Gorkamorka

Gorkamorka is one of the Specialist Games set in the Warhammer 40000 universe. It is functionally identical to Necromunda, and its Warhammer Fantasy cousin Mordheim, in that it is a narrative skirmish-level wargame, revolving around two or more players and their personalized band of fighters in a story-like campaign setting. Its selling point is that it was themed as the story of mobs of Orks fighting for survival, entertainment and riches upon the desert world of Angelis. This makes it the only Specialist Game where the focus was on playing nonhumans, an approach that has only recently been looked towards in the form of Fantasy Flight Games' Chaos-focused Black Crusade.

Only three books and one magazine for Gorkamorka were ever released; Da Roolz (rulebook), Da Uvver Book (background fluff, scenarios, and campaign running), Digganob (expanded fluff, new factions, special characters and new missions), and Gubbinz (added scenarios, weapons, gubbbinz for vehicles, tips to build terrain, a new faction, and a scenario to use Necrons).

Story

The backstory of Gorkamorka is a simple one. A Space Hulk full of Orks crashed upon the desert world of Angelis, and miraculously managed to not kill themselves all in the process. Since Angelis is a barren wasteland empty of life, the ticked off Orks are dedicated to gathering up all the technological scrap they can from the wastes and building themselves a new machine in order to get them off of the planet and get back to the Waaagh! Due to certain little incidents, like the orkish inclination towards factionalism and a civil war that destroyed the miracle machine once (they couldn't decide whether it looked like Gork or Mork), the Orks of Angelis are ruled by their Mekboyz, who are busy working on Gorkamorka - the aforementioned miracle machine -- and keep the other Orks distracted by making them fight to gather the most scrap. Doing so is essential to get "tags", which will assure the bearer of a place on Gorkamorka when it's finally finished.

Gameplay

For the most part, Gorkamorka played a lot like Necromunda and Mordheim. The primary difference was the use of vehicles. Rather than have rules for the number of occupant in a trukk, one simply had to have enough space on the actual model to place the miniatures on. This could easily be exploited by making a huge vehicle with enough space to hold an entire mob. Of course making such a large vehicle made you an easy target. It should noted that the base of Gorkamorka model are different. Rather then using a standard circle base seen in standard Warhammer 40k, Gorkamorka used these strange egg shaped bases. The idea was that the bases would be small enough so that the players could jam as many models onto a truck. You can't get these bases anymore but custom-cut plasticard bases work just as well.

Factions

Orks - Orks are the primary faction of Gorkamorka. Divided on religious lines (Gorkers vs. Morkers), Orks dedicate themselves to fighting and gathering scrap for fun and to secure the tags they need to be assured of being taken off to the Waaagh! when Gorkamorka is finally built.

Diggas - When the Orks crashed on Angelis there was a human ship, implied to be an Adeptus Mechanicus exploration and research vessel in orbit having already landed a mission on the planet. The cataclysm of the space hulk's impact separated the humans into two factions, based on where they were at the time. Diggas are descended from those humans who were exploring the pyramids and the caverns below; taking shelter under the planet's surface, they survived the holocaust above, but descended into primitivism. Diggas have forgotten all about their ancestral connections to the Imperium and have come to revere Orks as the most awesome and impressive creatures they have ever seen. Therefore they try to emulate the Ork lifestyle as much as possible. Orks tolerate this with almost paternalistic disdain; it is, ultimately, much simpler than trying to wipe the Diggas out, especially since they have the protection of "dem fings under da pyramids". The home of the Diggas is referred to as "Morgarg-Durlurk-Gulskar-Dregsnikslag". "Fortress of ancient, terrifying power. Land of waiting death, pain and destruction". This shows just how much dread the Orks have of the place. Besides, the Diggas happily trade technological gear dug out from under the pyramids and scrap they have gathered for good Orky stuff and it's funny to watch them try and be Orks, so it's not so bad.

Gretchin Revolutionary Committee - Gretchin who have risen up in protest against the fact that they can't earn tags for Gorkamorka, even though they work and slave for their Ork masters.

Muties - When the Orks crashed on Angelis, there was a human ship, implied to be an Adeptus Mechanicus exploration and research vessel, already landed on the planet on a mission. The cataclysm of the space hulk's impact separated the humans into two factions, based on where they were at the time. Those who remained within their own ship, the now-crashed Eternal Vigilance (or "Etervigila", as the muties call it), mutated into horrifically deformed beings. Ironically, they retain more of their Imperial culture than the Diggas do, and as a result, they are dedicated to wiping out all other life on Angelis in hopes of being restored to the power and glory of their ancestors.

Necrons - Known only as "dem fings under da pyramids". For whatever reason, they are oddly protective of the Diggas who live under their pyramids and destroyed the Orks when they first tried to enslave the humans. While not normally playable in regular gameplay, there is a fan scenario in Gubbinz that brings Necrons to field.

Outside of the official factions, there are a few homemade factions. Here are just a few

Freebootaz - Added to the game by an article in the Citadel Journal (reprinted in Gubbinz), basically outlaw Orks with a pirate theme. Slightly different from regular Orks due to some special skills and how they get income.

Outlaw Motorcycle Clubs - Another outlaw Ork gang. As the name suggests, this mob uses a lot of motorcycles. More mobile than regular Orks, but still relies on spanner units to take care of bikes.

The Feral Orks - Fantasy esq. Orks that use a lot of squigs and squiggoths.

Dust Rats - The survivors from Imperial outpost, Base Station Angelis, established by the Adeptus Mechanicus expedition. Somewhere between a Diggas and Astra Militarum.

Dark Eldar - Raiders that are looking for slaves.

Special Characters

Nazgrub Wurrzag - A crotchety hermit of a scrap prospector, and also an unrecognized Wyrdboy.

Bad Doc Dreggutz - A crazy and devious Painboy who was forced to flee Mektown after he decided to implant a jet engine into the wounded head of an Ork Boss, which led to the latter's messy demise.

Dregmek Blitzkart - A mad freelance Mekboy whose need for speed led him to create a Deth Kopta, the first of its kind on Angelis.

Da Krusher - A mysterious Ork warrior who has had almost the entirety of his body replaced by cybernetics.

The Red Gobbo - The mysterious leader of the Gretchin Revolutionary Committee.

Mob Analysis

Though only Orks, Diggas, Rebel Grots and Muties can be played, each has its own strengths and weaknesses.

Orks Orks are the mainstream mob in Gorkamorka, and thusly they are the "average" by which other mobs are checked. Decently priced and with good, strong stats, possessing a resistance to Pinning that no other mob shares, they are the simplest of the mobs to use, as they require nothing more than the basic rules. If Orks have a weakness at all, it can be said to be their dependence on "oddboyz" to run their mob at full strength; Spannaz keep the vehicles working, Slaverz keep the Grots in line, so if either of these go down, your mob suffers a serious blow.

Diggas Diggas can be summarized as "hard mode Orks", essentially. Of the three "oddmobs" they are the simplest to use, but they suffer a number of penalties in comparison to their Orky counterparts. Inferior stats, a special rule that means vehicles will eventually break down, the fact that a Diggamob cannot visit Mektown (and thusly get injuries treated at the Dok's Serjery or have their vehicles tended to) until they have won a battle or survived two fights, greater problems getting gubbins (vehicle upgrades) fitted, and increased risk when visiting the Dok all make life as a Digga much tougher than life as an Ork. On the upside, their Shamans grant them access to a number of useful tricks and skills, their troops are all cheaper than Orks, and they can also pick up a number of powerful "ancient tech" devices. Unfortunately, these devices are extremely unpredictable, and put you at the mercy of the random number god.

Rebel Grots The Gretchen Revolutionary Committee is a classic "horde type" mob, using its cheap troops to swamp the battlefield in bodies; if it weren't for the very sensible rules dictating that a mob must have enough vehicles to transport them all, and weapons for each mob member, a Rebel Grot mob could number 48 models strong, right at the beginning of the campaign. Unfortunately, the Rebel Grots need that kind of numerical superiority to stand a chance; they have the weakest stats of all the mobs, they have to use their own vehicle types (very flimsy and with very complicated movement rules), their guns are weak, they can't visit the Dok's to get injuries treated, they have double the chance to run out of bullets in the middle of a fight, and it's harder for them to earn teef to buy stuff with.

Muties Muties are the opposite of Rebel Grots; a small band of elite forces. They have the best gear in the game, great stats, and are far less at the mercy of the random number god than other mobs, but they are also the most expensive mob - the basic trooper of a Mutie band is twice the price of his Orky counterpart. The fact that they ride on mutant steeds instead of driving vehicles also gives them a number of other weaknesses, compared to the other mobs.

Continued Support

Although Gorkamorka is one of the lesser known Specialist games (seriously, even when Specialist Games was still on GW's website, it wasn't even listed) there is still a good bit of online support for the game. Support ranges from an FAQ and house rules, to the inclusion of new factions such as Dark Eldar.

Video Game

Long ago in the decade known as the '90s, there was plans to make a Gorkamorka video game for the Dreamcast. The game was never released, most likely due to the Dreamcast losing support early in its life. (A tragedy really). There was also plans to port the game to Windows, but that also never happened. An early demo of the Windows version is available online.