[st.patrik]

You can always give him a Amulet of Resilience or Girdle of Might (both of which are easy for Marverni to make) if fatigue becomes a problem. Thankfully the Great Boar's encumbrance is low (2).

I find that a strong regen balances out the few hits you do get (through the ethereal & luck). The nature bless is nice for this, and for the berserk. Of course if you are fighting troops with magic weapons they become drastically less effective.

The positive side to trampling thugs is that they can kill or damage quite a few opponents in a single turn.

The only annoying thing about using Great Boars this way is that you need a support mage to cast Body Ethereal (and possibly Blessing).