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So named because of the color of their waxy skin, the greenskins
are savagery personified. They are ill-tempered, primitive, and live
only to fight. In the absence of another foe, greenskins will eventually
turn on one another for want of violence. In their culture, might makes
right and the weakest members of society are one false step away
from being dinner.
The greenskins have no homeland to speak of. They capture other
race's settlements and then make those places their own, decorating
them with tribal graffiti, wood and scrap materials fashioned into
crude symbols, and oftentimes, the bones of those they have slain.
This leads to a very unique form of architecture that is distinctively
ramshackle.
Periodically, a powerful Orc Warboss will unite the
greenskin tribes into a single swarming mass called
a "Waaagh!", named for the common greenskin battle-cry.
In a Waaagh! , the greenskins unite into a stampede of
frenzied Orcs, Goblins and Snotlings bent on destroying
everything they encounter. Save for pure Chaos itself,
there is no force in the Warhammer world as devastating
as a Waaagh! set in motion.
At the onset of the Age of Reckoning, the greenskins have been united by the Black Orc Warlord Grumlok and his diminutive counterpart, the Goblin Shaman Gazbag. Together, they have led their tribe, the Bloody Sun Boyz, to dominance. Now, they wage war upon the Dwarfs, guided by an unseen hand.
ORCS —————————
Orcs are the largest of the greenskin species. They are bigger,
more aggressive, and more muscular than their smaller
cousins, the Goblins, Hobgoblins, and tiny Snotlings. Orcs
continue to grow throughout their lives and their skin darkens
with age. The strongest and most powerful Orcs grow to become
Black Orcs, marked by their increased size and darker skin.
Orcs are not bright by any means, but they do possess an
animalistic awareness of social structure. They are bullies who
impose their will on anyone they think is weaker than they. There is
nothing an Orc loves more than to fight. If they lack other opponents, they will fight amongst themselves. Such battles are always bloody affairs, for Orcs are fearsome foes, even when wounded. They feel no pain and fear nothing.
An especially powerful Orc will rise to the top of his tribe by way of ruthless savagery and victory in personal combat. If he is able to defeat the current Warboss, he will assume that position. If he is especially strong-willed, the new Warboss may be able to lead the entire tribe into Waaagh! while still fending off challenges to his leadership from within.
Orcs fight with primitive weapons that are little more than big chunks of scrap metal. They give these weapons such descriptive names as "choppas", "bashas" and "smashas", and they wield them with brutal strength.
GOBLINS —————————
Goblins are considerably smaller than Orcs, but they compensate for this
disadvantage with a feral cunning that their larger brethren lack. Goblins are
constantly bullied and intimidated by the Orcs and this has caused them to evolve
into sneaky and insidious creatures whose comical appearance belies their
malicious intelligence. In many ways Goblins are the brains behind greenskin
tribal society. Goblins frequently are the Shamans of their tribes and are often
clever enough to use the leverage associated with this position to manipulate
the larger but slower Orcs into doing their bidding.
Goblins are also the most adept of the greenskin races at using technology. Goblins build objects of simple, but effective design. As with all greenskin construction, machines and siege engines cobbled together by Goblins have a very primitive look, but a five-hundred-pound rock hurts just as much when it's hurled through the air by a crudely-fashioned greenskin Rock Lobber as an ornate Dwarf Grudge Thrower.
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