Warhammer 40K Tabletop Thread XLIII: "This Is A New LoW For Us All"

[Grim Portent]

Why their tech resembles human tech so closely in universe is unexplained to my knowledge. My assumption is that human style-tech is more robust and easily made and maintained than the more exotic technologies of the other races. Combustion engines, wheels, rotors and tracks are probably less difficult than fusion power and anti-grav units. Some is directly based on Imperial or pre-Imperial human tech though, IIRC Deff Dreads at one point were made by a mek after seeing Dreadnoughts in a battle.

[Wraith]

It's technically the other way around - Ork tech doesn't resemble human tech, but instead it's human tech that resembles Ork tech.

The proto-Orks - called the Krork - were designed over 65 millions years ago by the Old Ones. The Krork and the Aeldari were the weapons that the Old Ones used to fight against the Necrontyr, and when the Necrontyr were forced into slumber and the last of the old Ones were killed or otherwise left the galaxy, the Krork were left undersupervised to rampage across all of creation doing whatever it was they wanted, based on millenia-old genetic blueprints instilled into them from their genesis.

Fast-forward 64 million, 950 thousand years, and humanity discovers fire and invents the wheel. Or rather, reinvents it - Humans are also Old One tech that was seeded on earth and left to grow into fruition as weapons to fight in a war long since lost. While they don't have the Waagh or the same hive-mind style intelligence as Orks, the Greenskins were rolling around in buggies and smashing Roks into Space Hulks during Earth's Jurassic period and before.

While Orks definitely do loot stuff and use it for their own purpose, they absolutely would turn a Crisis Suit into a Killa Kan or something similarly hilarious/deadly, but also because its stuff that is kind of familiar to them already because Humans and Orks were made by the same creators, and forcibly evolved along similar lines insofar as they have 4 limbs, two eyes, head at the top, etc etc so they're at least somewhat compatible.

[tyckspoon]

It's technically the other way around - Ork tech doesn't resemble human tech, but instead it's human tech that resembles Ork tech.

The proto-Orks - called the Krork - were designed over 65 millions years ago by the Old Ones. The Krork and the Aeldari were the weapons that the Old Ones used to fight against the Necrontyr, and when the Necrontyr were forced into slumber and the last of the old Ones were killed or otherwise left the galaxy, the Krork were left undersupervised to rampage across all of creation doing whatever it was they wanted, based on millenia-old genetic blueprints instilled into them from their genesis.

Fast-forward 64 million, 950 thousand years, and humanity discovers fire and invents the wheel. Or rather, reinvents it - Humans are also Old One tech that was seeded on earth and left to grow into fruition as weapons to fight in a war long since lost. While they don't have the Waagh or the same hive-mind style intelligence as Orks, the Greenskins were rolling around in buggies and smashing Roks into Space Hulks during Earth's Jurassic period and before.

While Orks definitely do loot stuff and use it for their own purpose, they absolutely would turn a Crisis Suit into a Killa Kan or something similarly hilarious/deadly, but also because its stuff that is kind of familiar to them already because Humans and Orks were made by the same creators, and forcibly evolved along similar lines insofar as they have 4 limbs, two eyes, head at the top, etc etc so they're at least somewhat compatible.

Humans and Orks also have relatively similar military doctrines and expected capabilities of their soldiers.. which is to say their equipment is probably going to be used far away from a central supply location, and it's going to need to be used and maintained by idiots in the field. The more 'advanced' factions will usually have greater access to their specialized artisans to maintain their stuff and/or the people using them in the field are expected to develop the expertise required to take care of their own equipment at a greater level. So Ork equipment needs to be durable and amenable to being fixed by banging the right bit of worky-gubbinz back into approximately the right shape, which doesn't lend itself well to the fine tolerances and precise operations associated with more advanced sci-fi gear.

Human-style equipment is also relatively easy to acquire materials for and to construct; wood (or similar material) and iron and steel and combustible materials are available pretty much everywhere and are pretty easy to harvest by relatively unskilled labor. Which is important when your labor pool is grots and whatever ork boys you can personally bully into helping you dig stuff out of the ground - Orks aren't going to be operating clean rooms making computer chips or running labs making exotic ceramic armor plating or refining Unobtanium to power anti-gravity lifts at any great scale, but you can probably get enough hands together to do the brute labor of running a steel foundry overseen by a Mek or Meks' apprentice. You can make a truck from fairly humble starts, especially if you aren't super concerned about things like 'fuel efficiency' or 'environmental impact' - you can't do the same with a grav-tank.

.. and then Humans are the one thing that is anywhere near as prevalent in the galaxy as Orks, lore-wise, so if a Mekboy is going to be inspired by something or have a chance to scavenge some existing tech to rebuild, it's probably going to be human. So the default Ork tech style is basically human by sheer weight of numbers.

[Blackhawk748]

that said, I do have a question. The classic Ork tech look roughly maps to Human tech: Wheels and treads and the like. Is that because that's the style of tech that Orks are innately built to use, or is it just because, much like the generic Genestealer Cult, The generic Ork is assumed to have primarily been working in Imperial space. Would Orks from Tau territory be building hovertrukks and plasma shootas? Or would they be melting Tau tech down for scrap to build the recognizable ork-tech we know and love?

I now have the mental image of a bunch of Grots surfing around on hacked Tau drones.

I guess my question is if the Mek's instinctive understanding of Tech comes with pseduo-blueprints for specific vehicles and weapons and such, or if they just get enough understanding to invent stuff from first-principles, and given available materials and consistent goals, tend to end up at roughly the same places (Wheeled vehicles are easier to build and go faster than, say, legged mechs, so two Meks on different planets will probably both end up building bikes before they build ridable mecha-emus)

I don't recall where it was from, but Im pretty sure an Ork Shoota can also be a basic energy weapon, its just that most of them use actual bullets. So Orks that fight Tau could very well have basic trashy hover trukks and basic plasma shootas. Its rules don't change cuz it kills about as well.

[Artanis]

Alternately, a Mek might take all the fancy circuitry and antigrav plates and whatnot out to use in something *really* weird, and then just slap some big ol' wheels on the gutted chassis.

[Eldan]

Man, this is an army I really want to build now, it sounds like a fun conversion. Stormboys surfing Tau drones through the air instead of rocket packs. Gutted battle suits with lotsa claws added. Hovertanks on wheels.

[Brookshw]

Man, this is an army I really want to build now, it sounds like a fun conversion. Stormboys surfing Tau drones through the air instead of rocket packs. Gutted battle suits with lotsa claws added. Hovertanks on wheels.

You have my full support!

[BRC]

Man, this is an army I really want to build now, it sounds like a fun conversion. Stormboys surfing Tau drones through the air instead of rocket packs. Gutted battle suits with lotsa claws added. Hovertanks on wheels.

Shas'O Rk's Radboyz. They fly around on hover-skateboards made from Drones, Drive "Killa-Suitz" (Crisis Suits converted into Killa-Kanz), and will enthusiastically fight ANY orcs who dare to question that "Zappa" is not at least as good as "Dakka".


...or any orks who agree about Zappa.

Or anybody in general.

[Wraith]

I have to say, I just tried a Google Image search for "Ork Looted Tau" and it's an absolute treat. 5/7, would recommend.

[Eldan]

I have to say, I just tried a Google Image search for "Ork Looted Tau" and it's an absolute treat. 5/7, would recommend.

Is it ever.

[Renegade Paladin]

GW needs to stop using the Bretonnians in the preview articles for their Warhammer Fantasy reboot. I was considering doing a Bretonnian army thanks to my soft spot for the Arthurian legends back before they killed the game the first time and it's got me unreasonably excited even though I do not need the expense.

[Grim Portent]

GW needs to stop using the Bretonnians in the preview articles for their Warhammer Fantasy reboot. I was considering doing a Bretonnian army thanks to my soft spot for the Arthurian legends back before they killed the game the first time and it's got me unreasonably excited even though I do not need the expense.

I had kind of resigned myself with the idea that I would never be building that Mousillon army I always wanted to do, so the prospect of the Bretonnians returning has me low key hyped all the time as well.



A wee while (two months) ago I painted up one of the new fangled Daemon Princes and never got around to sharing it here. Because I have the attention span of a moth I stopped enjoying painting Dragon Warriors a while ago after one squad and two characters, so I swapped to the other colourscheme I've wanted to do an army in since 5th ed; Sons of Malice.

Because I can't be arsed to resize the photos just for posting here, here's a link the the IMGUR post of it.

So, Sons of Malice is still a pretty sharp looking scheme. Need to work on more stuff with a quartered/bisected scheme, it's a great way to create contrast. Might do White/Red vertical split for WEs or something.

He's a bit shiny in the photos, think I put on a smidge too much matt varnish and it got a bit glossy. It's toned down a lot in the weeks since I finished him, so now it's just his base and black wing that are shiny when the light hits them. Lost his shoulder icon and haven't gotten a new one yet. The original pinged somewhere behind a bunch of furniture that isn't practical to move and I still haven't gotten around to getting a new one.

Been working on a squad of chaos marines since finishing him, and am most of the way through it now. Trim's still tedious as hell on chaos marines, but for some reason I'm finding the silver/gold trim of SoM less tedious than the black trim of Dragon Warriors.



EDIT: Good news for Horus Heresy, Imperial Milita and Cults is back.

The Militia was my favorite part of the old HH rules, and the only army I ever actually fielded. Along with the Ruinstorm Daemons and Blackshields, my favorite army conceptually, I love myself some highly customisable armies.

[9mm]

https://www.warhammer-community.com/...ace-marines-2/

Woof, they weren't kidding when they said they were simplifying everything. Basic Marines get Oath and Old-School Doctrines and that's it.

[Gwynchan'rGwyll]

I'm into it so far. For one, those rules are VERY powerful. They're also nicely thematic imho.

[Brookshw]

https://www.warhammer-community.com/...ace-marines-2/

Woof, they weren't kidding when they said they were simplifying everything. Basic Marines get Oath and Old-School Doctrines and that's it.

Don't worry, by the time they get their 3rd supplement they'll start to round out.