Sons of Behemat

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Grand Alliance Destruction Sons of Behemat

Big and friendly these giants are not...

Lore Tactics General Tactics

"Be good, Little One. Or the Gargants will come to get you. Little girls who steal get chomped by the Kraken-eater. Little boys who shout and cry get stomped on by the Warstomper. And those who try to hide from the Gargants get smashed by the Gatebreaker. Be good, Little One. Not that it would help."

– Sons of Behemat teaser

"Freedom is being in charge of your own destruction."

– Lindsay Lohan’s Last Fan

The Sons of Behemat are the offspring of the titular Godbeast Behemat; forces of nature that terrify foes and (their few) friends alike. They are driven by their wanton need for inflicting mass carnage and proving themselves as the true champions of Gorkamorka. Despite this, other factions will often hire the services of the Sons of Behemat as living siege weapons.

This is likely what a gargant invasion would look like.

History

Note that the Stormcast are literally immortal, yet they're still scared shitless by this absolute unit. Then again, Warham’s giants tend to stuff smaller foes in their trousers, so it's understandable

While the full story of the Sons of Behemat will presumably be revealed in their battletome, one can gather a crude understanding of their history from their minor appearances in previous books.

In the beginning, there was a titanic godbeast known as Ymnog, Grandfather of Gargants. Inside his stomach was born Behemat, who brewed a lake of moonshine in his father's guts, causing him to retch him into his mouth, where Behemat then broke his father’s teeth to escape. Behemat landed in Ghyran and became the progenitor of the gargant race. Countless deeds are attributed to Behemat by other Gargants, such as “creating“ the stunted duardin race by stomping on mankind, or eating all the meat off of the denizens of Shyish, causing their gaunt and ghastly appearance. It is said the gargants were created from his vomit after he went on a binge-eating spree that caused the extinction of several species of cattle. Exhausted by this act, he lied down and took a millenia-long nap in the region known as the Harmonis Veldt. While he was asleep, his body would become covered by earth; his skull becoming the mountain of Tor Crania, his mouth becoming the Titansmawr (from which more gargants would occasionally crawl out), the Sweatswamp forming around the location of his left armpit, and so on. This pretty much makes him the Ymir of the Mortal Realms.

For a long time the Sons of Behemat reigned over the Harmonis Veldt. Although primitive, they were ultimately a race of noble savages who were allied to the cause of Order, even helping Sigmar himself build massive defenses and bastions. This would not last, as with every single Age of Sigmar backstory you eventually reach the point where the Age of Chaos happens and everything gets ruined. The Harmonis Veldt was invaded by the forces of Nurgle, who corrupted it into what is now known as the Scabrous Sprawl. Unable to defend their homeland, the gargants were forced into hiding, where they quickly evolved to become violent, territorial creatures to protect their lands from invaders. These new degenerated gargants eventually found they had much in common with the followers of Gorkamorka, resulting in them often forming alliances, especially with the Gloomspite Gitz who can offer them barrels of fungus beer and nice dark and damp places to recover from their hangovers. Being as massive as they are, as well as the result of generations of inbreeding, they are very likely in constant pain and suffering from a number of other defects, physical and mental. So it makes sense for them to seek out a substance to dampen/drown out the pain.

As an aside, in the Ogor Mawtribes battletome mention is made of the Sky Titans, a race of intelligent giants whose flying castles were destroyed by Gorkamorka for the crime of using their cannons to shoot down a school of megalofin (giant sky-sharks) he wanted to hunt. The ruins of these sky-castles were said to have landed in the Scabrous Sprawl. The implication is that just like in Warhammer Fantasy, the gargants are nothing but the descendants of the Sky Titans who have devolved into a primitive state. Which is pretty fucked up if true, because that means these guys pretty much had their civillization destroyed and degenerated into savages twice over.

During the Realmgate Wars, as part of Archaon's plan to corrupt the godbeasts to Chaos, he sent the forces of Nurgle and the Skaven to corrupt Behemat. The plan was for the Skaven to drill into his bones to awaken him, the Maggotkin to corrupt him with Nurgle's taint, and for him to be persuaded to join Archaon's side by being told half-truths about Sigmar killing his father Ymnog. Although the Stormcast Eternals attempted to stop this, they were too late and were forced to invoke the power of the Great Bolts, the same weapon Sigmar used to kill Ymnog, to slay Behemat. According to the Sylvaneth battletome, many of the gargants, feeling lost after witnessing the death of their god-progenitor, were taken in as allies by the Oakenbrow Sylvaneth.

Since the death of Behemat, his Sons have been noted to have been getting bigger, more violent and more intelligent, leading to the evolution of so-called "Mega-Gargants". It seems likely that one day, a new world-titan will emerge...

Religion

Yes, even these guys have some form of faith.

Like all Destruction factions, the Sons of Behemat worship Gorkamorka, whom they believe is a massive foot that crushes cities with ease. They also believe that Behemat was the Champion of Gorkamorka and now strive to fill the gap left by their forefather’s death.

Types of Gargants

Each “species” of Gargant has a very fairy tale like name, likely given to them by the terrified victims of their rampages.

• Mancrusher: The same model as the Aleguzzler/Chaos Gargant, but treated as its own thing. The OG Giant is now the most commonly seen species of the giant race, as well as the shortest (keep in mind that a ‘short’ Gargant can still punt a Sigmarine like a football). When in the presence of a Mega-Gargant, Mancrushers become eager (if a little clumsy) followers, ready to take orders and do whatever their bigger boss(es) want. This tiny level of “discipline” arguably makes them more dangerous as they can now make unified charges with their fellow Gargants and throw boulders at enemies in a crude firing line.

• Kraken-eater: A sea faring variety known for their greed and territorial natures. They like lugging around ship cannons as to use blunt instruments as well as colossal fishing nets stuffed full of hapless victims and fish. Lots of fish. They lead pseudo crime-syndicates called Taker Tribes, where they boss around Mancrushers to steal all the loot they can find and fight against anyone who comes onto their turf.

• Warstomper: More like a bigger Mancrusher, but with greater emphasis on fighting and causing mass destruction. Above any other sub-species, Warstompers love collecting trophies and trinkets from their flattened foes, using them to decorate their grotesque forms. Gargants led by a Warstomper are referred to as a Stomper Tribe and act as walking natural disasters who live only for the thrill of active combat.

• Gatebreaker: These big boys have an obsession with tearing down strongholds, and then using the wreckage as armor and weapons. This obsession originates from a loathing of all civilized life, seeing them as the reason why Behemat is dead. They lead the aptly named Breaker Tribes, cults of personality where the Mancrushers seek to emulate their boss’ loathing of civilization and specialize in tearing down fortifications and other symbols of order.

• Bonegrinder: Forge World model not outright confirmed to be part of the allegiance, but likely going to be. The biggest and rarest kind, easily twice the height of a common Mancrusher and still head-and-shoulders above the newer Mega-Gargants. Possessed of a simple bully mentality, they enjoy intimidating those smaller than them (meaning everyone) into serving them hand and foot. It can’t be understated just how HUGE these things are, a casual stroll for a Bonegrinder can level towns, and they’ll wrestle with dragons when they’re bored. Their size and proclivity towards bossing others makes them perfect leaders for Gargant tribes...if it weren’t for their rarity and supreme levels of clumsiness.

Named Gargants

• King Brodd: Introduced in the Godbeasts book as the “Last True Son of Behemat”, he is the absurdly strong and decently intelligent master of the Gargant tribes native to the Scabrous Sprawl. He claims to have crawled out of the Titansmawr fully grown and declared himself leader. After pulverizing all belligerent challengers, he has cemented his rule and stated his ambition to reclaim his ancestral home of Tor Crania from the vile Cygors and other Beasts of Chaos that toppled it. Brodd never goes anywhere without two things; a crown made from the skull of a mouldragon he killed bare-handed, and a massive granite pillar that serves as his personal weapon and symbol of his right to lead the Sons of Behemat. During the Realmgate Wars, Brodd was caught up in a massive explosion which slew Stormcast, Gargants, and Beastmen, for miles. Though it wasn’t clear if he actually died or not.
• Bundo Whalebiter: Mercenary Kraken-eater who can ally with the forces of Order. The Aelven artifact that hangs from his ear increases his intellect to where he can use ancient strategies like “patience” (and is rumored to be able to read), making him deceptively cunning, for a Gargant.
• One-Eyed Grunnock: Mercenary Warstomper who can ally with the hordes of Chaos, who in turn highly seek after him to aid them in battle. Grunnock has a crude understanding of how important regiments and formations are in combat, so he specializes in disrupting said ranks with earth shaking stomps and jumps.
• Big Drogg Fort-Kicka: Mercenary Gatebreaker who can ally with the processions of Death. His main reason for allying with Death armies is because they often leave the best spoils to the Mega-Gargants like himself. His oral hygiene is so atrocious that his rotten breath has become its own form of attack, wiping out hordes of enemies that dare to stray too close to him.

Gallery

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  The Kraken-eater Mega-Gargant, or Bundo Whalebiter, the first confirmed Gargant special-character.