Gargant

An Ork Gargant in combat.

The Ork equivalent of an Imperial Titan is called a Gargant. Gargants are as much idols of the savage Ork gods, Gork and Mork, as they are engines of destruction. Big Mek Orks receive a divine vision of sorts from Gork (or possibly Mork), and set out to bring that vision to life in the artistic medium of thick armour plates, smoke-belching engines, and lots and lots of very large guns. This activity quickly spreads amongst other Big Meks in the local Ork-settled area who seek to compete in Gargant-building, and soon Gargants spring up all over the place.

The construction of Gargants is one of the typical signs of an impending WAAAGH! from an Ork-held star system. In an Ork warband, there can exist Gargants and Gargant-like war machines from Killa Kans (which are the Ork equivalent of the Space Marine Dreadnoughts) crewed by a single Gretchin to the vast armoured behemoths that are the Mega-Gargants.

Construction

An Ork Gargant

A variant of an Ork Gargant

Ork Gargants are an extremely varied lot, with no two ever being exactly alike, as is common with seemingly slapdash Ork technology. Thanks to the frenzied imaginations of the Mekboyz building them, Ork weapons tend to be haphazard, unreliable and noisy. When they work, however, they can inflict gruesome damage. Gargants are commonly equipped with at least one close-combat weapon, because charging in and bashing heads is considered to be a very "Orky" thing to do.

For defence, Gargants generate Power Fields that are the Ork equivalent of an Imperial Titan's gravitic Void Shields; however, while Gargants tend to have more intense and reflective Power Fields than an Imperial Titan, they cannot regenerate these during the battle as a Titan is able to do.

Orks do not rely on automated systems to the same extent as the other starfaring races of the galaxy, 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 Greenskin officer is in charge of one section of the Gargant, be it a weapon, the magazine, the engine room, or any other chambers. 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 for crawling through cramped spaces armed with wrenches and oily rags.

Compared to Imperial Titans, Ork Gargants have weaker armour and comparatively shorter-ranged weaponry. Nevertheless, Gargants are extremely difficult to destroy due to their dense (albeit crude) construction. While Gargants do not suffer from potentially fatal plasma reactor meltdowns, they are particularly vulnerable to fires and magazine explosions.

There is no set size for a Gargant, although the smaller ones are more often called Stompas. The large machine's armour basically consists of bits of metal of various sizes bolted together that makes the Gargant look like it is wearing a long skirt. Gargants are viewed by the Ork race as avatars in the physical universe of their Gods, Gork and Mork.

The weapons used by a Gargant will depend as much on the materials at hand as the Orks constructing the Gargant. It may make use of anything from a Lobba to a Zap Cannon as the primary armaments, and will usually have two of these. In addition, the Gargant will also be able to support many Gatling Cannons, Flamers, and myriad other types of death dealers. Like Imperial Titans, most Gargants will also be equipped with a massive Gargant-sized melee weapon, be it an enormous Choppa', Hammah', or some other suitable "hacky-smashy" Ork melee weapon.

The Gargant is a source of great pride for the Ork Warboss who owns one as it shows both his great richness in Teef (the Ork currency, and quite literally Ork teeth) and that he is a superlative Big Mek (meaning that he has great technological competency). Gargants are common amongst the Kult of Speed and the Bad Moons klan, though every Ork tribe has their own preferential Gargant weapon load-outs.

Mega-Gargant

Imperator-class Titan faces off against an Ork Mega-Gargant

The Mega-Gargant is a very rare, super-large Gargant on a par in size with the Imperator and Warmonger-class Emperor Titans, though not nearly as powerful.

It carries a large number and variety of weapons including the "Mega-Dropper." Unlike the other Gargants which shuffle forward on their short mechanical legs, the Mega-Gargant is actually a tracked vehicle; it is essentially a mobile Ork fortress and its appearance is greatly feared by Ork foes.

Other Variants

Killa Kan

Killa Kans are giant metal canisters on piston-driven legs that sport lethal close combat attachments and heavy-duty weaponry. Crewed by a single Gretchin, one of their limbs usually ends in deadly-looking power shears or a great blood-encrusted buzz saw whilst a large calibre ranged weapon is welded to the opposite side. Killa Kans serve the same role for the Orks as Dreadnoughts do for the Imperial Space Marines, though they are smaller and possess less firepower and survivability.

Deff Dread

Ork Deff Dread

The Ork Deff Dread is a a large Ork combat walker that is essentially a cross between an Ork Killa Kan and a Space Marine Dreadnought. The machine is smaller than an Ork Stompa, but is larger than a Killa Kan. The Deff Dread is also capable of carrying up to four weaponised arms. Also like a Dreadnought, a Deff Dread's Ork pilot must be cybernetically hardwired into the machine. As a result, the construction of a functional Deff Dread requires the skills of both an Ork Mekboy and a Painboy. When it is possible to craft a Deff Dread many Orks volunteer for the process since it will allow them to essentially become one of the biggest and most powerful Orks in the clan. Deff Dreads are also popular with other Orks since their immense destructive capacity, large number of weapons and tendency to stomp things to death lie at the very heart of what defines Ork "kulture".

Stompas

An Ork Stompa

An Ork Stompa

Anatomy of a Stompa

The Stompa is a small Ork Gargant, the equivalent of an Imperial Titan of the Warhound or Reaver-class. In true Ork fashion, every Stompa is uniquely different, but equally deadly.

The standard Stompa (if such a word can be applied to ramshackle Ork technology) generally possesses one arm with some sort of massive hammer or chainsword or equally suitable melee weapon, with the other outfitted with several massive guns and rokkit launchers, with the torso festooned with more ranged weapons, though not as large or powerful as the main ranged weapon on the arm.

However, the Stompa also has a religious significance to nearby Orks. Stompas are regarded as massive, walking incarnations of Gork (or Mork) and the sight of the carnage even one Stompa can conjure can drive even the most placid Ork into a wild bloodlust.

Two generally accepted sub-categories of Stompa are the Goff Stompa, and the Mek's Stompa, as described below.

Goff Stompa

The Goff Stompa was popularised by the Goff klan, although it is found amongst other Greenskin klanz as well, and replaces the Stompa's ranged weapon arm with yet another massive close combat weapon. Such is the Ork way that each weapon is deadly in a new and often unexpected way. Some have massive claws that toss tanks aside, or stack them up like a macabre house of cards. Others connect the two arms together with a massive rolling-pin type device, capable of clearing paths through even the most well-armoured battle line.

Mek's Stompa

The Mek's Stompa serves the opposite tactical role of the Goff Stompa, replacing the close combat weapons with even more ranged weapons. Massive cannons, insane rapid-fire gatling cannons, a veritable plethora of lesser guns, occasionally a Rokkit that can be fired from the Stompa piloted by Grotz (willing or otherwise), and not so occasionally six such Rokkits. Some Meks, feeling over-protective of their creations, customise a force field to try and deflect the incoming fire, which generally is not relied upon too much as A) they generally break down and B) the Stompa does a good amount of damage deflection on its own.

Some Mek Stompas possess Imperial Titan weapons which greatly angers Imperial defenders when they see that the Orks have gotten their hands at some point on one of the Omnissiah's sacred Titans. Stompa creation is regarded as the pinnacle of a Mek's work, since, after all, Stompas are not cheap.

However, once a Stompa is built, many Orks will flock towards its banner, bringing with them more Meks, more teef and in a circuitous way, more Stompas, and once two or three Stompas are on a rampage, woe betide any who try to stop them. Ork Meks have been known to customize their Stompas with colours, banners, skulls and spikes.

Big Mek Stompas/Gargants

Often a Big Mek Ork will not be satisfied with the production of Battlewagons, and will create his own Stompa or Gargant. These Titan-like monstrosities mount the latest Mek weaponry, such as the "Lifta-droppa." The size of the Stompa or Gargant depends on how much influence the Mek wields over other Greenskins, how much raw materials he possessed during the construction phase, and who they are working with to construct it.

Occasionally, two Meks may work together, combining their love of tinkering to produce a new Gargant on their own initiative or because they have been commanded to do so by a larger, tougher Ork Warboss or Warlord.

Notable Battles

• Battle for Rynn's World (989.M41-991.M41) - During the Battle for Rynn's World, specifically the siege of New Rynn City, Ork Gargants saw some of their most extensive use in Imperial history. With the city's defenders trapped behind the walls, the innumerable Greenskin hordes began construction of six of the mighty war machines, intending to utterly crush the human defenders. After 18 months, the massive machines were finally complete, and began to march upon the city. In the nick of time, however, the Crimson Fists Astartes were able to secure the New Rynn City spaceport and make way for fresh Imperial reinforcements that had just arrived with an Imperial Liberation Fleet in orbit. Before the Gargants could do much damage, they were engaged and destroyed by the newly-arrived Titans of the Adeptus Mechanicus' Collegia Titanica.
• Third War For Armegeddon (998.M41) - The Gargant was first designated as an Ork war-machine during Commissar Yarrick's crusade to hunt down Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka on the world of Golgotha shortly before the start of the Third War for Armageddon. It was there that Gargants, and smaller variants designated Stompas, fought against Imperial Titans and Imperial Guard regiments. The Gargants were found to be a potent match for even the Imperator-class Battle Titans fielded by Yarrick, but despite their power, one of the immense Greenskin walkers was felled by Yarrick's commandeered Baneblade, the Fortress of Arrogance.

Sources

• Epic Armageddon: Rulebook
• White Dwarf 188 (UK), "Stomp an' Smash!" bu Gavin Thorpe and Adrian Wood, pp. 52-69
• White Dwarf 182 (UK), "Waaagh Da Orks!: Mega-Gargant Tactics", by Gavin Thorpe, pp. 16-24
• White Dwarf 179 (UK), "Epic: Titan Legions Inferno," by Andy Chambers & Jervis Johnson, pp. 31, 40-51, 54-66
• White Dwarf 161 (UK), "Gargants: Orks", by Andy Chambers, pp. 65-72
• White Dwarf 149 (UK), "Epic Ork Vehicles", by Andy Chambers & Jervis Johnson, pp. 20-29
• White Dwarf 144 (UK), "Space Marine - Titan Data Sheets: Ork Slasher Gargant," by Andy Chambers & Jervis Johnson, pp. 67-68
• White Dwarf 143 (UK), "Epic: Stompers!", by Rick Priestly, pp. 12-20
• White Dwarf 142 (UK), "Titan Weapons: Gargant Weapons", by Jervis Johnson, pp. 48-59
• White Dwarf 116 (UK), "Ork Gargants", by Graeme Davis & Jervis Johnson, pp. 28-43

Gallery

Ork Gargant Size Comparison Chart 1

Ork Gargant Size Comparison Chart 2