After a few days of turning over different ideas about my Deathskulls Ork army, the idea for my Warboss finally settled into place this morning: “Moonkrumpa” Grutnik, Warboss of Moonkrumpa’s Megalootas.
My Blood Angels army includes a bunch of named characters, and I’ve thought about their personalities and approaches to warfare (and carried those themes across their squads, where applicable), but Moonkrumpa is the first 40k character I’ve created who has a backstory.
I aimed for something brief, light, flavorful, and iconic, just like my two favorite Warboss backstories in the Codex: Grizgutz, a Warboss who accidentally travelled back in time and decided to kill his past self so he could have two of his favorite gun, which so confused his Boyz that his Waaagh! came to an end; and Tuska the Daemon-killa, who flew into the Eye of Terror, pleased Khorne, and now has his entire Waaagh! resurrected every day to fight daemons.
Grutnik “Moonkrumpa,” Deathskulls Ork Warboss
Warboss Moonkrumpa’s claim to fame is that he once krumped an entire moon.
He originally wanted to steal it, naturally, but it was too large. So he krumped it instead, blasting it into huge chunks, and then looted the largest pieces. Moonkrumpa and his Mekboyz hollowed those moon-chunks out and turned them into a fleet of Roks.
As the story of “da moon wot got krumped” spread, more and more Orks wanted to fight under Moonkrumpa’s banner — and a Waaagh! began to take shape.
Wot’s in a name?
If you know me, or have spent some time here on Yore, you know I overthink things. But this is perhaps the most important name, and decision, involved in making my Ork army! It bears a bit of overthinking.
So, “Moonkrumpa.” I wanted it to be distinctly Orky. “Krump” is an Ork word. This name is instantly recognizable as a 40k Ork name. And if you know your Orks, you can probably guess why he’s called that — like one of my favorite Ork names, Krooldakka.
Add in “Megalootas,” and you get alliteration (always fun), more Ork-ness (“loota” is an Ork word), and a pretty clear clue to the clan I’m playing, Deathskulls, as they’re known for looting and scavenging.
“Grutnik” was tossed off, literally the first Ork name I came up with — but it’s got a couple fun layers that work for my Warboss. “Nick” is another word for stealing, so “-nik” evokes that meaning. And it sounds like Sputnik, so Sputnik > space > moon is a fun little connection.
My original concept for Moonkrumpa was “Moonsteala,” famous for stealing a moon, but as soon as I thought of that idea I realized it was just the plot of Despicable Me. Nothing wrong with that, but not ideal — and “Moonsteala” doesn’t feel as Orky as I’d like.
So I thought, “What if instead of stealing the moon, he krumped it? And then stole the pieces that blew off?” That led to Moonkrumpa, which needed a modifier that made it clear he was a Deathskulls Ork, which begat Megalootas. And so Moonkrumpa’s Megalootas were born.
Now it’s official: Waaagh!
This is something I was excited about doing for my Orks, as it flavors the whole army and, when combined with typical Deathskulls traits (looted wargear, looted and converted vehicles, Lootas, lots of dakka, and more Mekboyz than most clans), gives me a solid foundation for making future choices about my army.
The model for Moonkrumpa, a Big Mek in Mega Armour, should arrive today, and while I won’t build him first (I’m likely to start with Boyz, just as I started with a tactical squad for my Blood Angels) I’m excited at the prospect of painting my first full-fledged 40k character.