Faction Guide
Orks
Green. Loud. Absolutely not interested in your opinion. Orks are a fungal alien species that reproduces via spores, builds technology that shouldn't work, and genuinely just loves to fight. They're the most fun faction in the game. We said what we said.
Playstyle
Melee Horde
Painting
Easy ✓
Rules
Medium
Starter Cost
~$160-$220
Who are the Orks?
Orks are not animals. They're fungal organisms - closer to a mushroom than a mammal. They reproduce by releasing spores when they die, meaning an Ork invasion of a planet is effectively permanent. Kill every Ork and the planet still has Orks in fifty years when the spores germinate. There is no winning. There is only containing.
Their technology is the best joke in the setting. An Ork's rocket pack shouldn't fly. Their guns shouldn't shoot that far. Their vehicles shouldn't run at all. But they do - because Orks collectively believe they will. There's a low-level psychic field generated by Ork minds that literally warps reality to match their expectations. Paint a vehicle red and it goes faster. Because every Ork knows red wunz go fasta.
The more Orks gather, the more powerful this field becomes. A WAAAGH! - a great migration of Orks drawn together by psychic energy and shared love of violence - can grow to a size that threatens entire star systems. History's largest WAAAGH! brought together trillions of Orks. The Imperium has never fully recovered from it.
They have a caste system of sorts: Boyz are the core warriors. Nobz are the bigger, meaner veterans. Warbosses lead through violence (the biggest Ork is always in charge). Mekboyz build the vehicles. Painboyz perform surgery. Gretchin are the tiny, cowardly goblins who do all the work nobody else wants to do.
How they play on the table
Orks are a melee horde. The goal is simple: get across the table as fast as possible and hit things very hard with very large weapons. You'll have more models than your opponent. Probably a lot more.
Individual Orks are surprisingly resilient — they have multiple wounds each, meaning it takes several hits to bring one down rather than a single lucky shot. But they die in numbers, and that's fine. You have numbers.
Ork shooting is deliberately bad. They hit on 5s with most units - out of six possible results on a die, they need a 5 or 6 to hit anything. This is lore-accurate (they point in the general direction and pull the trigger) and means the army isn't meant to win through firepower. You advance, you survive the incoming fire, and then you charge.
The community shorthand is "Get Green Done" - paint fast, field a lot, have fun. It's the most relaxed faction culture in the hobby.
Orks are for you if...
- ✓ You want to get in close and hit things very hard
- ✓ You love the idea of a chaotic, unpredictable army
- ✓ You want a fast, forgiving paint scheme
- ✓ You want the faction with the best personality
- ✓ You want quantity over quality - lots of models on the table
Maybe look elsewhere if...
- ✗ You want to win through precision shooting
- ✗ You don't want to assemble and paint 40+ models
- ✗ You prefer elegant, disciplined armies
- ✗ You want powerful psychic abilities
How to paint Orks
Here's the secret: messy is correct. Battle-damaged, grimy, and rough IS the Ork aesthetic. You cannot fail.
The main thing you're painting is green skin, brown leather, and dirty metal. All three of those benefit from washes and drybrushing - the two techniques that hide mistakes automatically. Orks are genuinely one of the best factions to learn to paint on.
Spray Grey Seer (or Wraithbone)
A light neutral base coat works better than black for Orks - the green skin pops more, and the leather browns read cleaner.
Ork Flesh Contrast paint over all skin
Slap it on every green area. It self-shades, creates depth in the muscles, and looks great in one coat. This is the fastest method and it works.
Wyldwood Contrast on leather and cloth
Straps, belts, loincloths, boots - one coat of Wyldwood gives you instant dark brown leather that already looks worn and dirty. Perfect.
Leadbelcher on all metal
Weapons, armor plates, choppas, shootas - drybrush or dab Leadbelcher over anything metallic. Don't be neat. Orks aren't neat.
Agrax Earthshade wash over everything
A brown-black wash over the whole model. It ties all the colors together, adds grime and shadow, and makes everything look like it's been dragged through a warzone. Which it has.
Drybrush Warboss Green on skin, Ironbreaker on metal
Bring raised surfaces back to life. The drybrush makes muscles pop on the skin and adds scratches and wear to the metal for free.
Ushabti Bone on teeth and tusks, base the model
One detail that elevates the whole model. Pick out the teeth and tusk tips. Then base with a brown texture paint and a tuft.
The "Get Green Done" philosophy
Ork players have a saying: "A painted Ork is better than an unpainted Ork." The community actively celebrates speed painting, batch painting, and "good enough for the table." You are not expected to spend 10 hours per model. You have 60 of them. Paint them in batches of 10, keep moving, and enjoy the chaos.
What to buy first
One box to start. Paint it before you buy more - trust the process.
Combat Patrol: Orks
Includes a Beastboss (your warlord), 20 Beast Snagga Boyz (your core troops — tougher than standard Boyz and born to hunt monsters), and 4 Squighog Boyz with a Bomb Squig (elite cavalry on giant squigs). A hard-hitting Beast Snagga themed force out of the box.
See price on Amazon →Ork Boyz (20-model box)
More Boyz means more chaos. The second purchase for almost every new Ork player. Boyz are cheap in points, easy to paint in batches, and flooding the board with them is one of the most fun experiences in 40k. You will want more.
Search Amazon →Paints you need
~$42 for the full set. You'll use every one of these on every model.
Honest cost breakdown
Combat Patrol: Orks
Beastboss, Beast Snagga Boyz, Squighog Boyz
Essential paints (6)
Contrast paints + wash + drybush colors
Basing supplies
Brown texture paint + tufts
Clippers + hobby knife
One-time purchase
Superglue
Some Ork models are multi-part resin/plastic
All-in starter total
~$239Orks are a horde army - budget for more Boyz eventually. The Combat Patrol gets you started, but you'll want 40-60 Boyz for a full competitive list.
WAAAGH!
Grab the Combat Patrol. Paint ten Boyz before you do anything else. Then paint ten more. Then never stop painting Orks. This is the way.