If we hadn’t already been certain that the upcoming big, shiny new edition Warhammer 40k 11th Edition launch box would be chock full of Orks, we are now! Following last week’s multipart Warboss reveal, Games Workshop has just dropped a trio of teaser pictures that, at the very least, have us convinced that we are indeed on track for an Extremely Orky Summer. And there’s enough here to be pretty confident that new Ork Warbikes will be part of the coming Waaagh!
Of all the Warhammer 40k factions, only the poor Drukhari are more in need of brand new models than the Greenskins right now, so we’re overjoyed to have our “Orks kick off 11th” theory supported – especially if we’re right about what this teaser shows.
Revealed via the Warhammer Community site on Monday alongside four new battalion box sets (and don’t you worry, we’ll get to those), the three images show:
- a grot wearing motorbike goggles, cranking a handle on some kind of vehicle.
- An upraised right-hand Power Klaw, from behind.
- A big, six barrelled gun, poking out from an armored cowling.
Obviously, as it’s a Rumor Engine-style teaser rather than a full reveal, we can’t be 100% sure what this new model is. It’s even possible these are images from three different kits, just to throw bloodhounds like us off the scent.
But this ridiculous little goggle-wearing grot, clearly riding the side of something fast and metal, has both me and Wargamer Tim firmly thinking Warbikes.
The current Ork Warbiker Mob kit dates back to 2008 and 5th Edition 40k, and has for some while languished on many fans’ lists of ‘Ork kits screaming out for a refresh’ – alongside the likes of Lootaz, Burna Boyz, Stormboyz.
Importantly for us, the current Warbikes unit is led by a Nob with a Power Klaw, on a bike, with a grot on the back. And the grot is wearing biker goggles. And the grot is holding a crank handle. We rest our case.
That Big Fat Kannon thing is a bit of an outlying factor – but, honestly, those little bits of toothy-edged metal casing looks very warbikey, so this could potentially just be a bit of an upgrade to the current model’s side mounted dakkaguns.
While it’s possible we’re off the mark here, assuming we’re right, it’s got our minds racing about what other refreshed Ork kits might be hiding away in that mysterious box that awaits us in June or July.
The last big wave of new Ork models, in 2021, was kind of a mixed bag of completely new versus revamped old kits. We got the wild, squig and melee focused Beast Snaggaz as the sparkly new gubbinz – and then new Boyz and Deffkoptas, which were welcome but seemed kind of out of pace with the rest. Classic mainstays of the Orks line-up, like Nobz, Lootaz, Burna-boyz, and indeed Warbikers, all remained stolidly unreformed.
If Warcom’s Monday teaser really is for new warbikes, it lights the fires of hope that that 11th edition box will drop a truly classic, runny-shooty Ork force. LOADS of guns made of scrap metal, duck tape, and hope – all hitting on fives, buckets of dice; the whole shebang. Only time will tell, but we’ll be watching closely for every new reveal!
What do you reckon – have we hit the warbike on the head, or have we mixed our Warhammer metaphors again? Come join the free Waaaghgamer Discord community and let us know your wildest theories. Well behaved squigs are welcomed, but you bring your own food for them.
Source: Wargamer
