent warlord to be the first true special character in Warhammer.* This super-sized goblin was a superb metal miniature, but many people first saw him as a cardboard cut-out in the starter set for the fourth edition of Warhammer Fantasy. He led many a horde of monopose goblin spearmen** in two dimensions against the haughty High Elves of Ulthuan.***
As befitting his station, Grom rode into battle on a chariot pulled by three wolves, accompanied his standard bearer Niblet – a name that survives to this day in the name of a particular Citadel Colour dry paint.**** We can think of at least one other famous greenskin with an enduring banner-waver too. Chariots to this day remain a mainstay of many armies in the Age of Sigmar.
Grots have befriended wolves throughout Warhammer history, and the Snarlfang Riders have revived this ancient partnership in the Mortal Realms.
There are now rather more special characters across the many Warhammer settings, and more are still to come in the future of Warhammer. Will more pop up as we make our way through history? Sign up for the newsletter and see.
* Others mutter darkly about the necromancer Heinrich Kemmler.
** With extremely sharp spears that ensured you leaned over the table very carefully!
*** Who had their own cardboard hero in the form of Eltharion the Grim on his Gryphon.
**** We promise this isn’t made out of ground-up Niblets.