Source: Nemesis Crown · Setting: Nemesis Crown
Smarter, stronger, more vicious and better equipped than the normal Orc (and that’s saying something about Orcs). Black Orcs are amongst some of the worst foes anyone can face in single combat and a band of them is certainly something to put the fear into the hearts of men. They do appear more built than born and it is little wonder that there are many rumours regarding their origins.
Since the Storm of Chaos there are many, many more of these monsters now wandering the Empire, having followed Grimgor Ironhide in his Waaagh! Where once the forces of the Empire could have tracked down warbands in a matter of weeks, now there is no means or enough men to perform such a task and thus the Black Orcs roam freely.
What aims do the Black Orcs have? What is the point of a tornado? It is meaningless to ponder such matters because all the Orcs want is to fight and that means attacking whoever crosses their path. Whatever they gain from such battling is simply that they get to fight. There is no logic from them nor can any be expected.
Special Rules
Let the Goons Do the Work: Black Orcs rely on themselves to do the killing and do not ride mounts of any kind. Only normal Orcs may ride a boar or other such mount.
Da Boss is Dead!: If the Boss is killed, a Black Orc will always assume leadership of the warband before any other type, irrespective of relative experience. The replacement will automatically acquire the Oi Behave! skill.
Animosity: Orcs and Goblins enjoy nothing more than a good scrap, unfortunately they’re not always very discerning about who they scrap with. At the start of the Orc player’s turn, roll a D6 for each Henchman who is either an Orc or a Goblin. A roll of 1 means that the warrior has taken offence to something one of his mates has done or said. Do not roll for models already engaged in hand-to-hand combat. Roll a second D6 to determine what happens:
| D6 | Result |
|---|---|
| 1 | ”I ‘Erd Dat!” The warrior decides that the nearest friendly Orc or Goblin Henchman has insulted him and must pay the price! If a friendly Orc or Goblin Henchman or Hired Sword is within charge reach, the offended warrior immediately charges and fights a round of hand-to-hand combat. At the end of this round, models move 1” apart and no longer count as being in close combat. If no friendly Orc or Goblin Henchmen are within charge reach and the warrior has a missile weapon, he immediately shoots at the nearest one. If none of the above applies, or if the nearest friendly model is an Orc Hero, treat as a 2–5 result. |
| 2–5 | ”Wud Yoo Say?” The warrior is fairly certain he heard an offensive sound from the nearest friendly Orc or Goblin but isn’t quite sure. He spends the turn hurling insults and may do nothing else, though he may defend himself if attacked in hand-to-hand combat. |
| 6 | ”I’ll Show Yer!” The warrior imagines that his mates are laughing about him and decides to be first to the scrap. This model must move as quickly as possible towards the nearest enemy model, charging into combat if possible. This extra move is in addition to his regular move in the Movement phase. If the extra move takes him within charge reach of an enemy model, he must charge during his regular movement. |
Choice of Warriors
A Black Orc warband must include a minimum of three models. You have 500 Gold Crowns with which you can recruit your initial warband. The maximum number of warriors in the warband may never exceed 12.
Black Orc Boss: Each Black Orc warband must have one Black Orc Boss.
Black Orcs: Your warband may include up to two Black Orcs.
Young’uns: Your warband may include up to two Young’uns.
Orc Boyz: Any number of models may be Orc Boyz.
Orc Shootaz: You may only have as many Shootaz as the warband has Boyz.
Orc Nuttaz: Your warband may include up to four Orc Nuttaz.
Troll: You may include a single Troll in the warband.
Starting Experience
A Black Orc Boss starts with 20 Experience.
Black Orcs start with 8 Experience.
Young’uns start with 0 Experience.
All Henchmen start with 0 Experience.
Skill Table
| Combat | Shooting | Academic | Strength | Speed | Special | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black Orc Boss | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Black Orc | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Young’uns | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Black Orc Equipment List
Hand-to-hand Combat Weapons
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Dagger | 1st free / 2 gc |
| Axe | 5 gc |
| Sword | 10 gc |
| Choppa (counts as Morning Star) | 10 gc |
| Spear | 10 gc |
| Double-handed weapon | 15 gc |
Missile Weapons
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Bow | 10 gc |
| Crossbow | 25 gc |
Armour
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Buckler | 5 gc |
| Shield | 5 gc |
| Helmet | 10 gc |
| Light armour | 20 gc |
| Heavy armour | 50 gc |
Henchmen Equipment List
Hand-to-hand Combat Weapons
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Dagger | 1st free / 2 gc |
| Axe | 5 gc |
| Sword | 10 gc |
| Choppa (counts as Morning Star) | 10 gc |
| Spear | 10 gc |
| Double-handed weapon (Boyz and Nuttaz only) | 15 gc |
Missile Weapons
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Bow | 10 gc |
| Crossbow (Shootaz only) | 25 gc |
Armour
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Shield | 5 gc |
| Helmet | 10 gc |
| Light armour | 20 gc |
Heroes
1 Black Orc Boss
90 gold crowns to hire
| Profile | M | WS | BS | S | T | W | I | A | Ld |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 8 |
Amongst some of the toughest of the tough, a Black Orc Boss has fought in numerous battles and proven to the gods just how truly powerful they can become. Taking a warband is the start of their ambitions as they will seek victories to meld the Boyz into larger and larger warbands until they have a Horde at their beck and call.
Weapons/Armour: A Black Orc Boss may be equipped with weapons and armour chosen from the Black Orc Equipment list.
Special Rules
Leader: Any warrior within 6” of the Boss may use his Leadership characteristic when taking Leadership tests.
Black Orc: The model starts with a natural 6+ Armour Save. This save may be combined with other equipment to improve it.
Oi Behave!: If any Henchman fails his Animosity test within 6” of the Boss, the player may opt to have the Boss stamp his authority on the situation. The misbehaving Henchman receives an automatic hit at the Strength of the Orc player’s choosing. If the Henchman is still on his feet after the slap, he may add a number equal to the Strength of the slap to his subsequent Animosity Effect roll.
0–2 Black Orcs
60 gold crowns to hire
| Profile | M | WS | BS | S | T | W | I | A | Ld |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 7 |
In it for the mayhem, and maybe even some loyalty to the Boss of the warband, these Black Orcs lead the charge at every turn. The Black Orcs just don’t care what the target is — some Imperial peasant, herd of Beastmen or even the Boyz in the warband.
Weapons/Armour: Black Orcs may be equipped with weapons and armour chosen from the Black Orc Equipment list.
Special Rules
Black Orc: The model starts with a natural 6+ Armour Save. This save may be combined with other equipment to improve it.
0–2 Young’uns
25 gold crowns to hire
| Profile | M | WS | BS | S | T | W | I | A | Ld |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
Keen, eager and, above all, green recruits to any warband, these lads haven’t seen anywhere near as much action as the others in the warband and they’re plenty keen to get in there and do some damage. Of course one day, they know it’ll be their warband.
Weapons/Armour: Young’uns may be equipped with weapons and armour taken from the Henchmen Equipment list.
Special Rules
Black Orc Blood: One Young’un may be upgraded to a Black Orc Young’un for 10 gc. This upgrade allows him to take the Proven Warrior special skill, thus making him a fully-fledged Black Orc Warrior.
Henchmen
(Bought in groups of 1–5)
Orc Boyz
25 gold crowns to hire
| Profile | M | WS | BS | S | T | W | I | A | Ld |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
No warband would be complete without the warm bodies to make up the numbers, and thus the Boyz are essential — purely because the Black Orcs need someone to kick around when they can’t find anything else to do it to.
Weapons/Armour: Boyz may be equipped with weapons and armour chosen from the Henchmen Equipment list.
Special Rules
Animosity: At the start of every turn, every Orc Boy must take a test for Animosity (see Special Rules above).
Orc Shootaz
25 gold crowns to hire
| Profile | M | WS | BS | S | T | W | I | A | Ld |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
Not all Orcs enjoy getting into a fight straight away. Some are hunters, tracking prey and shooting it down from a distance, or recognise that sometimes you need to soften up a really tough foe before moving in to finish them off. This is the closest Orcs come to outright cowardice.
Weapons/Armour: Shootaz may be equipped with weapons and armour chosen from the Henchmen Equipment list.
Special Rules
Animosity: At the start of every turn, every Shoota must take a test for Animosity (see Special Rules above).
Uncommon: A warband may not hire more Shootaz than they have Boyz. If a Boy dies and the Shootaz outnumber the Boyz, the next hire must be a Boy so that the balance is restored.
0–4 Orc Nuttaz
40 gold crowns to hire
| Profile | M | WS | BS | S | T | W | I | A | Ld |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
These are Orcs who have been left a little bit unstable by the Storm of Chaos. They ain’t right in the head, especially by Orc standards. Eventually they’ll kill themselves, but only after they’ve killed everyone else.
Weapons/Armour: Nuttaz may be equipped with weapons and armour chosen from the Henchmen Equipment list. They can never use any form of armour or ranged weapons.
Special Rules
Unstable: These Orcs are not quite all there. They do not suffer from Animosity, but instead have a host of their own issues to deal with.
Crazy: Nuttaz always pass any Leadership-based tests they are required to take. As a side effect their minds are too far-gone and they may never learn Academic skills should they become a Hero. They can never use their Leadership for Rout tests, nor have the Leader ability, except when they are the only models left on the board.
Savage: Nuttaz must always run or charge their maximum distance towards the nearest opponent they can see; friendly models do not block line of sight. Additionally they fight with one extra attack whilst in combat (this does not appear on their profile nor count towards the racial maximum). If no enemy is visible they are moved under the player’s control.
0–1 Troll
200 gold crowns to hire
| Profile | M | WS | BS | S | T | W | I | A | Ld |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
Trolls are not intelligent enough to recognise the value of gold, but large amounts of food can often instil a certain loyalty in them. Black Orc Bosses like having Trolls in their bands because it’s good to have someone who’ll follow any order, no matter how stupid or suicidal.
Weapons/Armour: Trolls do not require weapons to fight but often carry a big club. In any event, Trolls can never be given weapons or armour.
Special Rules
Fear: Trolls are frightening monsters and cause fear.
Stupidity: A Troll is subject to the rules for Stupidity.
Regeneration: Trolls have a unique physiology that allows them to regenerate wounds. Whenever an enemy successfully inflicts a wound on a Troll, roll a D6 — on a result of 4 or more the wound is ignored and the Troll is unhurt. Trolls may not regenerate wounds caused by fire or fire-based magic. Trolls never roll for Injury after a battle unless they were taken out of action by a flaming weapon or spell, in which case they roll as a normal Henchman.
Dumb Monster: A Troll is far too stupid to ever learn any new skills. Trolls do not gain experience.
Always Hungry: The warband must pay 20 gold crowns upkeep after every game to keep the Troll. If the warband lacks the gold, the Boss may let the Troll count as 2 members so that he costs only 5 crowns — but this reduces the maximum warband size to 11 models.
Vomit Attack: Instead of his normal attacks, a Troll can regurgitate highly corrosive digestive juices on a hand-to-hand combat opponent. This is a single attack that automatically hits at Strength 5 and ignores armour saves.
Large Target: Trolls are Large Targets as defined in the shooting rules.
Black Orc Special Skills
Black Orc Heroes may use the following skill list instead of the standard skill lists available to them.
Proven Warrior: This young warrior has proven himself worthy of his Black Orc heritage. This skill may only be taken by a Young’un with the Black Orc Blood ability and 25 Experience. Once he gains this skill the model is considered a full Black Orc Warrior, follows all the rules for Black Orcs, uses their equipment list, and has access to the same skill lists as a Black Orc.
‘Ard ‘Ead: The warrior has a thick skull even for an Orc. He has a special 3+ save on a D6 to avoid being stunned — if the save is made, treat a stunned result as knocked down instead. If the Orc also wears a helmet, this save is 2+ instead of 3+, which replaces the normal Helmet special rule.
Waaagh!: Orcs are aggressive creatures and some are experts at bulldozing charges. The warrior may add +D3” to his charge range.
‘Ere We Go!: Orcs often charge even the most fearsome opponents. The model may ignore Fear tests when charging.
Da Cunnin’ Plan: Only the Boss may have this skill. The warband may re-roll any failed Rout tests as long as the Boss is not out of action.
‘Eadbasher: The Hero has massive physical strength and has learned to aim blows at the heads of opponents. Any knocked down results the Orc causes in hand-to-hand combat count as stunned results instead.