Butcher
Butchers are Ogres who serve their race's deity of hunger, the Great Maw and use Gut Magic. [4a]
Contents
Appearance
Some Butchers replace their tusks with flint, hammered into their jaws whilst others have sets of teeth for different types of food. [3a] As one would expect, they are grossly obese, their layers of fat making them particularly difficult to kill. They are also covered in blood, meat and entrails left over from their rituals. The appalling stench does not bother the Butchers in the slightest; in fact, they enjoy rolling around in these gruesome by-products of their faith. Unusally they do not wear a gut-plate, trusting to the protection of their god. [4a]
Butchers
Should an infant Ogre be chosen by portent as a potential butcher, he is given to the tribe's Butcher who force-feeds him until he is strong and fat. They are given rotten and poisoned food to build up their resistance to toxins and which parts of a beast can be devoured to augment their magic. [4a]
As the servant of the Great Maw, a Butcher can eat just about anything, including things thought indigestible or even outright dangerous. This makes poisoning a Butcher a pointless exercise, since his body can easily deal with it, no matter the quantity of poison used. While a creature like that would be looked down on with disgust and horror in any civilised society, the Ogres respect and adore them, for they provide a two-way link to the Great Maw; the deity gets its offerings, while Butchers gain the ability to harness its gluttony for the so-called Gut Magic.[1][3a]
Magic
By ritual consumation of food, usually meat, they are able to channel the hunger of their god to enhance the bodies of their comrades, break their foes bones or even cause the ground to open up and swallow enemies. A few Butchers also use magic beyond that of the Great Maw. [4a]
- 8th Edition: They use the Lore of Beasts, Lore of Death, Lore of the Great Maw, Lore of the Heavens. [4b] [4c]
Notable
- Skrag the Slaughterer used to be a Slaughtermaster, before a chain of events led to him becoming a Great Maw Prophet.[2]
Slaughtermaster
The most fearsome, largest and powerful Butchers are given the title Slaughtermaster. [4a]
Slaughtermasters are the chief adepts of the Great Maw and as such they gain access to a greater portion of its food-thirst, projecting the Gut Magic with greater range. As they have commenced many more slaughters, they are much more adept with the sacrificial sickle. Finally, they are even fatter and tougher than those of lesser rank. Being so close to the Ogre deity, they hold more power than even Bruisers.[1]
Weapons and Equipment
They are usually found in the thick of any ogre battle using both their magic and their cleavers. Poison has no effect on them. [4a]
- 6th Edition: Butcher: Hand Weapon. May have Luck-Gnoblar, up to two Tooth-Gnoblars. May have Magic Items. [1b]
- 6th Edition: Slaughtermaster: Hand Weapon. May have Luck-Gnoblar, up to three Tooth-Gnoblars. May have Magic Items. [1b]
- 8th Edition: Butcher: Hand Weapon. may have Additional Hand Weapon, Great Weapon, Ironfist. May have Magic Items. [4c]
- 8th Edition: Slaughtermaster: Hand Weapon. May Additional Hand Weapon, Ironfist. May have Magic Items. [4b]
Gallery
Miniatures
A Butcher with his Gnoblar assistant/sacrifice in his hand.
Quotes
Hack, grind, cook and eat. Those Butchers are alright. Don't get near their pots though.
~ [3a] |
Listen 'ere, you slims have butchers, but you don't have Butchers, right? Just thems that snip at a morsel of meat and think it cut. You want to meet a real Butcher comes to the Mountains and we'll lay you out a feast you'll never forget. Eatin' meat cut by a real Butcher changes you, mate. Doesn't make the hunger go away, but shows you how small your's is compared to what the Maw would 'ave. |
Sources.
- 1: Games Workshop Official Site
- 2: Games Workshop Official Site
- 3: Warhammer Armies: Ogre Kingdoms (6th Edition)
- 4: Warhammer Armies: Ogre Kingdoms (8th Edition)
- 5: Archives of the Empire Vol II
- 5a: Ogre Butcher, pg. 37