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Orks have exactly the level of intelligence that they need.

Orks are somewhat like Tyranids in the sense that all they care about (as a species) is pretty much one thing - fighting(reproduction for Tyranids),

Now, some do have their own interestsm like carving out their own empires - but this is mostly just to enable them to go on and fight bigger wars, further and further afield.
Like Tyranids, they are hard to stamp out, due to their reproductive nature.

The main difference is that Orks make use of mechanical and electrical contraptions, rather than bio constructs (Squiggy things aside).

Actually the main thing is that Orks are actually able to produce things as well as consume, while Tyranids can only consume.

Put a single Ork on a deathworld, and that deathworld will become an Ork world, which for the rest of eternity-- unless it is completely destroyed-- will produce more Orks.

Put tyranids on a death world (notice I meant not just a single tyranid, but a splinter fleet) and they'll consume it, and that's that. They gain a set amount of resources, and nothing more.

It's why Orks are more dangerous than Tyranids in the long run, even if Tyranids are more dangerous in the short run.

Melissia wrote:Actually the main thing is that Orks are actually able to produce things as well as consume, while Tyranids can only consume.

Put a single Ork on a deathworld, and that deathworld will become an Ork world, which for the rest of eternity-- unless it is completely destroyed-- will produce more Orks.

Put tyranids on a death world (notice I meant not just a single tyranid, but a splinter fleet) and they'll consume it, and that's that. They gain a set amount of resources, and nothing more.

It's why Orks are more dangerous than Tyranids in the long run, even if Tyranids are more dangerous in the short run.

QFT

That's a darn good point. They do indeed set up shop, unlike the gribblies.

I don't think it's actually accurate to say that orks only care about fighting. They care about fighting about as much as humans care about surviving; which is to say, a lot, it's their primary concern pretty much all the time (at least in the 41st millennium), but it's not as though they're never concerned with anything else. For instance, orks love racing squigs against each other, eating large amounts of food, getting drunk, inventing bizarre contraptions, playing tricks on each other for laffs, and so forth. They have their own priests, brewers, squig farmers, shop keepers, accountants (I wouldn't imagine they're good), cooks, and similar specialities that don't see the battlefield in the same way that meks, doks, runtherds, and weirdboys do. They're more like humans than tyranids, I would say.

As anthropocentric standards of intelligence go, they're pink like us....

Some can do math, they use teef for currency.

Orkeosaurus wrote:I don't think it's actually accurate to say that orks only care about fighting. They care about fighting about as much as humans care about surviving; which is to say, a lot, it's their primary concern pretty much all the time (at least in the 41st millennium), but it's not as though they're never concerned with anything else. For instance, orks love racing squigs against each other, eating large amounts of food, getting drunk, inventing bizarre contraptions, playing tricks on each other for laffs, and so forth. They have their own priests, brewers, squig farmers, shop keepers, accountants (I wouldn't imagine they're good), cooks, and similar specialities that don't see the battlefield in the same way that meks, doks, runtherds, and weirdboys do. They're more like humans than tyranids, I would say.

Indeed quoted for it's content of truth.

Here is some GW background of the origins of the orks from 40K. Apparently the original greenskin race had been a highly intelligent but physically feeble species. They had bio-engineered first the Gretchin and then the Orks as manual labourers and warriors. Unfortunately for the Brainboyz their intellect was dependant upon a particular type of fungi that became extinct shortly after the development of the Orks.

Realising that their society was on the wane the Brainboyz coded knowledge of their achievements into the genetic data of their creations - meaning that a certain percentage of Orks would carry inherant technological ability, or surgical skills, or animal husbandry, or the ability to develop psychic powers. Having "saved" their civilisation this way the Brainboyz were free to degenerate and let the Orks become the dominant Greenskinned race. The tiny, barely sentient Snotlings were thought to be the remnants of the Brainboy race.

So it appears that orks dont learn in the same ways as humans do. They have their skills imbedded in their genetic make up and it develops.

With intelligence in short being the ability to learn about, learn from, understand, and interact with one’s environment. Yes they are intelligent, but are capped by their genetic coding eg. A weird boy will never learn to be a pain boy etc…

Interesting stuff

There are no Orcs in 40k.

There are Orks. Yes, one letter does make a difference-- Orks have no fluff links to Orcs. Use the Ork spelling to ensure noone gets confused about this.

Point taken, post edited.

Who is smarter, ogryns or orks?

Warprat wrote:Who is smarter, ogryns or orks?

Im pretty sure Ogryns are just really beefed up yet slighty mentally challenged guardsmen?
Orks are a self sustaining society capable of creating absurd inventions of destruction the galaxy has never seen; where as Ogryns wear velcro since they havn't yet mastered the art of tying a knot

Cryonicleech wrote:Orks are smart.

They're so smart, things like ethics and semantics are beneath them! Even proppa grammah is nuffin' but a ruff guideline.

It's not that Orks don't have grammar, they just don't use ours.

The_Savior wrote:
Orks are smart.

Also, if something doesn't work, they can just think it works. And guess what? It will.

Now that's a bit of an overstatement.
Just because confiscated Ork equipment doesn't function, it doesn't imply they can just imagine that a lump of metal will become a gun and voilà, it does.
All that's ever been said about this is the above; that confiscated Ork things don't work, and that theories exist that Orks have weird telekinetic powers which cause this. This fact shouldn't diminish the skill or intelligence of Meks, who manufacture this equipment, it is simply a strange fact.

Confiscated/stolen Ork equipment in the hands of humans has been shown time and again to work...

I would agree with the comments on a surprising ingenuity and low cunning. They might not be smart in an academic sense. But in a genetically innate/savant killing machine sort of way. Yes.

Like posted above, Orks aren't neccesarily stupid, just single minded in their pursuit of destruction that sometimes it can lead them to make stupid mistakes, like putting your entire force out into the middle of a venomthrope cloud and having them all get killed by Lictors.

I find one thing funny - and that is that 'confiscated ork tech' as it were is being handled by a highly religious people who use rituals to make things work.
All it says if it doesn't work is that the imperium is using the wrong ritual