The First Ork War, originally called simply the Ork Wars before the onset of a second conflict with the Greenskins, was the name given to a conflict fought in the 41st Millennium by the Knight houses of the Knight World of Adrastapol against the Ork WAAAGH! Skarjaw. The war ended in a victory for the Imperial forces and the freeing of Adrastapol from the Greenskin taint, though hunting down the last of the Feral Orks who remained from the original assault would consume solar decades.
History[]
At the beginning of the reign of High King Gerraint Tan Chimaeros of House Chimaeros, the Knight World of Adrastapol suffered an all-out invasion by the savage xenos-species of the Orks. Under their terrifying warlord, Skarjaw, this WAAAGH! had grown in power until it was able to threaten even the mightiest Imperial world. Skarjaw's horde was noted to be extremely savage, even by the standards of his own race. Where other WAAAGH!s had been heavily mechanised, aligning Junka Trukks, combat walkers and Battlewagons, and sometimes even towering Stompas or Gargants, Skarjaw's forces trusted in the brute force and innate savagery of its half-domesticated Squiggoths.
The arrival of the Orks on Adrastapol took all of its Knight houses by surprise, and before a coordinated counterattack could be launched, Skarjaw's minions had already assaulted several keeps belonging to House Manticos, a fatal blow from which the house never truly recovered. As the Ork advance closed in on the ancestral fortress of House Draconis, the Draconspire, the battle was joined between the host of High King Gerraint and Skarjaw's Orks. Unfortunately for the Imperials, the savagery of Skarjaw and those near to him was such that the brave Knights of House Pegasson were unable to stop them from breaking through their lines.
In his eagerness to plunder and devastate this world, Skarjaw attacked the ill-defended Draconspire. With the survival of his house in the balance, Tolwyn Tan Draconis, then mere Gatekeeper to his father, made a fateful decision: he personally led a sortie of the house's youngest and bravest Knights in an attempt to slay the enemy warlord, leaving the safety of their fortress behind.
Although hard-fought, the mission was a resounding success. Tolwyn's initiative not only led to the death of Skarjaw and his towering warbeast, but also scattered the leadership of the WAAAGH! which was then readily defeated by High King Gerraint's army.
The survivors of this invasion would scatter through Adrastapol's wilderness from where Feral Orks would continue to pose a threat to the population of the Knight World. Under High King Gerraint's orders, the Adrastapolian Knights tirelessly campaigned to rid their homeworld of the taint that had befallen it, a tiresome campaign that lasted over several solar decades.
See Also[]
Sources[]
- Becoming (Short Story) by Andy Clark
- Knightsblade (Novel) by Andy Clark, Chs. 5, 16