I just had an idea, thinking about how a ragtag band chaos-scum could bring death and destruction to the Imperium of the Corpse God.

This requires them to have some opportunity for space travel, be that their own ship, or other means of travel.

Let's assume they want to only wreck havoc on a planet, no raid it, not conquer it, just causing anarchy and instability, to force the Imperium/Loyalist SM to deploy forces, that could maybe weaken another battlefield in the favour og the troup/their allies/whatever.

Could one 'harvest' Ork-spores and release them on another planet?

Is this semi -ingenius or fully retarted?

All you would need is a single chunk of ork to make it happen, but it would take some time to finally have the orks mature in size and number to cause space marines to be called in, depending on the importance of the planet of course.

It would generally be possible, but it would also take an inderminate amount of time, have no guarantee of success and might backfire should the orks become bored on their planet and decide to flag down a space hulk and go somewhere that's more relevant to your interests.

Especially the "time" part might be a problem, depending on the scale of your plans: It might take some decades until the orks have ripened enough to be noticed and recognized as a problem the local PDF can't handle.

And if they're discovered early on, they might not become a problem until something suitably distracting comes along to keep the local forces from keeping the Orks in check (so, pretty much a planetary invasion).

The other problem is that if any Ork Spores get lose on the Renegade's ship, they might have to face down their own Bio Weapons to keep control of their ship. Orks are unpredictable at best, so it might not be the best of ideas.

Unless one of the PCs is an Orky Renegade who can control other Orks if they show up on ship and start to get Uppity.

Heck in some cases it might be possible for Chaos Renegade bands to utilize Ork Freebootaz in similar ways that Inquisitorial Acolytes utilize Rogue Traders.

Personally - I would never make orks part of any plan. They really are uncontrollable. The longer a plan takes to hatch - the less likely I think the orks could be depended upon to fulfill whatever goal you desire.

Perhaps - if you cultivated a world of orks - dropped down suitable tech for their Mech Boyz to scavenge - and then informed their warboss (which, can never be made - it always has to be worked out amongst the boyz) that the next planet over is good for some stomping.

That's about as far as I would take a plan with orks.

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They really are amazing creatures... now, if only I could convince someone to make an all ork campaign.

The Imperium has plenty of planets with Ork infestations. They are not considered a problem, and are usually something that the planets own forces can keep contained. An Ork infestation can even provide a bit of a bonus for the wider Imperium, as it does mean Imperial Guard forces from that planet have plenty of experiance fighting Orks.

For example, the planet Valhalla has an Ork problem. They keep the Orks managed well enough that they still export guard regiments.

Bilateralrope said:

I think the Overfiend of Octarius would like to disagree with you that Orks are not a problem.

Also the Arch Arsonist of Charadon.

Mork as kom in ma dream, Says wez got to attack humies on that planet!!! WWWWaahhhhgggg

Says the Shapeshifter Tzench Sorcerer

Well, those two warlords led Waaaagghhss!

That's not what we're talking about.

On any relatively advanced world in the Imperium, they should be able to handle periodic outbreaks of savage Orks. Even Armageddon isn't a special case, because the Orks in the jungle weren't a problem until several billion more dropping from the sky.

I think the only types of worlds that would have an actual problem with an infestation would be one that is still using pre-WW1 era technology. Maybe late 18th century, if the planet has enough population to support Napoleonic armies in the hundreds of thousands.

It's still going to affect the planet and by extension its surroundings - exports are going to drop, intraplanetary trade will be more difficult and less of the PDF can be drawn off into the Guard.

I think orks are a greater long term threat than humans. So, you should not aid them reproducing. They do quite well by themselves.

You know what they say: "Cultivate orks and they'll rip your skull and eat your eyes".

If you want to cause long term damage to the Imperium, I think it's an excellent plan.

I do think though that knowledge of the way in which Orks reproduce would be fairly rare within the Imperium, though: that's Ordo Xenos territory. You'd need a good in-game justification for your players having this knowledge.

Lord Ork said:

Yeah that sounds like something Xenos scum like you would say!

Lightbringer said:

No, again a small infestation isn't going to cause long-term damage to the Imperium.

A Waaagh! is really what's capable of doing it.

@Blood Pact

No, again a small infestation isn't going to cause long-term damage to the Imperium.

Um... yes it is. As noted before: A "healthy" planet isn't going to be toppled by some spores. However, it's a problem the planet has to divert ressources to. Ressources the planet devotes to its own problems are ressources it can't provide the Imperium with. Thus: Damage to the Imperium.
What scale that damage usually has is obviously another question entirely.

Lightbringer said:

One can go back to 2nd ed to find how a renegade can understand Orky Kultur. Stormboyz of Khorne.