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By reading some battles with Tau-Orks alliance, I began to wonder about those two questions... Please understand that I left WH40k during 4th edition and recently got back, so my fluff may not be up to date or maybe that some elements got retconned.

Also, if this is a thread about Ork Mercenaries... Feel free to ask your own questions!

1. How do another faction finance them?

If I remember correctly, Orks have a rather... 'unique' currency system using teeth (With the Bad moon being the richest of all because of a strange mutation that make theirs regenerate more quickly than the rest of the Orks). But how another army finance them? They give them demon/cultist teeth? Do Tau even have teeth to begin with?

I understand the possibility to pay them with some material to scavenge, but orks are usually content with just the scraps of metal they find on their own... and just get whatever the hell they want, damned be the current owner, even if it is another ork.

Paying them with War Trophies doesn't really make much sense; Orks are too proud to accept the head of an dead enemy commander as a Gift.

And proposing them great battle doesn't fit either; Orks have plenty of foes to fight, and if it isn't the case, they will fight between them to solve that minor inconvenience.

2. Spore...

With the Orks reproducing constantly by releasing spores in the air (especially when they die), wouldn't accepting them on a planet dooming it with multiples ork infestations in the futur? Viable strategy for a a Hit & Run operation on a planet you never planned to conquer in the first place... but with other scenarios, it sounds like far more trouble than it is worth, no? (Unless you also want to grow some Orks to make a nice Salad, but I strongly advise against that)

From what I understand, most Ork mercenaries are payed with weapons, vehicles, and other technological whatsits.

I only know the answer to question one.

They get paid with weapons and other fancy dakka.

Ork Mercenaries, also often called Freebooters mostly fight for you if,

you promise they can loot first

give them weapons in advance

promise them a very good fight

Or like Dawn of war Retribution,.. give them your fancy hat

I believe that Night lords have managed to bribe an entire ork Waaagh to attack Imperium's undefended sectors during 13'th Black crusade. While I do not have any details about it, I still can offer you an excellent video about how to bribe orks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vn79FQ7CdPQ

These kind of bribes are usual in bribing orks. Another thing you can do is to appease warboss unusual desires (like getting exotic and spectacular tech or helping him to find target X). In most cases, they will ignore you if they will think that other dude near you will offer far better fight than you will. In that case, they will attack you only for preparation meaning that you could potentially struck bargains with them offering equipment and weapons in order to reduce their preparations time and significantly lowering chances to get attacked by them.
Also, spreading rumors is extremely effective tool in controlling orks. Just tell them that biggest and meanest enemies are that way. Also, you could fake attack making it appear to be organized by your enemies. You could try to do "public" taunting. Just dress up like you enemy and taunt orks warboss.

Interresting... Thanks for your answers! Even though nobody seems to know how to deal with the particular reproductive system of the Orks, lol.

I really like Ernestas explanation, even though I didn't have time/access to look at his youtube video until now.

2. Spore... With the Orks reproducing constantly by releasing spores in the air (especially when they die), wouldn't accepting them on a planet dooming it with multiples ork infestations in the futur? Viable strategy for a a Hit & Run operation on a planet you never planned to conquer in the first place... but with other scenarios, it sounds like far more trouble than it is worth, no? (Unless you also want to grow some Orks to make a nice Salad, but I strongly advise against that)


In universe not everyone agrees thats how Orks reproduce and the knowledge is sketchy on Xenos biology throughout the Imperium.

Most groups who are "in the know" (and how factual this method is depends on which books you read, some BL novels flat-out confirm it) follow the Orks around (at a safe distance) with flame-weapons to "clean up" any spore-pods that may be forming.

Quick thought: Is planet infested with orks plague is really that undesirable? From soulstorm we have seen that orks were unable to raise into Waaagh level even then faced with incompetent PDF. Internal fighting is usual for them and their presence is lightly populated and hardly reachable areas (due of established human presence) makes them quite conviently placed. That's more, they reproduce quickly and are quite able to organise themselves into small to medium groups. By being far from human civilian population, local PDF is quite safe to shoot first, ask questions later. Due to all these benefits, isn't an ork plague a very effective way of training your conscripts? Think about it, orks are near-impossible to eradicate meaning that you don't have to count them and to carefully manage your hunt. Your soldiers gain real battle experience. "Feral" orks do not pose any threat to at least little competent planetary PDF. Orks would make fine "ally" if planet would be attacked. PDF would fight in open fields and their cities, leaving orks to defend forests and unpopulated areas. Also, often PDF is on defensive and waiting for IG to arrive meaning that Orks would most likely attack besiegers, not besieged. There are many benefits on actually having an Ork infested planet instead of having one completely free of them.


Btw: Orks can be intimidated to a certain degree. Just look how it's done:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMewi3ONna0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n91x8tM1RHk
Just make an impression on them and they will take pause to attack you and will prefer to make some practice runs on your enemies first.

Orks are completely not dangerous until they get their act together. A Waaagh! is something dangerous. A few feral tribes are easily dealth with. It also seems like not all planets are good for growing orcs. Ice planets and dead worlds, for example. They seem to prefer more humid places. And bribery is easy, since they already want a fight to prove they're da best. Give them something shiny and point them in a direction. Even a smaller ork warband given a few trukks and some dakka is something to be feared due to how ferocious they are. That said, after they kill said target, they will probably turn right back around and rampage on you, but eh, be prepared.

Also if the planet is already infested then orks dying in place of your own men means nothing bad as they would have killed each other at a relatively similar rate and in places where you cannot clean up (just bring some anti fungal cleaner)

Wahahaha! I'm an avid ork player and I give two green thumbs up to most wisdom shared here. Yup, offering weapons, armaments, tech or a good fight is a good way to get ork mercs on your side. A lesser known tribute is slaves. Orks would rather be fighting while slaves make war equipment for them than bother making the stuff themselves. So they do make solid use of slave labor when given half the chance.

Giving them armaments and ammo is a big favorite, few things amuse orks more than being paid in guns to have a big fight, and then turning these guns on the employer for another fun fight. It's like win-win-win!

Now, about the spores issue, most mercenary ork tribes are relatively small in number, so the amount of spores would be unlikely to cause a fuss for years to come - if the shrooms bloom at all. And if mork wills some snotlings, grots and orks to grow there, they'll be in small numbers for quite a while. It takes a goodly-sized ork invasion force to 'contaminate' a planet irreparably.

Ernestas wrote:
"Feral" orks do not pose any threat to at least little competent planetary PDF. Orks would make fine "ally" if planet would be attacked. PDF would fight in open fields and their cities, leaving orks to defend forests and unpopulated areas.

But... if there's not enough orks to threaten your PDF what use are they against an attacker who thinks he has the force to take the planet?

As a distraction and to limit "beach head" incursion areas.

Ernestas wrote:
There are many benefits on actually having an Ork infested planet instead of having one completely free of them.

Hur...hur... I agree a hundred purcent, humie. 'Ere's a big ol' drum wiff about three 'undred metrik tonz 'uv ork sporez in it. So jus' spreaddit all round Terra 'an sum uver big posh humie worldz and phone me up when all duh orkz is hatched. So I kan...um...teach'em tah keep humie wurldz safe.

I play a freebooter army.


orks can be paid with anything that is worth their while - sometimes, if the enemy threat is large, then you don't need to pay them at all - a big fight is good enough for them (the inquisition try this with bluddfaggs boyz in retribution, but he wanted the hat. ). however, you have to keep the inflow of payment going, or the orks will probably turn against you. keep in mind that Kaptins tend to be the cleverest orks out there - watch your step humies....

Ok ork mercs are usually freebooters, and they usually are ship to ship engagements. If they are let on world, chances are that the world is already has ork influence on it. Orks are the most widespread race out there. I believe it says in the ork codex that the orks have touched just about every system in the galaxy. Touch does not mean are still there but they have visited every place at least once.

Feral orks are still tuff even if you have a competent pdf. Think of it this way, orks will out number the pdf forces, its only natural. Yes your pdf will have battle experience but at the cost of already faced orks and lost alot of men in the early engagements. It is a down side as well as up.

Some brutes with only their fists can threaten PDF because they outnumber them? I have every doubt that Orks can inflict any considerable casualties to local PDF even then they had achieved theirs standard technological level. The point here is that PDF will not wait until they will grow out of control, but will carefully monitor their numbers and throw a party for them then they would pose enough threat to be considered as a fine exercise. In the end, if possible casualties would grow out of acceptable levels, then local navy could just bombard orks aviation and AA emplacements thus utterly destroying theirs ability to defend from human aviation. With air and space total superiority, I fail to see how these dispersed, leaderless (no true warboss) orks can be anything more, but a training exercise.

Of course, there will be minimal casualties, but they will be nothing compared with having your local forces already experienced true battles. This experience will come as extremely handy then things would get really serious. Anyways, isn't the lack of action that makes armies soft and weak? Isn't that that makes PDF to be stereotypically incompetent in real w40k warfare?
Another great addition in excercising your PDF is an ability to see far more clearly your inner system's workings. To see how your supplies are being redistributed, there are theirs choke-points, who steals them, who are over-supplied and etc. Also, it would be an amazing way to prepare your officers for real battles and it would serve as a tool to promote competent and able and to demote incompetent officers.


And the last point is that orks may be used as an effective "ally". If you see an approaching enemy you can decide to let orks population to grow out of proportion while you prepare to fortify only strategically significant important places. It's not often then local defenders are caught completely by surprise and often it takes weeks or even months from first signs of telepathic warnings of approaching enemy appears and fighting begins. While on the ground, attackers will "shield" your forces from being easily reachable by orks and they will expose their backs to them. They will be surrounded and this distraction will force them to split their forces in order to respond to ork threat or to wipe them out. Also, local orks habitat will serve as a wall to contain at least their rapid movements.
If attackers are orks, then ruthless eradication of them will be in order. A local navy would bombard every last concentration of orks to oblivion and mechanised troops with armored spearheads would rapidly crush any remaining xenos with only token loses to themselves.
Keep in mind that living with the orks in constant fighting will make you quite knowledge about their psychology, warfare, growth and almost every last aspect of their race. Your troops will be considered as orks specialists and this experience will be invaluable if you will be attacked by most common foe in w40k universe- orks.

The Imperium of man has a specific 'occupation' purely for the purpose of dropping these people off at a war zone that involved the Orks. And with a special tool... They literally rip the ork teeth out of its head. Which they will then pay to other orks as payment for 'work'


Automatically Appended Next Post:
The Imperium of man has a specific 'occupation' purely for the purpose of dropping these people off at a war zone that involved the Orks. And with a special tool... They literally rip the ork teeth out of its head. Which they will then pay to other orks as payment for 'work'

Re: Spores

Specific conditions are required for the spores to successfully germinate and grow. Aside from environmental factors the most important factor is that they only grow in uninhabited areas. If some orks died in a densely populated city for example their spores wouldn't 'flower'. Out in the wilderness however and they would. Look at Armageddon. The orks reproduced in the unpopulated equatorial jungle, not the Hive Cities.

Just because orks are in an area doesn't mean there's automatically going to be outbreak later. There's also decontamination procedures, such as the liberal application of flame weapons.

 rems01 wrote:
Re: Spores

Specific conditions are required for the spores to successfully germinate and grow. Aside from environmental factors the most important factor is that they only grow in uninhabited areas. If some orks died in a densely populated city for example their spores wouldn't 'flower'. Out in the wilderness however and they would. Look at Armageddon. The orks reproduced in the unpopulated equatorial jungle, not the Hive Cities.

Just because orks are in an area doesn't mean there's automatically going to be outbreak later. There's also decontamination procedures, such as the liberal application of flame weapons.

Exactly this, they only grew in the equatorial jungle and they were only ever at feral levels to boot (sticks and stones dont break space marine bones!) - the spores that grew there came from the Orks in the 2nd War for Armageddon so it shows that even larger ork invasions won't entirely contaminte a planet.

People have already answered the 'mercenary payment' bit, so I'll leave that alone.

As for the 'ork infestation' problem, I think the critical factor is that you don't hire Ork Mercenaries to defend your own territory. You hire them to attack the other guy. Too bad for him if he's overrun by feral orks. Plus, orks being orks, you don't hire them if you don't already have a high degree of tolerance for collateral damage (civilian casualties, ruined infrastructure, etc.). They were already planning on wrecking everything, so how much more wrecked will it get?

Thus, if you are hiring orks, you are already willing to practice something of a 'scorched earth' policy. Then, when the battle is over, you either practice a literal scorched earth policy, or you just leave the area a spore-filled wasteland. Sometimes you just want somebody stomped good and flat, and you don't actually plan on taking their territory. Presumably, you consider the orks a lesser threat than whoever you sicced them on, or you wouldn't have hired them in the first place!

This does, mean, however, that you don't invite a bunch of the ork mercs onto your ship. Just a few key negotiators, and then you have the janitorial staff scrub the place down with bleach!

 Ernestas wrote:
Some brutes with only their fists can threaten PDF because they outnumber them? I have every doubt that Orks can inflict any considerable casualties to local PDF even then they had achieved theirs standard technological level. The point here is that PDF will not wait until they will grow out of control, but will carefully monitor their numbers and throw a party for them then they would pose enough threat to be considered as a fine exercise. In the end, if possible casualties would grow out of acceptable levels, then local navy could just bombard orks aviation and AA emplacements thus utterly destroying theirs ability to defend from human aviation. With air and space total superiority, I fail to see how these dispersed, leaderless (no true warboss) orks can be anything more, but a training exercise.

Of course, there will be minimal casualties, but they will be nothing compared with having your local forces already experienced true battles. This experience will come as extremely handy then things would get really serious. Anyways, isn't the lack of action that makes armies soft and weak? Isn't that that makes PDF to be stereotypically incompetent in real w40k warfare?
Another great addition in excercising your PDF is an ability to see far more clearly your inner system's workings. To see how your supplies are being redistributed, there are theirs choke-points, who steals them, who are over-supplied and etc. Also, it would be an amazing way to prepare your officers for real battles and it would serve as a tool to promote competent and able and to demote incompetent officers.


And the last point is that orks may be used as an effective "ally". If you see an approaching enemy you can decide to let orks population to grow out of proportion while you prepare to fortify only strategically significant important places. It's not often then local defenders are caught completely by surprise and often it takes weeks or even months from first signs of telepathic warnings of approaching enemy appears and fighting begins. While on the ground, attackers will "shield" your forces from being easily reachable by orks and they will expose their backs to them. They will be surrounded and this distraction will force them to split their forces in order to respond to ork threat or to wipe them out. Also, local orks habitat will serve as a wall to contain at least their rapid movements.
If attackers are orks, then ruthless eradication of them will be in order. A local navy would bombard every last concentration of orks to oblivion and mechanised troops with armored spearheads would rapidly crush any remaining xenos with only token loses to themselves.
Keep in mind that living with the orks in constant fighting will make you quite knowledge about their psychology, warfare, growth and almost every last aspect of their race. Your troops will be considered as orks specialists and this experience will be invaluable if you will be attacked by most common foe in w40k universe- orks.

This is assuming that the PDF know where the orks are or even that they exist. In the aftermath of an invasion many would be unaware that the Ork spores had bread especially on death worlds or planets where humans stick to their cities and their are mass jungles etc. feral orks will soon develop weaponry and as soon as they murder a few unsuspecting PDF troopers and mess with their guns discovering the joy of dakka.

Not to mention the fact that Orks are born with an innate understanding of how to operate weaponry, if their happens to be a mekboy spore among them the PDF could be in trouble. The orks will get stronger with each passing battle as they accrue more loot and more spores are released and the survivors get bigger.

It seems to be a case of "eventually". When sprouting in an area totally devoid of other Orks, the Orks that pop up are Feral. They will continue to be Feral Orks (no guns, no gubbinz, just spears and cruder-than-usual choppas), maybe with a WeirdBoy as a Tribe Shaman, until their population reaches some critical point and a Mek pops out. Now, soon, that Mek has built shootas, wartrukks, big gunz, and other sorts of techy bits. And now they start sporing proppa Boyz, Flash Gitz, MadDoks, and all the rest of the typical mob that threatens whole sectors in 40K.