Gorkamorka

Gorkamorka

Cover of the Gorkamorka starter set
Manufacturers	Games Workshop
Designers	Andy Chambers Gavin Thorpe Rick Priestley
Publishers	Games Workshop
Players	2-8

Gorkamorka is a vehicle-using campaign game produced by Games Workshop, set on the desert world of Angelis, in the Warhammer 40,000 universe.

The player takes control of a group of Orks, with the object of the game being to gain wealth and experience. The rules were roughly based on the second edition of Warhammer 40,000, with extra vehicle rules added and an extensive campaign system.

As of December 2009, the rules from the original boxset were freely available to download from the Games Workshop website under the "Out of Print Games" section. The expansion set, Digganob, has not been released.

Background

Eons ago, a Space Hulk filled with Orks on a Waaagh! (a huge Ork invasion), crashed into Angelis, plowing a massive canyon, "Da Skid", and devastating the world's ecosystem. The Orks, who can survive just about any catastrophe, promptly decided that this wasn't the Waaagh! and decided to find a way off-world as quickly as possible. They turned to their Mekboyz (Orks genetically pre-destined to be scientists) for aid. The Meks quickly set the other Orks to work gathering up all of the wreckage from the crash. The Meks began assembling this scrap into a huge machine- just what it was going to do differed depending on the ideas of the individual Mekboy.

Some thought they were constructing a new Space Hulk, others thought it would be a Boarder (a combination of tractor beam and teleporter, which would pull a Space Hulk into orbit then allow the Orks to teleport on board) while yet others thought that the machine, once completed, would spring to life, pick them all up in its hands and carry them to the Waaagh!!

Eventually one of the other Orks noticed that this machine resembled a giant Ork - it was the spitting image of Gork and/or Mork, the Ork gods of violence and cunning. But which god the machine resembled became a bone of contention between the Orks- some thought it was Gork, others Mork. This eventually led to civil war, which destroyed the machine. Afterwards, the Meks decreed that, just to be on the safe side, from that day forward the machine would be referred to as "Gorkamorka", which meant it could be Gork, Mork or both gods at once.

The point of the game is to lead a small "mob" (~10 person gang) of greenskins or humans to gain access to Gorkamorka. Because of limited seating, one needs to acquire fame and wealth then get "tags" (passes) from the mekboys to ensure that he is not left stranded on Angelis once the Waagh is up and good to go again. The game plays extremely similar to Necromunda, which also revolves around small gangs, except that Gorkamorka added the use of vehicles. Games are designed to be played in a series and form a campaign, wherein fighters gain new abilities and suffer permanent battle injuries or death, and new soldiers are purchased, or "retire" once they get to too high of a level. Players earn money (teeth) based on how well they did in the battle, and get even more from "minigames" played between rounds. There are no set rules (or even suggestions) on how long a campaign should last, or how to declare a winner.

Races

Orks

A fungus/algal-based race whose culture revolves around war, Orks are the most common species in the universe of Warhammer 40,000. The Orks on Angelis are slightly mutated, as their culture is led by the Mekboyz instead of Warbosses. Orks live in Mektown, centred around Gorkamorka and the biggest (and only) city on Angelis.

Diggas

Before the Orks crashed, Angelis was being surveyed by the Imperium. Those humans examining the pyramids of Angelis were forced underground during the Crash, and gradually devolved into primitives. When the two races first met, Orks tried to enslave Diggas, but were slaughtered by the Night Horrors, the fearful allies of the Diggas. Since then, Orks have referred to the Pyramids and the land around them, the unchallenged territory of the Diggas, as "Morgarg-durlurk-gulskar-dregsnikslag", which translates as "Fortress of Ancient, Terrifying Power, Land of Waiting Death, Pain and Destruction", a name of utter dread amongst a species which fears virtually nothing. Despite these initial setbacks, Diggas and Orks have become trading partners, and Diggas revere Orks as the pinnacle of culture, often going so far as to imitate the Orks, wearing green paint and ork-style gear when going into battle.

Rebel Grots

Despite the fact that the Gretchin (Grots) of Angelis fight and die for their Orkish masters, Grots do not and will never receive tags- which means they won't be allowed on Gorkamorka when the time finally comes. This was and is very upsetting for them, and many years ago there was a city wide revolution, which was brutally put down by the Orks. Some of the rebellious Gretchin survived, and fled Mektown. These were the ancestors and founders of the "Gretchin Revolutionary Committee" (apparently modelled on some form of Marxist revolutionary organization), led by the infamous Red Gobbo, who dwell in Skid Row- a massive, relatively intact chunk of Space Hulk which lies at the opposite end of Da Skid to Mektown. The Rebel Grots' mission is to earn equal rights, the opportunity for Grots to get on Gorkamorka too.

Muties

When the Space Hulk crashed, not all of the humans were forced underground. Some survived the crash of their own space ship, and continued to dwell within it. But the radiation and poisons pouring from the Hulk twisted and corrupted them, changing them into twisted mutant monstrosities. The most advanced race on Angelis, the Muties lead a holy war against all other races from their fortress "Etervigila" (based on the name of the crashed spaceship from which it was built, the "Eternal Vigilance"). They harbour deep resentment for the Orks, whose wayward space hulk pushed the Muties' ancestors out of the sky, and separated them from their deity, Magod - generally assumed to be the Machine God of the Adeptus Mechanicus.

Night Horrors / Necrons

(not a playable race) Originally, the true identity of the Diggas' monstrous allies never was confirmed, being referred to by the Orks as "dem fings wot built da pyramids", but illustrations in the rulebooks featured a Necron skull amids other debris, such as the one on page 17 of the 'Uvver Book', and Games Workshop published a scenario in White Dwarf which revealed the other beings to be an isolated crypt of Necrons, located in the pyramids above the Diggas' catacombs. An Imperial report of the pyramids, from before the coming of the Ork Hulk was reprinted in Warhammer 40,000 Codex: Necrons (Chambers et al., 2002).

Adaptations

A video game based on Gorkamorka was planned for the Dreamcast, but was scrapped shortly before the system died.

References

• Chambers, Andy (1997). Gorkamorka: Da Uvver Book. Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-872372-55-4. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Chambers, Andy (2002). Warhammer 40,000 Codex: Necrons (3rd Edition ed.). Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-84154-190-7. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

External links

• Gorkamorka at BoardGameGeek
• Out of Print Section of Games Workshop Site