The Orks take centre stage as the action moves to Armageddon, and they’re swarming all over a new slate of Black Library books. Let’s see which is the biggest and greenest.
Da Freebooterz Code by Justin Woolley
Skeeg Horntoof is an Ork with big dreams – the biggest hat, the most dakka, and the ambition to become the greatest freebooter the galaxy has ever seen. As kaptin of Gork’s Revenge, he is guided by Da Freebooterz Code – a set of rules so outrageous they just might work.
However, the kaptin has now instructed his boyz to plunder the hunting grounds of the legendary rogue trader Lord Captain Antoinette von Hume. Deadly, resourceful, and merciless, the pirate queen* of the Halo Stars has been pillaging her way across the void for decades, and an upstart freebooter with extravagant headgear isn’t about to get in her way.
But Horntoof has his eyes on the biggest prize of all, and he has a plan – one that will take all his guile, all his kunnin’, and all his dakka. Da Freebooterz Code is going to make him a legend… as long as von Hume doesn’t obliterate him first.
Legends of the Waaagh! by various authors
Find out what makes the Orks some of the most dangerous beings in the galaxy in a new omnibus (omnitrukk?) of stories from Dan Abnett, Aaron Dembski-Bowden, and Sandy Mitchell. This collection includes the iconic Armageddon novel, Helsreach, the story of Ciaphas Cain’s deadly run-in with Orks, Caves of Ice, and I Am Slaughter, the start of the Beast Arises saga.
There are also three short stories, making Legends of the Waaagh! a great starting point for Ork enthusiasts and essential research for anyone going up against them in the upcoming launch box for the new edition of Warhammer 40,000.
World Ablaze by various authors
Dig further into the trials facing the embattled Imperium in World Ablaze, an anthology of 11 brand new short stories centred around the apocalyptic conflict on Armageddon.
A rogue’s gallery of Black Library authors explore the monumental task ahead of those forces defending the war world, including Black Templars dragging wounded comrades across miles and miles of ice, Astra Militarum troopers being saved at the last minute by Wazdakka Gutsmek (really), and much more. If you’ve ever wanted to see a team-up between the Space Wolves and Salamanders, a classically forlorn Crimson Fists defence, or the misadventures of a past-his-prime Orky flyboy given one final mission, World Ablaze is for you.
Ghazghkull Thraka: Prophet of the Waaagh! (Illustrated Edition) by Nate Crowley
The modern classic that tells of Ghazghkull Thraka’s rise in the words of his loyal bannergrot Makari returns with a new Illustrated Edition, packed with annotations and insights from author Nate Crowley. This is the definitive – if slightly embellished – history of the Warlord of Warlords, and Lord Inquisitor Tytonida Falx will find out just how Ghazghkull became the single greatest Ork in the galaxy.
Or she’ll go mad trying.
Yarrick: The Omnibus by David Annandale
You can’t have an Ork invasion of Armageddon without Commissar Yarrick, and now that he’s back, we’re delving back into his tortured past to read about the exploits of this legendary leader. Yarrick: The Omnibus features two novels, a novella, and six short stories – it returns in paperback with a new cover, so if you haven’t read it already, you really should before the fighting ramps up again.**
All of these Orky books will be available to pre-order soon. If that’s whet your appetite for a Waaagh!, Ghazghkull Thraka: Warlord of Warlords, The Green Tide, and Da Big Dakka are available now, and there are even more tales of everyone’s favourite brutal and violent xenos on the Black Library App.
* Ork pirates and human pirates on the back of Aeldari pirates and Chaos Space Marines pirates? Where are the Adeptus Arbites when you need them?
** Not that it ever really stops on Armageddon.
