Orks
Green-skinned, war-loving aliens whose scrap-built technology works because they believe it does.
The Orks are green-skinned aliens in Warhammer 40,000, modelled on the orcs of high fantasy. They are written as a comic species, with crude personalities, Cockney accents and ramshackle weapons, and their culture revolves around fighting for its own sake: unlike other races, Orks start wars simply for the pleasure of a good fight.
Quick Facts
- Inspired by
- fantasy orcs and football hooligans
- Reproduction
- fungal spores
- Key concept
- the WAAAGH!
- Tabletop style
- cheap, tough melee infantry ("the Green tide")
Lore & Background
Ork technology is dashed-together scrap that should barely function, but the Orks generate a psychic field that makes it work, so red-painted vehicles really are faster because the Orks believe it. Orks are genderless and reproduce through fungal spores released throughout their lives and especially at death, which makes an invaded planet almost impossible to clear and makes them the most numerous species in the galaxy. Their culture centres on the WAAAGH!: a warband led by a warboss, the campaign it fights, the psychic field itself, and their war cry.
Reader's Guide
On the tabletop Ork infantry are slow, tough and cheap in points, so a favourite approach is "the Green tide": a large horde marched across the table to swamp the opponent. The army is built around melee, brute force and attrition, and is seen as forgiving of tactical errors and bad dice.
Did You Know?
- Orks love weapons with high rates of fire and believe the louder a gun, the better; they call this "dakka".
- The Ork design was primarily inspired by football hooligans.
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