Andy: When I originally wrote the Codex: Orks army list I tried to angle it so players could make up clan-themed warbands. The right paint schemes and a few choice units (I reasoned) would create a Goff warband or a Bad Moons warband by cunningly utilising the codex list. Ever since writing the codex I've intended to do a follow-up article about specific variant lists for Orks clanz and I've read a number of interesting ones on the Net (kudos to Cannibal Bob for his unstinting efforts). What follows is a simple set of roolz for theming different clanz based on the Codex: Orks list.

'OW IT WERKS

Each clan has a list of what's different about their army, broken down as follows:

CORE MOBS

The core mobs are the kind of Orks that most typify the clan. Mobs of this type may be chosen as Troops, regardless of which Force Organisation slot they would normally occupy. In addition, they may also be taken from the slot they normally occupy. For example, a Goff clan army may take Skarboyz as both Troops and Elites, meaning the army could take up to nine of these mobs in a Cleanse mission. They also have any restrictions on number removed (ie, 0-1, 0-2). A clan army must fulfil its compulsory Troops choices with core mobs.

COMMON UNITS

These are units that are common and/or popular with the clan and so have no limit on the number that can be chosen (subject to the normal Force Organisation chart limits, of course). They are still taken from the Force Organisation slot as normal.

RARE MOBS

These units are less likely to be seen in a clan warband and so become 0-1 choices. If the unit is already 0-1 then the clan may not use it at all.

Clan Warboss upgrades: A Warboss exemplifies the traits of his clan and may have compulsory wargear choices or extra options to reflect this.

Clan Boss upgrades: Many clanz have a preponderance of 'Oddboyz' - Mekaniaks or Bad Doks for example. Where appropriate they can include these as leaders for their Boyz mobz in place of Nobz. Other clanz may be distinguished more by the wargear the Nobz carry, and so this category may also contain details of wargear the character must take, or gets a points break on.

THE SNAKEBITES

Snakebites use technology reluctantly and always feel more comfortable with simple machinery and well established Orky ways and values. They preserve some values that other Orks have long since abandoned, and shun certain aspects of recently developed technology. Probably the best example of this is their preference for riding into battle mounted on the back of a ferocious warboar!

The Snakebites can be distinguished from other Orks by their tattooed skin, clothes, furs and rather backward appearance. Their name comes from the strange initiation rites of the clan which involves a new Snakebite being bitten by poisonous snakes and then sucking out the venom straight away to prove his toughness. They are a nomadic clan who rarely settle in one place for long, and always seem to be 'lookin' fer sumfink' and 'wanderin' orf'. They always carry a selection of snakes with them when they migrate to a new planet, just in case the local serpents prove unsuitably inoffensive.

USING A SNAKEBITES ARMY IN WARHAMMER 40,000

Core mobs: Huntas from the Feral Orks army list.

Common units: Boarboyz and Madboyz from the Feral Orks army list.

Rare units: Big Gunz batteries; Dreadnoughts; Stormboyz; Flash Gitz.

Clan Warboss upgrades: Warboss may purchase a Super Cyboar from the Feral Orks list.

A NOTE ABOUT THE SNAKEBITES AND FERAL ORKS

Any new Ork tribe will begin life in the 'feral' stage, appearing from the wreckage of a long-passed Waaagh! The Snakebites choose to remain in this primitive state, believing it to be more 'Orky'. If you wish to represent a truly primitive tribe then use the Feral Ork army list, but don't feel constrained into painting them as Snakebites - every new tribe has to start somewhere!

Download the Ork Clan Rules in PDF format [Download PDF - 232 Kb].

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Related Links:
Goffs Army List | Bad Moon Army List | Evil Sun Army List
Death Skull Army List | Blood Axe Army List