Today’s article continues our Love Letters Series, in which readers of the page submit an ode to their favorite warband. The Love Letter Series was kicked off by this post encouraging people to play the warbands they love and tell others about the experience, inviting readers to contribute their passion to this website – if you have something to say, by all means let me know wherever you found this posted or by emailing me at SpentGlory@Gmail.com.
Julian (who goes by JUGA on discord) was one of the Team Canada representatives at the World Championships of Warhammer this year. He made the choice to take Zarbag’s Gitz, and I wanted to give him a chance to show off his success, his play group, and his story while sharing some Goblin love with the masses. Julian played on the stream at worlds in the 6th round of pool play, facing off against Skyler who played Ylthari’s Guardians, which you can watch here. It was a good three-round match that showcased a lot of the tricks Zarbag’s Gitz can pull off, and hats off to Julian for taking a horde into such a stacked aggro meta.
- Who are you, and where are you from? How did you get into Underworlds? Do you have a local group you play with, and if so, do they have an online presence to help people find you?
I’m Julian, known as JUGA on the discords. I am from Vancouver Canada, and part of the Vancouver meta!
I got into Underworlds through a co-worker of mine. (Hi Val!) We played lots of 1st edition Kill team, and some small scale 40k, but were getting bored of it. When 2nd edition Kill team came out, we gave it a go and found it lacking compared to 1st edition. I personally really loved having specialist troops like medics, snipers, sergeants etc., and struggled with the active and concealed orders. He showed me Underworlds at work one day (Beastgrave starter set) and proceeded to dismantle Grashraks Despoilers with Skaeth’s Wild Hunt. I loved the hex-based movement, card decks, and quick speed of the game. I was hooked! From there I mainly played with him at work, until I started to attend some local tournaments. Little did I know what a shark tank the Vancouver scene could be.
Damian (Devlman), Steve (Spaint2k), Josh (Bouchy73), James, Arthur, Neel were all veterans at this point playing the game since Shadespire/Nighvault. Other strong players like Andy (Hammersauce) and Max would join later as well. I started playing just at the beginning of Direchasm launch with my beloved Khagra’s Ravagers and proceeded to get splattered all over the floor by these great players in Championship tournaments. I slowly started to understand the gameplay more, and investigated deck building more with the help of Val. We would play regularly after work where he would come up with crazy passive builds for the Vampires. Shout out to the Lost Pages. I started to get more into the competitive side of Underworlds when Nemesis was launched. I won my one and only Glass trophy at a small tournament with Khagra’s versus Dromm, (foreshadowing for worlds?) with a sneaky Dark command kill on Dromm. From there I started to play a variety of warbands. I loved the complexity the Kunnin Krew offered and enjoyed the Ork aesthetic.
- What’s the warband/deck/pairing you love, and how did you two sweethearts meet?
One day a local player was selling some of his warbands. James sent me a message telling me I had to buy Zarbag’ s from this person. He said I would love their shenanigans, Snirk was one of the best models/fighters in the game, and they were just plain silly fun! Exactly what Underworlds was meant to be. From there my love of Gitz began.
Before I talk about Zarbags, I want to walk you through my journey to the Warhammer World Championships 2024. I had won a ticket to worlds in September 2023 at Minis and Mayhem, our local Vancouver tournament that Damian runs. I was playing Ephilim Fearsome Fortress, and barely snuck ahead of Steve to come in 2nd place. David (Beardarm) from Edmonton had flown out and won 1st place, but he already had a ticket. Derek (Kaptain Murder) had also flown out, but he came 4th so we don’t need to talk about him. I was shocked I had an opportunity to compete at such a high level. I knew at the time there were big tournaments around the world for Underworlds, but it wasn’t in my plans to become a competitive player. I just enjoyed the game, and the tournament scene in Vancouver was the best way to get consistent games in. I also didn’t think I was the same caliber of player as some of the other locals.
The other “issue” I had, was my plan to propose to my fiancé. She loves Christmas, and I had a plan to propose while we were cutting down our Christmas tree. Adding a sudden trip to Atlanta, taking unpaid time off work, needing new tires on my truck and buying an engagement ring, I needed to choose what my priorities were.
I decided to decline the ticket and propose. It was the right choice. Steve took my spot and represented Vancouver at a much higher level than I could have, coming in 3rd place!! (Editor’s Note: if you’d like to hear Steven cover his experience on the Underworlds Underground podcast (as well as discuss the Crimson Court ordering pizza) check out this Underworlds Underground episode)
However, I made it my New Years resolution to try and earn another ticket to worlds for the 2024 year. I won my ticket in June 2024 in Edmonton, and from there went on planning what I would play at worlds.
So now back to the original question. What’s the warband/deck/pairing you love, and how did you two sweethearts meet
When it was revealed 2nd edition was going to be played at worlds, I was at a complete loss about what to play. I had no idea what was going to be good and had no clue where to start. I hopped on a call with David, and we discussed the list of warbands that would be available for us at worlds. I’ll be honest I was not thinking about Zarbags until he mentioned them. He thought Zarbags looked interesting in this new edition.
Zarbags has lots of good things going for them in 2.0. Let’s start with their warscroll.
The inspire mechanic is a call back to their original inspire, based on earning a set amount of glory. I like this new one, because it rewards you for being more aggressive with the Gitz. With how easy surges are to score now, you can almost consistently be inspired by the 2nd round. It does rely on your opponent to attack you, and you need early surges to get the ball rolling.
Barely worth it caps the total bounty glory at 7. There are fighters you want alive more than others, (Zarbag, Snirk) but losing a squig or archer early is fine.
Scurry. This is where the warband comes alive. For Worlds, Scurry had an errata so that fighters could only scurry once per turn and could not do it if they have a move or charge token. I’m very ok with this nerf as before it they could scurry infinitely. It was possible you could get a fighter on all 5 treasure tokens in one turn, which is silly. Scurry mainly let me charge with one fighter and move another onto a treasure token. I would also use it to gain supports, or sling shot a fighter into enemy territory, so I could then walk them on to a treasure token.
Spiteful Volley. This is a weapon ability for Dibbz, Redkap and Stikkit. While not as useful as scurry, it gets more useful once the archers are inspired. Paired with careful Snirk placement, it can lead to a nasty potential 4 damage turn. The first attack needs to be successful but can be a nice gotcha when shooting at a fighter equipped with Utter Ignorance. Also useful at driving back a fighter multiple hexes if you need the separation.
Spinnin/Overconfidence. The last two abilities on this warscroll are for Snirk. Spinnin being a surge is HUGE. Not pinging other Gitz when they move/scurry past Snirk makes positioning much easier in the early rounds. The threat of Snirk alone can be enough to change your opponent’s game plans and can shut out opponents from treasure tokens If they are vulnerable. Overconfidence makes sense, Snirk is not the type to be guarded, and with 3 dodges inspired, is still not a slouch defensively.
What I enjoy the most about the Warscroll, is there are no one use abilities. They are always in play for the Gitz (if fighters are alive), which will have to factor into your opponent’s game plan as they set up across the board from the Gitz.
Now let’s look at the fighters. Another big bonus for the Gitz is they have a lot of redundancy with their fighters. 4 of them have the same 1 range, 3 hammer, 2 dmg attack inspired, and 4 of them have decently accurate range 3 attacks inspired. (Prog gains the least from inspiring but ensnare is ok). Zarbag is the most flexible as we will talk about below. They have a massive health pool totalling at 21, and all fighters except Drizgit get multiple defence dice inspired.
Zarbag is your best overall fighter. He starts at 2 dodges, and with 3 wounds I would usually deploy him farther up, as he has a better chance at living compared to the rest. His main use is inspired with a 4-hammer range 3 attack. He is super accurate, and paired with Duelist, fantastic at stealing tokens from the opponent. His range 1 attack is decent as well going up to 3 hammers.
Snirk is not the crazy scattering monster he was before, but he still kept his flavour and is probably the most important fighter for the warband. The battle needs to revolve around Snirk for the extra ping damage he creates. If he survives long enough to inspire, and gets +dice or grievous upgrades, he is a monster that can win you games singlehandedly. He needs to stay central in the board. If he gets stuck in a corner, the movement 3 can be painful to get him back into the fight. Losing him early sucks, as he is a great area denial piece, and distraction. You can still win without him, but its harder.
The Squigs are way better now that they can also scurry, fly, get weapon upgrades AND hold objectives. They are the unsung heroes for this warband. Having the same fighter duplicated lets you keep charging/attacking with them and keeps your threat area much larger. Their deployment with Drizgit can lead to some easy surges if you can deploy one in no one’s territory, and they can block your opponent from accessing one half of your board.
Drizgits only real boost over the Squigs is his 3 wounds. They have identical attack profiles otherwise. I would use Drizgit early in round 1, with the hopes he can take a hit, and stick around long enough to give supports to a squig/ archer.
The archers are all fine. They are mainly useful for holding tokens or giving support. Volley is their real strength and makes them more useful than Prog in my opinion. Once inspired they are decently accurate, and the two dodges can let them stay on tokens sometimes.
Prog is your most accurate range attack to start the game but gains the least for inspiring. He is the runt of the pack in my opinion now. Use him early and forget about him. Gaining ensnare when inspired is useful, but not having access to volley is a downside. I would rather lose Prog in the first round, than one of the archers.
- What makes the deck so fun to play in your experience?
View the deck on Underworlds DB here
The deck pairing I took was Blazing Assault and Pillage and Plunder. This deck was fun because it leaned into the accurate attacks the Gitz have access to, and their movement shenanigans. The game plan is to charge, scurry onto tokens, delve them, and create havoc and mayhem (Proper Gitz style).
I made this deck with David (Beardarm) the day we got access to cards and rules. Blazing Assault has amazing ploys and upgrades, which can lead to surprise damage spikes, and helps the Gitz be more accurate, move onto objectives, and reposition as needed. We decided to go with Pillage and Plunder over Emberstone Sentinels, because Supremacy is not an easy card for the Gitz to score. They need three models on tokens, and with one dodge in the early game that is asking too much of them. Strip the Realm is more attainable, by driving opponents off TT’s and delving them. It is still very easy to block. But if you wipe the opponent, they can’t hold tokens. It also forces Aggro warbands to make sub optimal plays if they are trying to deny it.
With the new delving rules allowing staggered fighters to delve, it allows the Gitz lots of opportunities to flip tokens. As well as giving them double supports on defence. I wasn’t worried about my fighters being staggered, as they are already very easy to kill. I’m not sure on the math, but having my fighters go to effectively two shields inspired, while giving up a re-roll seemed like a fair trade to make.
Surges:
The surge package in this deck focuses on fighter positioning. The four P&P surges require fighters to be on feature tokens, in all territories, and delving. The two from blazing assault want us in enemy territory and rolling dice. I liked Get Stuck in and Critical Effort as they helped force me to go into enemy territory and make attacks. I’ve found a good general way to deny opponent scoring is to be in enemy territory and standing on their tokens.
Endphases:
The endphase package mirrors the surges. I need fighters on tokens delving, limiting how many Tresure Tokens are on the board, and making attacks and killing/dying and wounding opponents.
In my test games prior to world, surges are scored much faster now, and with how efficient Focus is, I was consistently getting through 12 objectives, and only had 1-2 left in my hand in the third round. Strip the Realm is greedy, but was also the card that could win me a game. If my opponent picked up on it, and was denying me the scoring, I would discard it, knowing I still have 12 objectives without it. Broken Prospects and Torn Landscape are very important if you discard Strip the Realm. Having 7 glory tied into three cards can be problematic. If your opponent picks up on these, they can be shut down. You will need to work hard to ensure they are scored.
Ploys:
The Ploys focus on giving extra movement, dice/damage, and tools to push/reposition. Lure of battle is probably the strongest ploy in this deck. It can be used with Snirk to ping opponents, pull enemies off tokens, or set up a scurry. Illusory fighter is also big for setting up scurries and repositioning.
Upgrades:
The upgrades make the Gitz more lethal, accurate, and give them more tools to get onto TT’s. Canny Sapper acts like an 11th ploy and can help me get a fighter into enemy territory. Same reasoning for taking 11 as taking 13 Objectives, with the card draw at the start of rounds, I found I was able to get through my Power deck efficiently.
Pairing Canny Sapper with Illusory fighter was sweet when it kicked off.
If I was to change this deck now, I would be tempted to swap Blazing Assault for Emberstone Sentinels. Blazing Assault’s objectives could be replaced easily, but I personally like its 1 glory end phases over ES’s. A good chunk of the Ploys and Upgrades have mirrors or comparable’ s in ES. Confusion would have been incredibly handy in a few games, but Illusory fighter, Wings of War, Duellist, and Hidden Aid were all stellar. I would potentially sway Commanding Stride, Crumbling Mine, or Brash Scout in my ploys. All had their uses but were more limited compared to my other ploys. Having Healing Potion or another card to put a fighter on guard would have been great.
- How have you found success and/or fun with the deck?
The deck is a blast to play. I think it leans into the Gitz style, of hitting hard, and dying. I ended world with a record of 3-3 in the Pool bracket, and 2-2 in the Worlds bracket. I had some incredibly close games, which I will share the scores, and players/ their pairings below. I made mistakes in all my games, so I won’t say I played the deck perfectly, but it could probably still be tweaked more.
| Pools bracket | Worlds Bracket | ||||||
| Oppt | Warband | Decks | Score | Oppt | Warband | Deck | Score |
| James | Gorechosen of Dromm | Reckless Fury/Blazing Assault | 22-16 W12-23 L13-24 L | Thomas | Gorechosen of Dromm | Reckless Fury/Blazing Assault | 14-21 L13-23 L |
| Pawal | Spiteclaw’s Swarm | Emberstone Sentinels/Pillage & Plunder | 18-18 L17-17 L | Aaron | Sepulchral Guard | Emberstone Sentinels/ Pillage and Plunder | 23-9 W16-24 L22-17 W |
| Kevin | Headsman’s Curse | Reckless Fury/Wrack and Ruin | 23-4 W23-10 W | Zach | Khagra’s Ravagers | Emberstone Sentinels/ Pillage and Plunder | 17-18 L20-9 W16-11 W |
| Blake | Gorechosen of Dromm | Reckless Fury/Blazing Assault | 21-15 W23-8 W | George | Headsman’s Curse | Countdown to Cataclysm /Blazing Assault | 11-20 L15-22 L |
| Damian | Gorechosen of Dromm | Reckless Fury/Blazing Assault | 17-20 L21-17 W17-18 L | ||||
| Skyler | Ylthari’s Guardians | Reckless Fury/Pillage and Plunder | 20-19 W16-21 L24-15 W | ||||
- What advice do you have for other players who might want to try your warband on for size?
Don’t be afraid to let Gitz die. It benefits your inspire, and you have 9. Snirk is almost as useful as a distraction piece, as he is as a fighter. If he dies, you still have teeth in other fighters. Keep the volley archers together to benefit from the warscroll ability. Prog is expendable. Expend him early. Zarbag while not important to the warbands abilities is one of your best fighters, so try and keep him around as long as possible.
- What threats do you find most challenging to face? Are there any warbands or strategies that others can use to beat this warband or pairing?
Fury of Aqshy, and Bladecatcher shut down Volley, and Scurry. I felt decent going into aggro warbands, because the Gitz can counter punch hard, but they will die. I have won games against Dromm, and in a perfect storm can outscore them, but it is an uphill battle until the Gorechosen or Reckless Fury gets an FAQ.
If you are playing against the Gitz, making them go first so you can control who gets on the final token is big, and not killing them unless you must can also slow their roll.
- Anything else you’d like to tell the community?
Zarbags Gitz is in a good place right now. They still feel thematical and are a great technical warband that has an answer for almost any warband in the game. They are a puzzle, with multiple ways to unlock the answer. Give them a run! You’ll be sure to have a blast.
My journey to the Warhammer World Championships was a blast. It has been a year in the making, and it has left me wanting to keep playing this amazing game. I feel 2nd edition will grow into a fantastic game and am excited to see what will be coming next. I really enjoyed meeting all the amazing people players, and judges at Worlds and finding such a great group of players in Vancouver. I hope this read has sparked an interest for you to give these Gitz a spin in the new edition.
Team Canada from left to right; David Beadarm, Graham, Guillaume Just G, Julian JUGA, Andy HammerSauce, Ben Verses, Yury, Damian Devlman, Max, Steve Spaint2k. Derek Kaptain Murder not present
Thanks to Julian for sharing and congratulations again on taking a chunk out of some serious opponents in Atlanta this year. I mean, he opened into James who eventually took third overall, and won the first game of their match. This deck might have stunty legs, but those are still legs, and watch out! They scurry.
While there are a few Love Letters in the works, there is always room for more. I’d love to hear your thoughts about an older or lesser or weird warband/pairing, what drove you to fall in love with it, and how you’ve piloted it to success – and especially piloting it to fun. If you have a warband you’d love to wax poetic about and serenade the wider community, let me know! I’m always accepting new submissions at SpentGlory@gmail.com. Until next time, grab the warband you love, a couple friends, and Spend some Glory!
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