The Warden and the Paunch, due to release on the 21st of May, is the next big Lord Pack DLC for Total War: Warhammer 2, bringing new characters and units to both the High Elves and Greenskins. While the High Elves get Eltharion the Grim, the Warden of Tor Yvresse, the Greenskins will be getting his monstrously obese rival; the self-proclaimed king of goblins, Grom the Paunch.
Grom the Paunch: Starting Position, Magic Items & Mounts
“Grom the Paunch is a huge and powerful lump of a Goblin Warboss,” writes Creative Assembly; “a superlatively-sized individual whose looming presence and ferocity make him a living god amongst other Goblins. His prodigious size was caused by him once having consumed a portion of uncooked Troll meat, an act of gluttony that means he must relentlessly eat copious amounts of food to keep constantly digesing the regenerating flesh lest his massive, protruding belly eventually bursts.”
In Total War: Warhammer 2, Grom the Paunch will lead the Broken Axe Tribe. He is the first new Legendary Lord to come to the Greenskins since the addition of Skarsnik in ‘The King and The Warlord’ DLC… all the way back in October of 2016! Although his legendary invasion of Ulthuan ended in defeat at the hands of Eltharion, Grom survived. Now, he prepares to launch a second Waaagh!, gathering orcs and goblins under his banner. In the Mortal Empires campaign, Grom will start at the mountain of Massif Orcal, in the heart of Bretonnia; not far from Yvresse on the eastern coast of Ulthuan.
Grom is also the first Greenskin Legendary Lord to be playable in the Eye of the Vortex campaign. In this case, his faction starts at Karag Orrud, at the northern end of the Southlands World’s Edge Mountains. Rather than Bretonnians, this start will pit him against Dwarves, Tomb Kings and Savage Orcs before he sets sail for Ulthuan. Grom has two unique magic items to help him on his Waaagh!; the Axe of Grom, and the Lucky Banner, carried by his fortuitous goblin standard-bearer Niblet. Grom also has a single mount option, although his enormous size means that he can’t actually move on his own. As such, he is permanently mounted in his unique ‘Chariot of Grom’ from the start of the game.
Grom the Paunch: Faction & Lord Effects
When it comes to Grom the Paunch’s Faction & Lord Effects, the obese warlord focuses mainly on Goblins, and especially on Chariot units. Goblin units in Grom’s army gain +10% physical resistance, making them more durable. Plus, any Chariot or Pump Wagon units in his army have their Upkeep reduced by 50%! He also has a unique version of the new Waaagh! army ability which adds an army-wide healing effect on top of its normal buffs. Finally, every unit in Grom’s army also gains +10 Leadership when fighting Elves.
Grom’s remaining Faction Effects help him to operate on his journey across the sea to Ulthuan. He gains ‘Temperate Island’ as a Suitable Climate, for instance. Plus, he also has a -1 reduction to recruitment duration for Goblin units which he recruits through Global Recruitment. This means that he can recruit Goblins through Global Recruitment as fast as through Local Recruitment, allowing him to amass hordes of goblins extremely quickly, even when in enemy territory!
Grom’s final Faction Effect is his unique campaign mechanic; Grom’s Cauldron. This new system allows him to cook different ingredients in the Cauldron and get one of a wide range of different army-wide buffs. There are well over a dozen different ingredients to find and combine during the course of a campaign, many of which require specific conditions to be met in order to unlock.