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As in title.

I know that based on the models that they are very very muscled (or, at the very least, they have considerable upper body strength), but does it necessarily follow that they have good lower body and leg strength?

Or in simpler terms, how fast can a 'bog-standard' ork boy run.

Would they be faster than a baseline human? almost as fast as a Space Marine?

About the same as a baseline human soldier, but with greater stamina due to Orks being Orks.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
About the same as a baseline human soldier, but with greater stamina due to Orks being Orks.

Any notes on their sprinting capabilities? say over short distances?

Nothing specific. But, in a flat out sprint their genetic imperative for combat, and wanting to get their first especially when in a direct race with another Mob may mean they’re really pushing it.

Agreed, re-read some novels recently and orks always run same speed as man, a trained man but nothing extraordinary.

But Orks can catch fleeing humans in one of the Cain novels.

Yeah, but not every human run the same speed, i think some orks faster(those who paindet their armor red) some slower

 Lathe Biosas wrote:
But Orks can catch fleeing humans in one of the Cain novels.

I’d put that down to suitable enthusiasm and motivation.

That doesn’t mean when charging they go Usain Bolt speeds. Just that the thrill of the chase and the promise of a good krumpin’ of a git will drive them on to be faster than when, say, running to the Drops after a particularly fighty Squig Curry.

Also are we talking tactical movement or strategic movement?

They have always been portrayed in the game and in fluff as similar to human norms as noted above. For strategic movement, I would suggest that their substantially higher natural stamina would come to the fore allowing un-mechanised infantry marches that humans couldn't hope to equal.

From a purely visual analysis, orks really don't look like the best runners. Long limbs, broad shoulders and relatively short legs mean that they are definitely not sprinters.



But I do vaguely remember one novel describing orks as being able to maintain a certain running or jogging speed almost indefinitely. So they're no Usain Bolt, but I imagine they could inevitably run down your average human if said human can't lose them fast enough.

 Lathe Biosas wrote:
But Orks can catch fleeing humans in one of the Cain novels.

Humans can catch fleeing humans in real life.

I’m trying to think where I may have read it, but I’m sure there’s a background source which describes Orks having a loping gait, but surprisingly fast with it.

So no, not fast, but faster than we might expect for their body plan.

They are also noted to run like gorillas do in various sources, and that is faster than humans manage.

As being chased by a Corgi has shown me, short legs don't equal slow.

It is also likely that ork running speed is less affected by cumbersome equipment, which humans are notoriously affected by. This is significant since in the 41st millennium there is only war, and thus both ork and human is likely to be carrying weapons and wearing armour all the time.

I guess part of that is even the stinkiest, most primitive Feral Ork or Wildboy is going to grow up carrying at least a Choppa. Which are universally hefty weapons, whether made from Bone, Stone or Metals.

And so, every Ork grows up with a highly physical lifestyle, ensuring physical fitness, including constant weight and endurance challenges of carting their gear around. Thus, used to being encumbered as if it’s second nature.

Remembering that the Waaagh invigorates orks. The more orks running, the faster they all are.

I would say an average ork can run about as fast as a human albeit a bit more slowly in general though nobz or larger orks can probably be a bit faster due to their size. I would say though that orks don't accelerate as fast as humans and are less agile runners either. They probably struggle with sharp changes in direction, skipping, vaulting over obstacles, etc. Orks are probably better at long distance running and are probably capable of jogging for absurdly long distances and are probably capable of maintaining a high running speed and endurance with weights on them unlike humans who deteriorate rather quickly in those aspects when you start adding on some weight.

I think of ORKS as being very fast over short distances like a few metres, explosive bursts of speed, makes them great at melee.think like a gorilla kicking off.

Longer distances, agree with above, probably not “fast” but endurance for ages, ORKS don’t mind pain and discomfort so long as there’s a fight at the end of it for them.