"Centigors are fond of drink, and will take any opportunity to steal alcohol as spoils of war. It has also been rumoured that Centigors are wont to march into battle in a state of inebriation, though this is difficult to prove since the creatures, regardless of their condition, never fail to be fearsome opponents."
- —Description of the savage and deadly Centigor in Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning.[3]
A Centigor is a savage quadrupedal ally of the Beastmen warherds, but are far more beast than Man.
Centigors, or Centaurs as some call them, are a drunken, jealous race of quadrupedal humanoid savages allied with the Beastmen. Through some exposure to the mutating powers of Chaos, Centigors have become a hybrid between four-legged animals, such as horses and oxen, granting them great speed and strength, and bipedal beings like Humans, with a humanoid upper body with which they wield brutal weapons.[1a]
Though they are not considered true Beastmen in the strictest sense, being more beast than Man, Centigors nevertheless are often seen alongside their smaller mutant brethren, especially during times of war.[1a]
Role
A Centigor with his crude array of handcrafted weaponry as rendered in concept art for Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning.
Strong, vital and crude, these beast-centaurs are powerful creatures. However, they are not especially agile, and while they have great strength they lack the dexterity to manipulate objects with any skill or control. Although they are not very dexterous, they are able to wield brutal, basic weapons which match their vicious and bloodthirsty nature. Centigors are bitter and spiteful, resenting their clumsy, awkward nature, and harbour a deep jealousy of creatures whose minds and bodies are better matched. This resentment engenders unpredictable behaviour, rage, and merciless hatred, especially towards Mankind.[1a]
A Centigor as rendered for Total War: Warhammer.
Centigors have a brutality of mind which matches the clumsy power of their bodies. They are vulgar, snarling creatures, little more than beasts, with a brute cunning rather than considered intelligence. Their thick tongues can barely articulate speech, their voices are slow and growling, and their words often degenerate into howls of rage.[1a]
Centigor glaives as rendered for Total War: Warhammer.
Centigors live mainly on the northern and eastern reaches of the forests of the Old World, where the trees reluctantly yield to sparse grasslands for the Centigors to roam freely. Nomadic Centigor warbands can be found roaming the plains and steppes of the Chaos Wastes, occasionally venturing into the northern forests of the Empire. The wooded foothills of the Middle Mountains are also home to a large concentration of the creatures, a dangerous menace in the heart of the Empire, and they have been seen as far south as Wissenland.[1a]
Centigor shields as rendered for Total War: Warhammer.
Centigors are wanderers and brigands, lacking settlements or even encampments of any kind, finding what little protection they need in the lee of cliffs and natural rock shelters. They acquire anything they need or desire by pillaging and robbery, preying upon the wagon trains of traders and the few settlers that try to scratch a living from those barren lands.[1a]
A Centigor armed with a sword and shield as depicted in Total War: Warhammer.
They make nothing of their own, but will sometimes take Human slaves to heat iron or stitch leather. They have a great craving for ale and wine, for which they will break into a well-defended stockade or attack the most heavily escorted wagon train. When they get their hands on alcohol they gulp down gallons at a time, becoming drunken and violent and often fighting amongst themselves.[1a]
Despite, or perhaps because of their drunkenness, the Centigors play one very important role in the society of the Beastmen. They are often used as the messengers of the Bray-Shamans, yet the messages they deliver are imparted to them when they are extremely drunk, and delivered in the same fashion.[1a]
The Centigors have no real knowledge of the messages they carry. It is said that when delivering such messages, the Centigors speak in a voice other than their own. Sometimes the voice is that of the Bray-Shaman that imparted the message, but at other times a dread voice, swathed in the screams of the damned, comes from somewhere else entirely.[1a]
Warfare
"Hybrid man-beasts, raging at fate, Centigors bring their anger to bear upon anything in their path."
- —Description of Centigors in Total War: Warhammer.[4]
A Centigor armed with a two-handed glaive as depicted in Total War: Warhammer.
When the brayherds are summoned it is not uncommon for Centigors to heed the call along with their Beastmen allies. While the Beastlords enact the ritual of scribing their runes upon the herdstone, the barbaric Centigor chiefs can only defecate at the stone's base to record their attendance.[1a]
While the Beastmen chieftains observe the rituals of the brayherd, the Centigor strut and swagger about the clearing with vulgar bravado, swilling looted wine by the skinful and making outrageous boasts about their own vigour. Fortunately, the Beastmen largely ignore such displays, accepting them as part of the Centigors' nature, though brawls can often ensue between the two ill-tempered mutant breeds.[1a]
As the sun rises and the warherds march from the herdstone to make war upon Men, the Centigors rouse themselves from their drunken stupors, taking up the weapons of the Beastmen and galloping to war beside them. Before a battle they drink bucketfuls of strong ale and become excited and aggressive, so that their tempers can only be quelled by deeds of the most bloodthirsty kind. Even as battle is joined they guzzle copious amounts of liquor, the effects driving them to extremes of violence, hard-headedness and cruelty.[1a]
Notable Centigors
- Ghorros Warhoof - The ancient, self-proclaimed "Father of all Centigors."
- Sons of Ghorros - Ghorros Warhoof's deadly and fanatically loyal progeny.[4]
Notable Units
- Groghooves of Wolf's Run - A unit of Centigors armed with throwing axes that pillaged the region of Hochland located near the Wolf Run River.[4]
Miniatures
.jpg "Centigor Herd (1).jpg (139 KB)")
.jpg "Centigor Herd (2).jpg (127 KB)")
.jpg "Centigor Herd (5).jpg (36 KB)")
.jpg "Centigor Herd (4).jpg (39 KB)")
.jpg "Centigor Herd (3).jpg (47 KB)")
Canon Conflict
Original conception of a Centaur from Warhammer Battle Bestiary.
In older editions of Warhammer Fantasy Battle, the Centaurs were a different race, separate from the Beastmen, who lived in the New World on the continent of Naggaroth and upon the Eastern Steppes of the Far East north of the Mountains of Mourn. They resembled Native Americans in culture, and were far more intelligent and less barbaric and savage than the Beastmen.[5a][6a]
The tribes of the Centaurs travelled between and hunted two migratory herds of bison and deer, were talented orators and had a great love of language and music, their own tongue being described as melodic and complex. They were a free and uninhibited race, intelligent and reasonable, but not very interested in sedentary life, living by herding and hunting.[5a]
See Also
Sources
- 1: Warhammer Armies: Beastmen (7th Edition)
- 1a: pg. 46
- 2: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition: Tome of Corruption (RPG)
- 2a: pg. 100
- 3: Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning
- 4: Total War: Warhammer (PC Game)
- 5: Warhammer Battle Bestiary
- 5a: pg. 34
- 6: Warhammer Fantasy Battle Rulebook (3rd Edition)
- 6a: pg. 212