40K: Welcome To Orktober!
It’s Orktober, or as we like to call it here in Texas, Trukk Month. GW is definitely ramping up for this one, kicking the month off with an overview of Orks (an Orkverview?) Come see what lies in store for Orktober!
That’s right friends, it’s a veritable Orktoberfest this month, so get ready because it’s going to be a big one. Over at Warhammer Community you can find an Intro to Orks for those of you who are unfamiliar with everyone’s favorite army that isn’t their first one. And if you’re an Ork Main, then you definitely understand why Orks iz da best–they’re full of a destructive fun charm and exuberance that makes you root for them, even as they fall in droves to your guns. Armed with the biggest guns that are…exciting…when they are used, and riding the fastest vehicles (you can tell because of the red paint), the Orks are an amazing army no matter which end of them you’re on. And Orktober promises to be an exciting month for the Greenskins. Let’s take a look.
via Warhammer Community
Now you can read the whole article here, and get a full overview of the Orks, but I wanted to go through and pick out some interesting new details revealed within that hint at where the Orks are going now. Let’s dive in.
Ever since Mankind first set forth across the stars, it has been subjected to war and death on a scale previously undreamed of. Yet of all the myriad xenos races responsible for this relentless warfare, the Orks are in a class all their own. A crude and warlike breed of hulking brutes, the Orks love nothing more than a good scrap – so much so, in fact, that in the absence of a suitable enemy to take their aggression out on, they will readily fight amongst themselves just for the sheer joy of it.
Ork populations in their infancy form crude and barbaric societies founded on the notion of ‘might makes right’. Due to a quirk in their physical development, the most aggressive and dominant of their kind grow, accordingly, into the largest and most powerful of their tribe, which in turn is led by its strongest member. As their numbers increase and their encampments develop, rival tribes are conquered or otherwise subsumed into larger groups.
Ork tribes and clans are unrivalled in the swiftness with which they can develop, rapidly changing from a warband of savages armed with scavenged and improvised weapons into a deadly, space-faring invasion force able to bring whole planetary systems to their knees. Once the population has reached a critical mass, its (now towering) Warboss will launch a Waaagh!, named after the ferocious Ork war cry that has terrorised the armies Mankind on battlefields beyond counting.
Since the emergence of the Great Rift, the wars that have erupted across the galaxy in its wake have seen the Orks in their absolute element. One of the largest conflicts has emerged on Vigilus, with Warlord Krooldakka’s invasion giving rise to a Speedwaaagh!, a Genestealer Cult insurrection and, more recently, an Aeldari invasion as well. The escalating conflict has seen more and more Orks drawn to the sector in search of a good bust-up.
That pretty much covers an overview of the Orks for the moment. Over the coming weeks, we’ll be investigating the six major clans of the Orks and their respective kulturs in greater detail, as well as the ancient legend of the Brainboyz and even more besides.
The two most salient details from all of that are–the Speedwaaagh! (which I didn’t know that was a thing) that has hit Vigilus is drawing more and more Orks to it, in search of the biggest and best fight they can find. More Orks means bigger Orks means new Orks. Oddboyz like Mekboyz and Weirdboyz are sure to show up in greater numbers, which means that the Waaagh on Vigilus will be in need of a mighty leader indeed. Could it be Ghazgkull Mag-Uruk Thraka? Odds seem pretty decent.
The other thing we wanted to talk about were the ancient Brainboyz. If you’ve never heard of them, these are the legendary creators of the Orks, the ones who first developed their Waaagh-y ways.
The Brain Boyz are believed to be an ancient subspecies of Greenskins that are related to the Orks and were believed to be a master or ruling caste of their kind who shared a similar physique with their cousin species. Ork legend (such as it is) is generally passed down by the Runtherds. They speak of a legendary caste of greenskins who created the Orks of today. This ancient race was extremely intelligent, and held dominion over the Ork castes. They were much smaller than their servants, so they bred the Orks to be as strong and fierce as possible to protect them from predators and invaders.
It was believed that this group was the driving force behind their civilisation and were responsible for developing their technology as well as directing the different castes. There is even some speculation that both Orks and Gretchins may have been specialised mutants that were deliberately created by the Brain Boyz to serve certain duties, though it believed that the truth of this will never be known for certain. Regardless, it is known that the Brain Boyz died out long ago and the Orks inherited their civilisation to the point that this ruling caste become little more than legend. According to Orkish beliefs, the Brain Boyz died from a great plague which ran across many centuries that caused their numbers to dwindle and eventually led to their extinction. It is believed that this caste was aware of their falling numbers and took steps to preserve their knowledge by engineering it into the genetic structure of their slaves. This lasting legacy allowed the Orks to retain their high level of technology in later years by way of artificial strands of DNA which contains knowledge imprinted in their metabolism that allowed the Orks to live following the demise of their masters.
Get Ready for Orktober! What are you excited to see? Let us know in the comments.
