Age of Sigmar Showcase: Gloomspite Gitz – A Mighty Squig Herd
Army showcase and thoughts of a newer player trying to start AoS with a big herd of squigs.
In the beginning…
After painting over 125 squigs, and almost 4,600 points, I’m excited my Jaws of Mork army is finally ready to show off. It has literally been over 20 years since this project started with a rank and file squig herd in WHFB 6th edition. Many years later I learned it was possible to take an entire squig-themed army in Age of Sigmar and that was enough to get me to finally try the game. That was in 2017 when old GW models weren’t “collectible” by default and you could find a decent sized batch of the older metal models on ebay without breaking the bank. After picking up a few good deals on these here and there my momentum stalled as other projects got in the way. This turned out to be for the best since a couple years later GW released tons of new squig models I could use to fill in the final gaps. I painted a lot of these on the old BoLS hobby stream, but when COVID hit they were left in the studio. I basically forgot about them until earlier this year when the new Gloomspite Book jogged my memory.
So now that I’ve gotten in a bunch of games with them, here are some thoughts on what it’s like to start playing Age of Sigmar with a Jaws of Mork army.
The squigs hit the table
My initial army was meant to be all squig-themed, though I’d break that rule more and more the longer I played. I based my starting 1,000 points around a large Squig herd, some bounder units, a Loonboss on Giant Cave Squig, a Fungoid Cave Shaman (he has a squig on his base so he counts – even without the squig keyword), and a Squigboss. Most of my thousand point games actually went really well. Smaller armies are easier to maneuver around and smaller units are easier to wipe out.
Things got a lot more difficult at 2k. My Bounderz had done well so I added more of them, two Mangler Squigs, and a Loonboss on Mangler Squig. This gave me a rather fragile low-model-count army that despite being fast and hitting hard couldn’t take down enough of an opposing 2,000 point army to survive a counterstrike. This led to significant early losses and constant rearranging of, and additions to my army. It wasn’t until I’d painted nearly 4,600 points of Gitz that I got to a list I thought worked right.
Unit Analysis
Boingrot Bounderz: Bounderz hit pretty hard but a lot of their high points cost (they are 30 points a model – to compare to a similar option from the newest army book, Drakespawn Knights are only 28 points a model) is based on the fact they can fly. Don’t get me wrong that maneuverability is awesome but they need a large tarpit to pin their foes down so they can strike in the spot where they’ll do the most damage. And while they have a lot of potential for damage, they aren’t too accurate making their damage output fairly swingy. Additionally they simply can’t take being charged. Their damage output is nearly halved if that happens so most other units will whittle them down eventually. Their save of 4+ isn’t terrible but most players come ready to rend against armies where everything has a 3+ or better. And their Bravery is pretty bad at 5 so many will flee if for some reason you can’t use “Inspiring Presence” on them. Any abilities that target a model’s bravery will be extra painful for them as well.
Squig Herd: I started playing this army just a little too late to abuse these guys at the height of their awesomeness. But even with all the nerfs these guys bring lots of wounds for cheap (slightly less than 6 points a wound) and have a ton of attacks that can be buffed in lots of ways. I saw them as a tarpit unit that could dish out a lot of damage and pin the other guys down while my Bounderz and Manglers came in later for a charge. With a few buffs they can also get a first turn charge no problem so I thought they could jam up in my opponent’s deployment zone while I spread everything else out to grab objectives.
What kills them though is their pitifully low bravery and the fact that they can’t receive commands. Even fully reinforced units with 72 wounds can go down pretty easily. If they lose half the unit the other half will probably flee. My solution as I got more games in, was to keep reinforcing them until I had two full units in my list. But as I slowly learned there are just too many things with the swinging power to knock out dozens of squigs at a go. Obviously the other special rules like “Squigs Gone Wild” and “Herding Squigs” are cool. They just haven’t been enough to salvage this unit in the games I’ve played. Sadly I don’t really know what their role is right now. If played at all I think it should be in small units, ready to pack a surprising amount of attacks or wounds in a small spot.
Squig Hoppers: These guys finally ended up working out great as the tarpit/high damage unit I had been looking for in the Squig Herd. They’re substantially more expensive than the Squig Herd at almost 10 points per wound, but a fully reinforced unit is a massive blob of flying wounds that can receive commands and bounce all over the place. Even if you lose a whopping twenty or so, one cp spent means the rest stick around. And if they’re under the Bad Moon they rally on a 4+, and just get even more devastating with all the buffs you can give them.
And a quick note on these old models – yes these are the ones I got from eBay years ago (plus a few from my old Orcs and Goblins army). I decided to keep them in the army rather than replace them with the newer sculpts and I love how different they are from the Bounderz. These models go for a ridiculous $10 or so each on ebay now. Maybe a little less if you want to buy a big mob of them. Can’t believe how much the price shot up after GW quit manufacturing them. Unfortunately it means if I ever want to get another unit to match this one, my wallet is gonna bleed.
Mangler squigs: I still keep a Mangler in my list because it’s nice to have one source of concentrated death, and it costs enough points to fill out a Battle Regiment. But I’ve strongly fallen out of love with these giant hopping goons. They’re nearly 20 points a wound with just a 4 up save. In my experience that means they’ll need to be very lucky to get more than one charge off a game before they get killed. And if they’re not dead they’re probably hurt too bad to help out much. All three of these in the same list is just too many fragile points to account for but one might manage to overrun a flank. The Loonboss in particular costs 340 – 80 points more than the others and is basically as fragile. They can do an insane amount of damage but they’re pretty random, so your dice really have to love you for them to wipe out their value in points in a single charge, let alone do more than that.
Heroes
Oh man look at this rogue’s gallery. Most of them have ended up being more trouble than they’re worth and I’ve narrowed it down to a few favorites. I feel really strongly that running a Battle Regiment with Jaws of Mork is a must, so with only three slots available, they gotta pull their weight.
The Bad
Squigboss: The Squigboss is just too difficult to use properly. His buff range is only 3″ and he has to use it in the Hero phase so you don’t have a chance to move him into position if your army has gone on ahead. His standard buffs are also totally in conflict with his other main ability which is a once per game free move for Squig Herds wholly within 12″. To add even more frustration, this free move must be done at the start of the Hero phase, meaning you have to leave a line of squigs between him and the rest of their unit to get the second buff after they make that move. He’s also as squishy as the Madcap Shaman and 30 points more which is dire. He’ll need to be close to the frontline to hand out his buffs. I’ve used this guy possibly more than any other of these heroes and he just can’t keep up with the herd well enough to do his thing.
Loonboss on Mangler Squig: Too much squishy. Not enough hitty. And his Let’s Get Bouncin’ ability has too many restrictions. You don’t want to have to worry about keeping your Bounderz close to this guy when they should always be headed where they’re needed most. Sometimes he and the unit can be a useful concentration of force but not often enough. Maybe if he could give him and the Bounderz first strike…
Rabble Rowsa: Not really bad just not so useful with a Jaws of Mork army. His most important ability is Get Goin’ you Gitz, which allows monsters to run and charge. It just isn’t that useful with Mangler Squigs which can often do that anyway if the Bad Moon is willing. Take this guy with Gargants in his regiment of reknown. Or maybe Ironjawz. Or maybe even Spiderfang Grots.
Skragrott: I’m going to use all caps and bold to stress that like the Rabble Rowsa, the Loon King is most certainly NOT BAD. But he isn’t best with Jaws of Mork. There are two big reasons why a cheaper option is better. Skragrott’s biggest deal is Da Moon Onna Stick allowing him to act as the Bad Moon to all units wholly within 12″. Your army will probably be too fast to stay within that aura so it will go to waste and you’ll also be leaving a juicy 230 point model all alone and vulnerable. Also Hoarfrost is probably the most important spell for this army and being a Unique model, poor Skrags can’t take it. But by all means use him in a Megamobb or Badsnatchin’ Gitz list.
The Good
Loonboss: It was the allure of “I’m da Boss, Now Stab ’em Good!” that led to me ditching the Squig Herds for the Hoppers. While not quite as good as the Squigboss’s Yellow Lurka, it has a longer range and can be used on the opponent’s turn. Also this guy is a better fighter than the Squigboss with a better save, more attacks, and a couple more wounds. And cheaper to boot!
Fungoid Cave Shaman/Madcap Shaman: It’s really important to take one of these. Since you want to run a Battle Regiment, you can really only afford one hero wizard. If you have the points to spare the Fungoid is better thanks to improved survivability. He also has a spell that might be really mean every three games or so, and another bonus: Mouthpiece of Mork. But what you really want a wizard for are Hoarfrost and the Moonface Mommet artifact and either shaman can take them. So if 70 points is all you got, spend it on a madcap. It’s worth considering making them the general so they can be a Master of Magic and reroll miscasts. But Primal Magic Dice make it not as big of a deal since more dice is probably better and you can’t use those dice if you use a re-roll. (Hobby note: I thought about maybe converting a squig-riding madcap shaman just to fit the theme, but in the end I really wanted to include the old Oddgit model in this list. He fought alongside those decades-old squigs back in whfb.)
Grinkrak: I’m… pretty sure he’s good? This guy is freakin’ expensive though. One of these days I need to do a tally of all the models I kill in a game from his “I Dub Thee…” ability to see if they add up to his points cost. Not to mention the fact said ability has a short range of only 3″. At least you activate it in the combat phase, so it’s easier to get him where you want than it is with the Squigboss. But I’ve still frequently had to leave a little chain of squigs leading back to him to make sure I can use this cool unique buff. He is more than just a cool buff though. He fights as well as the Loonboss and brings along a little unit that can tank wounds for him; so 210 is probably fair. I’ve been happily using him for awhile now but I sure could fit in a lot if I switched him out for something else.
Gobbapalooza
These guys look so good on paper but I’ve really struggled to make them work. Fungoid cloud is an amazing spell that can be game-winning, but it’s just tricky enough to cast that you can probably only count on it 2 out of 3 turns . Maybe more if you get Primal Dice. And then your opponent still gets a chance to dispel it. They can also cast a second spell, and that can be important – Itchy Nuisance has been a game-changer for me so I’ve given it to these guys a lot. Their unique buffs are also awesome, and “Nasty Poisons” in particular has been a great help many times. But like so many other things I’ve gone over it’s hard to keep all your squigs in their auras. And now that I’ve switched my Squig Herd out for the faster Squig Hoppers they just don’t have a place in my army anymore. Especially when there’s a better option for the same points. Someday I hope to paint up a Badsnatchin’ Gitz list as well, and this lot will fit in there perfectly.
Even more buffing units
Warshcrawla Sloggoth: As you can see by now I’ve gone very far off the original “squigs only” theme. But where the Marshcrawla is concerned it’s been absolutely worth it. Finally, an aura so big it can keep up with my army. Well most of it; even 18″ isn’t big enough to catch any units you have to send off on the flanks. But the +1 to hit has been great and it also gives me another fairly nasty monster to send in in a pinch.
Sporesplatta Fanatics: If you’ve read this far you’re probably thinking “isn’t this army too fast for these guys to keep up?” And sadly yes you’d be correct. Fortunately at 90 points they’re just the right cost to fit in my current Battle Regiment so they’ve stuck around several games as I repeatedly cross my fingers for really high rolls on their random movement. And so far… not much luck. I’ve barely gotten any extra attacks from them but they’re cheap enough that I’ll probably keep trying for awhile. They’re also probably one of the most fragile units by points cost in the entire game; 1 wound each and only a 6+ save.
The Looncourt
I really only put this picture in here because this is mostly a showcase article and I like how they turned out. I mean even as unpainted plastic they’re an absolutely awesome unit to look at. Only really got one thing to say about them. Can I just kill one thing with the Squigapult? Is that really so much to ask? I mean I’ve brought these guys to like five games now!
Endless Spells
All Endless Spells seem like such a gamble. They can have a huge impact on the game but you might just fail to cast them or get them unbound before they can be much help.
Skrapscuttle’s Arachnocauldron: In addition to having a great name this one is cheap and useful. And it seems innocuous at first because it doesn’t do anything right away. So a lot of time your opponent won’t try to dispel it. But I love it because Hoarfrost is a must and Itchy Nuisance is also super important. If you find yourself fighting something big and nasty like a gargant, making them strike last is absolutely clutch. You want to do as much damage as you can before it starts swinging back and it might take multiple chargers to bring it down. But you don’t even have to choose a second spell – with the cauldron you just know all of them. Ere we Go is totally still on the table if you absolutely need to send a unit someplace else. Or you could Nikkit Nikkit something for a few mortals.
Malevolent Moon: Unlike other auras that it’s easy for your squigs to bounce away from, this one starts where you want it and then moves around fast. The mortal wounds are really just gravy.
Scuttletide: Seems good. I only painted it to go with a Spider Grot list I hope to make someday but I could see it being useful for any Gitz.
Mork’s Mighty Mushroom: Another I haven’t tried. It seems so bad on paper I didn’t even bother. An Endless Spell that has a random range and stays in place doesn’t seem like much use to me. Age of Sigmar is usually a pretty dynamic game so I doubt anyone would hang out near it for long. And while there are certainly static gunlines out there I don’t want to shell out 80 points for a spell that is only really great against those types of armies. Plus those same types are usually magic heavy and will probably just unbind it anyway.
Loonshrine
With the exception of a few Bounderz, this is the only model that’s been with me in every single game. It lurks in the back, watching over all, waiting dispassionately to mock my rolls of 3 or less to activate it’s power. Look at that silent glare. I think I’ve averaged less than 1 returned unit per game with this thing and it’s probably frustrated me more than any model in any game I’ve ever played… EVER. So much wasted potential… I dream of having something like Summoning points or any other way to guarantee the return of a unit every now and then. But no… Of course I’ve thought of giving my general The Clammy Hand, but if they’re hanging out by the shrine they’re likely to be out of range of their Moonface Mommet. The truth is even if I was successfull with every roll, it wouldn’t change the game much. A returning unit at half-strength might change the outcome sometimes. But the way Jaws of Mork plays, if things aren’t going your way pretty early on they’re going very badly not your way. Any squigs emerging from the shrine might quickly find themselves alone on the table. I really just wish one of the battle tactics for Gitz wasn’t dependent on this thing working properly.
Final Thoughts
So would I advise you to follow in my footsteps and jump into Age of Sigmar with an all squig army? Well not really. It’s pretty tricky to manage all the buffs and auras you need to win and still get your army where it needs to go. You also really need to be careful about where and when you send your units in. Charge with everything on the same turn and you’ll end up losing way more models than you’d think. Alternating combats can really bite you. The first Bounder unit you activate might wipe out the thing you sent it after. But if you charge in a second in the same turn, your opponent might wipe it out before you activate it. Or deal enough losses it can barely hit back. But if your units get charged – particularly the Bounderz – they’re really going to suffer. It’s taken me a lot of games to get a feel for the flow of things and I’ve only squared off against a handful of factions.
If you’re drawn to Gitz and want an easier time, go run out and grab yourself a Trugg’s Troggherd box and run his subfaction or Glogg’s Megamobb. If troggs aren’t your thing, a more mixed army with Stabbas and Shootas screening your Bounderz and Manglers will probably work better than this all squig nonsense. But if I can do it you can. So if you’re ok with losing a bunch of games as you go and you really really really love squigs give it a shot.
The Best List
“My Best List” would probably be a more accurate title. Or really “My Best Jaws of Mork List,” since I’m actually cooking up a Glogg’s list right now that I think will be meaner than anything I could do with all these squigs. Unfortunately, as you’ve already seen, I’ve drifted away from the purity of my earlier “only models with visible squigs” rule. But this list still has more squigs than you can shake a squig at.
If there’s one thing I want to stress about this list it is that almost every buff I’ve taken in it (with the exception of Hoarfrost) can be used on the opponent’s turn. Going second sucks when you need a turn to get all your buffs up. And the double turn mechanic in this game is just too brutal for you to want to rely on anything you can only do on your own turn. Even if you go first and get your buffs up, your opponent can try to avoid the buffed units. Or maybe just gang up on them so none of your units have a buff if they double-turn you in round two. Nope… I’m not having any more of that. Everything in this list either gives passive buffs to everything in range, or can be activated in your opponent’s turn.
Army Faction: Gloomspite Gitz
– Army Subfaction: Jaws of Mork
LEADER
1 x Grinkrak the Great (220)
1 x Loonboss (90)
1 x Fungoid Cave-Shaman (110)
– General
– Command Traits: Master of Magic
– Artefacts: Moonface Mommet
– Spells: Hoarfrost
BATTLELINE
30 x Squig Hoppers (190)
10 x Boingrot Bounderz (150)
5 x Boingrot Bounderz (150)
BEHEMOTH
1 x Mangler Squigs (260)
ENDLESS SPELL
1 x Scrapskuttle’s Arachnacauldron (40)
OTHER
1 x Marshcrawla Sloggoth (170)
6 x Grinkrak’s Looncourt (220)
5 x Sporesplatta Fanatics (90)
TOTAL POINTS: (2000/2000)
Created with Warhammer Age of Sigmar: The App
The Final Count
And here’s the entire 4,560 point tally.
Army Faction: Gloomspite Gitz
– Army Subfaction: Jaws of Mork
LEADER
1 x Fungoid Cave-Shaman (110)
– General
1 x Grinkrak the Great (220)
1 x Loonboss (90)
1 x Loonboss on Giant Cave Squig (130)
1 x Loonboss on Mangler Squigs (340)
1 x Madcap Shaman (70)
1 x Rabble-Rowza (100)
1 x Skragrott, the Loonking (230)
1 x Squigboss (110)
BATTLELINE
30 x Squig Hoppers (190)
10 x Boingrot Bounderz (150)
10 x Boingrot Bounderz (150)
36 x Squig Herd (140)
36 x Squig Herd (140)
BEHEMOTH
1 x Mangler Squigs (260)
1 x Mangler Squigs (260)
ENDLESS SPELL
1 x Malevolent Moon (80)
1 x Scrapskuttle’s Arachnacauldron (40)
1 x Scuttletide (80)
OTHER
5 x Gobbapalooza (170)
6 x Grinkrak’s Looncourt (220)
5 x Sporesplatta Fanatics (90)
1 x Marshcrawla Sloggoth (170)
TOTAL POINTS: (4560/2000)
Created with Warhammer Age of Sigmar: The App
~Hope you enjoyed the article! You can follow me on Instagram if you like pics like these. I go by @t00mini. Thanks for reading!
