Bringer of Most Massive Destruction, Esquire the Third

Sometimes when you play a game, and you see an army that just looks so ridiculous that you can't resist yourself? That's how I felt when I saw the Farrow start leaking out into the world. Pig men? Game on!

Lord Carver is an interesting mix. He's good in melee, with a high POW melee attack and a Good MAT, with a Magical, Reach Weapon called “Hand of God”. At Ranged, he's good at Point Blank with his “Sawed-off Scattergun”. He can attack with up to two Short Range Sprays, at average POW, or he can pump out one high Pow spray still at Short Range.

He can throw an offensive spell as well, the well known spell of Rift, but that's not something I see being thrown about often. His other spells however are a different story.

Starting from the top with another familiar spell, we have Batten Down the Hatches. For those moments when you don't want to get shunted very far, or take much damage, you can just park yourself somewhere and say “No”. With a bonus to ARM matching Arcane Shield, at the penalty of -2 DEF, you can be sure Lord Carver and his Warpack won't suffer much damage unless he wants to.

Next is another familiar spell called Mobility. Piggies running faster and ignoring terrain makes for a dangerous Warpack, especially since it gets them closer to you. Which is really all they want to do. Get close and deal some Baconation.

Then we have his signature spell, Quagmire. It's a tricky spell. If you have an enemy figure in base to base, they can't move except to change facing. And they suffer -2 DEF. So effectively, they can't get away and you get a bonus to your Attacks. I can see this spell being thrown on a unit of Bone Grinders to surround a Warbeast or Unit you don't want to go very far afterwards. And to boot, they get a bonus to their attack, so those meat cleavers can hit home MUCH more easily.

So his spell list seems pretty simple. First turn: cast Mobility and Quagmire on a unit. Second turn: upkeep Quagmire, Cast Mobility and Batten Down the Hatches. Third Turn: upkeep Quagmire, cast Batten Down the Hatches, use Fury for Attacks, Transfers or Regeneration. Fourth Turn (If there is one): Repeat Third turn, or use Fury for Regeneration or Attacks.

But wait, there's more. He's not just a pretty spell list, but he also has a feat! Hog Heaven gives exactly what they really need: An additional Damage die on melee attacks, and Overtake. This means that if a Warcaster or Warlock is surrounding itself with a heavy unit, you can throw a Warbeast, or even Lord Carver himself, into the fray and wade through the unit until he reaches the Warcaster. With his High POW, good MAT and an additional damage die, he can definitely leave a dent in their health. Especially if he has all his 6 Fury available.

On top of that he has a few simple bonuses to Farrow Units. To start, he has Inspiration. Fearless units within his Command Area? Sweet. And on top of that, Farrow Brigands fielded with him gain CRA. If there was one thing that they really needed, it was CRA. But I'll go into detail with them at a later date.

Lastly, for himself, he has one of the more annoying abilities available to a limited number of Warcasters and Warlocks. Tough. Okay it's not limited within Trollbloods, but it's still rare otherwise. So given his average health, his high ARM and good DEF, he's a tough cookie to crumble.

But no Warlock is complete without Warbeasts, and so far Lord Carver has two Warbeasts available to him. The War Hog and the Gun Boar. The War Hog is also known by a variety of names: Frankenpig; Porkenstein; Cypork of Nine. The Gun Boar is commonly confused with the Rocket Launcher Wielding Captain Gunbjornn. Say them both out loud. You'll see what I mean.

We'll begin with looking over the War Hog. Frankenpig is a simple beast, with three attacks at good Power and Strength, a rather average threshold, and an average Fury Score for a Heavy Warbeast. There's really only one thing he doesn't need and that's extra strength. So they gave him a clockwork ticker, which he uses by turning the dial and getting a bonus to Strength that sends him a little over the top. He's a little more dangerous than a Juggernaut, which one of his arms is actually made of, as he has a Gore attack with Critical Knockdown that can be followed with two more high Powered Attacks that he doesn't need to pay for.

Lastly on the list of details of the War Hog, his Animus is Massacre, matching the one from the Legion Nephilim Soldier. You charge for free, and if you kill with a charge attack you get to move an inch and make an additional attack. This goes well with Lord Carvers Feat, as you can place it on a Warrior Model, whether it's a Brigand or a Bone Grinder, have them charge and kill another warrior model, and move out of the way for something else to follow through. Or the obvious choice is to have the War Hog charge in and use his War Cleaver to kill a warrior model, move an inch, get the target into melee range of the Gore Attack, hopefully Knock down the target before wailing on the poor sap.

Lastly, there is the Gun Boar. He's a nice little ranged Warbeast, with a Big Gun on his back that fires off a Small AOE at a nice range. On top of that, he has a pair of open fists for Power Attacks.

Sidenote: I might have to check whether or not a light warbeast can throw a large base, but that'd be cool. It'd make more sense as well for the 2d6 strength as well.

He only has one ability, and it can be good and it can be bad. And it is called Bacon. It heals each living warbeast in base to base with it. So the image of two Gun Boars standing back to back, one suddenly dying and the other reaching over and pulling off an ear to gnaw on entertains me a little.

But he does stand to have a good Animus to work with, and once again it's copied from the Legion Beast, the Teraph. Counterblast is a really nifty spell, especially within the range it now triggers. The Command of a Gun Boar is only 6 inches, but that's plenty to shoot someone from an angle. You can bait someone into charging a War Hog while your Gun Boar is behind some terrain, and use Counterblast to fire off into the unit surrounding the War Hog. And with Batten Down the Hatches active, the War Hog doesn't have to worry about Blast damage.

Lord Carver is not exempt from the effects of Counterblast. If he's charged by someone he doesn't like, he can retaliate against the figure with a melee attack. Or he can fire off his Sawed-off Scattergun towards that figure and maybe destroy someone else in the mean time.

These are the brain stormings of an up and coming Farrow player. More to come.