King Brodd

"By the power vested in me by this 'ere hamma, I'm going to turn you into a slick of red paste!"

King Brodd is a named character for the Sons of Behemat faction in Age of Sigmar. He is de facto leader of the Gargant race, a title he earned through sheer belligerence and infectious reverence for the Gargants’ progenitor Behemat. Brodd made his first appearance way back in the dark ages of AoS 1st edition. In the “Godbeast” campaign supplement, he was a regular Gargant leading a battalion of other Gargants named (what else?) the Sons of Behemat. Now in 3rd edition he’s a fully fledged character with his own big stompy model and faction to lead into battle for the Mortal Realms.

Fluff

King Brodd claims to have crawled out of the Titansmawr during the Age of Chaos fully grown and declared himself leader of the Gargants native to the Scabrous Sprawl. After pulverizing all challengers, he has cemented his rule and made a pilgrimage to the ruins of Tor Crania (Behemat’s buried skull), to reclaim it from the vile Cygors and other Beasts of Chaos. During the Realmgate Wars, Brodd aligned himself with the Stormcast Eternals, seeing as how they were also fighting the forces of chaos and trying to prevent them from corrupting Behemat. The Gargant King would later witness the death of his forefather at the hands of Sigmar’s champions, even losing an eye as to the blinding light of the Great Bolts. Brodd was silently mournful of Behemat’s passing, eventually coming to the conclusion that this as an inexcusable act of betrayal from the jealous Sigmar. He vanished for ten decades, growing stronger and bigger, eventually making his presence known once more by sacking the town of Titansrest, built in the hollowed out rib cage of Behemat. There King Brodd stayed in the spot where Behemat’s heart should have been in solemn memorial for two days, before finally leaving to continue his holy quest to avenge the Godbeast’s death. In his most recent action, King Brodd and a stomp of over a hundred gargants met with Gordrakk when the latter was able to secure the Mawgate to the Eighpoints and demanded to be allowed passage so he may batter his way to the Azyrite gate and flatten Sigmar. Gordrakk, displaying a bit of Morkish kunnin’, proposed an alternate strategy to the King; the Great Waaagh! will smash their way into the Eightpoints and the Sons of Behemat with head to Ghyran to stamp out the resurgent settlers who seek to colonize the realms. This would split Sigmar’s forces between trying to stop Gordrakk’s horde and defending the Everspring Swathe from King Brodd and his stomp. King Brodd agrees to this arrangement and makes way to his homeland.

His hatred of the Azyrites has led him and his stomp to working with Gordrakk, who has his own beef with Sigmar. His sheer size and power giving even the Fist of Gork pause on whether or not try krumpin’ him. Second to his loathing of the Hammer God is his animosity to Chaos Gargants, those traitorous behemoths who forsake Behemat’s power for the warping mutations of some spiky pipsqueak’s gods. He and his Stomp often go out of their way to put down any of the ruinous giants they see.

As a departure from the usual depiction of giants (angry drunken brutes), King Brodd is a deeply spiritual and grief-stricken warrior. He ruled the Gargants as a steward, waiting for the day Behemat would return and was utterly devastated when he was slain. When camping with other Gargants, he tells stories about their godbeast forefather with the same gravitas and emotion of a preacher, filling them with pride and vigor. The “Last True Son of Behemat” is fiercely independent, even refusing to bow to Kragnos’ will when the Drogrukh escaped his magical prison. He deems Behemat to be the only lord Gargants should revere and considers Kragnos a false idol. In keeping with the foot fixation in Gargant culture, he also cites Kragnos' having hooves instead of feet as another strike against him.

King Brodd never goes anywhere without two things; a crown made from the skull of the mouldragon Morgathis he killed bare-handed, and the Obelisk of Tor Crania, a Warhammer he crafted after slaying beasts that infested Behemat’s sleeping scalp. Given his now advanced age, this hammer also doubles as a walking stick when the King feels his old bones giving out. Like most other Gargants, his body is an oft transport for Creepers. In particular he has a favored “advisor” named Zeg the Creeper King. It’s unclear what sorta advice Zeg offers to Brodd, but they do share a loathing of Sigmar after Zeg watching a Stormcast Eternal accidentally crush a pear he was gonna eat.

Crunch

King Brodd is a center piece model for an entire faction of centerpieces. Costing a whopping 580 pts (only being beaten by Kragnos, but don’t tell Brodd that!), he’s essentially a super powered Mega-Gargant with 5 extra wounds, a weapon that deals 5 damage with each hit, and a defensive aura that stops enemy Monstrous Rampages. His defining ability though is “Power of Behemat”, three one-use prayers that activate on a 3 (+1 if Brodd kills a Monster the same turn). You can either make your army move faster, heal D3 wounds to all your units, or improve Rend by 1 to all clubs/flails (including Brodd’s). That healing one may not sound as useful as the others, but considering how one wound may change your position on the damage tables, it’s worth considering.

Trivia

• In 1st edition, King Brodd was depicted with a regular Aleguzzler/Chaos Gargant wearing a skull clipped from one of the spare giant clubs, and carrying a literal stone column in both hands. Said column appears to be sourced from the Middle Earth: Mines of Moria Set.
  • Speaking of 1st edition, Brodd initially died in his first appearance after being caught in a massive explosion during the Battle of Behemat. It was left vauge enough though to confirm his survival in the 2nd edition Sons of Behemat battletome.