ork psychic field,can it be a bad thing?

[nicromanov]

so ,i had a simple thought earlier ,if all ork weapons work simpyl because the orks think they should ,could this work to the orks disadvantge?

for example ,we know if you give an ork a block of wood and say its a gun ,it'll shoot bullets,but what if you were to tell an ork that the ground is lava,or that the tiny stub pistol of a gaurdsman is acctually the most deadly dakka in the world?
would the ork's simple belife in these things make them fact ,and then cause them to damage the ork?

[Apologist]

so ,i had a simple thought earlier ,if all ork weapons work simpyl because the orks think they should

Anzion's law (the source of the psychic field making ork technology work) is an in-universe techpriest's theory. The theory is more along the lines that 'this crude-seeming weapon is surprisingly effective and doesn't jam as much as I would otherwise have supposed', rather than 'this heap of junk doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to an operable firearm'.

The qualities he describes could easily be explained dozens of other ways, including that Anzion's personal prejudices prevent him making an objective and fair study of a crude-looking but actually very sophisticated weapon; or simply not understanding the mechanics of the technology properly. The Magos may simply be out of his STC derived comfort zone!

for example ,we know if you give an ork a block of wood and say its a gun ,it'll shoot bullets,

I think that's an exaggeration of what Anzion's theory states. A reductio ad absurdem, basically.

but what if you were to tell an ork that the ground is lava,or that the tiny stub pistol of a gaurdsman is acctually the most deadly dakka in the world?
would the ork's simple belife in these things make them fact ,and then cause them to damage the ork?

No, in short.

+++
Talking of the ork's technology levels, I think a lot of people underestimate the greenskin's capabilities. While their technology appears crude, it matches or exceeds that of the Imperium, and progresses: consider their relatively recent ability to construct teleport devices, or their adoption of tau tech in their looted weaponry.

Equally, there are instances where their technology is unmatched by any other species, such as their control of forcefields (Waaagh the Orks).

Orks seem to have a prediliction for redundancy or underengineering that manifests itself as crude, but it's precisely this that makes their tech relatively reliable considering the forces its dealing with – their small arms are equivalent in power to a boltgun, for example. The human equivalent of such an over-charged weapon is the hotshot lasgun, or hellgun, which requires continual maintenance for an equivalent level of power.

While the most memorable background concentrates on mekboys producing one-off 'kustom jobs', there's also plenty of background about orks using slave labour for mass production.

Ork Kultur has a level of mechanisation and mass production. This is carried out by gretchin or slaves (runts, collectively), often to the designs of a mekboy-derived original. This explains how orks can maintain supplies and materiel (such as bullets) without resorting to the handwavium that Anzion's theory implies.

An ork shoota might be able to handle multiple different types of bullet calibre, for example. If a human enginseer saw a magazine for that shoota packed with random bullets, he might conclude the weapon is impossibly dangerous; but to the ork, it makes perfect sense – in fact, its better than the human equivalent because of the redundancy and adaptability.

[Kurisu313]

Why does everyone get Anzion's Theorem wrong!?!?!

It doesn't allow an Ork to 'shoot a block of wood', it allows them to use machinery a little beyond their standard threshold values, that's all.

For example, imagine there are two parts in an engine that will cease to operate it they are more than 4mm apart. If an Ork Trukk had these parts at 6mm apart, their field would hold it together allowing it to function, while any human would find it inoperable.

Jeez, why do people extend that into such ridiculous hyperbole?

[Kijamon]

I just always thought it was more down to downright luck.

If an ork boarded a titan cockpit and was faced with 100 buttons in front of him. For a human only one of the buttons would fire a massive weapons but the ork would just smash the control panel with his choppa shouting "DAKKA!" and the weapon would fire.

[nicromanov]

i can only apologise for getting my fluff wrong,i had the whole thing explained to me by a friend who colelcts orks .
still im thankfull for the clear answers.

[Apologist]

No problem – hope it's helpful. I think a lot of the 'wait, what?' moments of 40k background that people get riled about are actually much more palatable in the original context. It's the nature of 'internet reverb' that hyperbole, sarcasm, exaggeration and mishearing escalate into Chinese whispers that sound daft.

[Sheena Easton]

It is Wierdboyz who 'eadbang if they can't control it...

If an ork boarded a titan cockpit and was faced with 100 buttons in front of him. For a human only one of the buttons would fire a massive weapons but the ork would just smash the control panel with his choppa shouting "DAKKA!" and the weapon would fire.

No it wouldn't - for the same reasons lengths of lead piping don't turn into plasma pistols and power swords if Yoofs play Inquisitors and Heretics with them... the Ork in question would damage a few controls which may include the required activation rune by smacking the panel with its choppa in such an idiotic manner (see the rather excellent reply by Apologist above for a better explanation).

[Theocracity]

It is Wierdboyz who 'eadbang if they can't control it...



No it wouldn't - for the same reasons lengths of lead piping don't turn into plasma pistols and power swords if Yoofs play Inquisitors and Heretics with them... the Ork in question would damage a few controls which may include the required activation rune by smacking the panel with its choppa in such an idiotic manner (see the rather excellent reply by Apologist above for a better explanation).

Indeed. The Mek in charge of looting the Titan would probably be miffed at the git what wrecked it up. Of course, he would probably just link all the fire control buttons into one big control that says DAKKA in order to fool-proof it against further pilot error .

Also, as mentioned above, technology is considered 'broken' if its prone to malfunction or is horribly dangerous to the user. But Ork physiology and psychology greatly lower the barrier of what's considered dangerous or working incorrectly.

[Lord Damocles]

Links for the Link God

The very fact that Ork weapons have ammunition disproves the 'clap your hands if you belive' theories on Ork technology.

If an Ork could 'belive' a stick into a death ray, they wouldn't need shootas.


Edit:
http://www.warseer.com/forums/showth...ghlight=anzion
http://www.warseer.com/forums/showth...ghlight=anzion
http://www.warseer.com/forums/showth...on#post3787248
http://www.warseer.com/forums/showth...on#post4915134

Huh. Me quoting myself providing links to my posts, which contain links. Meta.

[Idaan]

For reference, here's how Dark Heresy models in-game effects of the Ork Waaagh! field

Slugga Pistol 20m S/3/– 1d10+4 I 0 18 Full
Inaccurate,
Unreliable
2kg 100
†Scarce/
Common
†Ork equipment is technically difficult to get hold of – after all, no right–minded Imperial arms trader would sell xenos technology, no matter
how crude. Unofficially, there are parts of the Calixis Sector where it is much more plentiful, especially areas recently attacked by Orks. For
this reason, via legitimate routes it counts as scarce, but via black market channels it is common.
For some unkown reason, which even the Orks are not aware of, these weapons is not Unreliable in the hands of an Ork.

This is supported by the fact that Armageddon Ork Hunters used captured Ork weapons against them.

[Victrix]

How does this explain the "red makes it faster" bit?

[Mr Zoat]

In the older Ork Codex the explanation was that the Mek made some small difference to the engine which made it work slightly better, and then felt the need to paint it red. The red paint itself does nothing.

[The bearded one]

and then felt the need to paint it red.

"felt the need" It's stuff like that, that makes you love orks

[Khorneguy]

How does this explain the "red makes it faster" bit?

It's a coincidence. The Mek makes it go faster through tweaks and mods to the vehicle, then paints it red. In the minds of da boyz, who have no idea what the Mek did, it's the red paint job that makes it go faster, when in actual fact it's just a cosmetic change.

Not even the Mek really knows what he did, as the engineering know-how is encoded into their minds at an instinctive level, so chances are that even the Mek thinks it's the red paint that makes it go faster, not realising that it was his tinkering with the engine that actually did it

[Sheena Easton]

Plus the psychological impact of the Red Paint will have the ork drivers believing it will go faster because of the red paint therefore will push the engines that little bit more meaning it does indeed Go Fasta!

[Askil the Undecided]

Basically it's an in-universe explaination of why a vehicle mysteriously seems to work better when it's been looked over and tinkered with by a competant mechanic looking to optimise it's speed.

[Oots]

I think there's room for some subtle psychic effects. A red trukk going 5mph faster, a shoota jamming less often than it should.

[Askil the Undecided]

I think there's room for some subtle psychic effects. A red trukk going 5mph faster, a shoota jamming less often than it should.

Believe that if you want, but I'll stick to my guns with the theory that Anzion was a bigoted fool who thought unquantifiable magic is only possible reason that Orks can use technology he can't get to work with incompatible half-understood mnemonic rituals.

[Oots]

Maybe! That's why I said "room for", and not "is definitely the case". These things are more fun when left a bit ambiguous.

[Memnos]

Believe that if you want, but I'll stick to my guns with the theory that Anzion was a bigoted fool who thought unquantifiable magic is only possible reason that Orks can use technology he can't get to work with incompatible half-understood mnemonic rituals.

And this is why Ork culture is superior. In the time it has taken this thread to get to a level of civil disagreement, an argument between Anzion and an Ork would have gone like this:

Anzion: "You must have some type of psychic field to expl*head explodes*"

Ork: *laughs uproariously while holding a smoking slugga.*