[40K]Orks and Chaos?

[wautd]

I don't know much about the greenskins, but in the books I've read there's never any mention of Orks being corrupter by Chaos? Are they immune or something? If anything, I'd suspect them be highly susceptible to Khorne.

[Wing Commander MAD]

I believe it's pretty rare, but from what I've gathered about 40K lore when it does happen I believe it goes something along the lines of Ork Boy influenced by chaos -> other orks find Chaos Boy unorky -> other Boys kill Chaos Boy.

Edit: Clarity.

[Black Admiral]

Orks certainly can be affected by Chaos power - there's a list of examples of how this might occur in the old Codex: Daemonhunters, including;
- Orks building a Gargant using parts from a wrecked Chaos Titan
- Possessed Warboss
- Pinching a daemon weapon
- Worshipping a Nurgle temple they think is consecrated to Gork (or possibly Mork)


It doesn't seem to happen often, though; Orks are apparently innately resistant to that kind of thing, and tend to kill obviously affected ones because they feel (for lack of a better term), well, un-Orky.

[Bedlam]

The old ones seem to have built some form of chaos and corruption protection into Orks. Their minor phychic hive mind means that Ork efffected by chaos, infected by genestealers, etc dont read at true Orks any more and the other Orks are even more aggressive to them than normal. Just as well really, given the Ork reproductive system genestealer infected orcs would be a nightmare.

[bilateralrope]

In Rogue Trader, Orks are simply immune to corruption from the warp. While this is a game mechanic, one of the Rouge Trader writers has said that it got put there because Games Workshop told them to.

There are two major factors that I think contribute to the Orks resistance to chaos:
- Overall, Orks are very satisfied with the conditions they are in. So it is hard to tempt them towards chaos.
- They have two warp gods protecting them. Since Orks are the most populous species in the galaxy, all behaving in a manner that fuels their gods, it seems that Gork and Mork would be reasonably powerful.

[Serafina]

Ork corruption seems to work on the basis of very direct warp exposure, and even then it's not guaranteed. Orks will generally not start to worship the Chaos gods on their own or be corrupted by indirect influence like humans. They also have no incentive to seek it out willingly, with some very rare exceptions (such as the Nurgle-temple mentioned above).

So to corrupt an Ork, you basically have to expose him directly to raw warp energy, or get very lucky and have him seek it out willingly. They are certainly very resistant to it.

[dworkin]

Orks also are already possessed by or considered the possessions of two very formidable Warp entities. Gods in 40K aren't just idle notions, they're real.

[Broomstick]

Just as well really, given the Ork reproductive system genestealer infected orcs would be a nightmare.

Right. Because everything else in WH40K is all rainbows and roses....

Seriously, how would genestealer infected orcs be worse than some of the other nightmares already running around that universe? Remember, this is the universe where the leader of the good guys sucks up a few thousand souls a day just to keep going.

[madd0ct0r]

well, orks reporduce via spores, so a single infected ork could give rise to thousands of hybrids.

they do exist - it was how Kryptman diverted the Nids into the Octavius system. Apparently the genestealers can't complete the lifec-cycle using orks. You don't get back to purestrains.

[Broomstick]

Well, yeah, orks come from spores - so if your planet just got invaded by them how much difference would it make if they were "infected" orks as opposed to normal orks?

[Simon_Jester]

Tyranid biology generally seems to be more virulent than ork biology- Tyranid spores can infest a planetary ecosystem much faster and more thoroughly than ork spores. So that might present problems.

[bilateralrope]

Well, yeah, orks come from spores - so if your planet just got invaded by them how much difference would it make if they were "infected" orks as opposed to normal orks?

If you have Orks and can fight off the invasion, the spores they shed will probably leave the planet with an Ork infestation. Which means that Orks will pop up regularly and need to be shot. Something your pdf troops should be able to handle.

If Orks could be infested by genestealers, then you get pure-strain genestealers. Which means the genestealers can then infest the human population, which means a genestealer cult. Which then attracts a tyranid fleet and cripples the planets defences just as the nids arrive.

[NecronLord]

- They have two warp gods protecting them. Since Orks are the most populous species in the galaxy, all behaving in a manner that fuels their gods, it seems that Gork and Mork would be reasonably powerful.

Either Ork god is more powerful than all chaos gods and the Emperor put together, at least according to one piece of fluff describing them back in Epic.

They mostly fight each other.

[Talk738kno]

If Chaos orks get krumped by other orks for being unorky, then how do Kommandos and Stormboyz manage to extist in ork society, since most consider their behavior quite unorky.

[Ahriman238]

Stormboyz are elites who are unusal only in that they are well-trained and highly disciplined. My guess would be that the other Orks accept this and can see how the training produces the desired result, a Stormboy.

Kommandos are almost exclusively employed by the Blood Axes clan, the first to encounter humans. The Axes have learned a lot about war from humanity, things like the importance of cover and falling back every once in a while, or the use of Kommandos. The Blood Axes are regarded with deep suspicion and hostility by other Orks, for this very reason.

[PainRack]

Anyone remembers how Genestealers used to be able to ally with Chaos armies, but Tyrannids can't?

How does that play out in the lore?

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

I don't know how the old the rules you're referring to are, but in old fluff genestealers and Tyranids weren't related. The former were just things which lived on space hulks for the sole purpose of getting into fights with a lone, suicidal squad of Terminators.

If Chaos orks get krumped by other orks for being unorky, then how do Kommandos and Stormboyz manage to extist in ork society, since most consider their behavior quite unorky.

Stormboyz' fluff varies. Old fluff has them as young Orks who "rebel" by being extremely organized and disciplined. This was regarded as a phase one simply grew out of.

In newer fluff they're just Orks who have gotten the excellent idea in their heads of strapping gigantic rokkits on their backs, so as to get to all the good fightin' before the other boyz do.

Kommandoz generally get a pass thanks to their sheer, brutal effectiveness. They tend to be considered antisocial by other Orks and viewed with suspicion, but any boss worth his salt knows not to screw with them. Any Ork who does screw with the local Kommandoz will just generally wind up dead.

[NecronLord]

Stealers actually pre-date Space Hulk, as they were in Rogue Trader, with pretty much the same writeup as they have now, minus the being part of the 'nids.

Anyone remembers how Genestealers used to be able to ally with Chaos armies, but Tyrannids can't?

How does that play out in the lore?

Genestealer cults can exist on chaos planets. The Black Library Live 2011 Chapbook had a short story with Inquisitor Czevak emerging from a webway portal in the Eye of Terror and encountering a brave band of genestealer cultists surviving there.

He sorta liked them.

Interestingly, they too seemed proof agaisnt casual chaos corruption.

[white_rabbit]

Just as well really, given the Ork reproductive system genestealer infected orcs would be a nightmare.

Right. Because everything else in WH40K is all rainbows and roses....

Seriously, how would genestealer infected orcs be worse than some of the other nightmares already running around that universe? Remember, this is the universe where the leader of the good guys sucks up a few thousand souls a day just to keep going.

One of the novels gives us a look at a full scale "waaagh" that is generated by Stealer infested Orks. Apparently it results in much reduced infighting and generally makes the whole deal less Orks having fun and fighting as a way of life, and more ruthlessly efficient killing machines leveraging Genestealer coordination and viciousness in combination with Orkish tech, troop replacement rates and industry.

As I recall, there were things like precision teleported Hybrid shock troops, a Warboss with greatly increased forward planning skills etc.

The fact that an Ork waagh working an area over could be then followed by voracious Space Dinosaurs invading probably doesn't bode well either.

Anyone remembers how Genestealers used to be able to ally with Chaos armies, but Tyrannids can't?

How does that play out in the lore?

The Genestealer MO has always been "target persons of power and authority" , the concept of stealers allying with Chaos armies was described in context with a few bits of background text. It was basically the cult gathering all the local dissidents and malcontents, which included mutants and Beastmen etc. The drive to subvert and control a planet was meant to mean that the Stealers would happily deal with Chaos, even, if I recall the phrasing correctly, "at the risk of their simple genestealer soul".

Genestealers were driven by the will to survive, in fact drawing their psychic abilities from a fairly crude manifestation of said will to survive, working with a local chaos cult etc was a reasonable part of this concept.

Tyranids don't ally with anybody because they want to eat everybody basically. Every example of them "working" with somebody is immediately followed by the realisation the people working with the Nids are either mindcontrolled, physically infested with some sort of parasite etc.