Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Just thinking about Orks whilst reading the sm codex and they were saying how hard they were to eradicate completely as they have fungal spores that they hatch from, do we know if they are fully formed when hatched or do they need time to reach size and intelligence? I know they get bigger the older they get but wasn't sure of the ins and outs of young Orklings!

Orks pop out of the ground fully-grown and ready to fight.

Yeah they emerge from the spores fully grown and thanks to their genetic memory know how to fight and operate basic machinery straight away. They also get stronger as they fight not as they get older, they get bigger and their skin gets darker and tougher. Orks on born on worlds where there is no fighting are far smaller and weaker than Orks on worlds in a constant state of war, irrespective of their age. In the Greenskin biosystem Orks are the final subspecies to emerge (rare stuff like Squigoths aside), Snotlings, Squigs (food) and Grots all emerge before them and have basic infrastructure set up so the Orks are ready to go the second they emerge.

They aren't completely fullgrown, when they pop out of the spores they are yoofs. Something like a teenage version of an Ork, although they develop to fully grown in a very short time (not certain how short, but I think it's just a few days). They are however "born" with a innate knowledge of combat, and a few are born as Meks or Painboyz or whatever.

By the end of their first fight they become adults.

Taht can happen anywhere from a day to an hour after birth, given Ork culture.

thank you everyone so far! :-) it was just one of those random things you occasionally find yourself pondering even after being in the hobby for so long, but i've never had anything to do with Orks! never even played against them :-(

nerdfest09 wrote: but i've never had anything to do with Orks! never even played against them :-(

You are missing out, they are probably THE most fun army to play. With, or Against(depending on the opponent, they can be a little frustrating with the dual KFF Meks in Battlewagons)

Azzeh wrote:Orks pop out of the ground fully-grown and ready to fight.

Not fully grown. Appaently roughly the size of a teenage human. But gain bulk enough to be called one of the boyz after their first fight. There's no such thing as a full grown ork as they grow in relation to how successful in battle they get. The more violent the bigger!

inter-galactic weeds I tell ya...

nerdfest09 wrote:Just thinking about Orks whilst reading the sm codex and they were saying how hard they were to eradicate completely as they have fungal spores that they hatch from, do we know if they are fully formed when hatched or do they need time to reach size and intelligence? I know they get bigger the older they get but wasn't sure of the ins and outs of young Orklings!

I don't think that they are "fully grown", either immediately after exiting the ground, or even immediately after their first fight. Orks definitely experience a period of adolescence.

This is evidenced by the existence of Ork Yoofs (Gorkamorka), who are distinguished from Boyz. Physically, this difference might be slight, or even non-existent. Consider a 17 year old Football player who is at the peak of his game, vs. the average 25 year old male. One is "adult", but the younger male is actually stronger and in better physical condition. However, Yoofs do clearly exist (or did clearly exist at one point in the fluff).

In addition, the Stormboyz exist to provide a social structure for ork adolescents. We are told (in multiple editions of the Ork codex) that young orks chafe at the freedom and lack of structure of ork society, and so join the Stormboyz for a sense of order and regimentation. This is seen as an immature affection by adult orks, but is clearly tolerated.

Given the violent nature of Ork society, it would be ridiculous for the concepts of "Yoofs" and "Stormboys" to exist if Orks immediately matured into adults after a single fight. A fight could erupt immediately after the ork emerged from the ground. Unless the ork emerged in an area bereft of other orks, a fight would almost certainly erupt between the ork and another ork within a few hours, or days. Why would social categories such as Yoofs and cultural groups such as Stormboys exist if their members would mature out of them within minutes or hours? Would we have college graduations if you could enter, attend, and graduate from a college in an hour or two? Would we describe someone as a "freshman" if he ceased being a freshman after an hour?

Of course, within the game of Gorkamorka, a Yoof becomes a Boy as soon as he gains but a few experience points. However, that game mechanic doesn't indicate that the Yoof in question "hatched" and had no meaningful combat experience until the fight represented by the first game, and them, immediately after that fight, suddenly manifested all the salient adult characteristics of an Ork. It is entirely possible that the Yoof is recruited into a mob days or weeks after emerging from the ground, and engages in scraps and tussles for some time before the fight represented by the first game. It is also entirely possible that days, or even weeks, pass after that fight, filled with huntin' for scrap, racin' buggies, and shootin' at grots, before the Yoof is physically matured into a Boy.

When I said "a single fight" I meant a major confrontation, IE, charging an Imperial Guard regiment, or participating in some other actual battle. Something that really gets the adrenaline going.

Not some barroom brawl.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Though I should note that what a yoof/boy/scarboy/nob/boss/lord is is entirely dependent on location.

In a relatively peaceful sector of space, a warboss might be as large as a nob from a more war-torn area. Or hell, a boy from Octarius might be as large as a boss who doesn't get much action.

Da Butcha wrote:
In addition, the Stormboyz exist to provide a social structure for ork adolescents. We are told (in multiple editions of the Ork codex) that young orks chafe at the freedom and lack of structure of ork society, and so join the Stormboyz for a sense of order and regimentation. This is seen as an immature affection by adult orks, but is clearly tolerated.

Where does it say that? (EDIT: Just realized this sounded very rude, I'm just asking where you have read it, not saying that it's false) I'm fairly certain that it says in the current codex that the Stormboyz are more or less outcasts and seen as really really weird. They reason they are accepted is because they are so handy in combat. Stormboyz units are made up of orks that have seen space marines in their fancy uniforms and thought it looked really cool. This is no different than for example tankbustas who have seen a tank explode and become devoted to the "biggest kill". Orks are very prone to focusing on one thing and one thing only. The Stormboyz are rare and strange orks that have bcome fixated upon the though of organization and uniformity.

It's also not true that ork society is unstructured. It's actually very structured - might is right. Someone tells you to do something and he is bigger than you - you do it. Someone tells you to do something and he is smaller than you - trick situation, that doesn't happen because orks know instinctively when they see another ork if that one is stronger than himself, and if he is in command. There are obviously exceptions since they have the pits, where disagreeing orks can duke it out and decide who is right.

There's also a fairly solid job culture, grots and snotlings handle the menial tasks like growing squigs for food and general maintenance. The meks are the mechanics and handymen. Painboyz take care of injured orks. In addition to this, any ork does what he is told by a warboss or Nob.

Ork society is very highfunctioning. It's just that they bypass all the bureaucracy of most other societies and are thus seen as far more primitive when in reality they aren't. They have one fundamental rule that no ork disobeys without serious consequence - might is right.

Ixias wrote:Where does it say that?

Exactly where he said it says it:

Da Butcha wrote:We are told (in multiple editions of the Ork codex)

It has been the background for Stormboyz for twenty years and continues in the current Codex:

'This can lead to feelings of rebeliousness and anger in an Ork yongster, and he may run off to join a Stormboy camp...'

Codex: Orks page forty-seven

Huh, indeed I don't know where I read that other stuff, might have been in a fanthread somewhere then.

It's possible. Generally Orks grow out of being Stormboyz but a few fanatics stay Stormboyz for the rest of their lives and so they would be more likely to be seen as outcasts than a typical yoof so maybe someone was using that as a theme. Or perhaps they were talking about Khorne Stormboyz, even more unusual.

Gogsnik wrote:It's possible. Generally Orks grow out of being Stormboyz but a few fanatics stay Stormboyz for the rest of their lives and so they would be more likely to be seen as outcasts than a typical yoof so maybe someone was using that as a theme. Or perhaps they were talking about Khorne Stormboyz, even more unusual.

could it not also be said that sometimes a stormboy may grow "bored" of being a stormboy, and need more speed?? thus, joining a "more advanced" stage of the Speed Freek Kult? (note, i do have not read the Ork codex in ages, and most of my statement is borne from reading BL books, and from the tidbits i actually can remember from reading the codex)

Ensis Ferrae wrote:

Gogsnik wrote:It's possible. Generally Orks grow out of being Stormboyz but a few fanatics stay Stormboyz for the rest of their lives and so they would be more likely to be seen as outcasts than a typical yoof so maybe someone was using that as a theme. Or perhaps they were talking about Khorne Stormboyz, even more unusual.

could it not also be said that sometimes a stormboy may grow "bored" of being a stormboy, and need more speed?? thus, joining a "more advanced" stage of the Speed Freek Kult? (note, i do have not read the Ork codex in ages, and most of my statement is borne from reading BL books, and from the tidbits i actually can remember from reading the codex)

I suppose it could happen, but it would probably not be very common since most Stormboyz would likely die in combat (or from a rokkit pack mishap) before they have the chance to get bored

But on a more serious note, that sounds fair enough. Most orks do love extreme velocity so going from the Stormboyz to, say, a biker or Deffkopta band sounds like a logical "upgrade". But I definitely think that most Orks, once they have chosen a "specialty", will remain there for the rest of their lives, possibly growing in power and rising through the ranks of their chosen branch.

Ensis Ferrae wrote:could it not also be said that sometimes a stormboy may grow "bored" of being a stormboy, and need more speed?? thus, joining a "more advanced" stage of the Speed Freek Kult?

Stormboyz aren't part of the Kult of Speed but basically you are exactly right, Orks stop being Stormboyz when they get tired of it.

Orks are basically the opposite of Humans in developmental terms. Humans are often rebellious when young and become more self-disciplined and responsible as they mature. Orks however usually start out craving disciplne and regimentation and become rebellious and boisterous as they mature. Stormboy camps are where young Orks go to live a life of discipline and strict codes of behaviour, doing the sorts of things that you might expect any Human soldier to do. Most of them mature and leave such silliness behind and instead become One of the Boyz but a few never mature in that way and remain Stormboyz untill they die.

Part of an Ork growing up could well mean that they become addicted to speed and so they will join the Kult of Speed but that would normally mean getting a bike or buggy or some other fast vehicle they can show off and tinker with and basically live in/on. It all very much depends on the Ork in question naturally.