Games Workshop - Warhammer Age of Sigmar - Gloomspite Gitz: Bad Moon Loonshrine

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The faction probably needs a new battletome written from the ground up. The original was written fairly early on in Age of Sigmar 2.0’s lifespan and so the designers had not yet worked out all the kinks. It seemed, frankly, absurd to ask for a new book before but now Slaanesh is getting a new book after already getting to spend almost a year as the top competitive army, and gitz didn’t even get that. Ideally it’s something that can be worked on in the near future, whether through a new battletome or some hefty new additions in a future Broken Realms book. The different clans of the Gloomspite Gitz worship a terrifying celestial body known as the Bad Moon. This revolting orb veers haphazardly through the heavens above the Mortal Realms, shedding its evil light and leering maniacally at the terrified mortals below.

What the bad moon does is provide a benefit to any unit under its light, which means wholly within the large quarter that the moon is occupying, or the entire board if it’s in the centre.There are a mountain of warscrolls here, so this isn’t an exhaustive list of everything in the book and everything that’s changed. Heroes There’s three interesting, if not overwhelmingly strong, options for the Dankhold Troggboss. Firstly, Alpha Trogg provides two extra wounds and the Monster keyword, a small mercy for everyone who thought they should be monsters anyway. Trogg Smash is a once per battle 3” mortal wound bomb that triggers after the Troggboss fights. Most intriguing is Loonskin which lets you take one of the non-arachnacauldron Gitz endless spells for 0 points and lets your general attempt to cast it (but crucially, does not make them a wizard so any of those predatory spells will be wild). Artefacts

I do like this a little more than Jaws of Mork. Not for anything special about what the Glogg’s Megamob does, but Gloomspite Gitz needs more subfactions, and this is a very different playstyle from what they normally get. While traditional Gloomspite lists favor hordes of Gitz attempting to overwhelm their foes this gives more weight to a handful of big strong models. None of the features are particularly unique or clever, they’re pretty bog standard abilities like generate command abilities or a 5+ feel no pain relic. What it does do is encourage this unique playstyle by giving it much needed boons that support the strength of the troggoths. Grots make up the bulk of most Gloomspite Gitz forces. Shootas and Stabbas are weak and cowardly but they’re also incredibly numerous. Hidden in their ranks are deadly and suicidal Loonsmasha Fanatics, mushroom-maddened grots whirling lethal balls and chains with devastating force. Finally there’s Chasing the Moon which requires your general to survive the battle, potentially much easier than it used to be if they’re a Galetian Champion, and to have been affected by the Light of the Bad Moon in 3 battle rounds. Battle TacticsThe star of the article, the Jaws of Mork. Up until now, Gloomspite Gitz were one of the few 2.0 books to not get any subfactions so this is actually their first one. If it wasn’t clear by now, this is for people who want to use lots of Squigs, a fairly popular choice for many Gloomspite players. Most of the abilities serve to benefit squig heavy lists in some way and the options here aren’t bad. Like most every book to date, subfactions grant you a new allegiance ability and command ability at the cost of a new relic and general trait you’re required to take. Allegiance Ability: Running Riot Path to Glory rules for your Gloomspite Gitz to concoct strange and esoteric potions to empower your clan. This week we have a bit of a treat for Gloomspite Gitz players in the August issue of White Dwarf. An actual subfaction was introduced for this oft-neglected army: The Jaws of Mork. This faction is aimed at people who really loves squigs. Do you like squigs? I sure do, so if that sounds like a good time then keep reading for possibly your best opportunity for a squig focused list. The Lore Glogg’s Megamob boosts how often Troggoth units can regenerate lost wounds. Grimscuttle Tribes are spider-riders who follow the massive Skitterstrand Arachnaroks as they burrow through holes in reality. In game terms, this allows units of Grimscuttle Spiderstrand units to arrive from reserves almost anywhere on the board.

The Moon-biter Squigalance takes a lot of the guess work from this process, you can pretty easily include it without much problem and it contains mostly everything you’d want anyway. Allegiance: Gloomspite Gitz The Loonshrine is a sacred icon to the Gloomspite Gitz and carries a sliver of the Bad Moon’s power. Gloomspite Gitz units wholly within 12” of the shrine count as being bathed in the light of the Bad Moon. I was pleasantly surprised by this faction. At first blush it felt very lazy, they created two factions before for the Gitz which were just focused on a specific type of unit, and this isn’t any different than that. If anything, it’s working from an even more restricted list than the last two, and with a unit type that definitely doesn’t carry the same fan fervor as a list of all Squigs would. Given the strict limits on what units can be used, they made out pretty well, and there seem to be a handful of legitimate playstyles at work depending on which of the Behemoth units a player chooses to favor. Regardless it’s still nice for them to see some sort of subfaction when they previously didn’t get one and it couldn’t hurt to give them a few more for good measure. They really need the help.

Command Ability: ‘Get Some Loonshine on ’em!’

Shootas and Stabbas return and both are improved on their baseline warscroll. Shootas in particular now come with more range and hit on a 4+ with their bows, and get an extra shot for having 10 or more models. Stabbas have their shield baked in for a base 5+ save and have lost their wound bonus in exchange for a really exciting ability to contest objectives from 9” away instead of 6”. Da Bad Moon gives us another blessing yet again! Not two months after the last Tome Celestial, we get another one, and for Gloomspite Gitz again! Last time it was The Jaws of Mork aimed at the popular mascot of the Gloomspites, the Squigs. This time, the other, less appreciated mascot, the Troggoths get to shine. These sentient mushrooms are beasts of destruction, focused only on eating and napping and then whatever it takes to get one of those two things. With the newest White Dwarf you can field your own squad of them for a decidedly different type of playstyle from the normal gitz lists. Improved Moon Mechanics – The bad moon isn’t going to be immediately flying off the board before you can use it anymore, and there are new ways to count your models as under its light even when they aren’t.