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We all know about the bromance between Ghazkull and Yarrick, and we all know about the weird structure of Ork society. Say if Yarrick slayed Ghazkull Thraka, and decided that he was done with the Imperium donkey-caves, would he bea ble to convince the Ork hordes that he is the new Warboss? He's big, he slayed Ghazkull, and has a Power Klaw, shouldn't that be enough to win an Orks respect?

No. Orks don't consider non-orks worthy of leading them. They can respect you and you can be as tough as them (space marines) but that doesn't allow access to their social hierarchy.

But regardless, Yarrick can't beat Ghaz one on one, especially with the new fluff.

Beating Ghaz or not, Yarrick is one of the toughest humans around. Orks might not follow him for long but they would surely listen to his suggestions (after he pulps the warboss with the modified PowerKlaw). Getting them a proper war is more important than who or what he is.

The Orks under Ghazzy consider Yarrick to be Orky. Ghazzy spent some time making it so after the his first invasion of Armageddon. Yarrick pursued and got caught by Ghazzy. Ghazzy then put on a bit of show for the purpose of proving to his Orks that some humans are Orky and that Yarrick was one of them and that Ghazzy was still superior to them. He then tossed Yarrick in sure death situations over and over. Each time telling his boyz that Yarrick will not only survive but like an Ork will come right back trying to kill Ghazzy. Sure enough each time Yarrick did. After Ghazzy convinced his Orks that Yarrick was a tuff 'Ard Boy he then let Yarrick go and told Yarrick to prepare Armageddon's defences, Ghazzy knows how the Imperium fights now and he's coming back with a real army.
I do think that if Yarrick publically killed Ghazzy in front of his boyz, is some odd Orky way they'd willingly follow him. A backlash that the oh so smart Ghazzy didn't foresee. Now, yeah, the boyz are underwhelmed when they see Yarrick in person and he's not as tall as the Ork tales make him to be but as they stare dumbfounded he clobbers em over the head with his power klaw like a proppa Ork.
But.
No way Yarrick would turn on the Imperium. That guy is the supreme Commisar. The Chuck Norris of the Imperium. He deserves to die in battle fighting in the defence of the Imperium to his last shouting breath.

Edit add: Good point. In order for Yarrick to keep his position he'd have to keep finding them good fights otherwise he'll get unseated in a violent fashion.

It would be really really fun to see a huge 1000+ model diorama at Warhammer World with Yarrick leading an Ork Waaagh! on a few confused guardsmen

I think if he crumped him good, and then immediately told them there was a good scrap vs. nids/chaos/etc nearby, he could probably pull it off.

But it would probably have to be in the same system. I could see the orcs getting caught up in the moment, but given time to think it out, the waagh would probably fall apart.

 Matthew wrote:
We all know about the bromance between Ghazkull and Yarrick, and we all know about the weird structure of Ork society. Say if Yarrick slayed Ghazkull Thraka, and decided that he was done with the Imperium donkey-caves, would he bea ble to convince the Ork hordes that he is the new Warboss? He's big, he slayed Ghazkull, and has a Power Klaw, shouldn't that be enough to win an Orks respect?

On the contrary, Yarrick is tall for a human, but he's still a human. Most Ork Boyz are taller than him. He's also a very old man - he's more like three grots standing on each others' shoulders than an ork, physically speaking.

 Matthew wrote:
It would be really really fun to see a huge 1000+ model diorama at Warhammer World with Yarrick leading an Ork Waaagh! with a few confused guardsmen

ftfy
Those aren't orks. Those are ogryns. Short, green ogryns.

The one guy that said he would never turn on the Imperium is right. I mean, he even shot his girlfriend because she "held him back from his divine duty" of serving Emps.

Also, no Ork would ever serve anything that doesn't have a healthy shade of green (straight outta the codex, yo), no matter how powerful. Or maybe not for long, considering how they let Yarrick go that one time after he pwned their forces singlehandedly.

So what I'm thinking is that he manages to bash in Ghazkull's... skull... and immediately after causes them to turn against a third force. Say, for example, that there is a three-way battle between the Orks, the Astra Militarum, and... I dunno, let's throw the Necrons in there because lol. SO Yarrick manages to lead the Orks and the Guard in glorious battle against the unliving, and directly after his victory wipes out the remaining Orks and wins the day for the Emperor.

 urbanknight4 wrote:
Say, for example, that there is a three-way battle between the Orks, the Astra Militarum, and... I dunno, let's throw the Necrons in there because lol. SO Yarrick manages to lead the Orks and the Guard in glorious battle against the unliving, and directly after his victory wipes out the remaining Orks and wins the day for the Emperor.

Impossible. The Necron cheese is too strong.

He's old, scarred and tough, but no ork, only a ork can lead orks.

However for a humasn he,s damn close

 ProwlerPC wrote:
The Orks under Ghazzy consider Yarrick to be Orky.

No, they don't. Orks aren't stupid when it comes to identifying a proper ork. They may respect him but he is in no way "orky." And really, he doesn't try to put himself out there as being orky or have truly orky traits. Only in the most lazy fluff or fan fiction does an old commissar completely dedicated to the imperial creed qualify as orky in some manner.

And again, the 15 year old Armageddon book is completely outdate in regards to current power levels and formats. Yarrick would need a baneblade to kill Ghaz in the current fluff what with his new found avatar style power level. The entire thought experiment is based on an extremely unlikely scenario in the first place.

Just going to leave this here:


If that guy could lead a band of Orks, then Yarrick could lead an entire WAAAGH!!!.

 Iron_Captain wrote:
Just going to leave this here:


If that guy could lead a band of Orks, then Yarrick could lead an entire WAAAGH!!!.

Who is this guy and why isn't he dead?

Orks fight as mercs for humans fairly often, as far as major factions cooperating with each other goes.

There are even non orks that serve as military advisors.


Lead? Not happening.

 urbanknight4 wrote:

 Iron_Captain wrote:
Just going to leave this here:


If that guy could lead a band of Orks, then Yarrick could lead an entire WAAAGH!!!.

Who is this guy and why isn't he dead?

Overlord Herman von Strab. The (former) ruler of Armageddon, who fled the planet out of fear for Imperial retribution for his incompetence in the 2nd war. In the 3rd war, he had allied himself with Thraka and came back leading a warband of Orks to take back what was his.

Orks can be very pragmatic. They will work together with other races if there is a clear benefit in doing so. Especially the Blood Axes are perfectly happy to cooperate with non-Orks.

He wasn't leading them in the sense that the OP mentioned, he was at the head of a detachment Ghaz sent. Ghaz was still the leader.

I believe the OP is trying to ask if a waagh would follow an appropriately powerful human in full, not by proxy.

Would be an interesting resolution to push forward the Time of Ending.

Abaddon keeps making headway to Terra with his Crimson Path, creating enough chaos to have a tendril of the Eye of Terror follow in his wake, allowing daemons to manifest at will without the need of cults, monuments, etc that normally slows down their progress.

Meanwhile, Armageddon is turning sour. The humans are once again on the edge of defeat, when Yarrik takes his personal baneblade and challenges Ghazzy to single combat, somehow slaying him before the ork horde.

Abaddon makes footfall on Holy Terra, striking down all before him, making his way to the Emperor's throne. A host of golden armoured heroes stand in his way; each believe they are the warrior described by the Scrolls of Sanguinius; a lone warrior standing between The Emperor and ruin.

Abaddon cuts through these fools all with ease, ready to finally pull the Plug on the Big E.

The warp gate under the throne bursts open; but not spilling daemons into the room. Instead a horde of Orks burst through, having been promised the greatest fight there ever will be.

At the head of the green tide is one man; Kommisar Yarrik, towering over all in his golden mega-armour!

Oh man that would be awesome. The Orks would be so happy, I bet they'd be crying of happiness when they see all the Chaos lads wif da spikes.

 PhillyT wrote:
No. Orks don't consider non-orks worthy of leading them.

Yarrick might be the exception.

 ProwlerPC wrote:
The Orks under Ghazzy consider Yarrick to be Orky. Ghazzy spent some time making it so after the his first invasion of Armageddon. Yarrick pursued and got caught by Ghazzy. Ghazzy then put on a bit of show for the purpose of proving to his Orks that some humans are Orky and that Yarrick was one of them and that Ghazzy was still superior to them. He then tossed Yarrick in sure death situations over and over. Each time telling his boyz that Yarrick will not only survive but like an Ork will come right back trying to kill Ghazzy. Sure enough each time Yarrick did. After Ghazzy convinced his Orks that Yarrick was a tuff 'Ard Boy he then let Yarrick go and told Yarrick to prepare Armageddon's defences, Ghazzy knows how the Imperium fights now and he's coming back with a real army.
I do think that if Yarrick publically killed Ghazzy in front of his boyz, is some odd Orky way they'd willingly follow him. A backlash that the oh so smart Ghazzy didn't foresee. Now, yeah, the boyz are underwhelmed when they see Yarrick in person and he's not as tall as the Ork tales make him to be but as they stare dumbfounded he clobbers em over the head with his power klaw like a proppa Ork.
But.
No way Yarrick would turn on the Imperium. That guy is the supreme Commisar. The Chuck Norris of the Imperium. He deserves to die in battle fighting in the defence of the Imperium to his last shouting breath.

Edit add: Good point. In order for Yarrick to keep his position he'd have to keep finding them good fights otherwise he'll get unseated in a violent fashion.

They'd think he was dead sneaky for looking so wimpy when he's so tough

 Grey Templar wrote:

 PhillyT wrote:
No. Orks don't consider non-orks worthy of leading them.

Yarrick might be the exception.

Why?

Yarrick is a commissar. He detests the xeno.

Orks don't follow non-orks. They connect to their leaders on a psychic level as much as physically. Yarrick is a standard honored enemy. He has neither the inclination nor ability to lead them.

I never said the feeling would be mutual. But I could definitely see the Orks accepting Yarrick as a new warboss, which he would never do but if he did it would probably be accepted.

I think Yarrick is more of a skumgrod (best enemy) than a potential Warboss.

He may be tough, but he ain't one uv da Boyz and he never will be. Most Orks would prefer to keep him around because he'll give a gud scrap, not because they want to follow him.

Von Strab never actually led any Orks from what I've read. Technically he was giving orders, but every Greenskin looked for Ghazkull's nod before acting. Von Strab was a convenient pawn, and little more. Ghazzy hoped he would to split human loyalties and focus human efforts on the wrong target -the traitor von Strab instead of Ghazzy himself. The Nob mob was primarily there as von Strab's minderz, to keep him alive and in line, as well as to give him some legitimacy with the Warbosses stuck under his (incompetent) command.

Anyway, that's my take on the fluff.

My two cents.

 Grey Templar wrote:
I never said the feeling would be mutual. But I could definitely see the Orks accepting Yarrick as a new warboss, which he would never do but if he did it would probably be accepted.

On what grounds? What is different about Yarrick that would make orks do something thats never happened and has been specifically stated as impossible: lead a waagh?