The Gnarlwood is a dangerous and oppressive place, full of death and misadventure to match its hidden treasures. The noble grot Grinkrak the Great is a native of these accursed woods, and leads his honourable Looncourt against all intruders in order to prove their knightly virtue.
Grinkrak’s entourage of Loonknights follow his lead, driven by equal parts devotion and delusion. Under the influence of Grinkrak’s fierce oration – and comprehensive knowledge of delicious psychoactive mushrooms – they stride forth into the root-halls on perilous quests, some of which they even accomplish.
While the rest of your warband need to score Quest objectives to become Inspired, such is Grinkrak’s charisma that he can use the Dub reaction to Inspire a fellow fighter when you score any objective. When at least three other gitz are Inspired, Grinkrak also Inspires – clearly high on his own knightly supply.
But what are Quest objectives? These are special objective cards that you’ll issue to a specific fighter of your choice – you’ll get them back if your fighter is squished, so don’t be shy. There are seven in the deck, and each fighter can be given one. If they score their Quest, they will inspire – no dubbing needed.
A git can achieve Neh Neh Na-Neh Neh! by goading an enemy fighter into an attack and praying they fail, while Looncourt, Scrag ‘Em! only needs this ever-shambolic knightly band to arrange themselves into some semblance of order for just one second.
However you end up Inspiring them, galvanising your shroomy squires is key to victory. Once his rambunctious squig mount has had a taste of glory, Grib, Da Wonky Lance gets fightier, dodgier, and can even bounce a full five hexes – spelling trouble for tasty-looking foes.*
Pokin’ Snark stands at the forefront of knightly innovation with his squig-onna-stick. Not only does he become faster once Inspired, he gets an extra attack dice for his squig spear – all the better for Gnashin’ enemy upgrades to scrap!
Rummaging around in his bag of tricks, Grinkrak can also fish out upgrades to give to his court. Gittish Celerity is a ploy that lights a fire under the scrawny bum of any git with an unscored Quest, and those that make it to a Quest’s End aren’t just Inspired – they get even tougher! For a grot, anyway.
Should the unthinkable happen and the Looncourt scores a bunch of Quests in one game, Questin’ Gitz is the way to go for extra glory points. Of course, despite their thirst for chivalric prestige, every grot knows deep down that just surviving to see another scrap is victory enough – your remaining fighters can fall back on simply scoring some neat upgrades with Small Glories.
Working out how to manage this gaggle of puny picadors will take a lot of skill, but what the Looncourt lack in raw martial prowess they make up for in numbers and fungus-induced bravery.
Any git worth his spurs requires suitable heraldry. Check out the Warhammer Painting Team’s video tutorial on how to paint these snivelling sirs below – and check back tomorrow to find some warscroll downloads for your grots.
You’ll be able to pre-order Grinkrak’s Looncourt this weekend, and embark on your own epic adventure for new shiny bits and curious new mycelial strains deep in the Gnarlwood.
* Everything looks tasty to a squig.