One of my first ever armies was a Night Goblin force that I collected for Warhammer Fantasy Battle way back in the '90s. There's something about goblins – or Grots as we know them now – that is just wickedly appealing to me. They strike the perfect balance between cute and creepy, and you can always tell that Games Workshop's miniatures designers have had fun designing them.
I don't know what happened to that army – I suspect my Mum probably gave it away when I moved out (ditto my first edition of Warhammer Quest, which I'm properly gutted about).
Well, I'm happy to say that the Gloomspite Gitz Gitmob Army Set has cured that phobia. In the box you get six Snarlpack Cavalry (with each model comprising two Grots riding a giant wolf), two Sunsteala Wheelas (chariots, basically), and one named character: Droggz da Sunchompa – a beefy Grot riding an especially nasty-looking wolf.
You also get a special edition of the Gloomspite Gitz army book, and 59 Warscroll cards. Although that only comes to nine miniatures, they're all quite intense projects and the set is solid value – as we'll get into shortly, the miniatures will certainly take you a good while to build and paint. I've not had chance to play with the models yet, so my thoughts on the rules below are very much first impressions.
Gloomspite Gitz Gitmob Army Set
So: let's build some Grots. I started by working on one of the Snarlpack models. I must admit, I was expecting them to be fairly fiddly to assemble, but there's some really clever design work here and they fit together easily with no unsightly gaps. Hell, even the riders sit on them snugly – not always the case with GW cavalry!
An important note here, however: the Gitmob models all require you to work in sub-assemblies. I built the Grots but kept them separate from their wolves until I'd finished painting everything, then went back and touched up a couple of areas.
On the off chance you're interested, here is my painting recipe. All paints (aside from a universal base coat of Colourforge Wight Bone) are from Games Workshop. I painted the fur with Stormvermin Fur, then mixed up a bespoke wash of Ratling Grime, Gryph-Charger Grey, Apothecary White, and lots of Contrast Medium. I then picked out individual tufts with Grey Seer. The black leather was simply two coats of Ratling Grime over white. The yellow was Imperial Fist with a glaze of Casandora Yellow, followed by Seraphim Sepia. The metallics are all Leadbelcher washed with Agrax Earthshade.
I had a strong idea of how I wanted the Snarlpack wolves to look, going from a dark brown on the lower torso to a light grey brown mane of hare. Alas, it looked absolutely awful, so I tried again – this time a snow white colour. It looked cleaner, but also somehow unfinished, so I tried a third time, this time with much better results. I'm gonna go back and repaint the first two models.
In terms of their function on the battlefield, the Snarlpack Cavalry are basically the elite version of the Snarlfang Riders (who are not included in the Army Set). That's not saying too much, mind. These are lovely miniatures with fairly middling stats: 4+ hit and 5+ wound, though the Snarlfang wolves up that to 3+. They do, however, get Strike-First when charged, which is handy.
Sunsteala Wheelas
With one of the Snarlpack finished and two more in the process of being repainted, I turned my attention to a Sunsteala Wheela. Again, I was surprised at how easily this complex miniature came together. Each Sunsteala is made up of three Grots on a chariot that's being pulled by two wolves so I was very much in sub-assembly mode, with the only pain point being glueing the various chunks together at the end. Getting the wolves and the harness and the chariot to stick together correctly was a bit fiddly and took a few attempts.
These are fast attack models for ploughing into your enemies. Their Careening Destruction ability means that they can move their full 12" range and do up to D3 mortal damage on any one infantry unit they pass through. They come as a unit of two, which makes them useful for getting stuck into the action and bogging down your enemies in wolf and goblin chaos.
Droggz Da Sunchompa
Next up is the big boss: Droggz Da Sunchompa – although amusingly the Battletome makes it clear that "Droggz" is actually a succession of Grots riding the same gnarly mount, named Jaggedsnarl.
I love this model. It towers over other miniatures thanks to the sculpted rocky outcrop that he's perched on, and there's loads of character in both the rider and Jaggedsnarl. I spent a little bit more time detailing the fur on the mount than I did with the Snarlpack, and also ran some Carroburg Crimson into the wounds on his side to give a subtly bloody effect. This is one of those miniatures you could just keep working on, basically forever, adding more and more detail, but I'm happy with how he's looking for now.
In terms of gameplay, Droggz can deal out a fair share of damage and he has some fun, themey abilities such as using his backbanner – which is stolen Lumineth gear – to distract foes and make it harder for them to hit. He's pricey at 200 points, though, and with 7 wounds and a 4+ save he's not the sturdiest of named characters in the game.
Doom Diver
There's a reason why this review is coming out a little later than hoped, and it can be pinned on a single model: the Doom Diver ($93.99 at Miniature Market, down from $110, or £55.20 at Magic Madhouse, was £65). Yes, as well as the Army Set, Games Workshop also kindly supplied us with this model and the Snarlboss on War-Wheela.
"Just build it for now," said my editor. "You can paint it up later." I nodded, but he was wrong. I was wrong. We were both so very wrong. You just can't do that with this model. It requires you to make a million sub-assemblies and paint as you go. And then, just as you think you're nearing completion, you realise there's three extra Grots to add, and a crane, and some spiky bits.
Needless to say, it took me some time.
This is a great model. Brilliantly designed and packed with detail. You can build the catapult in two different positions, which is good as you'll want to take more than one of these heavy hitting units in a larger army. As well as the catapult, there's some kind of beast of burden, which is the first thing you should paint, and multiple Grots – the driver, three Divers, and a delightful little Snotling who just looks pleased to be there.
The majority of the Doom Diver is meant to be made of wood, with bindings holding it together. Over a Wight Bone prime I painted a very slightly thinned coat of Dryad Bark over the wooden parts, then neatened up the straps and bindings with Citadel's Wraith Bone. I then painted any metal parts in Leadbelcher. Then I just whacked a coat of Agrax Earthshade over everything. You can add highlights if you want, but for the most part that works fine for a grimy dark wood.
Happily the Doom Diver is as good on the battlefield as it looks on the tabletop. This thing can really pound your enemies, offering four attacks with Damage 3 and Rend 3. You can even re-roll missed shots, though each re-roll deducts 1 from your Rend. With 12 Health it's a relatively sturdy construction too. It's pricey at 180 points, but worth the cost to field a fantastic centerpiece model that also has the capacity to do some major damage to your enemies. That cost will, however, for the most part price you out of including more than a couple in an army.
Snarlboss/Frazzlegit Shaman on War-Wheela
The final model I worked on was the hero on War-Wheela kit ($85 at Miniature Market instead of $100, or £10 less than usual for £52.20 at Magic Madhouse). This is basically a bigger Sunsteala Wheela that can be made as either a Snarlboss to lead your army, or a Frazzlegit Shaman. As I already have Droggs in charge of my burgeoning Gitmob I decided to make this into a Shaman on wheels. Plus I love the way the shaman himself is squatted on top of the skull totem. As we are once again in sub-assembly mode, you'll like spot some blu tac holding the thing together!
Interestingly, this was the only model in the range that I have a few assembly grumbles about. It's mostly fine, but the back of the chariot fits together a little awkwardly. It's also far too big a model for the supplied base.
Still, these are minor gripes and the model looks pretty rad when assembled. This will probably be the next model I paint and I'll update the photo below when done.
As noted, I chose to build my special character as a Frazzlegit Shaman. This guy has some pretty nifty abilities, including a really good passive ability in 'Gimme All Da Light' which prevents friendly Gitmob units from being shot at while they are within 6" of the shaman. Frazzlemist, meanwhile, targets up to three visible enemies within 9" of the shaman once per turn and, on a 2+ roll, does D3 damage. With 9 wounds and a 4+ save he's a relatively sturdy character, too.
It's worth noting, however, that the Frazzlegit Shaman is largely going to be useful with full Gitmobs, rather than more all-encompassing Gloomspite armies, which have access to other, cheaper wizards.
If you choose to build a Snarlboss instead, you naturally get more offensive skills. 'Frazzlegit's Flame Stream' is a turbo boost that speeds your War-Wheela and shoots out a jet of fire into nearby enemies, while 'Keepin' Up Wiv Da Boss' enables a friendly unit that hasn't fought that turn to get stuck in too. Good stuff, but perhaps a bit too specialized to be of frequent use.
All hail the Bad Moon!
As you can see from the above I'm still very much in progress with my Gitmob, but I have to say, as a former cavalry-sceptic, I'm all in on these guys. I absolutely love the kits and can't wait to get more of them painted. Given that I was happily working on an Aeldari army before this set landed on my desk that's rather subverted my painting plans for the next couple of months – but isn't that just typical of Grots?
When I've finished this set I'm going to pick up a box of Snarlfang Riders, which will be enough to make a playable Gitmob Spearhead army. That would also give me enough models to make The Shinestealaz, a Regiment of Renown that would fit into Ironjawz, Kruleboyz, Ogor, and Sons of Behemat armies should I want to at a later date.
To be honest, though, I rather like the idea of having a small, focused Gitmob that I'll add to occasionally. Sure, in terms of stats they don't look like the most potent force around, but I'll take cool thematics and amazing models over rules any day.
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