Games Workshop is pulling out all the stops to make the Grots of their world feel very special indeed. We hadn't really seen a big update to Destruction as a Grand Alliance since the rise of the Orruks but now the Gloomspite Gitz are here to show everyone who's boss in da world of Age Of Sigmar!

A new Battletome (which features that art you see above) alongside its Warscroll Cards is on the way for those looking to get stuck in right away. Whilst a lot of the rules and such are all digital now it's good to have some physical reminders of what you need to be doing on the tabletop too.

As with all of their Battletomes I'm sure it will be packed with lore and background as well as ways to use your Grots on the tabletop. Games Workshop actually looked into their lore in more detail HERE so maybe give it a look and see if they're the army for you.

If that doesn't tempt you then the models certainly will...

Heroic Gitz

Leading the way for your warband of excellent and mischievous creatures is Skragrott here. He is, as you might imagine, a powerful wizard and able to call on some rather interesting abilities during your games.

The miniature also looks superb. They have really worked well with the overall look and feel of the Night Goblins from the Old World, bringing them up to date and giving them a unique look too. Of course, there are plenty of mushrooms on display as well as a lot of moon iconography.

Talking of moons, this fellow might want to challenge Skragrott for his devotion to their god(s).

Armed and armoured as if he has stepped out of a Jim Henson production this fellow might be a bit more dangerous than those puppets. It's great to see the moon worked into the design once more, as well as the team taking all the staples of the Night Goblins and fashioning them into something more brutal. The curled 'shoes' are a good example, here turned into pointy boots that could well be weapons of their own.

The Gloomspite Gitz also appear to give Games Workshop a bit of licence to have fun with some of the units that are available. For example, here is the Goobapalooza.

This band of weirdos which feature a Shroomancer, Spiker, Boggleye, Scaremonger and Brewgit look like they would work very well as individuals but when combined they can wreak havoc upon the battlefield.

One of the best things about collecting these gitz as an army is that you certainly wouldn't get bored of having to paint the same thing over and over again. There's plenty of different characters to sink your teeth into and a wide-ranging colour palette too!

Squigs Galore

As well as these characters who will be backing up your army you'll also find plenty of new Squig-based creatures joining the ranks of the Gloomspite Gitz. We'll start with the rather gnashing teeth of a traditional Squig Herd who are being ushered into action by their very nervous handlers.

If you thought Squigs couldn't get any more interesting them Games Workshop came to test that theory with the addition of more versions of these angry balls of death. Here we have the Sneaky Snufflers who are rooting out particularly nice mushrooms...

...and theBoingrot Bounders who are slightly more martial, armed and armoured for a head-on collision with the enemy. I love that they've all got spikey helmets so that if the Squig or the lance doesn't get their enemy the helmet might do the trick!

The mighty Mangler Squig is not to be forgotten earlier, brought back into the fold for the wild and wonderful world of the Gloomspite Gitz.

I would not want to run into one of those, no matter how many times Sigmar has said he'd reforge me!

The wild and evocative mix of miniatures already displayed as part of the Gloomspite Gitz range has got me itching to pick up a few of these models and give them a go myself. I know I'm rarely going to be playing Age Of Sigmar but by Jove they've got something addictive about them. I think it's the wonderfully quirky characters and sense of 'fun' that oozes from them that has caught my attention.

Not to be left out of the party and talking of quirky, Games Workshop also re-worked the awesome Fanatics that many a Dwarf has had to deal with, bringing them back to the tabletop for the Gloomspite Gitz.

Hopefully, they work just as you'd imagine, spinning out of control and doing as much damage to your own side as they do to the enemy. I love that they've included a collapsed and sick Grot into the mix as well having had one too many mushrooms!

Mighty Troggoths!

As if the range couldn't get any cooler, the folks at Games Workshop added these miniatures into the preview too. The Stone Trolls of old have got themselves and upgrade with the Rockgut Troggoths here who look like they've been ripped from the art design of Darksiders...and I love it.

Is it ok to want to just run an army of these folks? I love their expressions which retain that comic madness that we all loved as well as the way the sculptors have worked lots of little extras into the mix. For example, the Troggoth at the front there with a rock helmet, and the dead baby bird perched atop the other.

These Troggoths are then supported by something truly massive. Check out the Dankhold Troggoth...

Now that is an impressive looking creature! It's nice to see that the Troggoths and Grots still have a long-running feud with the Dispossed and Duardin of the Mortal Realms, fashioning not only their statues but their guns into something worthy of their use.

Once again, there are plenty of little additions here to the sculpt which built character. All of them are very mushroom-based as you notice little eyes here and there peering out from beneath their caps. A truly awesome new miniature to act as the heavy in your Gloomspite Gitz army.

Terrain & Spells

Rounding things off we're going to look at some of the extras for the Gloomspite Gitz. As seems to be the fashion now, they get themselves their own terrain piece known as the Bad Moon Loonshrine.

I'm sure that's going to do all kinds of good things when it arrives on the tabletop. Maybe it will be powering up your Grot Wizards to cast some powerful spells...perhaps some new Endless Spells?

Much like with the rest of their range I would hope that the spells here are as damaging to your side as they are to the enemy. You wouldn't want to play an army of Goblins without something going wrong along the way, would you?

So, Gloomspite Gitz; anyone else thinking about starting them as your army for 2019?