More than anything else, more even than kicking Gobbos, ’Eadsplitta likes fighting Dwarfs. They’re good in a scrap so he gets a worth while fight, they don’t break easily (not like Elves) so he gets a chance to flex his muscles, and they don’t run away in the middle of the fun. At least they never get far when they try. They are what is known to Orcs as ‘Skumgrod’ –‘favourite enemies’ – and ’Eadsplitta has made his home in the mountains where he can be near them. The Grey Dwarfs of Karak-Norn know him well – if not from personal experience then by reputation. Actually, he has caused so many deaths down the years that there are few families who have not lost a relative or friend to Badruk or his boyz.

It was way back in ’56 that Badruk appeared. Some said he trailed a wounded Dwarf prospector into the mountains. Some think he simply got lost after a raid. The truth is even stranger.

He’d been in battle in the western foothills of the Worlds Edge Mountains, in the thick of the fray with the rest of his ladz, hacking and smashing the Empire fools that were trying to stop the green horde from spilling down the mountainside and ravaging the plains below. The militia were not winning. In fact, they were being massacred…

Standing knee deep in blood and gore, Badruk roared with the sheer joy of the slaughter. There were few of the humies left now, fewer still that were in any state to put up a fight. In fact, the only one left anywhere near him was a wizened grey beard, all twisted and hunched,trying to sneak away from the disaster. A vicious smile broke over Badruk’s face as he saw him stumble and fall. With practiced ease the Black Orc followed, moving over the blood-slick rocks towards the fallen pinkskin. Onelast taste of blood for his axe today.

The humie was scrabbling about in an old leather bag, obviously looking for something. Then he found it, andturned his terrified face to Badruk. But the huge Black Orc was already upon him, and as Badruk raised his blood spattered axe for the final blow the humie’s trembling voice croaked out his last words. “Sigmar forgive me,” he muttered, and threw a handful of sparkling blue powder at the huge Black Orc.

For a moment Badruk was blinded by the dazzling glitter of the powder, but silly magic tricks wouldn’t save the humie. Down came Badruk’s axe with the power of a thunderbolt, down it came to sink deep into the snow. Snow? Badruk blinked the sparkles from his eyes and gazed about him. No wizened old humie, no bodies, no ladz. In fact, completely different mountains, no battle and more snow than he’d seen since he fought with Grablag against the hairies in the north.

Quite how the magic worked, nobody knew – perhaps the death of the caster was part of the spell. Whatever the cause, Badruk found himself hundreds of leagues from home. However, being a Black Orc, and a vicious one at that, he’d soon found a tribe of greenskins to boss about. Then he discovered the Dwarfs and the fun really began. It has been years now that Badruk ’Eadsplitta has lived in the Grey Mountains, plaguing the lives of the Dwarf prospectors and traders from Karak-Norn. His small band of greenskins and his tattered banner bedecked with trophies is a familiar, if unwelcome, sight to the local Dwarfs who have come to treat him as simply another natural problem, like the rock slides or the weather. Badruk has even taken to letting captives go so that he can fight them again later. Killing them when they’re bound just isn’t any fun, and if there’s one thing he likes more than kicking Gobbos it’s having a bit of fun with the Dwarfs.

Badruk is a Black Orc Big Boss. He can be taken as a Hero choice, but will use up an additional Hero choice as is normal for Black Orc characters. Taking Badruk counts as taking two Heroes. He must be fielded exactly as given here and no extra equipment or magic items can be bought for him. The cost of his magic item and equipment is included in his total cost.

Weapons: Great Axe.

Armour: Heavy armour.

Ignore Greenskin Panic: Black Orcs like Badruk expect normal Orcs and Goblins to run away and would be a bit disappointed if they didn’t. Consequently, when an Orc or Goblin unit (of any type), a Snotling Swarm or Snotling Pump Wagon is destroyed, breaks or flees past, Badruk does not need to test for panic (however, if the unit he is with flees then he will flee too). See the Warhammer rulebook for the complete Panic rules, pages 80-81.

Quell Animosity: Badruk does not test for Animosity. Furthermore, the stern scowls and menacing sneers of dangerous looking Black Orcs are so threatening that a unit which fails its Animosity test when led by Badruk, or within 6" ofhim, will ignore the roll and must immediately roll again. If this second roll is also failed then even Badruk’s menacing presence can’t keep the greenskins in order, and a roll on the Animosity table is taken as usual. If Badruk is fleeing then he cannot quell Animosity in other units nearby.

Killing Blow: Badruk’s skill with a Great Axe has been honed by hundreds of combats in which he has perfected the simple (but effective) executioner’s strike shown on the model. With the awesome strength of a Black Orc behind a crushing blow like this it’s hardly surprising that some foes can do nothing except die rather untidily when confronted by Badruk.

If Badruk rolls a 6 when rolling to wound, he automatically slays his opponent without recourse to a saving throw, apart from Ward saves. This special ability only works against roughly man-sized opponents such as Men, other Orcs, Elves, Beastmen and, of course, Dwarfs. It has no effect on big creatures such as Ogres or Dragons, or things like swarms which consist of several creatures. It can be used against models mounted on steeds or monsters as long as the riders themselves are roughly man-sized.

Dwarf Trinklet: Of the many trophies Badruk has taken from the Dwarfs over the years, this bauble is his favourite. He hasn’t any idea how it works, but there’s something appealing about the way it glints and sparkles, and he thinks it’s lucky. Certainly he’s survived a lot of really dangerous fights whilst wearing it.

Once per battle, Badruk can cause one enemy fighting him in close combat to miss with all his attacks. He may wait until after the enemy has rolled to hit to decide to use it, but must choose before he rolls to wound. Note that this ability applies to all attacks from a single model so will include the attacks from any mount as well. However, it only affects attacks based on the model’s profile, not other special attacks.