“Oi, you gitz. Listen ta ma tale o’ da Biggest Baddest Waaaghboss evah. Cuz there’s somthin’ in da tale fer all you yoofz. He started as just a ‘oi, you’ rumbling around a scrap fort in a trukkmob in a desert, and rose to be da greatest and most honored Waaaghboss in Ork legend. So listen up…” – Big Mek Mashgub Threeteef
Ork World is a set of campaign rules that combines games of Warhammer 40k and Gorkamorka to tell the tale of a number of competing warbosses on an Ork planet all vying to be the one who ascends to rule the entire group and lead their Waaagh into space and out to conquer every planet that exists. It allows multiple players to each chart the rise of their potential boss from a mere “oi you” yoof, to boy, to Nob, to Boss, and then to overall leader of the Waaagh.
To track this advancement, the Ork World campaign uses the simple Title Achievements method of advancement, paced over a set schedule of games. As each participant player’s boss grows, they will do things in games that will net them specific titles: things based on in-game accomplishments, accidents, weapons used, etc. Ork leaders are judged in part by their strength, but also by their suitably impressive titles. Wouldn’t you listen to Gorgrund, Defeata of Worlds, King Choppa, and Arch-Arsonist of Callax a lot more closely than Gorgrund, dat ork ovah dere?
What makes the campaign work is that all players know all available Title Achievements from the start, and can plan toward achieving them, but each Title Achievement is given a points value that is hidden from all participants until the conclusion of the campaign. Players won’t know whether “Shoota Masta” nets more points than “Burna Fiend” until the end of things, so everyone has reasons to advance the strategy that they’ve chosen. A non-player seals the scoring info away at the beginning, making it all the more amusing as players think about what motivates the most impressive ork boss titles. Is getting injured a sign of weakness or a show of bravery? Better to shoot or to chop, to ride a bike or experiment with a jetpack, or just hoof it in a huge suit of mega armor? Each potential boss will chart their own path of destruction in games, and earn an impressive list of titles as they go that retains their unique legend of the games.
Below is the game timeline, with the notes about where each potential boss is in their journey and the number of games played.
| Game Number(s) | System | Name and Titles |
| 1 | Gorkamorka | All potential bosses are just a yoof named “Oi You!” |
| 2 | Gorkamorka | Automatically advance to a Boy. Gain a first name of player’s choosing. |
| 3 | Gorkamorka | Complete the Nob Duel event to move to Nob. Number of attempts to victory recorded and figure into potential first Title Achievements. Gain a surname of the player’s choosing. |
| 4-6 (see aside) | Gorkamorka | Lead their Gorkamorka Band for three gaming periods, earning titles as they go. Multiple games can be played in this period to angle for other titles |
| 7-10 (see aside) | 40k | Graduate to Nob within a unit. Results of Gorkamorka games can decide the unit chosen (gaining a Title Achievement), but player can also select their own spot for the Nob if they prefer a different unit type (no Title Achievement). Again, three game periods with multiple games allowed in each period to earn the Nob-level Title Achievements. |
| 11+ | 40k | Rise to Warboss. Additional games of 40k permitted, allows even more pursuit of Title Achievements. When group agrees it’s time to crown the Waaagh leader, one final set of games gets played to allow any final shots at Title Achievements. Then the scoring rubric is revealed, and the score is tallied for each Warboss’ full title. |
The requirements for how to track this are pretty simple. The player must build three or more distinct versions of their developing boss–each with some definable feature. A certain hat, a type of warpaint, a particular skull shoulderpad, whatever makes them definable in the progression. One serves as the yoof and boy for the first two games, one serves as the Gorkamorka nob, and one serves as the Warboss. If due to the game or player decisions, the Nob takes a particular type of journey in the transition to 40k (becoming a Biker Nob, a Stormboy, etc.) then a fourth model may be necessary to indicate them as well.
Other than that, the players simply play the games at each week and then follow along on the title chart in their provided Boss Sheet checklist. Some titles are awarded for specific one-off deeds: when they are achieved, they are marked down at the end of that gaming session and are a part of the boss going forward. Others are comparative (having the most of something at the end of a given time period) or leveled (getting the first part is easy, but then the boss that has the most of those moments at the end of the campaign gets the Arch- or Masta- prefix added to their version of the achievement). There are even a couple of potentially bad titles out there: maybe in this ork society the boyz are judgmental of a nob who focuses on firepower before speed, or vice versa.
Though are you really going to tell this Bad Moonz Warboss that his love of firepower doesn’t qualify him as the baddest Warboss around?
Gubbinz in Progress: A preliminary version of the Title Achievements sheet will be placed below when it’s completed, and any other information that comes up will be placed here as well. Detailed info about the Nob Duel, Advancement from Gorkamorka to 40k, and more will be spelled out in more detail.
The Dark Muse 