Here you go, Marcus

Orks- Faction Profile

Ghazghkull’s WAAAGH!-Introduction

The Orks are the endless green tide, which sweeps all before it away in a wave of violence and fury. Entirely made of savage muscle standing about as tall as a man when hunched over, and even taller if they stand up straight, these beasts were literally bred for war by an ancient Forerunner race to fight against powerful star-siphoning space vampires and their armies of deathless robotic underlings. The Orks are tough, strong, cunning, ruthless, crude, rude, and most of all live entirely for fighting and killing and winning. They believe might is right, love to fight, and that the weak should suffer for the sake of the strong.

Their genetic blueprint gives them innate knowledge of war and the equipment needed to wage it, and makes them hardy enough to survive a decapitation for 6 hours if the cut-off head can be sewn back onto a body within six hours or so. Their weapons and vehicles are crude and not uniform but still somehow functional, and are made to be loud, fast, and deadly. They are a symbiosis of animal and fungi, and reproduce using spores that they constantly give off in life but most prolifically release as they are about to die. This symbiosis also extends to other areas of their physiology, as every one of their multiple redundant organs is hardy and capable of regeneration because of the fungi’s existence. Where they fight and die, the entire environment is slowly changed to accommodate their presence by the spores. While they often employ a straightforward approach to combat, charging headfirst at an enemy while screaming and shooting, their cunning allows them to employ surprisingly sophisticated tactics if needed be to surprise their foe. They actually increase in strength as they fight in battles and wars, with veterans actually growing physically larger, stronger, and meaner as a conflict progresses. Most of all is the WAAAGH!, their innate racial psychic field that is powered by the beliefs of their species and grows stronger as more of their kind accumulates in an area. Ork weapons and machines require this field to function, with the influence of one individual capable of making metal tubes behave as guns. When they show up in the massive numbers they are known for, the Orks are nearly unstoppable.

Warboss Ghazghkull is one of the most infamous of his kind, and is the greatest leader the Orks have. He is one of humanity’s staunchest foes, if only because of the conflict-seeking nature of his kind, and is known for being superlatively shrewd and brutal in equal measure. In reality, he may see them as kind of a friend because they are always willing to put up a good fight. He is the prophet of the Ork gods, Gork and Mork, and his charisma and might allows him to command vast hordes of greenskins. His military acumen, which he attributes to personal training and instruction from Gork and Mork themselves, allows him to employ sophisticated manoeuvres that allowed him to catch his opponents entirely off guard repeatedly. With most accounts having him stand at six metres tall, he is a formidable combatant but is best when commanding his forces from someplace other than the front and only jumping into key battles to swing the fight in his favour.

Numerous, brutal, adaptable, and strong, the Orks are one of the most powerful races in the Warhammer 40k galaxy. The only thing holding them back is their love of conflict, which causes them to fight each other if no worthy enemy is around. They are numerically one of the most prevalent species, easily outnumbering almost every race other than the Space Bugs, and if united it is said they would be able to wipe out all other factions in the galaxy.

The Orks are also the comic relief of the setting, which says a lot. Still, they are objectively the best part of Warhammer 40k.

Reconnaissance:

Orks are not known for their organized reconnaissance ability. Deffkoptas are usually said to fill the traditional reconnaissance role, but they’re also usually rickety pieces of scrap held together by hope and spit and piloted by lunatics. A few visionary warbosses might have the foresight to send out grots and see if said grots get pasted by something, or utilize kommandos as scouts once in a blue moon. There might be communications between the boss on the ground and the boys still on any roks left in orbit, who may give some intelligence to their leader if they see anything. There is also the possibility of a prescient weirdboy vision. Orks have also been known to use mekboyz and painboyz in unison to construct machines to interrogate enemies by reading a captured foe’s brain output directly, or using weirdboyz to psychically interrogate prisoners. However, the main way Orks tend to find an opponent is to disperse from their home base in all directions in a massive horde and go to where it sounds like there is fighting. Ghazghkull, being a visionary Ork like mentioned above and generally possessing more foresight than the average greenskin, will probably at least try to employ the methods described above if he lands on a new planet. There is also the slight possibility he will receive a vision from Gork and Mork themselves.

UNIT TYPES:

INFANTRY

Name: Ork Boyz

Weapon Type: Various

Armor Type: Various

Mobility: 6

Training: 5

Max Range: 500 m? (However, Ork aim is notoriously terrible)

Preferred Range: Melee Range (Or close to it)

Classification: Standard Grunt

Basic Description:

The lifeblood of any WAAAGH!, these boyz are the rank-and-file. Each of them is bigger and stronger and tougher than any unenhanced human, are extraordinarily bloody-minded and savage in combat, and have multiple redundant organs, insane pain tolerance, and an innate knowledge of how to effectively fight. The basic organizational unit of Ork Boyz is the mob, comprised of ten to thirty individuals with similar ideas on how to fight and each and led by a Nob hat is an expert in that form of combat, but the Boyz often simply form a large raucous horde charging the enemy at full tilt. To get to a scrap quicker, they and nearly every other kind of Ork can also enlist vehicular transport. They can use a wide variety of weapons, although specialist weapons may be rarer than the more common slugga and choppa, but are equally comfortable using their fists, teeth, and nails to rip an enemy apart. ‘Ard Boyz are Ork Boyz in possession of ‘Eavy Armour, and are tougher to kill because of this protection.

LOADOUT

Sluggas: Sluggas are loud, massive, and unsightly large-calibre mostly fully automatic pistols carried by Orks to either shoot things with or hit things with. They are probably equivalent to bigger Desert Eagles, with all the accuracy problems and power that comparison comes with. As Orks have terrible aim from anywhere but point-blank range, these crude guns are sometimes more effective as bludgeons than as projectile weapons. Still, the Orks field lots of them, and sooner or later a shot will find a mark.

Choppas: A term used to refer to a wide variety of large Orky weapons made of scrap or looted from dead enemies meant to stab, bludgeon, or chop an enemy into a quivering jelly. These include axes, large knives, saws, barbed sticks of wood, large sharpened slabs of metal, and even chainsaws. The average Ork is large enough to swing these weapons with considerable force, and can even get through power armour in close quarters. While lacking the refinement of the close-quarters weapons of the races the Orks tend to face, choppas make up for it in sheer mass and strength. Some Ork boys can use big choppas, which are enormous two-handed axes with jagged metal teeth.

Shootas: A general name for larger Ork guns, a shoota tends to be chosen first and foremost for the size of the bullet it fires, how much noise it can make, and the size of the gun itself. They tend to be equivalent to .50 calibre rifles, but can be weapons as strong as Space Marine bolters. Sometimes, they are just looted Space Marine bolters. Far more reliable in terms of ranged damage than the sluggas, as their wielders at least tend to aim in the general direction of the enemy before holding down the trigger full bore. Shootas are uniformly loud and fully automatic, as well as deadly, but that is as far as they go in terms of consistency. Users of shootas tend to form into their own mobs separate from Boyz using the usual choppa and slugga combo.

Big Shootas: Even larger, louder, heavier, and more deadly than their smaller cousins, Big Shootas fire massive-calibre bullets and are generally described as contraptions that “bucks and sparks like crazy” when the trigger is pulled. These guns are often fired pointing in the general direction of a foe on full automatic, and as a bonus are often inoperable by enemy forces because of their dependence on the WAAAGH! to work. There tends to be one of these for every ten Ork Boyz in a mob.

Rokkit Launchas: Little more than crude and easily assembled tubes, these weapons are designed to be simple enough to even be operated by the mentally slowest of boyz. They possess a simple trigger mechanism that allows the Ork at the hopefully “safe” end to fire a rokkit of dubious manufacture in the general direction of the enemy. And maybe it’ll hit something, too. There tends to be one of these for every ten Ork Boyz in a mob.

Stikkbombs: Ork hand-held fragmentation grenades, which can be detonated by pulling the pin and throwing it at the foe. If this does not work and the grenade does not go off or, if the Ork user in question sees this as an un-Orky method of delivery, the stikkbomb can be used as a club until it finally explodes. Every boy in a mob may carry one.

Cybork Body: Orks with enough teef to spare can sometime pays Meks and Painboys to add bioniks and other cybernetic enhancements to the already naturally tough body of the Ork. These additions often improve all of an Ork’s physical attributes, and make them even hardier and deadlier killing machines than before. These tend to be rare in the rank and file Boyz, and are more common in the elites.

‘Eavy Armour: Armour made from scrap taken from defeated enemies and battered into shape to almost fit their intended wearer, this ramshackle defence increases the already amazing survivability of the common Ork boy. While little more than plates of junk, it is rather effective because of its sheer bulk. These tend to be rare in the rank and file Boyz, but are seen more frequently than cybork bodies, and are more common in the elites. Every ‘Ard Boy wears a set of this armour.

WAAAGH!: Simultaneously the battle-cry of the race and the driving force behind Ork might, the WAAAGH! is the Ork word for war. Orks yell this word as they charge towards their opponents, which have the dual results of pumping them up and terrifying their foes. The WAAAGH! is also the name of the psychic reality-warping field generated by all Orks, which allows their weapons to function and allows them to impose their worldview on the world. The more Orks in a given location the more reality will bend to accommodate their race’s shared cultural beliefs. Red will go faster, blue will be luckier, yellow ordinance will produce larger explosions, and green will be the best.

Name: Tankbustas

Weapon Type: Explosives

Armor Type: Light Armour (Plates fashioned from destroyed vehicles), Various

 Mobility: 6

Training: 5

Max Range: 1100 m?

Preferred Range: Tens of Metres 

Classification: Anti-Vehicle

Basic Description:

A subculture of the mainstream Ork Boyz, the Tankbustas specialize in hunting tanks, other large vehicles, and large monsters. Driven by the elation of killing things much bigger than they are, these Boyz utilize a variety of explosive weapons to bring their prey down. They often also take trophies from the shattered remains of what they destroy, and sometimes get “tanked up” by eating the crew and drinking the engine oil from the shattered remains of the wrecked vehicle after the battle. Or they might eat the large monster they killed, it depends.

LOADOUT

Choppas: See Ork Boyz

Rokkit Launchas: See Ork Boyz, but more accurate and better trained and every Tankbusta has one.

Tankhammers: A rokkit strapped onto a pole, hopefully a long one. Tankbustas swing these directly into what look like the weak bits of enemy armour. Presumably these are single-use, and are used as two-handed weapons. About two of these are found in every mob of five to fifteen Tankbustas.

Cybork Body: See Ork Boyz

‘Eavy Armour: See Ork Boyz, but more common and made from busted vehicle bitz

Bomb-Squigs: Exploiting the natural squig tendency to chase moving objects, Tankbustas strap a bomb to a squig and let it loose. Most of the time the squig will run to an enemy vehicle and the bomb will detonate and deal massive damage, but rarely the squig will chase a friendly vehicle and still deliver its explosive payload. Mobz of five to fifteen Tankbustas tend to be accompanied by three of these.

Tankbusta Bombs: Armour-piercing anti-vehicle explosives that the Tankbustas attach by hand to their unfortunate quarry. They pack an impressive explosive payload and deadly shrapnel. Every Tankbusta tends to carry at least one of these heavy magnetized disks.

Stikkbombs: See Ork Boyz

WAAAGH!: See Ork Boyz

Name: Lootas

Weapon Type: Unpredictable Gun

Armor Type: Various

 Mobility: 4

Training: 5

Max Range: 500 m?

Preferred Range: Tens of Metres 

Classification: Wild Card

Basic Description:

Another subculture of the Ork Boyz, Lootas are kleptomaniac Orks that use weapons stolen from enemies as well as other Orks. They are some of the most heavily-armed Orks as a result of their thievery, as they trade stolen items for powerful guns. Lootas pay Meks in teef and salvaged scrap to create Deffguns, massive shoulder-mounted kustom shootas. However, while these guns are all loud and deadly, they tend to be rather unpredictable in terms of exact effects. Lootas also sometimes aid Meks outside of battle by heading salvage operations that Meks and their Grot assistants alone cannot handle. Sometimes, Lootas with Deffguns can be used to cut off a choke point due to the sheer volume of fire their guns produce.

LOADOUT

Deffguns: Made by Mekboys persuaded by handsome sums of teeth and salvaged scrap, these massive shoulder-mounted guns are often each unique pieces of destruction. They are cobbled together from heavy weapons the Loota himself has salvaged from battle, and assembled by the Mek according to instinct and whimsy. Some have added bitz such as viewfinders and recoil compensators, and others were built from scratch if the Mek smashes all the salvage he was given to start anew. Although often a lottery in terms of effect and function, each being crafted individually by a Mek as a prized work of practical art, Deffguns are uniformly deafening to their wielders and deadly to anyone foolish to be in their way.

Cybork Body: See Ork Boys, but probably slightly more frequent because Lootas tend to be a bit richer

‘Eavy Armour: See Ork Boys, but probably slightly more frequent because Lootas tend to be a bit richer

WAAAGH!: See Ork Boyz

Name: Burna Boyz

Weapon Type: Flamethrower

Armor Type: Various

Mobility: 6

Training: 5

Max Range: 20 m?

Preferred Range: Metres 

Classification: Anti-Infantry, Anti-Heavy Infantry

Basic Description:

Yet another subculture of Ork Boyz, Burna Boyz are Orks whose love of setting things aflame is far above and beyond even that of other Orks. A burning thing is a beautiful thing to a Burna Boy, whether that thing is a tree, a building, an enemy, or a fellow Ork. They are equipped with Burnas, powerful flamethrowers that incinerate all flammable things their fires touch. Burna Boyz are used to flush out enemies hiding in a building or plant-covered area, and are also useful out of battle in the assembly of massive Ork war machines when supervised by Meks.

LOADOUT

Burnas: The pyromania of the Ork race made manifest in a rickety apparatus, these squig-oil and gas-fuelled flamethrowers spray great blasts of greasy fire. However, they are vulnerable to attack, and damaging the tank will most of the time result in the Burna Boy being the epicentre of a hellish conflagration. However, they are still far more robustly constructed than they would first appear. These weapons have two modes, one that unleashes relatively normal gusts of orange fire and a mode requiring a special nozzle that causes the burna to expel tongues of blue “cutting’ flame” instead. The orange fire is ideal for flushing out enemies in fortified positions, especially if several Burnas Boyz work together, and the blue fire is best used to slice through the armour of heavily armour opponents. The cuttin’ flame of the Burna Boyz is often recruited by Meks to aid in salvage and construction operations, being powerful of slicing objects up to a metal bulkhead. These flamethrowers have been even known to cut through the ludicrously tough ceramite armour of Space Marines. Equivalent Imperial flamethrowers have been known to be hot enough to turn bone into ash, which makes them stronger than modern correspondents.

Cybork Body: See Ork Boys

‘Eavy Armour: See Ork Boys

WAAAGH!: See Ork Boyz

Name: Stormboyz

Weapon Type: Various

Armor Type: Various

Mobility: 8

Training: 6

Max Range: 100 m?

Preferred Range: Metres 

Classification: Jetpack Shock Troops

Basic Description:

The last of the major Ork Boy subcultures, the Stormboyz are Orks that claim to adhere to an Ork version of military order and discipline. To their credit, they are more efficient and disciplined than most Boyz and do dedicate a lot of their time to drilling and marching and training. They have actual respect for authority, instead of fear, which is rather rare. They are also much more likely than other Boyz to want to know such things as “where the enemy is” and “how many there are”. But, mostly they’re special because they have jetpacks. They are shock troops of many warbands, and are often the first to get stuck into a fight. They are often used to attack bastions and defence lines by landing in less well- or easily-defended positions and working from there. A Stormboy mob landing behind the outwardly pointed weapons of an enemy entrenched line is very useful thing to have.

LOADOUT

Sluggas: See Ork Boyz

Choppas: See Ork Boyz

Stikkbombs: See Ork Boyz

Rokkit Pack: Allowing their wearers to get into the thick of the fight first, assault positions that are normally unassailable on foot, and sometimes turning the Stormboy into a living weapon, the rokkit pack is an indispensable tool for any WAAAGH!. However, they are sometimes prone to exploding and killing the unfortunate Stormboy unlucky enough to own that particular unreliable piece of grot manure. However, their overall utility as jump packs far outstrips the hazard of the occasional amusing malfunction and so Stormboyz continue to use these things.

WAAAGH!: See Ork Boyz

SPECIAL FORCES

Name: Nobz

Weapon Type: Various

Armor Type: Heavy Armour at Minimum

Max Range: 100 m?

Preferred Range: Melee Range (or close to it)

Mobility: 6

Training: 7

Classification: Elite Veterans

Basic Description:

The ruling caste of the Orks, Nobz are Orks that have lived long enough through enough fights to become large enough and mean enough to be recognized as a figure of authority. As they are Orks, they lord over and abuse those smaller than them at every opportunity. As their underlings are also Orks, this dominance is commonly accepted under the “might makes right” philosophy unless a lad feels uppity enough to challenge authority and consequently get krumped. They can be found leading mobs of lesser Boyz, or in elite mobs of their own comprised entirely of tough battle-hardened veterans. They tend to also form formidable bodyguard units for Warbosses. In combat they lead by example by being the first to plunge in to the thick of fighting and krump ‘eads left, right, and centre. They are Ork champions, sergeant-at-arms, oppressors, and role models for all smaller Orks. There is a different form of Nob for each subculture, such as Burna Boy Nobz, Stormboy Nobz, even for elites such as Kommando Nobz, and they each possess weapons signature to their classes. However, the one portrayed here is a stereotypical Ork Nob. They also tend to “confiscate” the most interesting salvage after a battle or if they see a lesser boy with a more impressive piece of wargear, which causes them to have interesting collections of weapons.

 LOADOUT

Sluggas: See Ork Boyz

Kombi-Weapons: Essentially two weapons, usually two different projectile weapons such as a shoota and either a skorcha ( a usually vehicle-mounted flamethrower) or a rokkit launcha or another shoota, that have been nailed, wired, welded, or otherwise stuck together. Both parts of the weapon are functional, and give the wielder more flexibility in combat. Twin-linking shootas essentially doubles a given Ork’s rate of fire. To the Orks, increased flexibility generally means above all else more ways to krump an unfortunate foe.

Shootas: See Ork Boyz, but often bigger as befitting their larger wielders.

Choppas: See Ork Boyz, but often bigger as befitting their larger wielders, the two-handed variety is almost frequent to the point of being standard among Nobz.

Power Klaws: A giant, powered, armoured claw equivalent to an Imperial Power Fist in most respects. These are used to tear apart even the most sturdy vehicle or personal armour in close combat. The combination of the Ork’s natural might, pistons, and the energy field generated by the mechanisms of the weapon itself creates a formidable attacking force.

Cybork Body: See Ork Boyz, but more frequent as Nobz are the elite.

Stikkbombs: See Ork Boyz.

‘Eavy Armour: See Ork Boyz, but more frequent as Nobz are the elite.

Bosspole: A sign of status Ork Nobz have, such as a trophy pole or metal jaw, which displays their authority. Nobz use them to restore order and “dissaplin” when the going gets tough. Not all Noz have these, and they are more likely to be found on Nobz leading a squad.

WAAAGH Banner: A banner decorated with glyphs, trophies, and blood of dead enemies. These banners show how dangerous their wearers are, and are carried by Nobz that have earned the respect of the Warboss. These banners have a near-religious significance to the Orks, and inspire nearby Boyz to fight harder.

WAAAGH!: See Ork Boyz.

Name: Kommandos

Weapon Type: Various

Armor Type: Various

Max Range: 100 m?

Preferred Range: Melee (or close to it)

Mobility: 6

Training: 7

Classification: Commandos

Basic Description:

The black sheep of the Orks, these elite Boyz represent the Ork virtue of low cunning to its fullest extent. They take joy in launching perfectly timed ambushes, enjoy slitting throats and spreading panic and seeing horrified looks on the face of their prey, prize initiative and intelligence, and some of them are even able to read. In battle they are used to assassinate enemy sentries and destroy fortified emplacements, and are also capable of acting as scouts for a willing Warboss. They are often Stormboyz who have grown to prize un-Orky methods even more over time. In their squads they also often have specialized roles, and sometimes employ heavy weapons to sow greater chaos. They are the spec ops of the Orks, made even more effective and unexpected by the behaviour of the rest of their race.

LOADOUT

Shootas: See Ork Boyz, but more stealthily and skillfully applied to kill and cause havoc

Big Shootas: See Ork Boyz, but more stealthily and skillfully applied to kill and cause havoc, about two if these are found per squad of five to fifteen Kommandos.

Rokkit Launchas: See Ork Boyz, but more stealthily and skillfully applied to kill and cause havoc, about two if these are found per squad of five to fifteen Kommandos.

Knives: The favoured close-quarters weapons of the Kommandos, these wicked blades are used with skill and enthusiasm to slash and stab opponents. The Kommandos favour using these to slit necks in particular, and are often choppas with a bit more refinement.

Burnas: See Burna Boyz, but more stealthily and skillfully applied to kill and cause havoc

Stikkbombs: See Ork Boyz, but probably more skillfully applied to cause damage and havoc

Cybork Body: See Ork Boyz, but more frequent as Kommandos are elite

‘Eavy Armour: See Ork Boyz, but maybe not as frequent as Kommandos need to be sneaky

WAAAGH!: See Ork Boyz

Stealthy: Kommandos are capable of moving through even the most difficult terrain stealthily and with great speed, and are well-versed enough in the ways of furtiveness to utilizing various forms of camouflage. Soot-blackened knives, camouflage war-paint, painting their skin with stripes of blood, dirt, and dung, and even attaching foliage or using disguises are all tools of the Kommando’s trade of sneaking around.

Name: Flash Gitz

Weapon Type: Bling, Kustom Shootas

Armor Type: Various

Max Range: 100 m?

Preferred Range: Tens of Metres

Mobility: 6

Training: 6

Classification: Distractions

Basic Description:

While not entirely elite, mostly they’re rich and obnoxious Boyz that managed to buy their way into powerful weaponry, Flash Gitz are certainly above the rank and file if only for their armaments. They are inveterate plunderers and thieves, and are often richer and older Lootas. Flash Gitz acquire their weapons by paying Meks bucketfuls of teef to construct loud and powerful kustom shootas. They are also obsessed with upgrading these weapons at any chance they get, whether by stealing a flashy enhancement or stealing enough scrap and teeth to purchase something to make their gun even more ostentatious and deadly. However, they can also be unreliable and may sell out their services to alien races or engage in “recreational backstabbing”. Their extravagance also makes them painfully easy to detect. They are best used are heavy firepower or as distractions.

LOADOUT

Snazzguns: Kustom shootas that vary greatly in terms of design, these guns are made by meks encouraged by bucketfuls of teef to do their best work. They are all still lethal weapons, big and loud and capable of rapidly firing volleys of solid shot at a foe, although they are also usually highly ostentatious and covered in shiny bitz and other accessories. These shootas, as well as their blasta derivatives, can be outfitted with upgrades. These improvements can increase the rate of fire by adding more barrels, scopes, and ammo belts or make each shot more deadly by increasing the size of the barrel (and thus, increasing the calibre of shot) and using more powerful ammunition.

Blastas: Expensive snazzguns that fire crackling energy bolts, these weapons are equivalent to an Imperial Plasma Gun with all the problems that comes with the comparison. Capable of melting through the thickest of armour, but may overheat and explode.

Choppas: See Ork Boyz

Cybork Body: See Ork Boyz, but more common and more likely to be accompanied by bling as Flash Gitz are both loaded with teef and have no taste.

‘Eavy Armour: See Ork Boyz, but more common and more likely to be accompanied by bling as Flash Gitz are both loaded with teef and have no taste.

Gitfinda: Expensive and overly-elaborate targeters hardwired into their eye sockets that are possessed by all Flash Gitz, which helps them judge distance other conditions that affect shooting. If they’re so inclined to actually use them, of course.

WAAAGH!: See Ork Boyz

Name: Meganobz

Weapon Type: Various

Armor Type: Power Armour

Max Range: 100 m?

Preferred Range: Melee (or close to it)

Mobility: 3

Training: 8

Classification: Heavy Elite Shock Troops

Basic Description:

Meganobz are the richest Nobz that value close-quarters combat above all else. They are encased on extraordinarily tough power armour that allows them to survive almost anything their enemies can throw at them. These suits tend to have the Nob’s favourite shoota hardwired to one arm and a power klaw attached to the other. They are spectacular close-quarters combatants, nearly unbeatable in melee and capable of taking all but the most extraordinary enemies apart limb-by-limb. Their sheer bulk also makes them massively difficult to stop if they can build up momentum. This weight is also their only weakness, but is often compensated for by hitching a ride to battle in a vehicle.

LOADOUT

Shootas: See Ork Boyz, but bigger as befitting their wielders, are often massive to the point of being deffgun-like in size.

Kombi-Weapons: See Nobz, but bigger as befitting their wielders.

Power Klaws: See Nobz, but bigger as befitting their wielders.

Mega Armour: Composed of a powered exoskeleton overlaid with a suit of thick and heavy armour plates and powered by pistons and sub-motors, this armour makes a Meganob into a living tank. They are built by Meks paid exorbitant sums to produce some of the heaviest personal armour known to the Ork race. The already insane physical power, resilience, and endurance of the Ork Nob within are increased to truly staggering levels. While it makes the Meganob slow, it also is strong enough that they can usually survive direct hits from enemy artillery.

Momentum: The sheer weight of the Mega Armour makes a charge by a line of Meganobz a deadly weapon capable of breaking most lines and smashing enemies into a bloody paste.

WAAAGH!: See Ork Boyz

Name: Ork Warboss (Minor)

Type of Hero Bonus: Combatant, Small-Scale Leader

Classification: Elite Nobs

Basic Description:

These older, more experienced nobz are the leaders of the various sub-factions in the greater WAAAGH! They are sort of “minor heroes”, especially in the Orky definition. They usually lead a warband of a hundred or so Orks personally onto the battlefield, and are always the most competent individual combatant in their unit. They enforce their rules with iron klaws, bullying, and generally lording their greater size over lesser greenskins at any given moment. This extends to “ konfiscatin’ ”the best or shiniest loot after a fight, even if they have to strangle a reticent looter for it. A Warboss is a Warboss because they are the biggest, meanest, strongest, most kunning, and the best in the Orky Art of War. This does not extend to logistics, as that’s more for the runts. They are at their best on the frontlines, krumping ‘eads left, right, and centre as an embodiment of proppa Orky values that commands respect and fear from both friend and foe.

LOADOUT

A Warboss may be strapped into a suit of Mega Armour, and would essentially count as a super Meganob of sorts. Due to their perchance for “ konfiscatin’ ” of shiny gubbins, they may also have some more unusual items in their inventory.

Slugga: See Ork Boyz, but probably bigger.

Choppa: See Ork Boyz, but probably bigger, more likely to be a proppa “big choppa”.

Kombi-Weapons: See Nobz, but maybe slightly bigger as befitting their wielders, comes in shoota/rokkit, shoota/skorcha, and twin-linked shoota combinations, mostly, maybe. Optional, replaces slugga.

Power Klaw: See Nobz, but probably more common. Optional, replaces choppa.

Attack Squig: It’s a squig bred to bite and kill. Like a starving and unwashed bulldog/Doberman/pit bull/whatever-other-mean-dog-you-can-think-of hybrid, but twice as nasty and temperamental and smells four times as bad.

Ammo Runt: A grot carrything ammo and other gubbins for the Warboss. Hopefully makes sure the boss doesn’t run out of stuff to shoot with. Also makes a fine bullet shield. Optional.

Bosspole: See Nobz, but probably more common.

‘Eavy Armour: See Ork Boyz. Optional, but probably more commonly found than in boyz.

Cybork Body: See Ork Boyz. Optional, but probably more commonly found than in boyz.

WAAAGH!: See Ork Boyz

HEROES/IMPORTANT CHARACTERS:

Ork heroes are often Warbosses in their own right, and all provide extremely valuable services to the WAAAGH!. They are also, to the Ork, all exceptionally capable individual fighters. All Ork Heroes definitely have what is listed in their loadout as opposed to other troops that may have optional gear. This also applies to Ghazghkull’s later profile.

Name: Mad Dok Grotsnik

Type of Hero Bonus: Bloodlust, Dubious Medical Abilities

Classification: Elite Battle Medic

Basic Description:

At first an ordinary Painboy, Grotsnik rose to prominence when he treated a runty injured Ork Boy named Ghazghkull. Ghazgkull’s skull had been blown open by a Space Marine Bolter round, and in that Grotsnik saw a great opportunity. After replacing the missing or damaged portions of Ghazgkull’s skull with adamantium, Ghazgkull began to have visions that he claimed were from Gork and Mork. Ghazgkull then rapidly ascended in the Ork hierarchy, and Grotsnik gained renown for his act. He convinced his richest new customers to have similar metal skull replacements, but neglected to inform them of the explosives he placed in their shiny new craniums. When these new customers figured out what happened after Grotsnik blew up one too many heads whose persons committed some personal offence to the Dok, they arranged for Grotsnik to suffer a fatal accident. However, Grotsnik did not die, not permanently anyways, and was brought back from death’s door by his gretchin orderlies with vomit and spiders in his brain and more insane than any other Ork had ever been. Grotsnik blew up the heads of all who had wronged him, and gained an even greater perchance for replacing parts of his body with bioniks or parts stolen from hapless patients. Grotsnik is now known as a madman among madmen, performing operations such as replacing an Ork’s brain with a live squig, but remains a ludicrously tough, fearsome, and unsettling fighter. He operates as a medic of sorts, but is most valuable leading a blood-lusted charge of his bionik-enhanced personal bodyguard. As Ghazghkull is his patron and protector, sort of, he is highly unlikely to entertain disloyal thoughts.

LOADOUT

Slugga: See Ork Boyz, his prominence has not improved Grotsnik’s aim.

Power Klaw: See Nobz, but maybe more skilled, he definitely has this.

‘Urty Syringe: A huge syringe filled with virulent toxic goop of unknown origin, this weapon may be used by Grotsnik to fill his foes in close quarters with lethal chemical and biological poisons. This type of weapon may also be used by any other Painboy who can acquire one.

Cybork Body: See Ork Boyz, but probably a dubiously improved kustom job. He definitely has this.

Dok’s Tools: A set of mean-looking tools the Mad Dok uses to perform his surgery. The contents of this set may be indistinguishable from a common household tool box aside from some noxious substances. In practice, these tools allow the Dok to give any Ork in his personal bodyguard cybork bodies of their own, which greatly increases their physical abilities. Allows the Dok, and any other Painboy with their own set, to heal (and experiment on) busted up boyz brought to them.

WAAAGH!: See Ork Boyz

Additional Factors:

“One Scalpel Short of a Medpack”: The Mad Dok is renown even among Orks for his psychosis. He is perpetually blood-lusted, and this enthusiasm for combat will be shared among any troops he leads. If Grotsnik finds himself in a battle, any Orks that accompany him will be “inspired” by his fearlessness to charge and assault the nearest foe in close-quarters. They will know no fear unless the Mad Dok perishes.

Name: Boss Snikrot

Type of Hero Bonus: Instills Terror in Enemies

Classification: Elite Commmando

Basic Description:

A highly-regarded Kommando at the time of Ghazgkull’s first invasion, Snikrot led his tribe to be the first to navigate through the dense jungle hell that separated Armageddon Prime and Armageddon Secundus. However, he lost most of his tribe to Imperial jungle-fighting specialists when they became separated from his elite Kommandos. He vowed revenge, but not before first learning and conquering the environment. Snikrot stripped his equipment down to the minimum, learning with his Kommandos to use their natural Ork toughness and metabolism blend into and become one with the jungle. He and his Kommandos then waged a guerilla war of terror on Armageddon, gaining a fearsome reputation. His personal Kommando bodyguards became known as the “Red Skull Kommandos” for their tendency to scalp their victims and spread the blood on their own heads, and Snikrot singularly is an even greater legend on Armageddon. He even terrifies men specifically trained to hunt Orks, became a living bogeyman to the entire Imperial population, and he and his Kommandos even managed to elude an entire planet’s worth of patrols for fifty years between the end of Ghazgkull’s first invasion and the start of the second. Snikrot is a terrifying killer, able to move unseen and unheard by even the most experienced of hunters, and fights with bloody cunning and horrifying viciousness. He and his squad are used to sow terror in the enemy, disrupt supply lines, and assassinate key enemy figures among other Kommando operations. He is likely fanatically loyal to Ghazghkull, if this was not apparent by his 57 year campaign of blood.

LOADOUT

Slugga: See Ork Boyz, but more likely to be able to actually aim okay for an Ork.

Stikkbombs: See Ork Boyz, but probably more skillfully applied to cause damage and havoc

Mork’s Teeth: Personalized pair of nasty and rippy looking knives, each as long as a man’s arm, these implements have been used by Snikrot to personally kill at least a hundred human enemies. They have been consecrated in the blood of said humans to Mork himself, and so Mork personally watches over Snikrot some of the time in combat. Mork’s patronage combines with Snikrot’s experience and bloody-mindedness to make him an extremely dangerous close-quarters combatant.

WAAAGH!: See Ork Boyz

Additional Factors:

Stealthy: Snikrot is a legend even among the competently furtive kommandos. In particular he is a master of jungle warfare, stemming from a traumatic incident where he most of his tribe to Imperial jungle-fighters. From that day onward he vowed to master the environment, and learned to become one with the battlefield’s terrain. He was skilled enough in the art of stealth to avoid vigilant patrols for 50 years after the First War of Armageddon. He would likely not forget his lesson even if he fought in a non-jungle environment.

Ambushes: Snikrot’s abilities in stealth work perfectly in conjunction with his ability to lay and execute ambushes. He is a master of learning an area, stalking his prey, and then swiftly and brutally murdering his quarry. He would also likely be able to advise a leader willing to ask for help in how to lay large-scale ambushes.

Name: Boss Zagstruk

Type of Hero Bonus: Combatant, Keeps Troops in Line

Classification: Elite Stormboy

Basic Description:

An Ork martinet, Zagstruk was rumoured to have been born in the middle of a human settlement and fought his way back to his parent tribe after birth. He is a merciless killer and fanatical disciplinarian, and takes any excuse to fight. Zagstruk is the leader of the fearsome Vulcha Squad, named for his own personal fighta-bomma Da Vulcha, his personal band of Stormboyz that fears him more than they fear any enemy. This is because he is prone to wild mood swings between “foul-tempered but not killing anything” and “murderous and killing things”. He rules his squad with an iron klaw, executing any who show insubordination or cowardice, which keeps even the most belligerent Orks in check. He has an extremely strong will and an unbreakable gaze, as his squad attest he has stared down Warbosses, Squiggoths, and many other big mean beasties alike. At the climax of a battle he and his Vulcha Squad descend from his aircraft, fire up their rokkit packs, and land feet first in their enemy. Zagstruk’s own bionik legs termed “Da Vulcha’s Klaws” and sheer mass make his personal landing particularly devastating. Zagstruk and his mob are best used to turn the tides of battle in one fell swoop, destroying an enemy line as they fall from the heavens like mean green meteorites. He is a mercenary and could be swayed to another side if offered enough, but this might be less of a factor given Ghazghkull’s ability to inspire fanatical devotion in Orks.

LOADOUT

Slugga: See Ork Boyz, maybe better aim because of his discipline. Is personalized, somehow.

Choppa: See Ork Boyz, probably much more skilled with it though.

Cybork Body: See Ork Boyz, probably a decent kustom job. He definitely has this.

Da Vulcha’s Klaws: Bionik legs specially made for Zagstruk, they are frequently employed to both smash a foe into pulp and soften Zagstruk’s landing at the same time. Zagstrk is also adept at using these claws in close-quarters after landing, viciously kicking and tearing apart foes as he charges.

WAAAGH!: See Ork Boyz

Additional Factors:

Violent Temper: Zagstruk rules his squad with an iron fist and his slugga. If he ever sees morale wavering, he will make an example of someone commissar style to rally the boyz.

Name: Old Zogwort

Type of Hero Bonus: Combatant, Morale Booster

Classification: Elite Weirdboy

Basic Description:

Referred to as the “greatest Weirdboy of all”, Old Zogwort was born during a total eclipse of the sun on the death world Catachan in a nest of venomous vipers. The snakes swarmed him as he emerged from his cocoon, covering him in snake bites, but he survived and even began fight back. As the eclipse ended, Zogwort emerged victorious covered in pus-filled bite marks with dead snakes in his hand and dying ones still wriggling in his mouth. His tribe was in awe of this event, and further events would continue to convince him he was favoured by the Ork gods. He rose to prominence in his tribe within a year as a result of these events, such as the fact that no snake ever bit him ever again. As he reached Ork adolescence he became surrounded by psychic phenomena, and had to be accompanied by handlers his tribe assigned to him.  However, these handlers had the habit of being turned into squigs in the middle of the night. As his tribe attacked the humies, Zogwort stomped and whooped and soaked up the raw WAAAGH! energy of his fellows. He unleashed blinding cascades of green light that left naught but ownerless clothes and weapons and puzzled squigs in their wake. Zogwort grew, losing his eyes in a blast that destroyed an entire Imperial Guard company, and eventually left his planet to seek greater congregations of Orks elsewhere. He travelled the galaxy, seeking locations where the fighting was fiercest and the WAAAGH! was at its purest. Zogwort is a capable fighter, a formidable psychic power, and an able advisor. He can serve many roles, but is best when turning the mightiest of enemy combatants into squiggly beasts. The only drawback is that he is a wandering Weirdboy, and as such is essentially a mercenary. He could be bribed. However, given Ghazghkull’s status as a prophet of Ork-kind this is rather unlikely

LOADOUT

Psyker Powers: Old Zogwort, the greatest of the Weirdboyz, can use any power a Weirdboy can. However, he counts as a “warphead”, which means he has greater control over his powers than most and is less likely to explode in a massive blast of green fire. Weirdboy powers include the following:

‘Eadbanger: The Weirdboy loses control of the psychic energies he is harnessing, causing the heads of those nearby to explode. These heads tend to be those of relatively friendly Orks, but sometimes if the Orks are lucky this happens to a Weirdboy in melee with the enemy. This attack might affect Ork morale, but generally the Boyz see this occurrence as a bit of a larf.

Frazzle: The Weirdboy unleashes cracking arcs of energy at the enemy, reducing them to shrivelled husks. This attack is mentioned as being terrifying to enemies, and can be used on enemies in the Weirdboy’s line of sight, and can even cause Space Marines to wither into dried out shells.

Zzap: The eyes of the Weirdboy glow a blazing green, and he unleashes an incandescent beam of energy hits a single target with the force of a thunderbolt. This attack can be used on enemies in the Weirdboy’s line of sight, and has been compared to a multi-melta gun in strength.

Warpath: The Weirdboy dispenses his accumulated WAAAGH! energy to his fellow boyz, strengthening them and increasing their attack ability in both close-quarters and at range.

‘Ere We Go: Closing his eyes, the Weirdboy teleports the mob he’s part of to another part of the battlefield of his choosing in a storm of green light. This can even be used if his unit in currently engaged in close-quarters combat with an enemy. Although somewhat unreliable, this power can shift the tide of battle in an instant by getting the Weirdboy’s mob to a location that is inconvenient to the enemy. Such places include inside an enemy’s fortified bunker, in close range with a more delicate part of their forces, or surrounding their soon to be krumped commander.

Foot of Gork: Raising his arms to the sky and gesticulating wildly, the Weirdboy beseeches the Ork gods for aid. One of them complies, and crushes a section of the battlefield with a massive green foot. This foot can be used to stomp a single enemy several times, stomp different enemies several times, or really cause any possible combination of giant Ork foot and squished enemy as long as Gork’s attention can be held. Of course, Gork could also stomp an Ork, but that’s part of Ork life.

WAAAGH!!: Screaming the warcry at the top of his lungs, the Weirdboy invokes the power of the WAAAGH! and allows the boyz to attack with considerably more momentum and power.

Nest of Vipers: Presumably a collection of various poisonous snakes Zogwort hurls at his enemies. They can inflict damage by poisoning enemies with their bites, and are a motley collection of many different kinds of snakes. As a bonus, no snake ever seems to bite Zogwort.

Zogwort’s Curse: Old Zogwort’s most powerful psychic ability and the one that he is most-well known for, where he can turn a powerful enemy in his line of sight into a squig. This is Zogwort’s most notorious ability, and may spell the end of some of the most powerful enemy combatants or the most capable leaders.

(It also works a little bit less than about half of the time in gameplay, about 42% to be exact, which is pretty good odds for an nearly insta-kill spell.)

WAAAGH!: See Ork Boyz, but Zogwort lives to harness the WAAAGH!.

Name: Wazdakka Gutsmek

Type of Hero Bonus: Combatant, Mechanic

Classification: Elite Bikeboy

Basic Description:

Described as the “greatest bikeboy of them all”, Wazdakka Gutsmek loved to tinker with bikes even as a yoof on Khasak Prime. He was enamoured with stripping a bike down, rebuilding them improved, and riding his new creations at blazingly fast speeds. Gutsmek rose to fame when he won a major race on a bike he had assembled that very morning. Accused of cheating, he went on a rampage and blasted the settlement apart with heavy-bore dakkakannons before riding off in disgust. From then on he became a legendary figure to the Orks, appearing right in the nick of time to dramatically turn battles in their favour with liberal applications of firepower. One such instance was when he singlehandedly took down an Imperial Warlord Titan on Scalex VI by himself using nothing more than his speed and the terrain. He launched himself right off a cliff end and into the command cockpit of the massive machine, and then while still on fire personally killed the crew in seconds. He is kept awake by the concoctions of outlaw Bad Doks, and rarely leaves his seat other than to upgrade his bike. Wazdakka eventually got tired of roaming alone, and began to unite the Speed Freeks to launch an unending WAAAGH! from one end of the galaxy to the other. He is now accompanied by an army of high-speed fast-attack boyz on various vehicles, all intent on crushing any foe unlucky enough to be in their path. Gutsmek is also an excellent individual combatant on his personal bike, capable of breaking enemy lines by himself or with his kult of followers. He and his followers are best used to wreak havoc on the enemy and scatter them before a terrifying charge of roaring high-octane bikes, trukks, and other assorted things that go fast. Gutsmek is also a superlative mechanic, probably capable of overseeing even the most daunting of engineering tasks. However, as an independent Warlord shoe-horned into Ghazghkull’s WAAAGH! he may have some loyalty issues or may chafe under another Ork’s command. Then again, given Ghazghkull’s religious status among Orks this may also be a non-issue.

LOADOUT

Bike of the Aporkalypse: The fast, loud, and powerful vehicle Gutsmek and his weapons ride on, it is a heavily modified warbike that possesses the traditional aspects of a Ork warbike in even greater abundance. Gutsmek is also capable of fighting effectively while this bike is using its turbo-boost, something that is rather uncommon compared to most bikeboys that simply shoot and flail and charge while the turbo is active.

Kustom Mega Blasta: A marvel of Ork technology that fires a blast of pure energy at its targets, and in gameplay is as strong as a multi-melta gun, a weapon that is often used to hunt tanks. This terrifying weapon is far greater than the sum of its parts, and is one of the most powerful weapons the Orks can field at the squad level.

Slugga: See Ork Boyz. Aim is likely not any better.

Dakkakannon: A rapid-firing monstrosity mounted on Gutsmek’s bike that is described as being able to stop a tank in its tracks. If it is anything like every other Ork weapon, it is loud, lethal, and highly destructive. In gameplay, it is equal to a multi-melta gun in terms of strength.

Power Klaw: See Nobz, but probably better at using it from his bike.

Mek’s Tools:

Stikkbombs: See Ork Boyz.

WAAAGH!: See Ork Boyz

Additional Factors:

Speed: Wazdakka is fast. The boyz in his mob are likely also benefit from the overall mechanical expertise of the group and have fast bikes as well. They are blazing fast. Wazdakka and his mob will probably make up the fastest arm of any army they are part of, and are a very dangerous tool in the hands of a capable Warboss.

Name: Kaptin Badrukk

Type of Hero Bonus: Combatant, Advisor

Classification: Ork Pirate Mercenary

Basic Description:

The “most infamous Freebooter of all” and a legend among his outcast pirate Ork kind, Badrukk has sailed the stars for several decades in his personal Kill Krooza Da Blacktoof. He leads his own vicious band of Flash Git ne’er do wells, and has fought at the side of every major Warlord in recent history. He claims to be responsible for the survival and victory of many of these Warlords through the awesome firepower of his mob. And indeed, his firepower is awesome; with some Warlords believing it was well worth paying him and his krew for the unforgettable sight of their guns being unleashed on a terrified foe. His outfit is ostentatious, with shiny bitz made of stolen medals and pilfered metals and gilded armour and banners proclaiming his might. His accomplishments are outlandish, working with Warlord Garaghak to blunt a tendril of the Tyranid Hive Fleet Kraken with a daring raid on the Norn Queen at its heart, outshooting the Tau in the War of Dakka, and even claiming to have personally killed a void-whale. Badrukk is also an excellent strategist and a great advisor for any willing to meet his stratospheric fees and tolerate him and his krew taking the lion’s share of the booty before zogging off to find another fight. His unit provides superlative amounts of firepower, probably the most of any infantry squad the Orks can field. The only problem is that he would entertain thoughts of disloyalty if the opposition offered him enough. Then again, Ghazghkull is the Ork St. Peter, bringing the faith one proppa smack at a time. If the Warboss can keep him under lock and key, his firepower and military acumen are invaluable assets.

LOADOUT

Da Rippa: Badrukk’s favourite shoota, a horribly potent kustom weapon bedecked with shiny bits and formerly a weapon belonging to the Ogryn bodyguard of a subsector governor. Badrukk wears a lead-lined greatcoat to protect from the radiation this weapon gives off while it fires unstable plasma canisters with each hit “detonates like a tiny sun”. While this is probably hyperbole, it is an extremely powerful gun all the same.

Slugga: See Ork Boyz.

Choppa: See Ork Boyz.

Goldtoof Armour: Badrukk’s personal armour plated with hundreds of melted-down gold teef kicked out of the mouth of other Freebooter captains. While gold makes for terrible armour, the sheer quantity of the metal on this piece of kit has to count for something. Also, it incorporates a potent kustom personal force field equal to anything a Mek can utilize. This armour has allowed Badrukk to survive a volley of railgun fire from a Tau Manta missile destroyer in lore.

Gitfinda: See Flash Gitz.

Bosspole: See Ork Nobz

Stikkbombs: See Ork Boyz

Da Powder Grotz: Badrukk’s personal retinue of three grots that carry his extensive stash of ammo and loot. They allow the good kaptain to fire longer by being overburdened carrying his volatile ammunition.

Da Blacktoof: Badrukk’s personal vessel, little is elaborated on it other than it has a steel jaw. However, like every other Orky thing belonging to a Flash Git, it is probably loud, powerful, big, and covered in bling and horrifying numbers of weapons.

WAAAGH!: See Ork Boyz

Additional Factors:

Excellent Strategist: Badrukk’s wealth of experience, keen tactical mind, ability to think laterally, and propensity to conceive and execute audacious plans makes him an excellent military advisor.

Important Character: 

Orkimedes is said to be Ghazghkull’s chief Big Mek, and the inventor of many of the more fantastic Ork weapons seen in the Third War for Armageddon. He was the greenskin mind behind the tellyporta technology that Ghazghull used to execute many of his more brilliant stratagems. Orkimedes may have also been the chief architect behind many of the great war machines in Ghazghkull’s WAAAGH! such as the Gargants and Ork submarines, but no one knows for sure whether he actually exists or is the collective identity of Ghazghkull’s most inventive Meks. In any event Ghazghull is known to have an innovative and inventive spirit behind his campaigns that is capable of creating and designing technologies he needs to carry out his most audacious and kunning plans.

CALVARY/LIGHT VEHICLES

Keep in mind that Ork vehicles are not standard at all. There’s generally a few common base designs, some of which will be listed, but the Orks tend to build a bewildering array of vehicles for any problem they may encounter or highly customize existing vehicles to meet a specific threat. The shape, size, armour, and weaponry of the vehicles vary from tribe to tribe and mob to mob, although they all share the common Orky traits of being loud, fulla gunz, and probably fast. The Orks also have a tendency to loot the vehicles of other factions, so employ many other vehicles or parts other than the ones profiled here. All Ork vehicles may be painted red to make them go faster. Really. It’s right in the rulebook and in the fluff.

Name: Warbikes

Type of Armor: Scrap Metal

Weapon Type: Rider-Wielded, Machinegun

Speed:  Fast (Probably 200 km/h or more)

Classification: Fast Attack

Basic Description:

The personalized steed of any Ork fortunate enough to possess one, the warbike is a status symbol in the Ork community and a direct conduit to that adrenaline rush the Orks treasure known as “going fast”. These bikes have been known to incorporate jet turbines. Nothing short of dive-bombing from an aircraft compares to the thrill of charging an enemy guns glazing on a warbike to an Ork. The vehicle itself is a single-seater, although this often does not deter other boys from hitching on precariously, and is armed with a loud and exceptionally heavy weapon for a vehicle of its size. This does cause some control problems for their riders, causing them to buck and spin wildly when the weapons are fired, but that’s part of the fun. Riders are even known to let go of the handlebar with both hands and keep the pedal to the metal as they close in with an enemy to better use any close combat weapons they brought along. These bikes serve as outriders, shock troops, and fast-attack options for the main WAAAGH!, and can even communicate with each other using controlled skids. Ork Boyz can ride these bikes to form Biker Mobz, which can even come with Biker Nobz. They are often deployed in massive mobz of hooting, screaming, and shooting hooligans on insanely fast motorcycles bent on killing all in their path.

LOADOUT

Dakkaguns: See Wazdakka Gutsmek, but not nearly as powerful. They’re still pretty impressive, though, tend to be twin-linked, and remain loud and terrifying expellers of large bullets.

Choppas: See Ork Boyz

Sluggas: See Ork Boyz

Exhaust Cloud: The great clouds of smoke exhaust fumes these vehicles produce often make for great cover. Really, really good cover. Good enough to cover the warbike’s own advance in the right conditions, such as where there are already huge dust storms. Good enough to function as cover equivalent to a wall to crouch behind. That good, somehow.

Furious Charge: The sheer speed at which the warbikes move gives them a considerable bonus when charging into close combat, if they don’t simply run over the poor sod they charged at into squishy roadkill.

WAAAGH!: See Ork Boyz, but vehicle probably wouldn’t work without this.

Name: Warbuggies

Type of Armor: Scrap Metal

Weapon Type: Heavy Weapons

Speed:  Fast (Probably 175 km/h or more)

Classification: Fast Attack

Basic Description:

Two-Ork attack vehicles that attempt to combine the speed of a warbike and a more impressive weapons payload. Although they are probably not as fast as a warbike because of their size, they can still achieve scorching speeds regardless. Their operators band together in groups as ramshackle as the vehicles they ride as they hurtle all round the battlefield blasting all that they can. Various patterns exist, although they all include a speed-crazed driver and heavy-weapons gunner. They are ideally suited for flat featureless lands, and come with one of various kinds of heavy weapons. These weapons are often twin-linked to compensate the horrible accuracy typical of a gunner moving at high speed using insane rates of fire. A full squadron of these buggies have been described as having enough firepower to mow down an enemy platoon or blow apart a tank as their occupants zoom past making obscene gestures. Warbuggies offer the WAAAGH! a fast attack option with greater firepower and slightly reduced speed.

LOADOUT

A Warbuggy is conventionally armed with one of a twin-linked big shoota, a twin-linked rokkit launcha, or a skorcha, although some foolhardy Meks may try to put more than one on a buggy.

Twin-Linked Big Shootas: See Big Shootas for Ork Boyz, but stick two of them together and mount them on a ramshackle fast-moving hellion car.

Twin-Linked Rokkit Launchas: See Rokkit Launchas for Ork Boyz, but stick two of them together and mount them on a ramshackle fast-moving hellion car.

Skorchas: Fuelled by a squig oil and gas mixture with a unique recipe for every Mek, these large mounted flamethrowers spray huge gouts of flame and burning fuel onto anything unfortunate to get up close to the vehicle or be a victim of a drive-by Ork flamethrower attack. They have all the utility of their smaller Burna cousins

Trakk Units: A warbuggie can be equipped with a trakk unit that stabilizes the buggie and allow it to better manoeuvre over rough terrain. This comes at a cost to speed, but gives the buggie the ability to move in far rougher terrain such as forests and urban areas. Optional. These wartrakks may be further customized with flakka-dakka guns, a large minigun with multiple firing barrels to compensate for traditional Ork accuracy, to deal with enemy aircraft as Flakkatrakks. These modified wartrakks also have a grot glowygun manned by a grot, which both damages enemy aircraft and helps the Ork gunners see the tagets better.

WAAAGH!: See Ork Boyz, but vehicle probably wouldn’t work without this.

Name: Trukks

Type of Armor: Minimal Scrap Metal (May be optionally reinforced with extra Armour Plates)

Weapon Type: Machinegun

Speed:  Fast (Probably 150 km/h or more)

Classification: Fast Attack, Transport

Basic Description:

The quintessential transport of the Orks, trukks are lightweight to allow Boyz and Nobz and others to get into the thick of the fight as quickly as possible. They are also the kings of being ramshackle and rickety, being built only for speed, and even have a unique in-game table to decide what happens when they get hit hard enough to be sent spiraling out of control. They have minimal armour, and tend to fall apart from direct hits to become clattering cart-wheeling piles of wreckage. Sometimes, when destroyed the trukk will explode and stunned and injured Orks in all directions. Other times, it careens out of control and then explodes to send shaken Orks in all directions. Lastly, sometimes the trukk just breaks non-explosively and the Orks can bail out unhurt. Still, they’re easy to bail out of when they go out of control and Orks find it kind of fun to kind of fun to jump out of a fast-moving wreck. No two trukks are alike, each customized to an individual Mek’s preferences or his tribe, but are usually festooned with trophies and have rails and runners to prevent boyz from falling out when racing to the front lines. Each trukk can carry roughly twelve boyz, or maybe six meganobz or equivalent figures in mega armour.

LOADOUT

A trukk always comes with at least a big shoota or rokkit launcha, but the reinforced ram, wreckin’ ball, boarding plank, and stikkbomb chukka are all optional.

Big Shootas: See Ork Boyz, these are mounted on the front of the trukk.

Rokkit Launchas: See Ork Boyz, these are mounted on the front of the trukk.

Reinforced Ram: A modification that allows an Ork driver to experience the thrill of close combat by letting them use the vehicle they drive as a weapon in itself. These modifications greatly improve the structural integrity of the front end of the vehicle and allow it to be used as a devastating weapon when combined with the high speeds Ork drivers are known for. No guarantee the rest of the vehicle survives though, but sometimes a good crash is worthwhile in itself to an Ork.

Wreckin’ Ball: A manifestation of the Ork love of breaking things, these massive spiked spheres presumably attached by chains can be swung into enemy infantry and vehicles alike. These implements use the momentum of the vehicle itself, along with a bit of good luck, to generate their considerable crushing power. In game, if they work they hit a little bit harder than a rokkit launcha.

Boarding Plank: These are hinged planks employed by Orks to engage in boarding actions against nearby vehicle. More frequently they let a foolhardy Ork or several get closer during a high-speed confrontation to hit something his choppa or klaw. Granted, given the force at which an Ork can hit this is not an entirely useless proposition.

Stikkbomb Chukka: A crude mechanism that allows a vehicle to fire stikkbombs over the heads of its disembarking passengers as they charge into the fray. Accuracy not guaranteed.

WAAAGH!: See Ork Boyz, but vehicle probably wouldn’t work without this.

Name: Grot Bomb Launcha

Type of Armor: Scrap Metal

Weapon Type: Grot-Guided Bombs

Speed:  Fast (Probably 150 km/h or more)

Classification: Purveyors of Suicide Attacks

Basic Description:

An Ork light artillery weapon that fires guided missiles piloted by grots. First seen in a battle against the Black Crusaders Chapter of the Space Marines, they allowed a heavily outmatched Ork enclave to turn the tide of battle using grots as suicide bombers. An idea this fun and effective quickly spread through the rest of Ork kultur.

LOADOUT

Grot Bombs: Bombs shot from a launch ramp and is literally piloted by grots. There’s a little cockpit in the missile and everything. It’s unknown how exactly the Meks get the grots to do this, but they do so competently enough. In their first deployment, they were able to take out a Land Raider and the captain of the Space Marine force to prove their worth as deadly weapons.

ARMOR/ARTILLERY

All heavier Ork vehicles may be equipped with grot riggers that repair damage of the vehicle is hit, except the big guns which are crewed by grots anyways. There is a series of Ork tanks called the “Kill Blasta/Bursta/Krusha”, but information is scarce on them. As such, assume that the Orks are in fact capable of building tanks of their own design that were not looted from somewhere else and smaller than a battlewagon despite what the profile may indicate. Native Ork tanks that are not battlewagons are real, probably. Most descriptions of the quantities of guns mounted on these vehicles are probably more bare minimums than anything else. While bigger means better, bigger also means rarer. Comparatively, anyways.

Name: Big Gunz

Weapon Type: Artillery

Armor Type: Scrap Metal

Speed: Virtually Immovable

Classification: Field Artillery

Basic Description:

A general term for Ork field artillery, Big Gunz come in many shapes and sizes that are all capable of spewing death from a distance. Supposedly a result of imitating Imperial Guard support weapon teams, these guns are set up in a facsimile of Imperial procedure. They are wheeled or towed into position at the back of Ork battlelines, set up in a battery, and manned by a team of two individuals per gun. And there the similarity ends, along with any hope of military orthodoxy or efficiency. Key differences include the fact that the Gunz are selected based on which ones are the biggest and loudest, the carriages shake themselves apart when the Gunz fire, and that the Gunz are crewed by terrified grots kept in line by fear of their Runtherd handlers. Additional crew may be present, as grot casualties may be high because of the pranks the grots play on one another involving the Gunz, and larger batteries may simply have a cloud of grots milling about to provide spare crew. Big Gunz have the utility of traditional field artillery batteries, being force multipliers and implements used to destroy larger opponents.

LOADOUT

A big gun can by any of the following variants, although hybrids, intermediates, and nightmarish assemblies of combinations all probably exist.

Variants:

Kannons: Heavy-bore artillery pieces that can fire a solid anti-tank shell or large-bore frag round, effective against tanks and infantry respectively. Both types of ammunition tend to be in stock, so the kannon can shoot either. The Kannon has the most variant types of all Ork artillery pieces, all of which are bigger, louder, and killier than the base variant. However, the range of Killkannon variants is not always greater than the base form but should be at least equal.

Lobbas: Sometimes looking like big mortars or rokkits, and sometimes in primitive or desperate tribes appearing as catapults and trebuchets, these guns are effectively the mortars of the Ork WAAAGH!. They fire massive bombs in high arcs primarily to reach enemies hiding behind walls or other obstacles. They also tend to be found even farther from the action than other Big Gunz. There are bigger variants called Supa-Lobbas that have essentially the same range but fires bigger shots for bigger booms. One specialized lobber variant is the Squig Katapult, which has notoriously poor accuracy and fires a specially bred pot of squigs that automatically find and eat non-Ork targets upon landing. However, these are Feral Ork catapults are less likely to be seen in an Ork army with gunpowder.

Zzap Guns: Powerful but unreliable energy cannons, these guns are often composed of little more than a wire-bound tube and a powerful generator at the back end with lots of “kustom gubbinz”. These guns cause massive damage to enemies by firing energy blasts that can potentially be stronger than any energy weapon the Imperium can field. And sometimes, the shot won’t even scratch enemy vehicle armour. It’s a gamble, but not really much more so than any other Ork weapon. These guns are fired by having a grot hold down an electrified lever as long as they can. Presumably the longer the lever is held, and the more the grot is electrocuted, the stronger the shot is. This weapon’s stronger shots, the ones that tend to murder tanks outright, always kill the member of the Grot crew that fired it. Which is a decent trade, all things considered. There exist larger variants called Big Zzappas that are larger, heavier, more unpredictable, and have longer range. There is an even bigger form called the Supa Zzap-Gun found as a Soopa Gun.

Pulsa Rokkits: Containing a large and unstable force field generator that “teeters on the brink of contradictory physics” and relies on the force field around the generator being disrupted by the impact of landing. This causes the field to collapse with devastating results. These missiles typically send out great waves of suppressing force that suppress enemy by forcing them into the ground. Infantry are sent face-first into the dirt or are forced to their knees, mounted heavy weapons are flipped over, and generally things are generally turned topsy-turvy. The largest rockets and most powerful generators can crush enemies as if the feet of Gork and Mork themselves were stomping on the foes of the Orks. The size and sophistication of these rockets vary, ranging from just the generator sphere mechanism given wings to “building-sized labours of love”. Most of the time the rocket will just send out a pinning pulse, although the size may vary, other times it sends out waves of destructive energy that can harm vehicles. These rockets are mainly used to force enemy positions to stop firing and allow the main WAAAGH! to advance on the enemy, although the side effect of their mechanisms has sunk an island and an entire company of Ultramarine Space Marines with it in the past. The rokkit can also be piloted by a grot who wants to go out spectacularly, and can have an optional stabilizer mechanism that makes it less likely to blow up on the launching scaffold.

Soopa Gunz: Much larger variants of the three artillery pieces described earlier, versions of each dialed up to eleven or twelve. These guns are most often used to destroy enemy titans or other massive units.

WAAAGH!: See Ork Boyz, but vehicle probably wouldn’t work without this.

Name: Deff Dreads

Weapon Type: Heavy Weapons, Close Combat Weapons

Armor Type: Scrap Metal (May be optionally reinforced with extra Armour Plates)

Speed: 20 km/h? (About as fast as a jogging human most likely)

Classification: Walker Vehicle

Basic Description:

Though they vary in shape and size, Ork walkers embody the Ork values of being big, stompy, and shooty. The Deff Dread is piloted by a volunteer who sees piloting the Deff Dread as being a shortcut to reaching his ambitions, as Dreads are massive metal machines bristling with deadly weapons. And what Ork doesn’t want to be big and deadly? This volunteer that soon realizes that “the disadvantage to being permanently wired into an enclosed metal can is being permanently wired into an enclosed metal can”, which causes no end of stir-crazy frustration. These fusions of Ork and machine require both Painboyz and Mekboyz to create and maintain. Painboyz are needed to surgically insert the wires into the pilot’s brain into roughly the right spot and stick them back in if they fall out in the heat of battle. The Mekboyz are needed to build the Dread itself. Still, Deff Dreads are a powerful asset to any WAAAGH!, being enormously destructive and capable of annihilating squads of enemies using their terrifying arsenal of weapons and unending rage.

Deff Dreads tend to be about twice the size of an average Ork, and so are roughly three and a half metres in height. While usually sighted as solitary engines of destruction, they may be found in large mobz of their own similar to those of Ork Boyz in particularly large wars.

LOADOUT

A Deff Dread always has two close-combat weapons, and can two of any combination of the following weapons. A Killa Kan always has only one close-combat weapon and must take one of the following or their unique grotzooka. Or a Mek might try to add more stuff, who knows.

Big Shootas: See Ork Boyz, but usually bigger.

Rokkit Launchas: See Ork Boyz, but usually bigger.

Kustom Mega Blastas: See Wazdakka Gutsmek.

Skorchas: See Warbuggies.

Close-Combat Weapons: Usually a massive pair of a pincer-like power shears and buzz saw, these weapons are powered by the piston-driven limbs of the Deff Dread to tear through reinforced walls, armour, and enemies alike. While not wielded skillfully, these weapons are extremely strong and make close quarters combat with a Deff Dread a dicey proposition. The WAAAGH!, the frustration and aggression of the pilot, and the pistons of the limbs all contribute to the Deff Dread being to tear up nearly anything up close including power armour.

Variants:

Killa Kans: A smaller variant of the Deff Dread piloted by grots, these machines can use any weapon a Deff Dread can but perhaps on a slightly smaller scale. Another difference is usually one arm is a melee weapon and the other holds a ranged weapon, instead of where on a Deff Dread both arms are melee weapons and the ranged weapons are fired another way. Kans tend to be more cowardly and retain some grot instincts of self-preservation, and operate in groups of two or three on smaller battlefields. Kan pilots can sometimes panic or cause their walker to flee when the going gets tough, despite the fact that their new forms are impervious to small-arms fire. A unique weapon found only on Killa Kans is the Grotzoota, a gigantic blunderbuss that fires scrap gathered from the floor of a Mek’s workshop. This weapon is deadliest up close, like most things that are likened to a blunderbuss, but also has surprisingly good range.

Mega Dreads: Dreads that are bigger than a normal Deff Dread but smaller than a Stompa, these are much stronger than the smaller Dreads and Kans. These hulking metal-plated monsters are also still more manoeuvrable than a Stompa, and are armed with a combination of Killkannons, Klaws, and other powerful high-calibre weapons. These are often also more complicated than their smaller cousins, and correspondingly less complex than their larger ones.

WAAAGH!: See Ork Boyz, but vehicle probably wouldn’t work without this.

Name: Looted Wagons

Weapon Type:

Armor Type: Scrap Metal Tank Armour (May be optionally reinforced with Armour Plates)

Speed: 85 km/h? (a bit faster than a modern tank)

Classification: Tanks/Transports

Basic Description:

The results of the proclivities of Ork Lootas for theft, these vehicles are usually acquired by Ork salvage teams after a battle is over. After towing the wrecks, a few days of repairs and kustomizations to make them more “Orky”, most of these vehicles see battle once more as Looted Wagons in Ork employ. However they also tend to be far more temperamental than they were before, and may be prone to various unforeseen occurrences because of their non-Ork technology. In game this manifests as a rule called “Don’t Press Dat” where a bad dice roll can send a Looted Wagon careening straight forward regardless of what the driver wants. They serve a wide variety of roles, but are most often repurposed into tanks or transports. The tanks are equipped with either a skorcha or a powerful boomgun, and the transports have equal carrying capacities as trukks. Whatever they do, Looted Wagons are an integral part of the mechanized component of any WAAAGH! The size and shape of a Looted Wagon obviously depends on where the Orks got it from.

 The abilities of the Ork Lootas and Meks to repurpose a wide variety of salvage is legendary, and have included Space Marine Rhinos and Land Raiders, Imperial Guard Chimeras, Baneblades, and Titans, Tau Hammerheads, Eldar Wave Serpents, Necron Monoliths (Necrons don’t phase out anymore, and even when they did there may have been some Orky gubbins that could keep them from phasing out, and even then the phase out tech was not completely reliable), and many more including rumours of Tyranid Carnifexes lobotomized and controlled with the aid of Painboyz. Some Lootas are so skilled they can loot a slagged vehicle, repair it on the spot, and use it in the very same battle it was destroyed in against its former masters before said owner can react. They also find this hilarious. The Orks even have a tale of a legendary Loota that could even loot an Imperial Titan and unleash it on its former comrades. Looted Wagons also, oddly enough, refer to Ork vehicles built in Imperial and other factories.

LOADOUT

A looted wagon may take either a boomgun, a skorcha, or have carrying capacity. It may also in addition take up to two either big shootas or rokkit launchas or one of each. In theory. Mekboys might try to cram more in. The reinforced ram, wreckin’ ball, boarding plank, and stikkbomb chukka are all optional.

Boomguns: A generic term for the main gun of a stolen tank, and often the main reason why the tank was stolen in the first place. The most frequent variety of stolen tank and accompanying Boomgun is from the Leman Russ battle tank of the Imperium, but it is not unknown that other tanks such as ones belonging to the Tau or Eldar are taken as well. This can be removed from a Looted Wagon that already has one to increase the carrying capacity of the looted wagon by about 12 Orks, but what’s the fun in that? A looted wagon with a boomgun cannot be used as a transport.

Skorchas: See Warbuggies, but bigger.

Big Shootas: See Ork Boyz, but bigger.

Rokkit Launchas: See Ork Boyz, but bigger.

Reinforced Ram: See Trukks, but usually bigger.

Wreckin’ Ball: See Trukks, but usually bigger.

Boarding Plank: See Trukks, but usually bigger.

Stikkbomb Chukka: See Trukks, but usually bigger.

WAAAGH!: See Ork Boyz, but vehicle probably wouldn’t work without this.

Name: Battlewagons

Weapon Type: Automatic Weapons, Energy Weapons, Roller

Armor Type: Thick Scrap Metal Tank Armour

Speed: 75 km/h? (a bit faster than a modern tank)

Classification: Super Tank

Basic Description:

Battlewagons are massive metal mechanical monstrosities built by Meks to serve as mobile fortresses and grind their enemies into the ground. They bristle with guns, move on great clacking treads, and are often filled with the most elite Ork warriors. They are built for the most prestigious Orks, are effigies of the great beasts the Orks used to hunt in the wild, are often bedecked with skull totems, and are often created with a specific role in mind. Gunwagons stay in the thick of the Ork mobz and fire ordinance from their killkannons, assault wagons are made to serve as gigantic transports to take as many boyz to the front as quickly as possible, and krushas go into the bloodiest part of the battle to steamroll enemies into bloody paste with their deff rollas and grabbin’ klaws. These rumbling machines of shooty and crushy death tend to be at least four metres tall and seven metres wide, but as mentioned many times before Ork vehicles are not a terribly standardized lot.

LOADOUT

The killkannon, reinforced ram, deff rolla, wreckin’ ball, boarding plank, grabbin klaw, and stikkbomb chukka are all optional. Battlewagons with a killkannon have the same transport capacity of a trukk, ones without a killkannon can carry about 20 boyz or 10 boyz in mega armour or their equivalent. The battlewagon may take a single big gun in possible addition to a killkannon as outlined in the “Big Gunz” section, but this big gun does not affect transport capacity. They may also take up to four of any combination of big shootas and rokkit launchas. Once again, mad Meks may add more gunz or make one of the optional things the focus of the wagon entirely.

Killkannons: See Big Gunz. These massive guns are frequently mentioned as being made to hammer enemy infantry, and so probably use massive frag rounds.

Deff Rolla: A great spiked roller that allows the Battlewagon to bring its weight to bear on anything that gets in its way. It can also act as a minefield clearer in the highly unlikely event that grots are not available for the task, clear difficult vegetation, and generally mulch things smaller than it into a fine, fine paste. Cannot co-exist with a reinforced ram, as they go in the same place. Probably won’t stop a Mek from trying, though.

Kannons: See Big Gunz.

Lobbas: See Big Gunz.

Zzap Guns: See Big Gunz.

Big Shootas: See Ork Boyz, but bigger.

Rokkit Launchas: See Ork Boyz, but bigger.

Reinforced Ram: See Trukks, but usually bigger. Cannot co-exist with a deff rolla, as they go in the same place. Probably won’t stop a Mek from trying, though.

Wreckin’ Ball: See Trukks, but usually bigger.

Boarding Plank: See Trukks, but usually bigger.

Grabbin’ Klaw: True to its name, the Grabbin’ Klaw is a mechanism that allows an Ork vehicle to physically grab an enemy vehicle to keep the poor unfortunate from running away from the beating it is about to receive. In theory it could also be used to grab smaller units and large monsters, depending on the size of the klaw itself. Also, the klaw could likely be used to crush a man-sized target if it could grab hold of one or be used as a tow to drag things with. In game, it’s just used to grab vehicles. The Grabbin’ Klaw of larger vehicles tend to incorporate some kind of attractive or magnetic force to grab things with.

WAAAGH!: See Ork Boyz, but vehicle probably wouldn’t work without this.

Name: Gargantuan Squiggoths

Weapon Type: Melee, Automatic Weapons, Energy Weapons

Armor Type: Thick Scrap Metal Tank Armour

Speed: 60 km/h top speed? 20 km/h walking?

Classification: Living Engine of Destruction

Basic Description:

Massive Orkoid monstrosities bred by a particular clan, these beasts are towering hulks of muscle and bad temper. They are single-mindedly aggressive and incredibly savage, and the Orks love them for it. Squiggoths are goaded into battles by the Orks that ride in the howdah on its back, like a big nasty green elephant-komodo dragon hybrid, and the howdah is also itself bristling with weapons. The noise of these weapons incites the Squiggoth into greater acts of violence as a bonus, leading them to seek out and gore, stomp, and otherwise flatten non-greenskins nearby to the raucous cheers of the Orks. Covered in heavy welded-on armour, bedecked in big guns, and terrifying to behold, the Gargantuan Squiggoth is massively destructive Ork unit capable of causing mass terror and annihilation. These massive beasts come in many shapes and sizes, although they all have large tusks, teeth, and fangs, and  range in size from large tank-sized to equal in height to a small Imperial Titan. Roughly speaking, they can be anywhere from four metres to thirteen metres tall. Each Squiggoth may transport about 20 boyz in the howdah, or maybe 10 meganobz or their equivalent.

LOADOUT

Uniformity is a lie.

Huge Tusks: The tusks of the Gargantuan Squiggoth, simply enough. Given how big the beast is, the tusks can sometimes be larger than a man. They also give the monster a bonus when charging into close combat.

Fangs and Stomping Feet: The teef and feet. Shouldn’t be too difficult to imagine what they do. Gargantuan Squiggoths also tend to eat the things they bite, naturally enough.

Twin-Linked Big Shootas: See Warbuggies, has at least two of these mounted on the howdah.

Supa-Lobbas: See Big Gunz, has at least two of these mounted on the howdah.

Zzap Guns: See Big Gunz, not actually in the rulebook but the Dawn of War version had these and they owned so there.

Big Shootas: See Ork Boyz, may have up to four mounted on pintles but must be fired by a transported Ork. There may be more than four, perhaps.

Variant:

Orkeosaurus: An even larger version of the Gargantuan Squiggoth, but also much rarer.

WAAAGH!: See Ork Boyz, but vehicle probably wouldn’t work without this. This applies to this particular entry less so than most Ork vehicles.

Name: Battlefortress

Weapon Type: Cannons or Roller or Rockets or Flak Guns (Depends on Variant)

Armor Type: Thick Scrap Metal Tank Armour

Speed: 60 km/h? (about the speed of a modern tank)

Classification: Mobile Fortress, Super-Heavy Assault Vehicle

 Basic Description:

Described as “clanking, smoke-belching behemoths festooned with gunz and boyz”, Battlefortresses are essentially much larger and more powerful battlewagons. They fill the same roles as mobile fortress and artillery platform, but are much bigger. They are also far faster than they look, possessing a “triple-overpressure turbo engine that occupies a good deal of its hull”. Loud, shooty, and capable of crushing all in their path, these massive Ork tanks are formidable sights to see on larger battlefields and a match for anything short of a titan. Battlefortresses are intermediate in size between Looted Wagons and Gargants, so are likely between five and ten metres tall.

LOADOUT

In general, all battlefortresses can carry about 30 boyz or 15 meganob equivalents. Beyond that, good luck finding anything about uniformity. Even the variants listed are just a guide to possible forms.

Variants

Skullhamma Battlefortress: The most popular variant, this design is usually made from a looted Baneblade and features the Skullhamma Kannon. This kannon is big and loud, like other Ork gubbins, but is also remarkably powerful. This design may also have any combination of two twin-linked big shootas or rokkit launchas, and further include either a kannon or lobba as seen in the Big Gunz section. This tank may also hold up to three supa-rokkits, which are bigger versions of the grot-guided missiles fired by a grot bomb launcha. Or they might have way more weapons that that, as these are just guidelines.

Deathrolla Battlefortress: Presumably similar to a Skullhamma in all respects except the Skullhamma Kannon is replaced by a massive deff rolla.

Rokkitspitta Battlefortress: Again, probably similar to a Skullhamma except the titular kannon is replaced by a large cluster of rokkit launchas crammed together like a drunkard’s fireworks display.

Flakk Battlefortress: A form of Battlefortress built to serve as an anti-air platform, and thus decked to the brim with guns such as flakka-kannons, big shootas, and quad flakka-dakka guns. Flakka-Kannons are, simply enough, flak shooting kannons. Flakka-Dakka guns are heavy Ork autocannons, which are rapid-firing weapons similar to miniguns but able to use both larger ammunition and a wider variety of bullets.

WAAAGH!: See Ork Boyz, but vehicle probably wouldn’t work without this.

Name: Stompa

Weapon Type: Various (includes rockets, enormous rapid-fire guns, massive flamethrowers, cannons, energy weapons, melee attacks)

Armor Type: Thick Scrap Metal Armour

Speed: 35 km/h?

Classification: Heavy Walker Vehicle

Basic Description:

A noisy, walking idol of an Ork god, a Stompa is one of the most destructive engines the Orks can field. They are crewed by several Orks, usually the Meks that built it aided by a large mob of grots to act as general assistants, and inspire great amounts of fear in enemies and fearlessness in nearby greenskins. Loaded with weapons, Stompas are a force of pure destruction on the battlefield and can stomp, shoot, crush, and kill almost anything in their path. These massive idols of the Ork gods are a little bit bigger than a Battlefortress, and tend to be between twelve and sixteen metres tall. It also has a carrying capacity roughly equivalent to that of a trukk. Sometimes in larger in a larger WAAAGH! Stompas will be organized into mobz of their own, such as during the Third War for Armageddon where thousands were present.

LOADOUT

A minimum estimate of Stompa ordinance is one titan close-combat weapon, a deth kannon with a co-axial supa-gatler, a supa-skorcha, a twin-linked big shoota, two more big shootas, three supa rokkits, and a rear mounted big shoota for the pesky gitz that get behind it. They always have a crew of dozens of grot riggers to patch up damage. Bare minimum, of course. Who knows what a Mek will try to cram onto an effigy of his God?

Deth Kannons: An enormous kannon. Not much more to be said. Other than it’s as strong as a Warlord Battle Titan’s Melta Cannon in game, and those things are nasty.

Supa-Rokkits: See Grot Bomb of Grot Bomb Launcha, but usually with a bigger missile.

Supa-Skorchas: See Skorcha of Warbuggies, but scale it up for a roughly 13 and a half metre tall walking metal monstrosity.

Supa-Gatlers: Gatling gun scaled up for something that matches Ork sensibilities for a weapon of a walking metal avatar of God. This particular weapon manifests its Orky origin by being so hard to control that it will not stop until it runs out of ammo once it starts firing.

Big Shootas: See Ork Boyz, but much, much bigger.

Gaze of Mork: A large and unpredictable force beam generator built into the head of the Stompa, usually firing from the Stompa’s eyes. They are essentially giant Zzap Guns, but are even more powerful than the Big Zzappa Soopagun variant. They’re just as unpredictable, with some shots melting Baneblades and other failing to kill a single guardsman or something in between. Usually something in between. But it can melt a Baneblade, which is all the Orks care about. Sometimes the Mek crew divert extra power from the rest of the Stompa to the Gaze, increasing the strength of the shot enough to even tear an Imperial Titan asunder.

Lifta-Droppa: A big tractor beam that lifts, moves, and flings around or drops enemy vehicles. It is typically unpredictable, like other Ork tech, and is sometimes employed to wreck enemy machines and monster by dropping them into inhospitable or unfavourable terrain. This terrain may be a chasm, magma, or just a horde of boyz waiting to tear something apart.

Kustom Force Shield: Created by Meks to safeguard their most beloved creations, and usually themselves, these crackling barriers of energy repel almost all attacks. They can be found elsewhere, even on a lucky Ork Boy if he manages to steal or find one, but they are most often found on valuable war machines like Stompas. They’re also seen on Ork ships to keep the air and stuff in the ship, but they have been known to fail in this regard without the Orks even noticing or being affected. Some Stompas can even have two of these protective barriers, but once a barrier goes down it cannot be raised up again.

Close Combat Weapon: See Deff Dread, but way, way bigger.

WAAAGH!: See Ork Boyz,

Name: Gargant

Weapon Type: Various (includes rockets, enormous rapid-fire guns, massive flamethrowers, cannons, energy weapons, melee attacks)

Armor Type: Thick Scrap Metal Armour

Speed: 45 km/h?

Classification: Super Heavy Walker Vehicle

 Basic Description:

Titanic warmachines found only in the largest of WAAAGH!’s and under the command of the mightiest of Warbosses. These machines are true effigies of the Gork and Mork, and are the mightiest engines of destruction the Orks can field on the ground. They are extremely complicated as well, requiring the most brilliant Meks, but also have the most devastatingly powerful weapons. While employing relatively simple technology compared to their counterparts in other races, their sheer firepower and destructive force make them more than equal to any of their peers. Gargants come in a relatively large range of sizes, with larger ones being rarer. A “normal” Gargant can be about 20 metres tall, while the largest Gargants that are a match for Imperial Emperor Class Titans can be up to 60 metres tall.

LOADOUT

A Gargant is a Stompa, but much bigger. Scale up anything you find in the Stompa section appropriately for the increase in size, which generally means double the size of the main guns and the quantity of smaller guns you imagine the Stompa bristling with. And maybe double the number of main guns too. They also tend to have many layers of kustom force fields, maybe as many as 6 if their equivalence to Imperial Warlord Titans is any indication. The bigger the Gargant, the more stuff it has. The Gargants also have access to a few special unique pieces of kit such as the one that follows. All the others are just really, really big heavy weapons.

Snapper: A uniquely Ork weapon, consisting of a pair of spiked metal jaws for close combat and a massive melta-gun equivalent inside.

WAAAGH!: See Ork Boyz, but vehicle probably wouldn’t work without this. The Gargant in particular should be a useless pile of junk without the field.

AIR COMBAT

Ork vehicles are not limited by such petty constraints such as “standard designs” or “good taste” or “subtlety” or “not overdoing things” or “theft is bad”. Ork aircraft are no different, and many Ork ships are simply things looted from other races and kustomized to be more Orky with a coat of red paint and bitz and spikes all over. Leading to beauties such as these:

http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/File:Deff_Skwadron_Megabommer.jpg

As with Armour and Artillery, remember that bigger means better but relatively rarer.

Name: Fighta-Bommas

Type of Aircraft: Multipurpose Aircraft

Weapon Type: Bombs, Guns, Other Heavy Weapons

Armor Type: Scrap Metal

Classification: General Purpose Aircraft

Basic Description:

Piloted by flyboyz, who are Speed Freaks marked by their desire to fly, general Ork fighter and bomber aircraft tends to be incredibly diverse in form, size, and armament. As their pilots get euphoric highs from going at high speeds, and get the biggest high from flying straight at the ground, Meks tend to build aircraft with great offensive abilities and speed rather than survivability. Ork fighters and bombers are all fast, have loads of guns, and tend not to survive missions. Their pilots, on the other hand, do usually survive their suicidal attacks and reckless dive bombs and come back for more. Ork aircraft are used to disrupt supply lines, attack an enemy from the air, go on bombing runs, hit enemy positions deep behind the battleline, and other military applications contemporary humans use them for. Orks also like to use them for kamikaze runs, given the greater durability afforded by Orkoid physiology and their compulsive love of excitement, and there are even some pilots who specialize in crashing into enemies to inflict maximum damage. And they do it over and over again with a different aircraft each time. Ork aircraft tends to be between 10 and 26 metres long.

LOADOUT

Lots of different variants of Fighta-Bommas, but they’re all loaded with guns and move at insanely high speeds. Safety is not an issue for the Orks. A standard Fighta-Bomma comes with at least four hull mounted big shootas as an anti-aircraft measure, a turret mounted twin-linked big shoota manned by a grot, a payload of bomms, and either two supa-rokkits or two burna bomms. Or maybe more, depends on the Mek that built it and how they were feeling.

Big Shootas: See Ork Boyz, but bigger.

Bomms: It’s a bomb. They’re apparently equal to Imperial ones, which mean they weigh about 500 pounds. They probably weigh more though, knowing the Orks.

Supa Rokkits: See Grot Bomb of Grot Bomb Launcha section, but maybe bigger.

Burna Bomms: Essentially a canister of highly volatile flammable substance, probably similar to what’s found in skorchas or burnas. They’re used to coat large portions of the battlefield in flame.

Variants:

Fightas: Located on the smaller end of Ork aircraft, these planes are used for dog-fighting and ground attack. They’re described as easily a match for any Imperial Navy fighter, and sport big shootas and a small wing of bombs and rockets.

Burna-Bommas: This bomma variant carries a payload of at least 2 burna bomms and up to six incendiary skorcha missiles, which allows the pilot to set fire to lots and lots of things and see many Orks and non-Orks alike do the burny dance. They also tend to have two twin-linked shootas, one of which is manned by a grot in a turret.

Blitza-Bommas: A dive-bomber suited for the most deranged flyboyz, these planes aim their bombs by releasing them as close to the target as the pilot can get during a dive bomb. Sometimes, the pilot forgets to pull out of the dive. Which can be pretty funny. These bombers carry a pair of the largest aircraft held bomms, which are bigger than a normal bomm, called boom bomms. They also have a pair of supa shootas, which are bigger version of a big shoota, and a big shoota in a turret manned by a grot.

Heavy Bommas: Larger bombs that drop their payloads by having grot crews push them off the back ramp. They drop lots of bombs. There’s even a variant of this seen in the Third War for Armageddon called the “Blasta Bommer” that flew closer to the ground than normal and was armed with shootas, zzap guns, and rokkits.

Dakkajets: Propelled by a single, massive jet engine, these are among the fastest Ork aircraft. They are usually armed with two or three twin-linked supa shootas, but many pilots will probably insist more guns be bolted on, and are used to cover the battlefield in bullets. Their pilots believe in quantity over quality, and that at least some of the bullets will hit. They’re usually not wrong.

WAAAGH!: See Ork Boyz, but vehicle probably wouldn’t work without this.

MISC AIR

Name: Minelayers

Type of Aircraft: Defensive Aircraft

Weapon Type: Bombs

Armor Type: Scrap Metal

Classification: Purveyor of Floating Mines

Basic Description:

Less a flier and more a floater, these contraptions are a product of the genius of Mad Mek Orghamek. Consisting of over 50 tons of rusted scrap, the Minelayer is held aloft by powerful repulsor fields. Its bomb bay contains rows upon rows of specially built explosive mines each equipped with their own smaller repulsor fields. The Minelayer uses a winch-and claw mechanism to place its mines.

LOADOUT

Mines: Drifting high in the air under the power of its own miniature repulsor field, these mines are usually activated when an opponent tries to cross below it. This motion collapses the delicate field that keeps the mine aloft, and it drops. If the enemy below isn’t killed by the mine dropping, they will likely die in the resulting detonation of “a ton of high explosive”.

WAAAGH!: See Ork Boyz, but vehicle probably wouldn’t work without this.

Name: Landas

Type of Aircraft: Transport Aircraft

Weapon Type: Guns, Rockets

Armor Type: Thick Scrap Metal

Classification: Transport

Basic Description:

Large transport aircraft, typically about 38 metres long, which like most Ork technology is armed and dangerous. Yes, Ork transports have guns. Lots, in fact. These have about half the carrying capacity of a trukk, and while the pilots are generally not the steadiest of hands the Landas themselves are incredibly durable and can ignore most enemy attacks and withstand damage that would send most other aircraft down in flames. However, they are relatively slow and ungainly, but many Imperial Thunderbolt pilots have made the mistake of underestimating it and being shredded by a Landa’s large assortment of shootas.

LOADOUT

Big Shootas: See Ork Boyz, but probably manned by grots in turrets.

Rokkits: See Ork Boyz.

WAAAGH!: See Ork Boyz, but vehicle probably wouldn’t work without this.

 Name: Deffkoptas

Type of Aircraft: Flying Jetbike

Purpose of Aircraft: Reconnaissance, Attack

Classification: Scout

Basic Description:

The subjects of decades of experimentation, and quite of bit of still ongoing trial and error, Deffkoptas are fast and deadly one-Ork attack craft. They consist of a set of whirring rotors above the pilot’s head, to hold it aloft, a jet booster at the rear, to send it screaming full tilt in the general direction of the enemy, a set of weapons on the underside, to deal death to those unlucky enough to be below, and a Speed Freak pilot a with a few cards short of a full deck, as only the most unhinged would even consider climbing into such a flying rickety deathtrap. Oddly enough, there never seems to be a shortage of pilot volunteers. The closest thing the Deffkopta has to a “typical” role is recon vehicle, scouting ahead of the main tribe for victims to attack. They then, as the Ork pilot dies a little inside from passing up a fight, head back for reinforcements. It is also not unusual to see Defffkoptas spearheading an attack, blazing ahead of everyone else as oily blurs and howling in glee before crashing headfirst into the enemy. They are found in squadrons of up to five koptas in smaller battlefields, and are organized in larger swarms for bigger fights.

LOADOUT

There is no standard. The codex even says “The problem with Meks is that they never make the same machine twice”. There is a minimum though, as the codex also says “Ever since the first Deffkopta was pioneered, the Mek fraternity has devised more and more cunning ways to turn it from bizarre conveyance to lethal weapon”.

Buzzsaw Blades: The rotor blades of a deffkopta are often outfitted with choppas and other choppy things to let them inflict damage. Many pilots are rather fond of making daring runs close to the ground and angling the kopta in a way to puree their target. Optional.

Kustom Mega Blastas: See Wazdakka Gutsmek

Twin-Linked Rokkit Launchas: See Warbuggies.

Twin-Linked Big Shootas: See Warbuggies.

Bigbomms: Are actually the smallest of the Ork bomb variants. Still, they pack a heck of a punch in bombing runs. Deffkoptas generally only carry one, and they tend to be dropped while the kopta goes full turbo. Optional.

Variant:

Warkopta: Also called Chinorks, these larger Deffkopta variants are mostly used to carry boyz to the fight. They are less common, but no less useful. They still have a blistering array of weapons, and are favoured by Kommandos as deployment vehicles and places shout insults to the rest of the boyz from. They are armed with a minimum of a set of several twin-linked deffguns and nose-mounted big shoota. They may also be armed with skorchas, rokkit launchas, mega-blastas, or other guns instead of the big shoota. Some may even carry a payload of bombs. They are usually deployed in squads of three with Deffkopta escorts.

WAAAGH!: See Ork Boyz, but vehicle probably wouldn’t work without this.

SUPPORT  

Name: Weirdboyz

Armor Type: None

Type of Support: Active Abilities

Classification: Wild Card

Basic Description:

The most psychically powerful of all Orks, Weirdboyz act as a focal point for the energy generated by their greenskin fellows. They resonate with the power of sheer Orkiness, and the more Orks there are nearby the more powerful the Weirdboy becomes. Unfortunately, young ones are not very good at controlling this energy, and they tend to glow and spark even when there’s something as simple as a particularly rowdy contest between two Orks. This inability to control their power tends to result in something inconvenient, such as the heads of nearby boyz exploding. However, the ones lucky enough to reach maturity learn to control this power and how to use it to unleash destructive waves of force, vomit deadly psychic green flames, or augment the abilities of their fellow Orks. The oldest and most successful Weirdboyz, and consequently the most powerful ones, are known as Warpheads and have a great deal of control over the energies of the WAAAGH! In battle the shouting, chanting, stomping, and fighting done by Orks all charge the energy of Weirdboyz and allow them to perform spectacular feats of psionic ability in their battle trances. Weirdboyz tend to be good for morale in battle, as the boyz always love a good show, although they are ostracized and closely watched outside of combat. Their non-combat roles include psionic interrogation, and occasionally divination and scrying.

LOADOUT

Psyker Powers: See Old Zogwort.

Staff: It’s a staff. It’s Ork sized. It is likely spiked. The Weirdboy hits things with it.

WAAAGH!: See Ork Boyz, but Weirdboyz specialize in harnessing the WAAAGH! to attack enemies and support their fellow Orks.

Name: Painboyz

Armor Type: None

Type of Support: Healing, Active Ability, Immunity to Pain

Classification: Battle Medic

Basic Description:

Ork surgeons, medics, and dentists, Painboyz also are involved in the installation of bionik bitz and are an essential part of any WAAAGH! They maintain, repair and improve the bodies of Orks themselves, and get along very well with Meks. As a result of their good relationship, Meks and Doks often closely collaborate on many projects such as weapons of war, bionik enhancements, the creation of cyborks, and other fantastic technologies. Painboyz are capable of many conventional medical treatments, learned through a combination of instinct, trial-and-error, and “the time-honoured principles of Orky know-wotz”, However, they often disregard a patient’s requests in favour of doing their own thing medically. Such as replacing a leg with a bionik exploding one when the patient wanted his missing arm replaced. Funny guys. They carry a wide variety of medicines, and quite a few toxins as well, serving as both healer and death-dealer in battle. They are also highly sadistic, operating on living patients without painkillers partly to know if they’re still alive and kicking and partly to laugh at the pain of the poor sod they’re working on. And the fact that we call Ork anesthesia “concussion”. Their greatest joy is “ eksperimentin’ ”, and are usually quite happy to do this on non-Orks as well. Despite their eccentricities, and outright psychosis beyond that of a pathologically aggressive race, Painboyz are tolerated for their myriad uses on and off the battlefield.

LOADOUT

Sluggas: See Ork Boyz.

Choppas: See Ork Boyz.

‘Urty Syringe: See Mad Dok Grotsnik.

Grot Orderly: The Painboy’s assistants, who function as messengers, attendants, and pack mules. They carry the Painboy’s stuff, aid him in surgery, and occasionally help him fight in battle usually acting as meatshields. And sometimes, they actually learn something.

Dok’s Tools: See Mad Dok Grotsnik.

WAAAGH!: See Ork Boyz.

Name: Mekboyz

Armor Type: Force Field

Type of Support: Vehicle Protection and Repair

Classification: Battle Mechanic

Basic Description:

Orks with a natural gift for engineering, implanted by the Elder race that created the Orks, Meks build, maintain, invent, and improve all Ork tech. They also have blueprints in their DNA that allow them to build general structures of the most popular Ork weapons and warmachines. They are obsessed with creating ever bigger and deadlier technology to unleash upon their foes. However they are also “jovially imprecise”, and no two Mek inventions will be built the same way. Ork technology evolves in a ramshackle and explanatory way, and the Meks are willing to cop ideas from other races. The Gargant was in fact the result of a Mek being inspired by an Imperial Titan to create an effigy to his own God, for instance. Meks are also formidable to face in battle, with powerful personalized weapons that usually spew bolts of energy and surprisingly effective shielding technology. They tend to lead teams of Lootas and Burnas during battle, often to see how their inventions do, and outside of it, when looting the battlefield for usable salvage. Meks also take commissions from richer Orks, usually for vehicles or bioniks or weapons, and while the result is usually not what the customer ordered it is typically “dead good anyway”. While it is a marvel Mek tech works at all, bring crude and contravening common sense and several laws of physics, no one disputes it is effective.

LOADOUT

Kustom Mega Blasta: See Wazdakka Gutsmek

Shokk Attack Gun: One of the most fantastic and esoteric Ork weapons of all, the Shokk Attack Gun creates tears in reality that go through the hellish immaterial otherworld known as the Warp. The codex notes that while others would use this tech to “advance science or revolutionize travel”, Meks use it to fire Warp-crazed snotlings at the enemy. It is a great example for the depths of the Mek’s technological abilities, but it also shows that they only use it to destroy things. The gun works by “projecting a narrow force field tunnel though a small portion of the Warp” by means unknown to all but those who make the weapons, and they’re not telling. The entrance is at the front of the gun and the exit is where the operator aims it, and both living creatures and non-living things can be thrown into the portal. For a living creature the journey is terrifying, as they are surrounded by the manifold daemons and horrors of the Warp, and they often emerge at the other end completely mad. Meks throw snotlings down these portals because they’re too stupid to run away, and the snotlings emerge biting, clawing, and crapping in terror. This tends to have a massive negative impact on enemy morale whether the portal exits in the middle of an enemy formation or inside an enemy vehicle or suit of power armour, and the same sight tends to be hilarious to the Orks. However, this complicated bit of technology is one of the most unpredictable Orks weapons in existence. It may work as advertised, which is a surprisingly large amount of the time, or it may blow up and leave a “cracking orb of unreality” in its place, or go out of control and target an ally, or it may simply open a portal to the nearest combatant instead, or the snotling may come out in a deadly spray of bones and gore, or the Mek may be the one fired through the portal, or the field may collapse and open a portal to the Warp that inflicts damage where the exit should have been, or a larger portal to the Warp may open and a “ravening cloud of sentient daemonic ichor” may emerge and automatically kill whatever it touches. Fun times.

Choppa: See Ork Boyz

Kustom Force Field: See Stompas, but smaller and personalized.

Grot Oiler: A general term for a Mek’s assistants, these grots serve their master in a similar fashion as grot orderlies do. They carry the Mek’s stuff, help build things, and sometimes are forced to take a bullet for him in battle. These grots see themselves as apprentices, and can usually build something worthwhile if they live long enough.

Junkas: A type of vehicle built by junior Meks to showcase their mechanical aptitude. These vehicles have almost nothing in the way of standardization, sometimes built from scratch and sometimes looted or sometimes a mix of both, and their abilities depend mostly on what the Mek can come up with himself.

Mek’s Tools: Meks excel at repairs in the heat of battle, and use these tools to undo damage inflicted by enemies of Ork vehicles and occasional friendly fire. Sometimes the Mek gets a bit carried away, but their ability to repair damage to tech and machinery is always useful.

WAAAGH!: See Ork Boyz. Most of their stuff would likely not work without this.

Name: Runtherds/Slavers

Armor Type: None

Type of Support: Logistical, Artillery Commander

Classification: Commander of Lesser Lifeforms

Basic Description:

The slave-drivers of the Orks, Runtherds are the ones responsible for keeping the lesser greenskin races in line. The preferred way to control the grots and snotlings is pain and fear, which Runtherds excel in inflicting. As Ork slavers they’re also responsible for managing slaves taken from other races, and often treat said slaves the same way they treat their usual grot and snotling charges. They can sometimes be found in battle leading charges of large masses of terrified grots and too-dumb-to-know-any-better snotlings. Outside of battle they are responsible for overseeing the everyday tasks of their underlings, such as the cultivation of food, the brewing of alcohol, and the production of munitions.

LOADOUT

Runtherd equipment is mostly used to keep recalcitrant squigs, grots, and snotlings in line, but Orks tend to be big and strong and cunning enough to make seemingly harmless implements into deadly weapons.

Grotwhip: It’s a whip. It’s barbed and larger than a human one, apparently. It hurts. What else is there to say?

Grabba Stik: A sturdy metal pole with a simple pulley system and a barbed klaw. It’s used to throttle things and restrain potential slaves.

Grot Prod: Far as descriptions go, it’s a taser on a stick. The voltage can be increased to lethal levels.

Squig Hound: A breed of squig bred to aid Runtherds in their tasks, they are also useful as attack dogs and morale restorers. If the Runtherd sees grot morale flagging, he can command the beast to eat a few grots and put the feat of bigger things in the remaining members of the lesser greenskin mob.

WAAAGH!: See Ork Boyz.

Name: Gretchin

Armor Type: None

 Type of Support: Logistical, Battle

Classification: Fodder

Basic Description:

One of the lowest form of greenskin, Gretchin are naturally cowardly and relatively weak. They are smaller and feebler than proper Orks, being runts in every sense of the word, but are better able and more willing to make use of low cunning. They are also more likely to be cautious, and have excellently honed senses of smell, hearing, and night vision that allow them to survive for a little bit in Ork society. Some are even supernaturally lucky or have a sixth sense of sorts for danger, which may allow them to live to the ripe old age of nine years. That is the current record, whose holder got sat on by his boss and his broken body fed to a squig. They are herded into battle using promises of plunder and brute intimidation by their Runtherd handlers, and often given incredibly poor weapons. In conventional fights they rely mostly on sheer numbers to kill anything at all, being sent in a massive green horde that carpets the battlefield. However, their best uses are tasks other than to tire out the arms of the enemy and force them to spend their ammunition. Their slightly better ability to aim makes them comparatively ideal gunners, their sheer numbers can be used to clear minefields and their willingness to stay back out of the fight makes them suited to operate Ork machinery such as Big Gunz and Gargants. They are also good for serving as pack mules for larger boyz, such as Meks, Doks, and Warlords. Outside of battle their serve the bigger Orks and grease the wheels of Ork economy and society, preparing food, acting as couriers and messengers, carrying stuff, selling and recycling discarded items for their own ends, coordinating bets when a fight breaks out, acting as an unwilling snack or something to be kicked by an Ork in a foul mood, and generally acting as a lower subservient class. They also never question their lot in life, and there has never been a grot rebellion on record, as to them their horrid life is just their life. Gretchin accept the role they were born to, and are impossible to subvert to the side of a non-Ork.

LOADOUT

Knives: See Kommandos, but far, far smaller and less ably wielded.

Grot Blastas: As described in the codex: “run-down, second-hand, low-tech, dust-caked piece of junk that just might conceivably kill something provided they remember which way round to hold it”.

WAAAGH!: See Ork Boyz. Maybe.

Grot Tanks: Grots that have laboured under Meks and have lived long enough to pick some engineering ability up have a tendency to create their own tanks. These vehicles are considerably smaller, less capable in all respects, and are made of even lower quality scrap than most Ork machines. However, there tend to be a lot of them. Some tanks, the Grot Mega Tanks, are larger and of generally better quality overall and may have even had a Mek working on it at some point. These ramshackle vehicles add even firepower to any Ork WAAAGH, though mostly only through sheer numbers.

Special/Detailed Purpose: Pack Mules, Source of Food, Cannon Fodder

Name: Snotling

Armor Type: None

 Type of Support: Logistical

Classification: Fodder

Basic Description:

Appearing as an even smaller grot, Snotlings are the lowest rung in Ork society. They have an intelligence level on par with that of a fairly dumb animal, and are incapable of speech. Sometimes they are “pets” of sorts, but more often they use their natural affinity with fungi and squigs in agricultural roles. They cultivate the squigs and fungi to provide food, drink, and medicine to their superiors while under the careful supervision of Runtherds. Their affinity ensures that “only a few dozen Snotlings are eaten by their livestock each day”. In battle they mostly used as ammo for the Shokk Attack Gun, or are given simple melee weapons and herded towards their enemies. Their lack of intelligence and fear allows them to get close to enemies, but their lack of natural violent tendencies makes them difficult to use in any capacity in battle save as a living bullet.

LOADOUT

Small Rudimentary Melee Weapons: Right as the name says. Sticks, clubs, that kinda stuff.

Body: When they are too stupid to even hold a stick or something, it is hoped a snotling will at least have the presence of mind to bite and scratch a foe. They do this after being fired from a Shokk Attack Gun, but so would most living things.

WAAAGH!: See Ork Boyz. Maybe.

Special/Detailed Purpose: Pack Mules, Source of Food, Cannon Fodder

Name: Squigs

Armor Type: None

 Type of Support: Logistical

Classification: Fodder

Basic Description:

More properly referred to as “Squiggly Beasts”, Squigs aren’t even on the Ork social ladder. As the simplest form of Ork life, they are a catch-all term for the various fauna that populate an Orkified ecosystem. They serve as the primary food source of the Orks, but have a staggering number of uses depending on how they’re bred. Squigs naturally breed and grow and breed in the cesspits of Ork settlements, often called “The Drops”, subsisting on Ork refuse and generally making sure nothing is wasted in the Ork environment. However disgusting the process of an Ork eating something that eats the Ork’s excretion is. Other roles for squigs include attack dogs, bomb carriers, grot and snotling herders, toys, carrier pigeons, syringes, swabs, hair, medicine, oil and fuel producers, paint producers, parasite hunters, weapons, musical instruments, psychic grenades, biological acid mines and grenades, and virtually anything else you can think of.

(Note: Even humans don’t eat pigs that eat human fecal matter)

LOADOUT

Teeth: They bite. They bite hard. Often, a squig’s teeth accounts for most of its mass and volume.

WAAAGH!: See Ork Boyz. Maybe.

Special/Detailed Purpose: Pack Mules, Source of Food, Cannon Fodder

BASE DEFENSES:

Orks are not big on base defence, as a moment mucking about at base about is a moment that you’re not fighting something.

Name: WAAAGH! Banner

Type: Anti-Infantry, Can be upgraded to Anti-Armour

Basic Description:

A large tower structure and banner that acts as a rallying point for the boyz. It is manned by grots at the top of the tower that have either big shootas or rokkit launchas. There tend to be a lot of these, enough to blanket an area in bullets.

Name: Ork Base Turrets

Type: Anti-Infantry

 Basic Description:

Automated or grot-manned defence turrets that use big shootas to suppress and kill the enemy with a high volume of fire.

11. Leader Profile:

Name: Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka (The Prophet of the WAAAGH!)

Notable Battlefield Accomplishments:

Despite his legendary reputation, Ghazghkull is actually kind of a mixed bag in terms of battlefield success. He did unite an impressive Ork force by force, and made a good account of himself in a pair of wars he started, but as of yet never really definitively crushed an opponent in a full campaign of war.

After having most of his skull replaced by Grotsnik with adamantium, Ghazghull managed to rise to the rank of Warboss of his tribe within a decade. A year later he united the Ork tribes on Urk following events that he took as portents from his gods, which included several deadly solar flares and the appearance of a space hulk ripe for taking in the star system. By coercing his fellow Orks, mostly by conquest and beating their faces in, he managed to form the nucleus of his WAAAGH! He told every Ork in that star system that if they followed him they were destined for greatness, and to a boy they believed him. Ghazghkull then boarded the hulk, made it ready for war, and set off to conquer the galaxy. On route through the Warp he may have fought demons, but that is speculation.

Ghazghkull’s WAAAGH! attacked the hive world of Armageddon resolving to crush it, expose the more vulnerable and richer worlds beyond, and bring about an age of war that would never end. Thus began the Second War for Armageddon (the first one involved Chaos, not Orks). He attacked then Imperial commanders were at their most complacent, although whether that was good timing or good luck on his part is uncertain. He crashed his forces into the planet, overrode the defences, and cut his enemies down “like wheat to a scythe”. His forces brute forced their way past the deadly equatorial jungles of Armageddon and the expert Imperial fighters within, crushed a retaliatory strike by a legion of Titans with an numerically superior force of his own Gargants (Titan Legions usually consist of at least 50 of the machines), and finally made his way to the largest hive cities on the planet. Splitting his forces in two, he ordered each to attack the hives of Helsreach and Hades. The governor unleashed his secret stock of virus bombs, which carried a pathogen that could even reduce “tough Orkoid flesh to a bubbling soup in a matter of seconds”, but the munitions were ancient unreliable and failed to wiped out the Orks. Elsreach was overrun. However, it should be noted that most of his successes thus far on the world were because the planet’s governor was a stubborn fool. This would change at Hades, where the defence was led by a commissar that called for help via Imperial distress signal and rallied the populace. Ghazghull did everything in his muster to overcome the defences, even joining the himself and reportedly “slaughtering his way through entire regiments of the enemy”, but for naught. Every ploy was countered, such as “lightning assaults and feints, attacking in massive waves and trying to reduce the hive to ruins by orbital bombardment” or “dropping elite commandos onto the spires of the hive”, building “great siege weapons”, and “even retrofitted gargants with earth-moving devices”. While Ghazghkull’s multi-pronged attack allowed him to hold all of the planet but Hades for a while, Imperial reinforcements arrived including three chapters of Space Marines (or at least marines from three chapters: the Ultramarines, the Salamanders, and the Blood Angels) led by Blood Angels Commander Dante (who is apparently kind of a big deal or something, and was accompanied by two guys named Tu’Shan and Marneus Calgar, all three later became chapter masters) turned the tide of battle. The codex notes that Ghazghull could have beat the Imperial reinforcements had he immediate adjusted his plans, but his personal hatred for Yarrick caused him to focus on beating the commissar to the detriment of campaign management. Ghazghkull was driven off, although not before giving Yarrick the drunken uncle of all headbutts, and through a “masterful campaign of lightning attacks” his WAAAGH! was dispersed. However, he survived and vowed to return once he internalized the lessons he had learned.

Ghazghkull struck up alliances with other Ork Warbosses, including one that he assisted to gain access to the tellyporta technology. Ghazghkull saw the true potential of this device, and joined with this fellow Warboss to test it on the Imperial planet of Piscina IV. The planet’s defenders were brought to their knees, and only the mysterious appearance of the Deathwing company of the Dark Angels chapter of Space Marines led by the chapter master Belial saved them. And barely, at that. The Dark Angels still suffered a string of defeats, culminating in a duel in which Ghazghkull “all but broke Grand Master Belial in two”. The Deathwing did manage to hold the Orks off long enough for the rest of the Dark Angels to arrive, but Ghazghkull already saw what he needed to see and left. Taking the tellyporta technology, he began to prepare for war.

Ghazghkull travelled to the Golgotha system, intending to take the main planet and its rich mineral deposits to convert it into a giant munitions factory. He used the tellyportas to “make a series of lightning strikes” that quickly overcame the planetary defenders within weeks with sheer numbers. Yarrick then appeared, ambushing Ghazghkull and intending to kill the Warboss ad leave his boyz leaderless. He failed. Ghazghull let him off after a brief bit of torture, noting good enemies were hard to find. Yarrick returned to the Imperium and began to shore up the defences of Armageddon.

Fifty-seven years to the day after the first Ork invasion, Ghazghkull returned to Armageddon at the head of an even larger force to begin the Third War for Armageddon. Kill Kroozers made suicidal rushes to break the Imperial blockade, and overcame the Imperial navy. Even more Ork forces then arrived, and Ghazghkull’s forces combined with his allies numbered over 2000 ships, at least 12 space hulks, and dozens of crude hollowed out asteroid fortress called “Roks”. This force is noted to have been “the largest number to ever assail a world of the Imperium”. Ghazghkull obliterated the Hades Hive, as it had become a symbol of resistance, with giant asteroids with mass measured in Megatons launched from orbiting space hulks. The fighting was fierce. Ghazghkull actually managed to subvert Archeron Hive and capture it by treachery by promising the imprisoned former governor of Armageddon a position of power if he rebelled. Despite Ghazghkull being the one who made his life miserable, the former governor actually agreed to turn traitor and succeeded in turning over the entire hive to the Orks. He was later killed by an Imperial penal squad of traitor hunters. Ghazghkull then deployed his latest plan, dropping dozens of Roks whose descent were slowed by powerful force fields onto Armageddon. Each one that survived to land became “a rallying point and ready-made fortress”, with each brimming with loads of dakka and containing their own tellyporta array. These tellyportas were “employed to bring down Ork reinforcements, Gargants and heavy artillery in an endless stream” from other locations. Ghazghkull also made landings in desolate areas deemed strategically useless, and used them as launching points of a great an unexpected amphibious attack featuring hundreds of Ork submarines to capture the Tempestora Hive and the docks of Helsreach. This fighting drew every Ork from neighbouring systems, eager to join in the holy grail of unending war. This attack even forced the Imperium to divert troops away from the Tyranid threat. The planet forced an uneasy stalemate when the Season of Fire hit, forcing both forces to stop fighting the sweltering heat. Unable to stomach the lack of fighting for long, Ghazghkull left the planet to his generals and went in search of new fights. Since the War for Armageddon had diverted so many Imperial resources, the surrounding worlds were easy pickings. Yarrick pursued accompanied by a force of Black Templars, and Armageddon became a byword to unending war to both the Imperium and the Orks. Ghazghkull has since “laid waste to dozens of planets around Armageddon”, and while he has not militarily beaten the Imperium he has created a zone of unending war. And, to an Ork, that’s a success in itself.

The order of battle for both sides of the Third War for Armageddon can be found in the links below:

http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Armageddon_Imperial_Forces (it is heavily implied each Space Marine force sent their chapter master)

http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Armageddon_Ork_Forces

Personality:

While Orks would be detestable in real life, they’re pretty fun as fictional characters and Ghazghkull in particular has a lot of traits that make for a good military leader.

Good:

Orks are made for war, in all aspects including personality, and Ghazghkull is no exception. He will never tire of war, and enjoys challenges to a point, although he may get bored if the fight is uninteresting or conditions dictate battle is not possible. He fears no enemy, is kunnin’ like a proper Ork, is capable of learning from his mistakes, and is not afraid to resort to tactics usually seen as un-Orky to achieve victory. Ghazghkull is capable of formulating and executing daring and unorthodox plans that catch opponents entirely off guard, as they generally don’t expect an Ork to be capable to planning at all. He also knows enough about combined arms to make all parts of his WAAAGH! hum like a decently oiled up machine. Usually. He has an instinctive grasp on how to best lead his forces, despite the natural Ork penchant for doing their own thing. As such he is capable of being intimidating, inspiring fear and awe, dealing with insubordination ruthlessly, and otherwise getting his massive WAAAGH! to run more smoothly than any other Ork leader could. He is also merciless and pragmatic, and generally willing to do whatever it takes to win a fight including using his endless tide of troops in suicidal attacks. When he focuses, sometimes not even commanders with thousands of years of experience may best him as seen in his brutal beating of Chapter Master Belial. Above all, he has vision and he genuinely believes in what he is doing for his people.

Bad:

Unfortunately, Ghazghkull has his own character ticks that sometimes cost him. He can get obsessed if the enemy leader makes personal challenges to his authority as Warboss. If an opponent can challenge him like Yarrick did, and make him look foolish in front of his men, he will focus his energies entirely on destroying them personally. Ghazghkull’s pride is a spot for him, and pushing will cause him to be a less able and focused commander, but pushing too hard may backfire on a foe personally as an angry Ghazghkull is a particularly kunnin’ and merciless Ghazghkull. Leaders that tick Ghazghkull off do tend to win the war, but they also tend to have significant plot armour (Yarrick, Belial), require significant outside reinforcements to do so (Yarrick, Belial) and often end up physically broken (Yarrick, Belial). Pretty much every fight not involving an extremely noteworthy commander ended with them dead beneath Ghazghkull’s stompy feet. However, Ghazghkull will let particularly interesting foes go if he thinks they’ll provide better fights in the future. As mentioned before, Ghazghkull may get bored if the fight is uninteresting or conditions dictate battle is not possible. This is seen in the fact that he has technically not won a noteworthy war on a large scale yet. He has always having left to do something more interesting or got beaten because someone made themselves the personal target of his rage and distracted him long enough for reinforcements to beat his WAAAGH!

Style of Leader: Authoritarian

Ghazghkull has to be an absolute despot and authoritarian to be an Ork boss of any effectiveness, as the Orks will bow to no other style of leadership. He may face several direct challenges to his leadership from within, but probably not many and few that go anywhere because of his own considerable size and tendency to kill those who disagree with him too much. He may have underlings and advisors, and he may listen to them more than most Warbosses would, but he ultimately calls all the shots and relies on his personal size, strength, and loud voice to ensure his orders are followed. His nobz in the field are there to ensure his orders are carried out without question.

LOADOUT

Adamantium Skull: The metal skull that allowed Ghazghkull to ascend to his current position, aside from protecting his brains it also acts as a heck of a close-combat weapon. The codex notes that “being headbutted by Ghazghkull us much like being hit by a mag-train”, increasing the ferocity of his charges. It also somehow grants him immunity to instant death, however you wish to interpret that. It definitely protects his skull pretty well, as adamantium is noted as being so tough that Imperials cannot reverse-engineer adamantium items because they are too tough to be disassembled. It also may give Ghazghkull some other properties, depending on what you think having a metal skull can do for you.

Big Shoota: See Ork Boyz, but much bigger and more impressive.

Stikkbombs: See Ork Boyz.

Mega-Armour: See Meganobz, but Ghazghkull’s movements are actually not notably constrained by the armour.

Boss Pole: See Nobz, but much bigger and more impressive.

Cybork Body: See Ork Boyz

Prophet of the WAAAGH!: Ghazghkull is capable of emitting a warcry of epic proportions, making any troops that hear it fearless, cause them to fight harder, and makes them move faster that even a normal warcry would. It can be used to turn the tide of battle, and to utterly crush the enemy.

WAAAGH!: See Ork Boyz. WAAAGH!

Leader X-Factors

My recommendations. May or may not be useful, as the hell numbers are an anathema to me. I suspect I may have greatly undersold him in most areas.

Adaptive Creativity/Resourcefulness: Brain Bug/Raynor Level or Higher

Pioneered lots of new and creative tactics, most of which failed against Yarrick, but he tried I guess? They probably would have most against most Imperial Commanders other than Yarrick, who knows him pretty well. Advisors would probably be pretty good at this.

Tactics: Raynor/Grievous Level?

Mostly successful at battlefield improvisation?

Strategy: Who Knows? (Keyes-Grievous Range?)

The “unite all Orks” thing isn’t going too well, but apparently the two wars he started were part of some greater scheme or something.

Intuition: Raynor Level, Maybe Higher?

Has some foresight, maybe, jury’s out on that one, but he’s not worse than Raynor here.

Audacity: Between ‘Nids and Everybody Else

Orks fear no one, Ghazghkull especially. Yarrick is special.

Intelligence: Raynor Level, maybe lower

Orks are not much for book smarts. Ghazghkull is no exception. He’s cunning, though?

Psychological Warfare: Hive Tyrant-Grievous Level

Pretty good, if his use of Snikrot and Kommandos is any indication. Snikrot himself would be pretty good at this.

Experience: Raynor Level or Higher

Admittedly, he has only personally fought against humans and other Orks. Space Marines are included, but humans all the same. His advisors bring a wider resume though, and he’s an Ork that’s survived at least 70 years of constant challenges and war.

Discipline: Who Knows? (Note: Raynor, Hive Tyrant, Keyes have no Leader Discipline Scores) Maybe right between Paul and Grievous?

Good at making and following through with plans. However, he can get bored and leave. As this is not an option in the tournament, this might not matter as much.

Leadership: Between Keyes and Paul, maybe slightly lower

He is the Prophet of the WAAAGH! The Orks will obey him as best as they are able, moreso than pretty much any other Ork leader, but it’s in their nature to do their own thing some of the time. There will certainly be no insubordination, or none that gets anywhere, so that’s good.

Corruption: Who Knows? (Xeno Values)

Ghazghkull is an Ork. They may be evil to us, but to them Ghazghkull is an Orky Paragon that embodies their values. So, hard to say, really.

Additional Factors:

-Gork and Mork may actually be talking to him

-He’s willing to make alliances, could even subvert the former leader of a place he invaded (Von Strab)

-Prophet of the WAAAGH!

Army X-Factors

Again, recommendations, conservative estimates, and stuff.

Morale: Arachnid Level

Orks do not fear. Mostly. Orks do not run. Mostly. Orks cannot be scared off. They definitely cannot be dissuaded from a fight. Under Ghazghkull they will fight to the death.

Logistics: Between Terrans and Dune, higher end

It’s ramshackle, but the Ork logistical train does exist and is surprisingly effective. Not nearly as good as ‘Nids, however.

Espionage: Terran Level or lower

Mostly Kommandos, but Ghazghkull is pretty good at using subterfuge on a strategic level. Usually.

Discipline: Low (should be lowest of probably any faction)

Hahahahahahaha Orks and discipline

Still, Ghazghkull can for the most part keep them in line. Mostly.

Overall Army Intimidation: Between Dune and Tyranid Level

A race of loud, mean, ruthless green monsters with a basic grunt about the size and musculature of a cross between Hulk Hogan and Wilt Chamberlain, and will either kill you or enslave you. Preobably pretty high.

Misc X-Factors:

Reinforcement Rate: Very High

One of the “Swarm” factions, the Orks are notoriously numerous. Their fungal biology, the fact they grow from spores that they release from their bodies their whole lives and especially at the point of death, allows for massive population growth in relatively short periods of time. They are often described as one of the most, if not the most, abundant races in their galaxy. It is mentioned that Orks do grow up significantly faster than humans, but the only other possible clue of their rate of growth is a mention that it may take young Orks a year or so to find their place in society. Also, being in zones of intense military conflict causes them to grow quicker. The sheer number of already grown Orks and previously constructed war equipment (including Gargants) that can be transported in by tellyporta is substantial. Orks can also literally rain from the sky in roks, as the news of the conflict reaches other planets and the Orks there decide to join in on the fun. When the WAAAGH! is in full swing, and the Orks are led by a charismatically or brutally persuasive leader, great feats of manufacturing can also be witnessed. Unceasing streams of Trukks, Bommas, and Gargants alike can be pumped out in terrifying short periods of time if the Orks are motivated by the prospect of something to shoot and stomp. In the tournament, Orks will arrive to the battlefield in the “tens of thousands daily” if not more, allowing them to swamp their unfortunate foe in the endless green tide they are known for.

Past Opponents:

The Orks have fought every race 40k has to offer, and maybe some more besides.

Orks: The Orks love to fight. This also means, as has been stated before, that they will fight each other if no other foe is available. And sometimes they’ll beat on each other even when there are non-Ork foes to face. On the bright side this aggression means that no Ork ever go without battle experience for long, and Ghazghkull and his horde are no exception. Ghazghkull’s first battles were likely against his fellow Orks, lobotomies by Space Marines aside, and he did spend a considerable amount of time “uniting” the Orks of his home system by beating the crap out of them until they submitted. The Orks know themselves, and are aware of how to deal with a foe that is numerous, aggressive, and underhandedly kunnin’ as they are.

Imperium: Using masses of infantry, post-human super-warriors, massive vehicles, massive number of vehicles, and the occasional superweapon and psychic powers among other things, the Imperium of man bring a pretty complete package. Orks love to fight humans. They also like to loot their stuff. The humies usually put up a good fight, especially when the Space Marines are involved. The Imperium of Man represents Ghazghkull’s biggest source of combat experience, having fought them in multiple wars and campaigns. He has also faced some of the best the Imperium has to offer in terms of leadership, the chapter masters of the Space Marines, and either beaten them or was implied to be able to beat them. Ghazghkull has also beaten von Straub and other hapless planetary governors around Armageddon. And he’s fought and lost to Commissar Yarrick, who continues to vex and challenge him, but Yarrick’s special. Ghazghkull and his horde know how to deal with the humies and their ways, teaching them how to deal with a foe that is just slightly more conventional than they are and in possession of some terribly scary supersoldiers. Fighting and beating the Imperium also gives Ghazghkull a keen insight into the human mind, which may be useful against human factions who are not Imperial.

Tyranids: The hungry endless swarm, possessing unwavering loyalty, mostly competent leadership, and the occasional giant bug monster. The Orks love the Tyranids. They always put up a fight. And there’s always a lot of them to fight, even if looting their stuff is a bit tricky. There’s a reason the Octarius system is now an unending quagmire of war. They’d thank the Imperial Inquisitor that led the Tyranids there, but said Inquisitor might not like those crude Orky words of appreciation much. And the krumping that’d probably come with it. Although Ghazghkull himself has probably not fought the Tyranids, it is somewhat conceivable that his some of his boyz may have experience fighting the unending chittering horde. And Kaptain Badrukk, Freebooter extraordinaire and one of Ghazghull’s advisors, has fought and beaten the Tyranids before on some level. That, and word of good fights and the best way to win against those good fighters travels pretty quick in Ork society. Orks have the amazing ability to hear of and gravitate to massive battles like flies to a carcass, somehow. Ghazghkull would be decently well prepared to fight the Tyranids or an enemy similar to the Tyranids, and Badrukk in particular would be an invaluable asset in fighting the Tyranids or any other giant space bugs.

Tau: Overwhelming firepower, manoeuvrability, inspiring but not necessarily capable leaders and commanders, and a general fear of getting too close to most enemies and getting their butts beaten in. The Orks do not like the Tau that last part. The Tau fight in an improper and un-Orky manner, preferring to blast at range rather than get stuck in combat like a proppa Ork. They still like fighting the Tau though, if only for the catharsis they get when beating one of their ‘eads in. They also like looting Tau guns for their excellent firepower and Tau vehicles because it’s fun to crash a hovercraft. They enjoy fighting the Kroot because for the most part the Kroot fight proppa. The Tua do tend to get the better of the Orks in initial engagements, at least until the Warboss smartens up and starts doing wholly expected things to neutralize the traditional Tau ranged advantage. As with the Tyranids, Ghazghkull has not personally fought the Tau. However, word of mouth concerning tactics and strategy still spreads quickly, and some of his boys may have fought them, and special advisor Badrukk was instrumental in the stalemate during the War of Dakka. Admittedly the war gains were more along the lines of a strategic victory and new place to get a good fight for the Orks, and strategic loss and major ongoing resource drain for the Tau. But, stalemate is probably the best word. Regardless, Ghazghkull is in good stead against the Tau or any other shooty race with lots of dakka and a penchant for manoeuvrability.

Eldar: The sissy fraternal twin brother of the Ork race, according to certain interpretations of the background material, the Eldar pack high technology, powerful weapons and psionics, and are generally pretty hard to catch. The Orks are kind of ambivalent about the Eldar, especially since their stuff after looting generally doesn’t work well in Ork hands, but any fight is a good fight. Ghazghkull is probably not fought the Eldar personally, but maybe his advisors and boyz have and the Orks do know the Eldar very well. If push came to shove, Ghazghkull would probably be able to effectively fight against the Eldar or a similarly powerful, mobile, and psionic race.

Dark Eldar: The more unhinged side of the pansy Eldar, the Dark Eldar have less psionic power and are more fragile but compensate with even greater speed, hit-and-run tactics, and lots and lots of battle drugs. The Orks probably feel pretty much the same about the Dark Eldar as they do about their less depraved counterparts, but interactions between these two factions is fairly minimal in lore aside from Orks krumping the Dark Eldar and the Dark Eldar having the Orks fight in pit fights for amusement. Ghazghkull is in a similar boat in regards to the Dark Eldar as he is to their less torture-happy relatives, but should be able to eventually come up with effective counters to a fast and brutal but fragile hit-and-run raiding force.

Chaos: The dark counterpart of the Imperium of Man, doing everything that Imperium can do, accompanied by literal demons. The Orks are fairly fond of fighting Chaos, and followers of Khorne in particular are always willing to provide a good scrap. Looting is a somewhat different story, but still workable. Ghazghkull has probably not fought the legions of Chaos, except for maybe a few demons while in transit through the Warp, but the usual statements regarding the experience of his boyz and advisors still applies along with the whole word of mouth spreading thing. Like against the Eldar, Ghazghkull should be able to fight competently against the madness of the Warp made flesh and given guns.

Necrons: The Necrons, the ancient and powerful race the Orks were created to help fight against, wield incredibly powerful technology that may be the most advanced of the setting. The Orks enjoy fighting the Necrons, as they enjoy all fights, and Necron tech is good looting. The Orks, if Dawn of War means anything anymore, seems to have an instinctive knowledge of who the Necrons are and how to fight them. Ghazghkull would likely a good idea of how to fight the Necrons if the fight ever came, and he might be able to generalize the tactics used to fight any highly advanced mechanical race. The second point is iffy, but the Necrons are still the force the Orks were essentially made to fight even if they don’t always fight them successfully.

Various Alien Races: Not all species in the 40k universe have their own codex. Some notable exceptions include psionic shadow monsters, the space dwarfs, most of the Tau auxiliaries, the freaky things living in the Ghoul Star systems, void whales, and many more fantastic things that the Orks have likely fought and killed at one point or another. Not Ghazghkull personally, but things his boyz and advisors probably have seen and krumped.

Quantity vs. Quality:  Mix, hard to describe

Stereotypically the Orks field lots of boyz, who are relatively low quality. The Orks are often perceived as an army that tends to win their wars only through sheer numbers. However, different Ork leaders have different approaches. A less competent Warlord will just throw nothing but boyz at an enemy until he wins, but a more cunning boss will gleefully utilize higher quality units en masse and the best quality units the Orks can field in relatively brilliant manoeuvres. Overall the Orks do tend to favour quality over quality, but like the Tyranids, the Orks will make use of more powerful units. Ghazghkull, for example, has been known to field entire mobz of Stompas and Gargants.

Additional Factors:

Looting: As noted in the Looted Wagon section, the Orks are capable of stealing, looting, and repurposing nearly anything. When Painboyz and Mekboyz work together, there is very little they cannot convert to the Ork’s side.

Orkoid Physiology: Orks are extremely durable and strong, with multiple redundant organs and great regenerative ability. Their choppas, which they wield one-handed, are often large implements that most humans would struggle to lift with both arms or their entire body. The average Ork boy is like a two metre tall green Lawrence Taylor, with a mean streak that exceeds even the worst of humanity. The Nobz are often larger than that, about two and a half metres, and minor Warbosses are often 3 metres tall. Their codex notes they feel virtually no pain, that they may “fight on whilst horrifically injured and even after a short while after he is technically dead”, and that “the greenskin regenerative process is so powerful an Ork who has been cut apart in the crucible of battle can simply be stitched back together again, bewildered but ready to fight once more”. Orks have been noted to be extremely resistant to heat and cold, as demonstrated in the novel Caves of Ice when Orks are noted to have little clothing in contrast to the Valhallan Imperial Guard that required thick coats to function, and when an Ork in Dawn of War 2: Retribution notes that he won’t be trying the trick of hiding in lava again after surviving the logical consequence. They also grow bigger while fighting in a war, needing it to remain fit and healthy, and veterans of a ten-year WAAAGH! have been noted to be twice the size of ordinary boyz.

Inventive Meks: A legacy of the Ork’s creation is the innate mechanical ability inherited by their Meks. While mechanics are capable of repairing and building already known and existing Ork tech, they can also be inspired by what they see enemies field to make new designs. The Gargant, for instance, came from a Mek observing an Imperial Titan. If the Orks need something, there is a fairly good chance the Meks will make something approximating what is needed in short order.

Weakness: The Orks are a highly fractious race. They like to fight each other if they’re bored, and their leader needs to be absolutely in control to get anything done. If their leader dies, in the big or small picture, the largest boyz in the area with fight each other to establish supremacy. If there’s a lull in the fighting or the leader seems weak, the boss will often experience challenges for authority by the largest nob in the group. A good leader will have his orders obeyed, but if he goes down the Orks are little more than a collection of hooligans swiping at each other.

WAAAGH!: As mentioned before, this is the powerful psychic field that is generated by and permeates the entire being of the Orkoid races. It makes their weapons of war work, makes their beliefs come true, provides energy for their psykers to harness, and acts as their warcry and rallying call, among other things.

Clans: The Orks are divided into a number of different clans that are more constant and enduring than their tribal affiliations, and act as more permanent affiliations for every Ork. Each has a distinct character and identity, and each lends whatever WAAAGH! they join a different set of skills and abilities.

Bad Moons: The richest of all the Ork clans, with their teef somehow growing faster than any other. As such, they are often merchants in Ork society and the git that gets beaten up if a larger boy needs an immediate payday. Members of this clan have a penchant for showing off their wealth, often in the form of shiny decorations and massive guns. While gaudy, they are still Orks and capable combatants. Bad Moon nobz tend to be flash gitz, or something resembling them.

Goffs: The meanest, biggest, and toughest of all the Orks. The Goffs live for close-quarters combat, and will take any excuse to start a fight even amongst their own number. They are also notorious for the number of infantry they can muster to battle. Ghazghkull was originally a Goff, but has since branched to out incorporate all clans in his battle plans.

Evil Sunz: Addicted to going fast, members of this clan tend to be Speed Freeks. They have a need to carren around the battlefield at great speed, and are often field the most mechanized warbands of any clan. As such they are the most manoeuvrable of the clans, and most enemies will find themselves often engaging in battle on the clan’s terms. Some of the older tribes will observe the traditional practice of painting their vehicles with the red blood of an enemy to make their vehicles move faster.

Snakebites: The traditionalists, this clan tends to eschew more technologically advanced means of war in favour of older methods. They breed the fiercest squigs and grots, both of which are frequently herded into battle, and are often the source of the mighty Squiggoth in a WAAAGH! They also carry around a large menagerie of poisonous snakes that serve as both weapon and initiation ritual into the clan.

Blood Axes: Held as untrustworthy gits by the other clans, the Blood Axes are the clan most willing to trade openly and parley with non-Orks. They are also the most likely to even consider retreat if faced with overwhelming odds, something other Orks see as a cardinal sin. They can sometimes be found working as mercenaries, but also have a tendency to trade for or extort weapons from a non-Ork faction and then turn those weapons on their origin. The Blood Axes also have adopted the practice of wearing camouflage, seeing the act of being shot down before actually killing anything as being a waste. Their Warbosses are more likely to plan things out and “have a better understanding of grand strategy” than peers from other clans. However, if one tries to swindle a Blood Axe, they will be struck down in short order.

Deathskulls: Described as “plunderers without equal”, the Deathskulls are good at stealing from both foe and fellow Ork alike. They comprise the main looting element after an Ork victory, stripping the battlefield bare and waking even the most seemingly inconsequential knick-knack. They are fond of taking trophies such as skulls and scalps after battle, and post-battle looting sprees often followed by auctions and barter back at the camp.

Motivation: Love to Fight, Live for It: Self-explanatory. The Orks just want a good scrap.

 Victory Gains:

-Stronger, bigger veterans

-More troops

-Looted stuff, including monsters

-Tech Absorption: lower than you’d think, mostly they never really figure out how stuff works, but they’re pretty willing to make use of the stuff they steal or loot, decently high overall?

-Biological Absorption: they could breed squigs inspired by stuff? Willing to use alien bio-tech if they can.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIAr2NdetIs

Quotes:

“The Orks plague the galaxy from the end to end with their ceaseless warring and strife. They are a race rooted so deeply in war that peace is utterly incomprehensible to them. They cannot be bargained with or bought save with weapons that they will inevitable turn against those who tried to bribe them. I pray with all my faith that some great catastrophe will annihilate them but I fear that ultimately it is they, not we, who shall rule the galaxy.”

-Xanthius, High Lord of Terra

“ORKS ORKS ORKS ORKS ORKS ORKS ORKS ORKS”

-Anonymous Ork Boy

“ORKS ORKS ORKS ORKS ORKS ORKS ORKS ORKS”

-Another Anonymous Ork Boy

“’Ere we go! ’Ere we go! ’Ere we go!”

-Third Anonymous Ork Boy

“’’Ere we come! ’Ere we come! ’Ere we come!”

-Yet Another Anonymous Ork Boy

“WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!”

-Every Ork, ever

 “Ork Physiology is fascinating and terrifying in equal measure, demonstrating inhuman degrees of resilience to the point where they can withstand seemingly fatal wounds with little apparent long-term consequence. Indeed, Orks witnessed suffering fatal wounds in the midst of heavy fighting have often been observed again several days later, larger and stronger than they were before their injuries and with no sign of those wounds save for some largely superficial scarring.”

- Genetor Aurelius Thoze, Adeptus Mechanicus Xenobiologist.

“The Orks are the pinnacle of creation. For them, the great struggle is won. They have evolved a society which knows no stress or angst. Who are we to judge them? We Eldar who have failed, or the Humans, on the road to ruin in their turn? And why? Because we sought answers to questions that an Ork wouldn't even bother to ask! We see a culture that is strong and despise it as crude.”

- Uthan the Perverse, Eldar Philosopher

“We don't fight fer food, or fer teef, or guns, or cos we's told to fight. We fight cos we woz born to fight. And win.”

-Grukk, Ork Boy

“Orkses is never defeated in battle. If we win we win, if we die we die fighting so it don't count. If we runs for it we don't die neither, cos we can come back for annuver go, see!”

-“Commonly held Ork view of warfare”

 “I'm da hand of Gork and Mork, dey sent me to rouse up da boyz to crush and kill ‘cos da boyz forgot what dere ‘ere for. I woz one of da boyz till da godz smashed me in da ‘ead an’ I ‘membered dat Orks is meant to conquer and make slaves of everyfing they don’t kill.

I’m da profit of da Waaagh an’ whole worlds burn in my boot prints. I’m death to anyfing dat walks or crawls, where I go nothin’ stands in my way. I iz more cunnin’ than a grot an’ more killy than a dread, da boyz dat follow me can’t be beat.

I’m Warlord Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka an’ I speak wiv da word of da gods. We iz gonna stomp da ‘ooniverse flat an’ kill anyfing that fights back. We iz gonna do this coz’ we’re Orks an’ we was made ta fight an’ win!”

-Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka, Ork Warlord

“WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!”

-Every Ork, ever