List of Orks

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This is a list of the most notable Orks, a race from the fictional Warhammer 40,000 universe.

Contents

[edit] Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka

Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka (usually shortened to Ghazghkull Thraka) is a fictional character from the table top miniature game Warhammer 40,000. He featured heavily in the Armageddon campaigns in which he led a huge Ork horde to try to take the planet. Every campaign in Armageddon also features his nemesis Commissar Yarrick.

[edit] History

[edit] Early history

Ghazghkull started off as a common Ork of the Goff Klan, on the world of Urk. During a raid, Ghazghkull suffered extensive brain damage from a bolter round to the head. He was tended to by an Ork 'Painboy' known as 'Mad Dok' Grotsnik, who used a bionic device made from adamantium to replace Ghazghkull's cerebellum. Ever since that operation, (although it is unknown if it was because the implant triggered latent psychic powers, or Ghazghkull was just delusional), Ghazghkull began to claim that he was the recipient of visions from the Ork gods, Gork and Mork.

From this point, Ghazghkull rose through the Ork power structure in an ascent that has been described as "meteoric". His strength and courage earned him the respect of other Orks. Ghazghkull also possessed something most Orks lacked - vision. His speeches concerned the Orks' mission to conquer the galaxy. He granted the Orks a sense of unity and purpose (as much as these words can be used to describe Orks and their actions).

[edit] The Waaagh!

At the time Ghazghkull reached the peak of his influence on the world of Urk, the star the world orbited began to show signs of entering the final stages of its life cycle. Ghazghkull claimed that this was a sign from Gork, proclaiming that it was time to launch a great Waaagh!. The Orks of Urk were given a choice: Follow Ghazghkull, or die.

They followed Ghazghkull to an Ork, wanting to claim the galaxy or die in the attempt. The first system to be attacked by the Waaagh! was Armageddon, creating a massive conflict that would come to be known in the Imperium as the Second War for Armageddon. Many chapters of Space Marines, along with the Imperial Guard, were all called on to stop the orks' bloody warpath. Despite initial successes, Ghazghkull was defeated, and retreated from the system.

A notable effect of this invasion resulted in Ghazghkull earning the wrath of Commissar Yarrick, who dedicated his efforts after the Second War to hunting down Ghazghkull, with little success.

[edit] The Third War for Armageddon

During the fifty seven years following the Second War, Ghazghkull regrouped his forces, and reassessed his strategy. Remembering his defeat at Hades hive 57 years ago, he was not eager to repeat his mistake. That was going to be one of the first places to fall. He led several small attacks on Imperial worlds to test his new methods and technology, and fifty seven years to the day of the previous invasion, he again led the Orks to the Armageddon system.

The campaign waged by both sides was long and bloody, leaving the vital world of Armageddon in a continual state of war.

After the Third War had been fought for a year, Ghazghkull left his forces, leaving the system in a modified Space Hulk. He was pursued by High Marshal Helbrecht and an entire Crusade of the Black Templars Space Marines, along with Commissar Yarrick. The whereabouts and fate of Ghazghkull and this pursuit force are unknown.

[edit] Special Character History

Ghazghkull first appeared in White Dwarf Magazine (issue 134). He was the 'Boss' of Andy Chambers' sample Goff army list; his 'attributes' of an admanatium skull and the ability to call on the Waaagh! were randomly generated. The first Ghazghkull model was an in-house conversion. This shows how 1st edition rules and their subsequent expansions from the 1988-92 period allowed truly formidable AND original personalities to be created, expecting then players to convert miniatures to faithfully represent them on the tabletop.

Ghazghkull's next appearance was in the Battle for Armageddon boardgame, based around the events of the Second War for Armageddon, featured opposite Commissar Yarrick. Inspired by the game's backstory, Jervis Johnson wrote up special rules for the two characters' use in Warhammer 40,000 and Epic games. The special rules were based on the random attributes selected by Andy Chambers back at Ghazghkull's first appearance.

Rules for Ghazghkull appeared in the third edition of Warhammer 40,000, and a new model was created for the worldwide campaign organised around the Third War for Armageddon. The rules were updated to reflect Ghazghkull at a point just prior to the Third War for Armageddon.

[edit] References

  • "Power of Da Waaagh!" (August 2000). White Dwarf: Australian Edition (248). ISSN 0265-8712. 
  • "Best of Enemies" (September 2000). White Dwarf: Australian Edition (249). ISSN 0265-8712. 

[edit] Nazdreg Ug Urdgrub

Nazdreg Ug Urdgrub is a large and cunning Ork Warlord from the game Warhammer 40,000. He was one of the star players in the recent Fall of Medusa V campaign, as his personal space hulk had crash-landed on the doomed planet.

[edit] History

[edit] Early history

Nazdreg's past is largely unknown. It is, however, known that he is a member of the super-wealthy Bad Moonz Klan. He is widely known as a pirate and general threat to shipping. He is also rather smarter than most Orks, as he speaks good Imperial Gothic and understands the "carrot and stick" approach of rewards and punishments to gain production from his hapless slaves. He also wears a suit of mega armour, painted in yellow flames and fitted with his Kustom Blasta-X, a large plasma weapon with long range (And unlike most orks he is also able to hit his target, having the same in game Ballistics skill as a Space Marine).

[edit] Piscina

Nazdreg has in past allied himself with the dreaded Goff Warlord, Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka. The world of Piscina suffered a grievous strike from the two allied greenskins, before their expulsion and the supposed destruction of Nazdreg's hulk, the Scylla.

[edit] Medusa V

As it would turn out, the Scylla was not destroyed. It has come out of the Warp and crashed on the planet of Medusa V. Nazdreg has ordered his Boyz to go out and gather as much scrap as possible so the Meks can repair the Hulk, and with all speed, as his Weirdboyz have told him of the fate rapidly approaching the planet, and Nazdreg has no intention of being on the planet when that happens. Of course, they're still going to get in all the fighting they can while they're still there.

[edit] Surviving Medusa V

Even though the battle on Medusa V didn't work out for the best for the Orks, Nazdreg and many of his Orks managed to get off the planet alive. After finding out that the Imperial forces had damaged his Spacehulk beyond repair, Nazdreg had a (for an Ork) brilliant escape plan. The Orks took over a slightly damaged Imperial transport, the Minnow, and managed to get into orbit. Nazdreg also left several humans alive to fly the Minnow and create a false distress call. The Imperial battleship Terra’s Defiance received the call and came to the transport's assistance but was boarded and taken over by the Orks. Although the disappearance of the Terra's Defiance was noticed by the Imperial Navy, Nazdreg Ug Urdgrub proved why he was a Warboss and managed to escape with many of his boyz against many odds.

[edit] In game

Although Nazdreg Ug Urdgrub is a special character, with special rules in the Ork Codex, he does not have a model to represent him as of the fourth edition of the game (although a model was released for the second edition of Warhammer 40,000). In addition to having the highest Ballistic Skill of any Ork character, his army is exceptionally well-equipped and has more options available to it than regular Ork armies.

Nazdreg has since been removed as a special character in the most recent incarnation of the codex (2008).

[edit] Sources

Medusa V Website