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    Orc Warfare
    Orc Warfare
    Orc Warfare
    Ebook109 pages1 hour

    Orc Warfare

    By Chris Pramas, Darren Tan and Hauke Kock

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    About this ebook

    To defeat your enemy, you must understand him. This volume offers an indispensable analysis of the most vicious killers of all - orcs.

    Born and bred for war, they are an awful, brutish, violent species and, despite their constant infighting and backstabbing, their horde armies remain a dire threat to all races. To them, war is life. Beginning with an examination of the fighting methods of the individual orc warrior, the book expands to look at how they do battle in their small warbands and in vast armies.

    Using vivid, illuminating illustrations, it reveals the tactics, technology and disposition of all the orc troop types, from lightly armed archers and heavily armored shock troops to their wolf cavalry and siege engines, uncovering startling regional variations and highly specialized fighters such as beserkers and battle shamans.

    Finally, it will explore specific key battles that orcs have fought in to develop the fullest possible understanding of these loathsome, terrifying creatures and the ways in which they go to war.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBloomsbury Publishing
    Release dateJun 20, 2015
    ISBN9781472810526
    Orc Warfare
    Author

    Chris Pramas

    Chris Pramas is an award-winning game designer, writer, and publisher. He is best known as the designer of the Dragon Age RPG and Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, 2nd Edition, and as the founder and President of Green Ronin Publishing. He has been a creative director at Wizards of the Coast and Flying Lab Software and a lead writer at Vigil Games. Green Ronin continues to thrive under his leadership, publishing roleplaying games like Mutants & Masterminds, DC Adventures, and A Song of Ice and Fire Roleplaying.

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      Book preview

      Orc Warfare - Chris Pramas

      INTRODUCTION

      THE ORCS

      ORC TROOP TYPES

      ORC STRATEGIES AND TACTICS

      ORC VICTORIES

      INTRODUCTION

      To use the word orc 100 years ago was to invite confusion. There were malicious faeries and spirits from folklore and mythology to be sure, but nothing quite like the orc. It began, as many fantasy staples did, with The Lord of the Rings. J. R. R. Tolkien set the template of the orc in modern fantasy. In his tales orcs are twisted, evil creatures – the foot soldiers of dark lords like Morgoth and Sauron. Their numbers seem endless, but they can be cowardly when confronted or when their leaders are slain.

      From Tolkien, orcs spread to the role playing game Dungeons & Dragons, where they became pig-faced beast-men. And from thousands of readers and thousands of gamers, orcs spread to countless fantasy worlds. Now orcs are a go-to ingredient of modern fantasy, along with elves and dwarves. They are in books, games, and hugely popular movies. If you say the word orc today, many people will nod along. Yes, orcs, of course. They have become part of our culture.

      It is therefore not as strange as it might appear that Osprey, a publisher known for its extensive line of historical and military books, would commission a book about orcs. Why not take orcs, the scourge of a thousand worlds, and give them a military and cultural analysis? Why not take a fantasy race and give it the Osprey treatment? Orc Warfare, the book you hold in your hands, attempts to do just that. The book is broken down into four chapters.

      CHAPTER ONE: THE ORCS

      This chapter introduces the orc race. It discusses their physique and breeds, and the many branches of orc kind that have spread across worlds. Chapter 1 also includes an overview of orc society, the anatomy of an orc horde, the difference between a warchief and a warlord, and details on shamanism and magic.

      CHAPTER TWO: ORC TROOP TYPES

      Orcs can field many different types of troops, from common warrior infantry to the rarely seen Flesh Eaters. This chapter catalogs the troops of orcs and some of their allies, and covers their basic tactical uses in the field.

      CHAPTER THREE: ORC STRATEGIES AND TACTICS

      Orcs have tactics? Indeed they do, and this chapter talks about them in some detail. The various tactical roles of troops are discussed, along with specific strategies and tactics. The focus is on field battles, but there are also sections on siege warfare and naval tactics.

      CHAPTER FOUR: ORC VICTORIES

      Analysis is all well and good but Chapter 4 is where we can see it all in practice. Orc Victories details four battles and one siege that show how orcs fight. It wouldn’t be a proper military book without war stories and here they are.

      That brings Orc Warfare to a close, but not the story of the orcs. That, as ever, marches on.

      THE ORCS

      We were made for battle. The Smite-Father blessed us with strength and fury, the War-Mother with cunning and fortitude. When our horde is on the march, elves hide in their trees and dwarves in their caves. Their pathetic gods cannot protect them.

      Trimbul, Orc Shaman

      Orcs are a common threat across many worlds. Nowhere do they live in peace. Orcs do not farm. They do not write poetry. Orcs raid and fight and kill. When they are not attacking other races, they fight amongst themselves. No orc wants to grow old and soft. A good orc death comes in battle, surrounded by the corpses of enemies. That is the orc way.

      Orc tribes have many, often contradictory origin stories for their race, but they all share some common points. Foremost among them is the idea that the gods of the so-called civilized races (dwarves, elves, and humans) sought to cheat the orc gods of their due. This sets up the basic dynamic of the orcs and their enemies. The civilized races are hypocrites and it is up to the orcs to take what is theirs with fire and sword. And what is theirs, according to the orc shamans? Everything!

      ORC PHYSIQUE

      There are three breeds of orcs: goblins, common orcs, and great orcs. Most tribes feature a mix of all three, though it is not unknown for there to be tribes of strictly one type.

      Goblins (also known as lesser orcs) are the smallest. They have spindly frames and range from 4 to 5ft in height. As bigger orcs often bully them, goblins are the most likely to strike out and form tribes of their own. Roughly 25 percent of all orcs are goblins.

      Common orcs are more muscular and range in height from 5 to 6ft. They make up the majority of the orc race. So much so that few bother to say common orc when talking about them. They are simply orcs. Roughly 65 percent of all orcs are common orcs.

      Great orcs are over 6ft in height and monstrous. They are the toughest and fiercest members of their race. In orc culture size and strength bring status. Thus great orcs lead and dominate most warbands. Roughly 10 percent of all orcs are great orcs.

      Orcs of all breeds are ridiculously fecund. They reproduce at a rate that cannot be matched, or even approached, by their enemies. The implications of this in orc warfare are explored in the ‘Warband and Horde’ section later in this chapter.

      Orcs are also notable for their diet. They are meat eaters. Indeed, they eat nothing else. They can consume the meat of nearly any creature. When they cannot find another source of meat, they eat each other. Goblins being the weakest, they are the first to go into the stewpot.

      The shamans say that the gods bred orcs for war. Certainly no one doubts their

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