|
The only Grot Revolution we have information on (so far as I know) is the one on Gorkamorka. Things can be extrapolated from that, but the situation on that planet is very specific (or was...)
On Gorkamorka, the orks are building a big Gargant/Rocketship in the semblance of Gork (or perhaps Mork) to get off the planet and back into the Waaagh! However, Orks haven't completely colonized the planet. They mostly live in Mektown (where Gork-or-Mork) is being built, which is, unusually, ruled by Meks (who are the ones who are building the ship/gargant). The orks live in relative peace with the Diggas (the descendants of the humans who lived on Gorkamorka prior to the ork arrival) and in a state of guerilla warfare with the Muties (the mutated descendants humans of the Eternal Vigilance, which was crashed into the planet when the orks arrived). They also live in terror of the scary metal skeletons (the Necrons) who live out in the desert, who have some sort of mysterious accord with the Diggas).
This means that the Orks here aren't on a war footing, and aren't planetary conquerors. This is fundamentally a very large ork city on one planet.
The revolting grots have pulled up stakes from Mektown and live in the Skid (the other end, fundamentally, of the impact crater formed by the Space Hulk that brought the orks). They viewed their situation as unfair, as only orks can earn passes on Gork-or-Mork. No matter how much a grot works, he can't get any janglies (the metal passes that signify admission to the gargant/spaceship). Those grots have made the Skid dangerous enough that orks won't go there (they could probably easily go there in force, but why would the mobs of orks cooperate, and who wants anything that a grot owns?). Even though they have formed a Revolution, those grots are still dependent upon the orks. They go into Mektown for goods and services, and depend on the meks to keep their stuff running. This is possible because most Grots look alike to most orks, and so long as they don't act uppity, they are usually ignored (or cuffed out of the way, which is basically just as good).
The grots perform acts of petty rebellion, but, almost without fail, they do so on lone orks, or mobs of orks out in the desert, looking for scrap. Their single major act of rebellion in Mektown was very harshly put down, so most grots (though they may talk a good talk) don't consider acting up there, and look for ways to be 'rebellious' but also alive.
The leader of the Gretchen Revolutionary Kommittee is Da Red Gobbo. This is a position (or a title), as it has been held by different grots at different times. The Red Gobbo may be squished by an ork, or run over by a digga, or, more likely, shivved in the back during a Kommittee meeting for a spectacularly unsuccessful plan.
There's not much evidence that a Grot rebellion could cripple a Waaagh. The only rebellion we have ANY 'official' information about is limited to some grots in ONE TOWN on ONE planet. Even those grots haven't been a major disruption to the operation of that town's industry, government, or economy. I think that the evidence is pretty clear that if the Grots were to become a major nuisance, the meks and the mobs would probably take action, and that's during the ork version of peacetime. During a Waaagh, I think the grots would be put down really fast.
Basically, barring special circumstances, it seems as if Grot Revolutions can survive only if they are a nuisance to orks, and not an actual menace. Those grots may be viewed as uppity and in need of a good kicking, but can revolt because they aren't enough of a problem to deal with. Of course, it's possible that a small group of grots could sabotage the fusion reactor of an ork ship or something, but that would be a special circumstance (and that could happen because one of the orks hit it with the wrong wotsit anyway!).
|
