This article concerns the "Gargant" war machines used by the Orks in the Games Workshop's Warhammer 40 000 universe. They are not part of the Warhammer 40 000 rules, but they can be used in the "Epic 40 000"-game (Also by GW)

Like many products of Orkoid military engineering, the Gargant relies on comparatively simple technology and devastatingly heavy firepower, an attitude summed up by Boss-Mek Badlug One-Leg in his oft-quoted dictum "S'gonna be dead shooty, wiv loadza gunz all over."

Orks do not rely on auto-systems to the same extent as other races, and Gargants carry a large crew of both Orks and Gretchins. The crew is led by a Kaptin, who relays orders through a body of officers. A speaking-tube is the preferred method of communication within a Gargant. Each officer is in charge of one section of the Gargant, be it a weapon, the magazine, the engine room, or whatever. Under the officer is a crew of Orks and Gretchins who carry out the orders passed down to them. Repair crews are composed of Gretchins, whose smaller build suits them to crawling through cramped spaces armed with wrenches and oily rags.

BUILDING GARGANTS

Ork raids are a constant hazard for all the intelligent races of the galaxy. Every two or three centuries the frequency of raiding increases, closely followed by Ork invasion and wars of conquest. This is known as the time of Waa-Ork. It is the root cause of Ork migrations and responsible for the rise of great empires. The focal point of the Waa-Ork is the construction of the mighty Ork Titans, known as Gargants.

Waa-Ork is a spontaneous happening. It can begin in the mind of a single Mek, who forms the vision of a colossal war machine in his mind, shaped in the image of the Ork war gods. From that moment on he becomes obsessed by giving real mechanical form to this dream. He immediately begins work, assisted by his Gretchins and slaves, and Mekboyz drawn in from the surrounding area, inspired by the same idea. Soon the word spreads and the psychic call is heard by Orks all across the galaxy. More and more Meks with their entourages gather at the site, which now reverberates to the clanging of hammers on metal. Slowly the scaffolding is erected and within the cradle of steel the great metal hulk that will become a Gargant takes shape.

Gradually the Waa-Ork gathers momentum, as the scene is repeated throughout Orkdom. Each tribe, realm or empire is engrossed with the construction of its own Mob of Gargants. In a process which can take up to three hundred years to reach its peak, the whole of the Ork race will become agitated, disturbed and dynamic. Waa-Ork is a time of tribes coming together, of great works, of migrations, wars and conquests. Orks throughout the universe take to the warpath.

The gigantic Titans known as Gargants stride at the core of the Waa-Ork. Each Gargant is a huge towering war machine of awesome destructive power. It is also a mechanical, fighting, fire-belching idol in the image of the Ork war gods. The machines are served by a living crew of Orks and Gretchins, stoking the boilers and loading the guns in the Gargant's turrets. The construction of a Gargant is in itself an act of god worship, and stands for all that is Orkish.

Eventually the Waa-Ork reaches fever pitch. The Gargants are near completion, and the armies of the warlords have been mustered. When the Gargants are ready, the scaffolding is pulled away and the great boilers are stoked for the first time. A cheer rises as the great beasts belch smoke and move forward. Then the Ork armies go off in all directions, wherever fate and fortune may take them, and war comes to every corner of the galaxy.