Gorkamorka

Gorkamorka is two things: a desert Ork world in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, and the 1997 skirmish game set on it. The planet, also called Angelis, is where a crashed Space Hulk left Orks stranded and sparked a religious war over which god their escape rocket looked like.

What is Gorkamorka?

In the 41st millennium, Gorkamorka is a world on the eastern fringe of the galaxy, in the Ultima Segmentum. It’s an Ork World with a hidden secret: it’s also a Necron Tomb World.

The name comes from the Ork gods Gork and Mork. After a Space Hulk crashed there, the stranded Orks built a giant rocket to escape. They argued over whether it looked like Gork or Mork, and the fighting destroyed it. They renamed it Gorkamorka so it could be either, and the planet took the name too.

The crash and the schism

An Imperial survey ship, the Eternal Vigilance, was studying Angelis in 344.M35 when an Ork Space Hulk smashed into the planet. The impact carved a huge canyon the Orks call Da Skid and irradiated the landscape, killing the Imperial base and its crew.

The surviving Orks wanted to rejoin their Waaagh! so they set their Mekboyz to building a new ship from the wreckage. But the project stalled when tribes started fighting over whether the ship resembled Gork or Mork. The argument turned into a full religious schism and the ship was destroyed in the violence. The Meks brokered a shaky peace by renaming it Gorkamorka.

Who lives on Gorkamorka?

Besides the Orks, the planet is home to two groups descended from the original Imperial survey team. The Muties are mutated humans who survived the crash and the radiation. The Diggas are tribal humans who took shelter inside the planet’s pyramids and regressed to a primitive state.

There are also Rebel Grots: Gretchin who rebelled against Ork rule and demanded equal rights. This is the first recorded instance of such a rebellion in Ork history.

And deep below the surface, the Necrons sleep in their tomb complex, unaware or unconcerned by the greenskins above.

The Gorkamorka game

Gorkamorka is also a tabletop skirmish game released by Games Workshop in 1997. Designed by Andy Chambers, Gavin Thorpe, and Rick Priestley, it’s set on Angelis and focuses on small mobs of Orks, Muties, Diggas, and Grots fighting for scrap, wealth, and experience.

The rules are based on second edition Warhammer 40,000 but add vehicle combat and a campaign system. Players control a mob of five to fifteen fighters with transport, battling in scenarios like races, sieges, and rescues. The game is less lethal than Necromunda and leans into the bizarre, comedic side of Orks.

An expansion, Digganob, came out in 1998 and added more factions and special characters. The game went out of print, but Games Workshop made the core rules available as a free PDF in 2008. A video game adaptation was planned for Windows and Dreamcast but got cancelled.

Why Gorkamorka matters

For lore fans, Gorkamorka is a neat slice of Ork culture: it shows how their gods, technology, and infighting all collide. It’s also one of the few places where you see Rebel Grots and a Necron tomb world sharing a planet.

For hobbyists, the game is a cult classic. It’s a fast, funny skirmish campaign that captures the anarchic spirit of Orks better than almost any other ruleset. And Trazyn the Infinite has a gallery dedicated to the planet on Solemnace, which is a fun nod to its enduring weirdness.

Key facts

• Gorkamorka is both an Ork world (also called Angelis) and a 1997 skirmish game by Games Workshop.
• The planet is a Necron Tomb World, though the Orks don’t know it.
• A Space Hulk crash in M35 stranded the Orks and created the canyon known as Da Skid.
• The Orks fought a religious schism over whether their escape ship looked like Gork or Mork.
• Native human populations include Muties (mutated) and Diggas (tribal).
• The game was designed by Andy Chambers, Gavin Thorpe, and Rick Priestley.

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Related reading

• Ultima Segmentum
• The Dark Cells
• Solemnace
• Orks
• The Gretchin
• Trazyn the Infinite