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I mean, in general.

Space marines, for example, are usually a couple hundred years old or more, from what I've seen of them in media.

Guardsmen are basically humans, so 20-30, overall.

Eldar are probably thousands of years old each.

But orks are a little different - from what I understand, they grow in underground spores and burst out of the ground fully formed and ready to fight. So your average ork boy could be just a couple years old, measuring from the time they came out of the ground, or even younger, I think.

How about approx. ages for nobz and warbosses and the like? About the only gauge I have is that ghazzy is at least 50, as his invasions of Armageddon were 50 years apart. So he's probably more like 60-80 years old, but he's somewhat unique, and I expect 60+ is exceptionally old for an ork.

Just curious for thoughts of if there's fluff describing it I'm unaware of.

I think I read somewhere that a really old Ork would be something like 80+ but that Orks don't die from old age but from just getting killed. In theory there could be a super old Ork (the myth/legend of the Ork the size of a small planet because he kept fighting, winning, and getting bigger and stronger comes to mind) but with constant fighting its hard to see an Ork living forever.

No idea what age range Boyz and Nobz would be as their growth is more dependent on the amount of combat they see so there could probably be Boyz who are older than some Nobz if the Nob in question lived a very combat heavy life while the Boy was mucking about on an Ork planet waiting for a proppa WAAAGH!!!

Tbh we don't know the Maximum size an Ork can grow into.... there is that theory (as stated by Vankraken) that an Ork could potentially keep fighting, winning and growing and eventually become a planetoid.

Really though if that was possible, I'd expect it to be a lot more common because it's an exponential cycle, becoming larger would make you more likely to win and become larger etc.
Winning -> Larger -> More winning -> Larger etc. etc.

http://1d4chan.org/wiki/Deffboss

The only for sure way to tell how old an ork is, is to either drill a hole in him or cut him in half and count the circles.

It is said no Ork has died from old age and keeps growing the more it thumps others. Legend says they can grow to Titan size but the bigger they are the easier a target they are to hit, so none have ever been confirmed.

 Kap'n Krump wrote:
Space marines, for example, are usually a couple hundred years old or more, from what I've seen of them in media.

Space Marines are older, on average, than Guardsmen, but they're not that old.

Space Marines are mostly around 30 to 50 years old. Scouts begin their field service at about 15, then they get the Black Carapace about five to ten years after that. Another decade or so of service in the Devastator squads, and then they get placed in the high-casualty Assault and Tactical squads. Veterans are around a century old, and the older captains live for three or more centuries.

As for Orks, I'd imagine they're mostly pretty young, as they have a very high mortality rate once their spore matures. A couple of decades old at most.

Most Orks a lucky if they live 5 years.

Hey now, don't forget the Space Marines that fought in wars 10,000 years ago.

Its really hard to guess the age of the ork. They pop out of the ground full grown. You would also think that a creature that lives to fight is really not that long for the world, especially since the Orks have adopted all sorts of guns into their arsenal and are not just about poking each other with sticks.

However, having said that, Ork Doks can keep an ork very much alive and well long after they shouldn't be with any number of operations. So its really up in the air what an Ork can live through.

Additionally (sensing a theme yet) Ork Odd boys such as Meks, Doks, etc, are not always front line fighters. I'd even include Runt Herders in this. Their skill sets too valuable to be sent headlong into battle. And as its been stated that Orks are pretty much immune to most things that might cause a "natural cause" death. Its very possible that the Odd boys can get fairly old.

Then you have the Warboss, who having survived countless fights and battles and has grown so large and tough that even bullets might bounce of his skin might be very old indeed. Luck has probably played a large factor in him not dying as a yoof, but he didn't get where he his by not earning his spot.

So having said all that, my guess is that Ork boys probably 5-10 years old. Nobs - 10 - 20, Warbosses 30+ Probably most Meks and Doks who are not front line fighters 100+ Wierd boys only live as long as Gork and Mork smile down at them and don't let them blow their heads off.

 Arkaine wrote:
Hey now, don't forget the Space Marines that fought in wars 10,000 years ago.

In an civilisation with near light speed travel (or even FTL) time is completely disconnected from the age of a person

Also just to point out Ork durability, your basic Boy can survive decapitation so long as a Dok stitches his head back onto something that isn't necessarily his original body. Warbosses meanwhile can survive getting shot by a 120mm+ (Leman Russ battlecannon bore is unknown) cannon to the stomach and getting most of their organs vaped.