Orks Rules

Orks and Gretchin do not draw on the warp as other races do—they generate their own psychic energy. Each Ork and Gretchin creates a weak psychic field, and in the excitement of battle these fields merge into a communal surge of energy known as the Waaagh!

This field interferes with the powers of other races, making Orks and Gretchin difficult to affect with psychic attacks—and it can be focused by Weirdboyz into devastating psychic assaults.

Weirdboyz in Battle

Ork armies do not include Psykers—they have Weirdboyz instead. A Weirdboy focuses the Waaagh! itself and does not gather power from the Warp Flux; energy pours in from the excited Orks and Gretchin nearby.

Like other Psykers, a Weirdboy receives Psychic Power Cards when the game begins—one power per Mastery Level, drawn from the Ork Weirdboyz discipline.

The Dangers of Waaagh! Power

During the Psychic Phase the Ork player receives half as many Warp Cards as the Warp Flux rolled—energy raised by the Orks themselves rather than pulled from the warp.

Before any psychic powers are played, each Weirdboy must test to control the power of the Waaagh! The power absorbed is determined by the single highest source on the chart below—sources are never added together—plus the hand-to-hand combat modifier where it applies.

A model Hiding or fleeing adds nothing to Waaagh! power. The +2 applies wherever on the field Orks, Gretchin or Madboyz fought in the Hand-to-Hand Combat Phase just gone.

To control the power, the Weirdboy rolls a D6 and adds their Mastery Level. Beat the absorbed Waaagh! power and the Weirdboy holds on; a total no higher than the Waaagh! power means control is lost, and the Weirdboy rolls on the 'Eadbangerz Chart below.

A Weirdboy more than 12" from any Ork or Gretchin—so long as no hand-to-hand fighting happened in the phase before—escapes the Waaagh! power entirely. Such a Weirdboy works no psychic power and takes no control test, though its Warp Cards remain good for Nullifying enemy attacks.

The Benefits of Waaagh! Power

To a Weirdboy, every Warp Card is as good as a Force Card. A power requiring three Force Cards could, for example, be played with two Force Cards and a Nullify card counted as the third. A Special Warp Card spent this way is discarded as an ordinary Force Card would be, staying spent for the rest of that Psychic Phase, cancelled power or not.

A Weirdboy who absorbs a Waaagh! power of 4 or more generates one extra Warp Card. The extra card is added to the Ork player's hand and may be used by any Weirdboy. The card arrives whether or not the Weirdboy kept control—though the 'Eadbangerz Chart may promptly take it back.

Orks generate their own psychic energy and are unlikely to draw the attention of daemons. Daemonic Attack played on a Weirdboy bites only on a D6 roll of 6—and even then the usual D6 escape from being dragged into the warp remains open.

The Nullify and Special Warp Cards that arrive with the Warp Flux stand for the natural resilience of Orks and Gretchin—their innate toughness, not the Weirdboy's conscious effort, is what turns psychic attack aside.

Weirdboy Warpheadz

Warpheadz are Weirdboyz whose minds have become saturated with Orky power through long survival—manic, overconfident, and drawn to the thick of the fighting. A Warphead follows all the normal Weirdboy rules, but its Mastery Level is 4 where an ordinary Weirdboy's is 2.

Warphead Minderz

Four Minderz escort every Warphead, keeping base contact at all times. The Minderz fight normally as well as restraining their charge.

Should all four Minderz be killed, the Warphead Runs towards the largest available group of Orks, seeking to bring the strongest source of Waaagh! power within 12". A Warphead without Minderz always works a psychic power chosen at random in the Psychic Phase, and the other Weirdboyz may only use their powers once the Warphead has done so. If there are not enough Warp Cards to play the randomly chosen power, there is no further effect, and other Weirdboyz may use their powers freely.

Madboyz

A Madboy within 2" of a Warphead may take Leadership Tests against the Warphead's Leadership of 8, although Madboyz cannot normally benefit from a character's higher Leadership.

Tusks and hooves arrive with the full weight of the beast behind them. A Boarboy that Charges takes a +2 Combat Score Modifier in place of the +1 a charge ordinarily earns.

Carried by Warboar.

Holding an unwilling warboar to its course takes most of a rider's attention, so Boarboyz carry a -1 Leadership penalty. Every test taken against that Leadership is made at the reduced value.

Carried by Warboar.

A Madmob fastens on one obsession at a time and drops it without warning. Roll a D6 before the first turn and read the chart below; the madness it names governs the mob from then on.

Roll a D6 again as each of the mob's later turns opens. A score of 6 sends the mob to a fresh madness, found by rolling once more on the same chart, and any lower score leaves the present one standing. A mob that has been Broken draws a new madness the moment it Rallies.

Carried by Mad Mob, Weirdboy Warphead Mob.

Madboyz keep their own company and take the field as one Mob. No other Ork may lead them, and no other Ork's Leadership is ever used for their tests.

Carried by Mad Mob.

A Runtherd may serve as the Champion of a Gretchin mob or a Snotling herd, and takes charge of it under the rules for Leading Squads. No Ork of any other kind will accept the duty, reckoning it time thrown away.

Carried by Runtherd, Runtherd Artillery.

See Cavalry in General Rules.

A warboar takes a wound as an insult and fights the harder for it. Its rider improves the Armour Save by +2 rather than the +1 a Cavalry mount usually grants.

Carried by Warboar.

Minderz escort a Weirdboy wherever it goes and stay in base contact with it throughout the battle. They hold the Psyker steady, stop it wandering off and shield it from harm, and may fight as ordinary models while they do so.

Once every Minder attending a Weirdboy has been killed, the Weirdboy makes for the closest table edge at its full Move. It quits the table there and plays no further part.

Carried by Weirdboy.