"Not pigs, lad. Boars. Big difference."
- —Bronn Greybeard[2a]
A War Boar equipped with scraps of crude plate armour that serve as barding.
The War Boar is a distinctive breed of the more common wild boar that has grown to such a size that they are as large as an Imperial warhorse, but far more vicious in their behaviour, and far more bulky in their physique. They are used as mounts by Orc Boar Boyz.
Role
These especially large and aggressive boars can be found almost exclusively in the harsh, rugged regions of the Badlands, where they are often trained by Orcs to be ridden as combat mounts. In large battles involving Greenskins, units of specialist War Boar-mounted Orc cavalry known as "Boar Boyz" can often be seen charging into the fray as heavy shock cavalry.[1a]
War Boars that don't die in battle will most likely perish from injuries or even exhaustion in the aftermath. The few boars that survive to an older age -- or those that lack the typical ferocious porcine attitude -- are demoted to beasts of burden, there to pull carts laden with loot, enemy gear and loads of shiny stuff.[3d]
Most Orc settlements have secure pens which they keep their boars in when not used in combat. The boars themselves are unnaturally evil-minded creatures that take every opportunity to maim, bite and kick their masters, but this doesn't really concern the Orcs who are on the whole sensible enough to keep well clear, preferring to leave the job of feeding and caring for these creatures to Goblins and Snotlings. Omnivores to the extreme, these beasts can eat almost anything they can get their ravenous mouths on.[1a]
War Boar Penz
"When does a sty become a farm? When there are lots of boars there."
- —Descritpion of Boar Penz from Total War: Warhammer.[3b]
The stinking, stubborn War Boars are kept in sties, where visitors smell them long before they see them. The stench surrounding a boar sty can make even the hardest warboss' eyes water. Goblins are sent in to shovel the boars' droppings away, onto the Greenskin settlement's dung pile or to fertilise the fungus patches. But a Goblin with a spade is no match for a territorial boar; wiser bosses could probably send in a "cleaning krew" when the sty is unoccupied, but where would the fun be in that?[3a]
Even the Orcs, whose concept of animal husbandry is non-existent, realise that placing all their boar sties in one location keeps the vile stench in one place. The downside to this is that War Boars, being the bad-tempered porcines that they are, despise each other. They squeal with rage at being so close to each other and this, mixed with the aforementioned odor, makes a boar farm a truly vile place.[3b]
The "sty-boss" is the Orc that ends up in charge of keeping the boars housed, fed and watered when not in battle. It's his job to round up the Goblins that form part of the "cleaning krew" and to ensure a healthy ruttin' program. This is not too complicated as it usually just involves putting a male and female boar in the same sty and -- assuming they don't gouge each other to shreds -- letting nature take its course, hopefully producing an even stronger breed in the process. Boar breedin' is more than just a spectator sport for the Greenskins, the aim being to produce even tougher mounts.[3c]
Sources
- 1: Warhammer Armies: Orcs and Goblins (8th Edition)
- 1a: pg. 37
- 2: Warhammer Invasion (CCG)
- 3: Total War: Warhammer (PC Game)