Gaming with Brad: GorkaMorka

Feeling so weighted down.

Anyone following our blog for the last few months has undoubtedly noticed that we have been gearing up to start playing GorkaMorka. Having just created some scrap tokens, we decided there was never a better time to collect an assortment of the Rebel Grots and play a game with our friend Brad! The last time I seriously played Gorkamorka was in the late 90s after the game was released. After all of the elapsed time, reading the rules was an interesting experience. What surprised me the most was the organization of the book. After reading about ramming and vehicle combat, you would expect to find the associated damage tables nearby in the text. Instead, you would often have to flip through multiple sections and pages to find the relevant information. This can make it difficult to find specific rules when you need them. The rules also aren't always consistent in their terminology, which can be confusing. For instance, the Rebel Grots have a limit on who is able to carry guns (and how many), and confusingly, the pistols are not considered guns (or gunz). Importantly, though, the game is still as enjoyable and funny as I remembered it. Even in the first game, Brad and I were constantly laughing about the weird and comical stuff happening. Additionally, we really got a kick out of how many different dice rolls and tables were needed to accomplish even the simplest tasks.

The Rebel Grots take to the field of battle in a mighty Big Lugga (and smaller Cutta)! The Rebel Grots are refreshingly different from the standard ork warband (though quite a bit more complicated, making them a poor choice for someone just learning the game).

Brad’s ork warband was considerably smaller (but no less fierce) than the Rebel Grot warband, numbering only 6 members compared to the 17 fielded by the grots.

One thing that surprised me was that both orks and grots are surprisingly skilled at shooting in Gorkamorka. Most models can hit enemies on a 4+, and leaders on a 3+. On top of that, there are not many negative modifiers when shooting either. Rebel Grot firearms do, however, have a much higher chance of jamming or running out of ammunition. By the end of the game, more than half of my grots no longer had functional firearms.

The Rebel Grot vehicles are quite unique, each with their own unique method of propulsion. The Cutta is wind-powered, so you need to roll a scatter die at the start of the game to determine which way the wind is blowing. Fortunately, in my first game the wind was blowing in the perfect direction!

The Rebel Grots took advantage of the favorable wind and wasted no time collecting scrap in the desert wastes. Despite the Rebel Grot vehicles not having thrusters (a critical component of ork vehicles that allows for impressive movement and maneuverability), they can often move around quite quickly if conditions are right.

Head-on collisions are the most dangerous situation your gang can get itself into. Normally, if a vehicle takes a hit, its armor can absorb the damage. Collisions ignore vehicle armor, forcing you to immediately roll on the damage table (and the hit location table to determine what is damaged). To make matters worse, a head-on collision inflicts D6 damage on each vehicle. In this game, the Rebel Grot Big Lugga suffered 6 points of damage and the Ork War Trak 4 points of damage.

The head-on collision spelled disaster for Brad’s War Trak. The vehicle’s engine suffered multiple points of damage, culminating in the fuel exploding, immobilizing the vehicle and throwing all of the occupants out in random directions. The vehicle’s driver sustained multiple injuries and was taken out of action.

After the first game, it became very apparent that strength in numbers is important. This is particularly true in close combat, where an outnumbered model is forced to complete individual combats against all of their opponents. Each combat becomes more and more hazardous because the opponent gets an increasing number of additional combat dice and modifiers based on the number of rounds of combat that have occurred.

With one game under my belt, I am excited to play again, although I do want to read through the rules again. I still need to read the campaign rules and am excited to see what memories it brings back from my early days playing the game. I have vague memories of customizing weapons for different gang members in Mektown. I am excited to revisit the experience system and see how gang members improve.

-Adam Wier