Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Say a group of Orks comes across a planet populated entirely by pacifists who would rather die than harm another living being, what happens?

Do they quickly realise there isn't any good foightin' to be had there and move on?
Do they just wander the planet systematically killing all the little Gandhis?
Do they try to goad the populace into fighting back?
Do they learn to fight with their words?

Follow up question: say they came across a world whose technology barely surpassed that of Ancient Greece, would their collective psychic field weaken them to give them a better fight?

Depends on what they want. Orks conduct campaigns for reasons other than just to fight, which they can easily do amongst themselves.

I'm fairly sure that SOMEWHERE in the lore is such an encounter. The orks kinda just laughed hysterically and killed or enslaved everything that moves anyways.

Orks only live to fight. But if you pay well enough, sometimes they'll go do it somewhere else.

I'd assume the Orks would quickly butcher or enslave the populace. As much as the ladz would like a good fight, they're a pragmatic bunch and will move onto other targets (or each other, depending on how riled up they are).

Also, the psychic resonance that Orks have doesn't work that way, its not like a magic genie thing where if they believe in something hard enough that it happens, the closest to that are weirdboyz and they have a tendency to make brains explode (theirs and others). It acts more like a subtle field that almost acts as a "universal" lubricant to make things work more reliably in Ork hands that would otherwise be far more difficult to handle or use by non-Orks. So they definitely wouldn't subconsciously make themselves weaker through it just to have a good fight.

If you don't fight, you probably get enslaved...or killed...or enslaved for a bit and then killed.

The planet would be suited for tourism for the richest of orks.
Pay alot of teeth for a "safari dakka hunt vacations". And don't forget to bring friends and boose.

 Blackhair Duckshape wrote:
Say a group of Orks comes across a planet populated entirely by pacifists who would rather die than harm another living being, what happens?

They get enslaved. If they don't work good enough, they get killed. That's what usually happens to pacifists anywayz.

I think that the orks would start out with their normal "krump everyfing" strategy, then get bored of fighting things that don't fight back and pull back on the slaughter. The orks would then transition to looting, pillaging, enslaving, and looking for new ways to entertain themselves next. Keep in mind that the many defeated pacifists will be killed even after the orks got bored simply because some orks still get a kick out of krumping pacifists, and that the enslaved pacifists will definitely be looked down upon for being "un-orky," "filthy grots," and the like and will be mistreated more than usual. In the end the result will probably be roughly the same as if they had fought back, only with fewer ork casualties.

 gnome_idea_what wrote:
I think that the orks would start out with their normal "krump everyfing" strategy, then get bored of fighting things that don't fight back and pull back on the slaughter. The orks would then transition to looting, pillaging, enslaving, and looking for new ways to entertain themselves next. Keep in mind that the many defeated pacifists will be killed even after the orks got bored simply because some orks still get a kick out of krumping pacifists, and that the enslaved pacifists will definitely be looked down upon for being "un-orky," "filthy grots," and the like and will be mistreated more than usual. In the end the result will probably be roughly the same as if they had fought back, only with fewer ork casualties.

Realistically, this. Orks live for fighting. They don't see people as equal but inferior, except that one old commissar with the claw, Ghaz respects him so the other Orks do too. They would have no use for pacifists. They would kill them or enslave them.

Orks aren't actually stupid, just brutal and very direct. They'd quickly get bored of killing pacifists (though I imagine they'd first try to goad them into fighting back) and think up some way of getting something out of it. Enslaving the populace sounds likely, but what if the guys just refuse to do anything? The orks will try force and what passes as cunning among them to "encourage" the people to work, but how long and how hard would they try if it just doesn't happen? People not fighting back is very odd - will the orks be further enraged and kill everyone or just leave them alone since it's a waste of time that could be better spent fighting someone who does fight back?

In some perverse way orks might even come to respect these pacifists, not for their fighting skills but for their single-minded refusal to obey.

Isn't it stated that Orks have a tendency to eat humans? They eat grots, so boring nonviolent Humans that won't do anything else seem like a decent supper. Otherwise, turn em over to the Dok's.

I don't see any way the Orks would leave the populace alive beyond a few months of slavery. They enslave and work to death populations from planets that gave them a good fight, so there's no way a planet refusing to fight would get more respect from the Boyz.

They tend to enslave non combatants or put them in pit fights against squigs etc or make bets on which one does the best burny dance or dissected into parts for the doks cyborks or bred and raised as cattle or....lots of things that are grim dark to humans but entertaining comedy to orks. Seriously when it comes to orks I'd rather die fighting on the field.

Find annuver planit, plenty uv good fights to be had in da ooniverse.

 Blackhair Duckshape wrote:
Say a group of Orks comes across a planet populated entirely by pacifists who would rather die than harm another living being, what happens?

Follow up question: say they came across a world whose technology barely surpassed that of Ancient Greece, would their collective psychic field weaken them to give them a better fight?

Such a cool idea for an army wide special rule for orks. Spend 250pts under your list allowance and get so and so special rules, spend 250pts more and get these restrictive special rules and scale it with different points, so 500, 1000 etc.

Maybe the Orks would chuck them in a fighting pit and make bets on what runt would win, kinda like cock-fighting. I think they'd get a kick out of turning pacifists into bloody killers, especially vs each other.

 wallygator wrote:
The planet would be suited for tourism for the richest of orks.
Pay alot of teeth for a "safari dakka hunt vacations". And don't forget to bring friends and boose.

This is...perfect.

Orks work in two styles. The brutal but cunning, and the cunning but brutal. The Mork Orks will probably enslave unarmed outsiders and put them to work. The Gork Orks will probably just murder everyone in the camp and scavenge what they find, and put the grots to work.

The answer to the OP's question is:

It depends. SOME Orks would butcher and enslave the lot. Some would quickly get bored and leave.

Some would treat them like Snotlings, essentially ignore them unless they irritate them.

Orks run based on instincts - To an Ork, gold is meaningless. You can, however, buy them off with hordes of gold which they may or may not accept as being important to you.

An Ork could be a monster or a hero, but it is impossible to assign human values to it. As an example:

A little girl of about 4 hides in terror. A Necron attack has destroyed her village and family. An Ork warboss, who has a vague itching in his brain to fight Necrons due to some ancient instinct he doesn't understand, finds the girl. The girl is crying and offers the Ork her teddy bear - The final memory she has of her family and better times.

The Ork perceives this item as being of tremendous value to the person who holds it. He then might get 'Bought off' by it and decide to rescue the girl, butchering all the Necrons in his way. This big, bad, tough Warlord has a little girl strapped in on the back seat of his warbike and her little teddy bear is flapping in the wind while he guffaws madly and destroys the Necrons.

That's one potential outcome. He also might ignore her, blow up the remaining bits of the village or accidentally blow up the village while fighting the Necrons.

It's your Ork. If you want a wealthy Bad Moon who understands value is subjective and is a master at trading, thus recognizes the value inherent in the teddy bear simply by her attachment to it, go nuts. If you want to play a Goff Warboss who barely even registers the little girl, that's fine, too.

It's up to you. The thing to remember is not to humanize Orks. They do not think like you or I and you cannot apply human ideals to them.

Ghorros wrote:
The answer to the OP's question is:

It depends. SOME Orks would butcher and enslave the lot. Some would quickly get bored and leave.

Some would treat them like Snotlings, essentially ignore them unless they irritate them.

Orks run based on instincts - To an Ork, gold is meaningless. You can, however, buy them off with hordes of gold which they may or may not accept as being important to you.

An Ork could be a monster or a hero, but it is impossible to assign human values to it. As an example:

A little girl of about 4 hides in terror. A Necron attack has destroyed her village and family. An Ork warboss, who has a vague itching in his brain to fight Necrons due to some ancient instinct he doesn't understand, finds the girl. The girl is crying and offers the Ork her teddy bear - The final memory she has of her family and better times.

The Ork perceives this item as being of tremendous value to the person who holds it. He then might get 'Bought off' by it and decide to rescue the girl, butchering all the Necrons in his way. This big, bad, tough Warlord has a little girl strapped in on the back seat of his warbike and her little teddy bear is flapping in the wind while he guffaws madly and destroys the Necrons.

That's one potential outcome. He also might ignore her, blow up the remaining bits of the village or accidentally blow up the village while fighting the Necrons.

It's your Ork. If you want a wealthy Bad Moon who understands value is subjective and is a master at trading, thus recognizes the value inherent in the teddy bear simply by her attachment to it, go nuts. If you want to play a Goff Warboss who barely even registers the little girl, that's fine, too.

It's up to you. The thing to remember is not to humanize Orks. They do not think like you or I and you cannot apply human ideals to them.

I like this, have an exalt.

Ghorros wrote:
The answer to the OP's question is:

It depends. SOME Orks would butcher and enslave the lot. Some would quickly get bored and leave.

Some would treat them like Snotlings, essentially ignore them unless they irritate them.

Orks run based on instincts - To an Ork, gold is meaningless. You can, however, buy them off with hordes of gold which they may or may not accept as being important to you.

An Ork could be a monster or a hero, but it is impossible to assign human values to it. As an example:

A little girl of about 4 hides in terror. A Necron attack has destroyed her village and family. An Ork warboss, who has a vague itching in his brain to fight Necrons due to some ancient instinct he doesn't understand, finds the girl. The girl is crying and offers the Ork her teddy bear - The final memory she has of her family and better times.

The Ork perceives this item as being of tremendous value to the person who holds it. He then might get 'Bought off' by it and decide to rescue the girl, butchering all the Necrons in his way. This big, bad, tough Warlord has a little girl strapped in on the back seat of his warbike and her little teddy bear is flapping in the wind while he guffaws madly and destroys the Necrons.

That's one potential outcome. He also might ignore her, blow up the remaining bits of the village or accidentally blow up the village while fighting the Necrons.

It's your Ork. If you want a wealthy Bad Moon who understands value is subjective and is a master at trading, thus recognizes the value inherent in the teddy bear simply by her attachment to it, go nuts. If you want to play a Goff Warboss who barely even registers the little girl, that's fine, too.

It's up to you. The thing to remember is not to humanize Orks. They do not think like you or I and you cannot apply human ideals to them.

Sum wuns finkin 2 hard. That sounds like a ork that haz ambizunchzuns of runnin da show.
An ebery ork nose wot happens ta the pretendas.

Sidz yer mum.woz grete. She lubed ma big green elbow. Shz a good bak scratcha

 Blackhair Duckshape wrote:
Say a group of Orks comes across a planet populated entirely by pacifists who would rather die than harm another living being, what happens?

Do they quickly realise there isn't any good foightin' to be had there and move on?
Do they just wander the planet systematically killing all the little Gandhis?
Do they try to goad the populace into fighting back?
Do they learn to fight with their words?

Probably all of that could happen. What's up with the last one? Fighting with words?

Dees humies dun wanna foight us Boss!

Response #1 Rough up da little humies and see if dey change their minds!

Response #2 Dey prolly da givin' types! Just take everyfing!

Response #3 Rough em up harder! Dey'll break wun way or da uver!

 ProwlerPC wrote:
They tend to enslave non combatants or put them in pit fights against squigs etc or make bets on which one does the best burny dance or dissected into parts for the doks cyborks or bred and raised as cattle or....lots of things that are grim dark to humans but entertaining comedy to orks. Seriously when it comes to orks I'd rather die fighting on the field.

Being a slave to orks isn't that bad if you're good at something useful to them.

"Some slaves are chained to machines, serving as their perpetual operators. Others are forced to make weapons in Ork workshops under the beady eyes of Mekboyz and Gretchin overseers. Some rise rapidly in Ork status on account of their expertise and talent. In fact, a talented alien slave can often rise to a position of respect in Ork society more quickly than a free citizen can in his own society. This is due to the fact that a talented slave is a rare commodity. Orks are quick to recognise useful skills and are easily impressed by know-how, especially technical and administrative skills. Slaves with these talents get respect and rewards they might never get at home. In fact, some slaves willingly work for their Ork masters and become trusted advisors."

-Waargh the Orks

 Gargantuan wrote:

 ProwlerPC wrote:
They tend to enslave non combatants or put them in pit fights against squigs etc or make bets on which one does the best burny dance or dissected into parts for the doks cyborks or bred and raised as cattle or....lots of things that are grim dark to humans but entertaining comedy to orks. Seriously when it comes to orks I'd rather die fighting on the field.

Being a slave to orks isn't that bad if you're good at something useful to them.

"Some slaves are chained to machines, serving as their perpetual operators. Others are forced to make weapons in Ork workshops under the beady eyes of Mekboyz and Gretchin overseers. Some rise rapidly in Ork status on account of their expertise and talent. In fact, a talented alien slave can often rise to a position of respect in Ork society more quickly than a free citizen can in his own society. This is due to the fact that a talented slave is a rare commodity. Orks are quick to recognise useful skills and are easily impressed by know-how, especially technical and administrative skills. Slaves with these talents get respect and rewards they might never get at home. In fact, some slaves willingly work for their Ork masters and become trusted advisors."

-Waargh the Orks

Too bad if your impressive skills are fighting or dancing.
As for breeding you gotta wonder how well Orks understand anatomy.

 Dakka Wolf wrote:

 Gargantuan wrote:

 ProwlerPC wrote:
They tend to enslave non combatants or put them in pit fights against squigs etc or make bets on which one does the best burny dance or dissected into parts for the doks cyborks or bred and raised as cattle or....lots of things that are grim dark to humans but entertaining comedy to orks. Seriously when it comes to orks I'd rather die fighting on the field.

Being a slave to orks isn't that bad if you're good at something useful to them.

"Some slaves are chained to machines, serving as their perpetual operators. Others are forced to make weapons in Ork workshops under the beady eyes of Mekboyz and Gretchin overseers. Some rise rapidly in Ork status on account of their expertise and talent. In fact, a talented alien slave can often rise to a position of respect in Ork society more quickly than a free citizen can in his own society. This is due to the fact that a talented slave is a rare commodity. Orks are quick to recognise useful skills and are easily impressed by know-how, especially technical and administrative skills. Slaves with these talents get respect and rewards they might never get at home. In fact, some slaves willingly work for their Ork masters and become trusted advisors."

-Waargh the Orks

Too bad if your impressive skills are fighting or dancing.
As for breeding you gotta wonder how well Orks understand anatomy.

Wouldn't an Ork's idea of breeding consist of killing the person and letting the non-existent 'Umie spores waft away?

 Blackhair Duckshape wrote:

 Dakka Wolf wrote:

 Gargantuan wrote:

 ProwlerPC wrote:
They tend to enslave non combatants or put them in pit fights against squigs etc or make bets on which one does the best burny dance or dissected into parts for the doks cyborks or bred and raised as cattle or....lots of things that are grim dark to humans but entertaining comedy to orks. Seriously when it comes to orks I'd rather die fighting on the field.

Being a slave to orks isn't that bad if you're good at something useful to them.

"Some slaves are chained to machines, serving as their perpetual operators. Others are forced to make weapons in Ork workshops under the beady eyes of Mekboyz and Gretchin overseers. Some rise rapidly in Ork status on account of their expertise and talent. In fact, a talented alien slave can often rise to a position of respect in Ork society more quickly than a free citizen can in his own society. This is due to the fact that a talented slave is a rare commodity. Orks are quick to recognise useful skills and are easily impressed by know-how, especially technical and administrative skills. Slaves with these talents get respect and rewards they might never get at home. In fact, some slaves willingly work for their Ork masters and become trusted advisors."

-Waargh the Orks

Too bad if your impressive skills are fighting or dancing.
As for breeding you gotta wonder how well Orks understand anatomy.

Wouldn't an Ork's idea of breeding consist of killing the person and letting the non-existent 'Umie spores waft away?

Don't Orks fart spores?