The Lore
The Lore has been brought up to date with the current events in Age of Sigmar, but also has given us a lot of back story as to why these Grots went underground and why they are referred to as the Gloomspite.
While we are never given an exact origin of the Bad Moon which they worship, we do get a few different various religious views on it (mostly that of the Moonclan and the Spiderfang Grots). What is known is that it is a large celestial body with a smaller celestial body circling it, that its light sends the Gloomspite into a frenzy, drives people mad, causes rapid fungus growth and rains meteors down to doom the surface (which is known as Loonstone to the Gloomspite). Sprinkled around the book are small images of Squiggly Beasts and Fungus, with their names and what they are used for to really get you invested in this faction.
There is also a section dedicated to the lore on the Loonking (the main special character of the book), of the commanding characters along with a brief look at the Moonclan, Squigs, Spiderfangs and the Troggoths. There is also sections talking about clans from the various Mortal Realms and their motives, along with a section called 'Age of Loonacy' with a list of short events. Two of my favourites being one about Clan Skryre capturing and bringing back a Loonshrine only for it to start taking over the area with fungus and squiggly beasts and to save face they declare it to be a new weapons testing ground, the other being about a grove of Sylvanneth about to be swarmed by a Bloodbound Warhorde and praying to Alarielle for help, only for the Bad Moon to show up and the Gloomspite and Bloodbound engaging each other. Once the battle is over, the Sylvanneth emerge to see both sides have destroyed each other and so they give thanks for their salvation, only for the Bad Moon to give them one parting gift and wipe out the Sylvanneth with a meteor shower (cause the Bad Moon has a wicked sense of humor).
Finally you have both the model gallery and a short painting section to help get started. The gallery helps give you the inspiration to get the models, while the painting section helps you work on a basic colour scheme, but also some variations to go with it. Again, not big, but appreciated.
Allegiance Abilities
The Bad Moon is this factions only Allegiance Ability. It may not seem like much compared to other factions, but it is what it is. Simply put, you choose which corner of the board the Bad Moon rises from and at the start of turns you roll a dice to see if the Bad Moon stays or moves. This can be a good or bad, depending on how the battle is going as it might stay still on one side too long or speed across the board, both might not be the best. The only way to actually effect it beyond this is with a once a battle command ability from the Loonking.
Depending on where the Bad Moon is determines where its light will shine (not at all, on a single board side or on the whole board itself). While under the light, certain units gain certain bonuses, such as enemies taking mortal wounds, Spiderfang poison being more effective and Troggoth regeneration being far more effective.
This makes the placement of the Bad Moon all the more important as you'll want its light to be at maximum effect as your army moves for their objectives.
Traits & Artifacts
Lists are broken down into four groups: Loonbosses (the Moonclan boss), Moonclan Wizards (only Madcap Shamans but not Fungoid-Cave Shamans can take Artifacts), Spiderfang Heroes (though only the Scuttleboss can choose a Cammand Trait) and Dankhold Troggoth Heroes.
There are some basic ones such as adding 2 to the characters wound characteristics to the more risky but hilarious Glowy Howzit for the Troggoth hero, which grants a 4+ shrug, but on a roll of 1 he instead eats it and can no longer use it. Most of the Traits and Artifacts seem useful and depending on your army will depend on which one you choose.
Spells
There are two spell lores, the Lore of the Moonclan and the Lore of the Spiderfangs. Only wizards from those factions can use those spells and depending on your army layout will certainly effect what spell you choose. For instance, from the Moonclan list if you happen to have large units of Moonclan Stabbas or Shootas, then the spell 'The Great Green Spite' would be very usefull, while the spell 'Squig Lure' works better for Squig focused armies.
That said, I feel the Spiderfang list is the stronger of the two, which is more designed to help in combat for Spiderfang units and by that I mean the big nasty spiders. This makes sense as for most Spiderfang focused armies, you would just fill out the base battlelines and the rest tend to be the big spiders and most tend to have casters as their chosen heroes, so a more focused spell list is needed to help deal with the lack of numbers.
Secondly there are the Endless Spells. All are quite offensive in their own way, with Malevolent Moon great vs spell casting armies, Mork's Mighty Mushroom good for getting at areas held by enemies, the Arachnacauldron if you want to have a main caster at a small life draining cost (could work quite well with the Cogs Endless Spell and the Bad Moon effect) and the Scuttletide is just a must have for any Spiderfang army.
Path to Glory
What's there to say, this is a set of rules and charts for running a Gloomspite Gitz faction in a Path to Glory game.
OK, so that's a bit unfair. To be honest, I really like the look of options for units in their lists. I notices Squig Herds is now the min 12 unit, yet Stabba and Shoota units are in groups of 15. Everything from the book is in there (minus Mollog) and even Zarbag from the Shadespire Nightvault game is a leader Champion option (though you must hire his Gitz as one of your starting followers). Even the Gobbapalooza are on a separate followers list, with you picking three of your own choosing to join your crew.
As for the reward charts, the Champion and Monsters charts are good, but the basic followers chart is a bit hit or miss in my opinion, mostly cause some seem to effect some units better then others. One thing I would like to know is that do Squigs in a Squig Herd count their maw attacks as melee weapons? I know most other Squig groups count them as mounts and even the Fungoid-Cave Shaman has had his rules updated so his pet Squig is counted as a mount. I wonder this as some of these chart results let you get an extra range or bonus attack to a units melee weapons and I would assume that since the unit is more Squigs then Herders that they would not count as mounts for such rules and that their teeth & claws would be their melee weapons.
People tend to interpret rules differently until there is an official clarification, so I might have to look into this one.
Warscrolls
Like with all Age of Sigmar factions, the Warscrolls for these units can be found on their site and their app, so instead I'm going to talk about some of the things I've noticed going through it:
Loonboss:
The replacement for the old Moonclan Warboss, the real reason you would take this guy is for his command ability. Keep him near a large unit of Moonclan Stabbas with spears (and nets) to throw out as many attacks as possible, cause on an unmodified to wound roll of 6 causes a mortal wound instead. Throw in a Spiker's Poison Brewer effect and the light of the Bad Moon and the amount of mortal wounds will prove disastrous to any foe.
Fungoid-Cave Shaman:
So this guy has changed a bit from the Malign Portents book. He looses his command ability for a permanent one where in each hero phase on a 4+ you get an extra command point. He looses his -1 to be hit in exchange for his 5+ shrug to improve to a 4+ and finally his Deffcap Mushroom is still once per battle, but now allows you to simply cast an extra spell the turn you use it (how this will effect with his 'Sign of Da Deffcap' sign from Malign Portents is still waiting for an FAQ). He also can't take Artifacts of Power, which is a real bummer (Though doesn't say he can't use Realm Artifacts from Malign Sorcery book).
Madcap Shaman:
His spell has changed and is good vs ranged attacks, picking a friendly unit wholly within 12" that is visible giving them a -1 to hit to be shot at until your next hero phase and its only a 5 to cast. Sure it is situational, but is has great potential against certain factions.
Gobbapalooza:
While each one has their own profile, you still have to take them as a full unit, which is my only complaint. Looking at them, they a like a mini-hero, complete with a rule that acts like the 'Look Out Sir' one. Each has their own unique ability or spell and can be useful on the battlefield. That said, they really only prove useful in big games due to the cost (though Path to Glory has them in sets of three, so they can be better suited in that game). No word yet in Skirmish, but given the FAQ on Zarbag and his Gitz, I feel you'd have to buy them all as one unit since Zarbag has the same rule.
Moonclan Stabbas and Shootas:
Main thing is the changes limiting you to 1 in 20 models having access to a banner, but you can have 3 Netters in every 20 models too, so I guess that evens it out a bit?
Squig Herds:
They have been reunited once again, Squig and Herder...*sniff*...it's so beautiful. So 1 in every 6 models has to be a Herder, but they grant the unit the ability to re-roll run and charge rolls while they are in it. On top of that, the Squigs now naturally hit on a 4+, which is just nice.
Anyone Riding a Squig (and Manglers):
They have the Fly rule, which is great, unless you find your battling in a Mortal Realm and roll for the effect that damages Flying units when they move.
Boingrot Bounders:
Squig Hoppers who are like Knights on Squigs. They are slower then Squig Hoppers, but have a better save and do more damage in combat (even more so on a charge). A nice new unit for any Squig fan. Also note that the new plastic kit has these guys on a 32mm base and since the kit can also be used to create Squig Hoppers, that means that their bases have now changed from the 25mm from GW's official base size listing to that of the 32mm (they haven't updated the base list yet, so if you have any old miniatures from this faction, cross reference them with the new sculpts on the GW page as new models might also mean base size changes).
Mangler Squigs:
Apart from it being a mount for a Loonboss, its wound table has changed being strong at first, getting a lot weaker when around mid wounds, before going back up to max again near death. This better represents the madness of attacking two panicking large beast that are chained together.
Troggoth Units:
Once again, you can field a full Troggoth (a.k.a Troll) army once more. The Dankhold Troggoths even grant friendly Gloomspite Gitz units wholly within 12" +1 to their Bravery, which is vitally important given how bad nearly all units Bravery stats are in this faction. They have regeneration and can do quite well in combat against most units (as should be expected). I do hope we see some of these armies on the battlefield.
Loonshrine:
The final one I'll talk about, the Loonshrine is a free piece of Terrain you get for being Gloomspite that is set up in your territory, 12" from enemy territory and 1" away from other terrain. Gloomspite Gitz units wholly within 12" of it do not take battleshock tests (vitally important) and it can also help bring back a destroyed Moonclan Stabbas or Shootas unit that was destroyed on a 4+, but said unit is halved (including things like banners, gongs and netters, rounding up). This means that it is really more useful if you are running a Gloomspite Gitz army with large units of Stabbas and Shootas. If not, then make sure the Loonshrine is close to places like objectives or bottlenecks to better hold positions.
Skitterstrand Arachnarok:
While I absolutely hate spiders, these guys are a useful asset in a variety of game types due to their ambushing board deployment ability. Personally, I prefer their lore. These spiders live in Shyish (called the Evercrawl), is believed to be the location where the Spider God lives that the Spiderfang tribes worship and they can weave the web from the strands of mortality itself. They can then use this to create their own Realmgates to strike at foes. They are even aware of Nagash and how much of a threat he is to them, but while they can't deal with him directly, they will defend their land from his forces.
Battalions
There are a number of Battalion Warscrolls to use, with some based more on fielding units of Moonclan, Squig riding units, Spiderfangs and even a Troggherd is you want to run an all Troggoth army (which you probably should if you are going to run them).
I feel some of these are easier to field then others, such as Gobbapaloosa (if you have already got them in the army, just pay the points and boom, a Battalion unit and another Artifact of Power). I also love how you can start with say Squig Rider Stampede with 2-3 Squig Hoppers/Boingrot Bounders and then add a Loonboss on a Great Cave Squig/ Mangler Squig and then add a Mangler Squig, thus giving enough to purchase the Squigalanche Battalion. Then all you need to do is add.....More Squig Units! Squiglorious!.
Final Thoughts
So before I get into my final thoughts of both the book and how it effected my of group, while thinking about this, something occurred to me. Many people online were disappointed about the lack of new stuff for the Spiderfangs, but then it hit me...Where are the Scuttlings from the Silver Tower game?
Yeah, remember these guys. Every other unit got included into their own books, but these guys have vanished. Hell, you can't even find their Warscroll on the app anymore and this is the same app that has the Warscrolls for a tone of out of production models. Worse still, the Spiker model from the Gobbapalooza set looks a lot like them:
So why were they removed? Just update their Warscroll, give them the Spiderfang keyword, pack them in a box and you've got a new unit. I mean, they would still have the molds for them so why were they not incorporated in the book. We may never know.
I do love this book overall. Much like the Beasts of Chaos book, it brings together three factions into a unified group with things like Battalions, Command Abilities, Artifacts and Spells to better define them depending on your focus. I'm still up in the air about some units (particularly the changes and options for my Fungoid-Cave Shaman), but certainly there are options for future expansion. I am not sure if the Bad Moon mechanic is good or not, but then being something that is more uncontrollable compared to other factions, it is growing on me. The Loonshrine is also something that I am also not too sure about as it doesn't really help players who aren't fielding large units of Stabbas/Shootas.
One thing I do not like at all is this Skragott the Loonking. Don't get me wrong, his rules are good and the model looks amazing, but as a character I just don't like him. Maybe it's because I'm still attached to Skarsnik too much, but where as Skarsnik was cunning and had to work his way up to be the greatest Night Goblin ever, Skragott got lucky once and now has to go raiding all the time for people driven mad by the Bad Moon and turn them into raving talking Mushrooms in his Asylum in order to predict the Bad Moons location in order to try and keep the appearance that he was chosen by it so he doesn't get a slitter in the back. To me, he isn't some inspirational character, just some looser trying to look cool, but that's just my opinion.
Overall, as mentioned before, with books like this and that of Beasts of Chaos, they seem to be taking the various broken factions and uniting them in collective books, which (if this book is anything to go by) is something I fully support. Again, I have several questions and concerns with it, but it is a good book and if you are a Moonclan, Spiderfang or Troggoth player, this is sort of a must have. Certainly the Lore is something I absolutely love and really helps you understand the reasoning for this alliance, but also gives you those moments (both good and bad) which really lets you get to know these factions in the Age of Sigmar universe.
Bah! Why waste time on Grot-things when Skaven more important! When will Skaven get book? Skaven demand book yes-yes!
~Grey Seer Skratchnsniff
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