Warhammer 40K RETRO: The Tiniest Orks of Them All
Today we look back over twenty years at the meanest – tiniest EPIC Orks to kick ass on the Horus Heresy tabletop.
EPIC scale’s 6mm range had it’s origins way way back in 1988’s Adeptus Titanicus – which was focussed solely on titan combat in the Horus Heresy. In fact it was Adeptus Titanicus that was the breeding ground for much of the original Horus Heresy lore. It started as titans only, just as the 2018 edition has started, but it didn’t stay that way. Before long the tiny 6mm range had expanded throughout the 1990s to include all of the Grimdark’s major factions – from their mighty Titans to basic infantry.
EPIC always makes us wax nostalgic, so today, in the shadow of an all new Legions Imperialis, we are going back to 1990s to see what the Orks looked like back in the day – the second xenos faction to show up, and a major player in the Horus Heresy from it’s very inception.
This is the original Ork Great Gargant, and its slightly smaller, but still scary stablemate, the Slasha Gargant. The Great Gargant arrived way back in the late 1980s in Adeptus Titanicus, and Ork range grew around them as EPIC evolved into two editions of SPACE MARINE, and a later total ill-fated EPIC 40,000 reboot.
Here is a full Ork army from a battle report for SPACE MARINE. You can see all the mature Orky elements from the Gargants, to the buggies, to the Warbosses and a variety of Ork tanks that would get radically redesigned years later when they arrived in 40K. What is interesting is that during the very early 1990s, EPIC was the real beating heart of army design for many of the Grimdark’s factions – including Squats…erm Leagues of Votann. These armies would have a fully fleshed-out combined-arms approach in EPIC that GW would cherry-pick from to add units to 40K decades later.
This is the core pair of sprues for the Ork army and is absolutely fantastic. The upper three tanks were the Ork “meat and potatoes” vehicles that would years later disappear down the memory hole for 40K. The lower Ork Horde sprue gave came first and was the infantry core of your Ork Waaagh – providing Boyz and Battle Wagons to carry them. Yes, THAT is what the old-school Battle Wagon originally looked like! The upper Ork Invasion sprue arrived several years later and gives you everything you need to make every type of EPIC infantry stand for your greenskins. All the basics are there from Boarboys Stormboyz, Wildboyz, Gretchin, nobs, and a variety of support units. The detail is quite impressive for two decades back and at 6mm scale.
Teensy Ork tanks, several of which have been re-envisioned in 40k! In EPIC these funky designs laid down the core of the Orks high speed assault armory. You get the big Baneblade sized Giblet Grinda and Skull Hamma. Then you got the medium sized Brain Crusha, Gut Rippa, and Bone Cruncha – based on your preferred ratio of shooty-to-smashy. Finally you get that svelte little Bowel Burna to run around and set things on fire.
Later Forge World Deth-rolla Battle Fortress. You can kind of see the family resemblance.
Finally, we have the oddball EPIC Stompers sprue which combined the “big guys” of all the EPIC factions. This is where you and your friends all chipped in to buy several sets and parted out the units you needed. Here you see the original Ork Stompa, who does like kind of cute, and the two-part EPIC Shock Attack Gun on the bottom row. Also note the “Chaos Android” to the left and right of the Stompa from SpaceQuest tiptoeing into EPIC. This is the sprue that created the Contemptor Dreadnought (middle row, right) which would return to 40K two decades later.
On the tabletop the Ork army was stunning (check out the Gargants)!
~Thanks for this trip down memory lane folks. Do you think with the newly announced Legions Imperialis EPIC Orks may one day return?
