The Jargon File (version 4.4.7, 29 Dec 2003):

warlording
 v.

    [from the Usenet group alt.fan.warlord] The act of excoriating a bloated,
    ugly, or derivative sig block. Common grounds for warlording include the
    presence of a signature rendered in a BUAF, over-used or cliched sig
    quotes, ugly ASCII art, or simply excessive size. The original ?Warlord?
    was a B1FF-like newbie c.1991 who featured in his sig a particularly
    large and obnoxious ASCII graphic resembling the sword of Conan the
    Barbarian in the 1981 John Milius movie; the group name alt.fan.warlord was
    sarcasm, and the characteristic mode of warlording is devastatingly
    sarcastic praise. See also McQuary limit.


The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (30 December 2018):

warlording

    The act of excoriating a bloated, ugly or derivative
   sig block.  Common grounds for warlording include the
   presence of a signature rendered in a BUAF, over-used or
   cliched sig quotes, ugly ASCII art, or simply excessive
   size.  The original "Warlord" was a BIFF-like newbie
   c. 1991 who featured in his sig a particularly large and
   obnoxious ASCII graphic resembling the sword of Conan the
   Barbarian in the 1981 John Milius movie; the group name
   alt.fan.warlord was sarcasm, and the characteristic mode of
   warlording is devastatingly sarcastic praise.

   Usenet newsgroup: news:alt.fan.warlord.

   [Jargon File]

   (1994-11-29)