What are Orks?!?!?!

What exactly are Orks? An age old question asked by many a scholar, but there is no simpler way of putting it that this: 'We'z Orkses is da meanest, kunnin'st, brutal'st an fast'st of dem all, all we wanna do is clobber our 'eads together, nuffin betta than a good scrap!"

Essentially, Orks are born for one sole purpose, to wage war on anything that is capable (or incapable for that matter...) and they do a bloody good job of it. Orks form together in 'crusade' groups known as "Waagh's", these Waaghs are led by various Warbosses. A warboss is essentially the biggest and toughest of all the Orks, rising to the top through bloodhsed and slaughter. Ever since humanity begun roaming the stars, the Orks, or the Green-Skins, have been a present threat. Their numbers appear to be endless, no matter how many you kill, more are ready to take their places.

The Orks worship two gods, Gork and Mork. Gork is "Brutal but Kunnin" while Mork is "Kunnin but Brutal", from this, we can assume Gork is the god of war while Mork is the god of tactics and planning. The orks are believed to have a presence in the warp, this is because whatever they truly believe, comes true. Most, if not all of the Ork contraptions should never be able to work, but the Orks believe it will work, so it does. This is, in fact, a theory as to why the Emperor has not perished, the Orks believe he is alive, so he cannot die.

Ork society is essentially based on size, the higher the rank of the Ork, the darker the skin. The following will give more information:

• Gretchin - Gretchin are sub-Ork and are the smallest of all the Green-Skins, the Gretchin are essentially slaves to the larger Orks, who use them for reasons ranging through from manual labor to ammunition for their weapons.
• Squig - A squig is an Ork's pet, squigs are made to do many things, from sitting idle on top of a warbosses hat to scuttling under tanks with explosives strapped to them. 
• Boyz - Boyz are the most common Orks in the galaxy and are trillions in number. Boyz are the backbone of any Ork Waagh and are usually outfitted with a small sword and a small firearm.
• Nobz- A Nob, meaning Nobility are the second in command of a Waagh and are often just the disciplinarians of  Ork Boy packs. Nobz are typically more heavily armed and armored than Boyz.
• Warboss- The leader of the Waagh, this Ork is the biggest and the baddest of them all, the only way to replace a Warboss is to kill him, a task many have failed.

Orks are split into various Klans, some of the most recognizable clans are the Goffs, The Evil Sunz, The Bad Moon, The Snakebites and The Blood Axes. All Orks use the same currency, teeth. Teeth are a good currency to use as anybody has access to them and they erode over time, eliminating the chance of hoarders and exploiters.

Greatest of all the Warbosses in Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thrakka, or as the Orks know him, the mighty prophet of the Waagh. Thrakka is mustering the largest Ork army the galaxy has ever seen under one banner and he is leading it in the name of Gork and Mork. Very few are able to stand in the way of Ghazghkull Thrakka, but when they do, they gain the respect of the mighty warboss. 


There is so much more to be said about the mighty Orks, and I will have many posts following this one that goes into more details of the various kinds of Boyz and Nobz as well as how to build a fluff accurate army verses a competitive list.

Cheers,
Christian