Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve looked at the wider Armageddon System and the regions of the planet itself, and now we’re left with one burning question: What exactly is Ghazghkull doing this time, and who has he brought along to help enact his diabolical will?
The renewed Ork invasion of Armageddon appeared to come out of nowhere, and, in a way, it did. Rather than give the Imperium time to prepare as he sailed his massive fleet through the system towards the planet, Ghazghkull turned to his new secret weapon – the mega-tellyshokka, an unimaginably massive teleportation device built by the greatest congregation of Ork ‘genius’ ever assembled. It was this contraption that tore apart the planet on which Yarrick nearly met his end, and now it has flung the entire Ork fleet across impossible distances into the heart of the Armageddon System.
The idea for the mega-tellyshokka came from the collective cunning and experience of Ghazghkull, notorious Bad Moon Warlord Nazdreg, and the shadowy Big Mek (or Big Meks) known to the Imperium by the codename ‘Orkimedes’. Both Ork Bosses had ample experience with tellyporta technology after using them on Piscina IV to batter a significant Dark Angels garrison, and after several disastrous attempts to use a single, vast engine,* Nazdreg hit upon the solution – ten custom Kill Kroozers that channelled a gateway through the Warp like the sticky-outy, whirly gubbinz on a shokk attack gun.
This way, the kroozers could travel separately under heavy guard, then assemble when Ghazghkull needed them. Their alignment could be modified on the fly, so they wouldn’t teleport millions of Orks into solid rock, and if one blew up for fun, it wouldn’t take out the entire array. It was, by all rights, a plan of spectacular genius for the Orks. And then it only went and worked.
Now poised to crash down on Armageddon’s surface, the Prophet of the Waaagh! has assembled a rogue’s gallery of trusted Bosses to ensure a state of eternal war on the planet from which there is no escape or respite. Some of them you may have heard of already…
Nazdreg Ug Urdgrub
Widely considered the greatest Bad Moon Boss alive and a bubbling cauldron of animal cunning and madcap ingenuity, Boss Nazdreg can be trusted about as far as he can be thrown,** and his extravagant shows of wealth only serve to make more tradish’nul Bosses green(er) with envy. After nearly teleporting himself to death, Nazdreg returned to Ghazghkull’s inner circle, where, to his credit, he was accepted as one of the Warlord of Warlords’ most effective Bossboyz.
Right now, he’s off looting an Imperial mining world where rumours say a Warlord Titan rests. One that Nazdreg has decided will be his new walking throne room, if he can find it.
Boss Snikrot
The boss of the infamous Red Skull Kommandos has been lurking in the Equatorial Jungle for years, causing havoc for Imperial forces whenever he appears and melting back into the trees before guns can be trained on him or his lads. Though Snikrot himself has left the planet from time to time on secret missions for his Warlord, his Kommandos continue to be the greatest threat to Armageddon’s plans for the jungle, and every time reports suggest Snikrot might be gone for good, another fortress goes silent without so much as a green hide spotted.
Orkimedes
As far as sector command and the wider watch fortresses of the Deathwatch are concerned, nobody has ever even seen the ingenious Big Mek codenamed Orkimedes, let alone had a chance to remove him from the equation. Many of the Orks’ most incredible advancements, from teleporting Gargants to invasion submersibles, have been attributed to his undeniable genius, and it could well turn out that it’s the work of more than a singular Big Mek, making the job of the Deathwatch even harder.
Multiple kill teams have been tasked solely with his assassination, yet none have got close so far. Amidst the chaos of Ghazghkull’s newest invasion, success seems even less likely than before…
Ugrokk Glitztoof
While many Ork Bosses left Armageddon alongside Ghazghkull at the height of the Third War for Armageddon, Big Mek Glitztoof stayed behind and violently assumed control of the Ork-held Hive Tempestora. His erratic moods and tendency to lash out at his Boyz for the slightest infraction have made him as much a terror to his own Boyz as he is to Imperial forces, though this all-pervasive fear of his next summary execution has kept many of the Orks lurking in Tempestora in line.
Lately, his ambitions have begun to expand beyond the walls of the hive. Now that the Prophet of the Waaagh! has returned to Armageddon, it might just be the right time to sally out from his besieged city.
Find out more about these brutal and kunnin’ Bosses, and the ongoing conflicts on Armageddon, when The Return of Yarrick goes up for pre-order on Saturday.
* One of which reduced an entire Imperial hive world to rubble and turned millions of its residents inside-out, which the Orks found very funny.
** Which means Ghazghkull trusts him more than we do.
