# Just how big are warbosses?



## MontytheMighty (Jul 21, 2009)

How big are they usually described in the written fluff? They seem to be about twice the size of a space marine in the artwork. I'm guessing an individual like Ghaz would be even larger, maybe three or four times the size of a marine. 

Ghaz looks to be the size of a dreadnought


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## Protoss119 (Aug 8, 2010)

Well, as far as height goes, for Ghazghkull, I've heard height ranges from 14 to 20 ft, but I do not have a source for that. The 4e Orks Codex states that most Warbosses can reach up to 10 ft. in height (pg. 8). Armor, especially Mega Armor as seen on Ghazghkull, can knock up height, however. For everything else, weight and such, I wish I had more, although I guess it's a moot point as so much of it appears to be muscle.

Hope that helps!


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## Battman (Nov 2, 2012)

Yeh warbosses are huge, just thinking aloud boys are around space marine hight but slouch so are slightly taller (8-9 foot tall), nobs are taller than the boys (maybe 10-12 foot). But warbosses vary in height lots from nobs height to huge dreadnaught or larger even if they have time and war to grow, really i don't think that there is a limit to a orks size.


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## Child-of-the-Emperor (Feb 22, 2009)

There are recorded cases of Greenskin Warbosses reaching the size of Imperial tanks.


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## Over Two Meters Tall! (Nov 1, 2010)

Has there been any description of the Warboss that Horus had to save the Emperor from (OK, I know that's a loaded statement)? It's hard to think of a single creature with enough power that it takes on the Big E and one of the premier fighting primarchs.


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## Digg40k (Sep 7, 2008)

Over Two Meters Tall! said:


> Has there been any description of the Warboss that Horus had to save the Emperor from (OK, I know that's a loaded statement)? It's hard to think of a single creature with enough power that it takes on the Big E and one of the premier fighting primarchs.


Your forum name amuses me in this context.

OT: In Horus Rising it's implied that the Ork is gargantuan but a specific size isn't really mentioned.

I believe there was a topic awhile ago discussing whether the Ork's power came from its size or whether Weirdboyz were involved at some level to amplify an already capably powerful Warboss.

Either way (Taking into account previous responses in this topic) it was more than likely over 15ft tall, perhaps 20ft.

As a side note, if it were that big presumably the dimensions of its body would also be gigantic, yet it's widely reported that the Ork was strangling the Emperor. How could its big meaty paws wrap themselves around his neck?


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## randian (Feb 26, 2009)

Digg40k said:


> As a side note, if it were that big presumably the dimensions of its body would also be gigantic, yet it's widely reported that the Ork was strangling the Emperor. How could its big meaty paws wrap themselves around his neck?


The Emperor seems to be able to alter his size. Maybe he was gargantuan too.

Some have questioned the Emperor's motivations in this incident, suggesting his danger was feigned in order to win over Horus.


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## Djinn24 (Jan 12, 2008)

From what I understand Orks never stop growing until they die.


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## Over Two Meters Tall! (Nov 1, 2010)

randian said:


> Some have questioned the Emperor's motivations in this incident, suggesting his danger was feigned in order to win over Horus.


As in pumping up his ego/reputation before naming him Warmaster, or...?


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## randian (Feb 26, 2009)

Over Two Meters Tall! said:


> As in pumping up his ego/reputation before naming him Warmaster, or...?


Could be. Or just general cementing of loyalty.


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## Reaper45 (Jun 21, 2011)

randian said:


> The Emperor seems to be able to alter his size. Maybe he was gargantuan too.
> 
> Some have questioned the Emperor's motivations in this incident, suggesting his danger was feigned in order to win over Horus.


Horus was capable of wounding the emperor. Granted he was pumped up with chaos powers.

Why couldn't a warboss with a large enough waaagh have the same powers. They are also described as being the size of leman russ's


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## Lux (Apr 17, 2010)

Reaper45 said:


> Horus was capable of wounding the emperor. Granted he was pumped up with chaos powers.
> 
> Why couldn't a warboss with a large enough waaagh have the same powers. They are also described as being the size of leman russ's


Was not the warboss the size of a Imperator class titan? I have read that he was comparable to a titan.


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## Malus Darkblade (Jan 8, 2010)

randian said:


> Some have questioned the Emperor's motivations in this incident, suggesting his danger was feigned in order to win over Horus.


Count me in as a supporter of this theory.



Reaper45 said:


> Horus was capable of wounding the emperor. Granted he was pumped up with chaos powers.
> 
> Why couldn't a warboss with a large enough waaagh have the same powers. They are also described as being the size of leman russ's


You're comparing a being empowered by all four Chaos powers and who is being actively watched over during his fight with the Emperor with nothing more than an extremely strong Ork.

Just no.



Lux said:


> Was not the warboss the size of a Imperator class titan? I have read that he was comparable to a titan.


I believe it was White Dwarf #89.


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## MontytheMighty (Jul 21, 2009)

Malus Darkblade said:


> I believe it was White Dwarf #89.


Wait...what?! A warboss the size of an Imperator Titan? Unless the warboss is incredibly slow, he'd be unstoppable on the battlefield bar orbital strike or something like that.


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## Lux (Apr 17, 2010)

Yes the warboss was the size of an imperator titan, it was choking the emperor out. Then horus came by and chopped his arm with a combat knife.


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## Ryu_Niimura (May 1, 2013)

Orks the size of titans? Now there's an idea for the next Ork codex for you GW:grin:


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## hailene (Aug 28, 2009)

I think in _Rynn's World_ they see a warboss that a scout says was almost as wide as a dreadnaught (which the book states is around 4 meters). A veteran Space Marine later notes that while the scout exaggerated the size, he didn't exaggerate it all that much.

How that translates into height, I'm not too sure.


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## Haskanael (Jul 5, 2011)

randian said:


> Could be. Or just general cementing of loyalty.


and we all know how well that worked out ! :laugh:


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## Haskanael (Jul 5, 2011)

Lux said:


> Yes the warboss was the size of an imperator titan, it was choking the emperor out. Then horus came by and chopped his arm with a combat knife.


must have been one biggass combat knife to chop the arm of a titan sized Ork


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## randian (Feb 26, 2009)

Haskanael said:


> and we all know how well that worked out ! :laugh:


True, the Emperor didn't realize Horus had the emotional maturity of a 5 year old.


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## Uber Ork (Aug 23, 2010)

Protoss119 said:


> WThe 4e Orks Codex states that most Warbosses can reach up to 10 ft. in height (pg. 8).


Nailed it. The exact quote reads...



Ork 4th ed. Codex Pg. 8 said:


> The rulers of Ork society are the largest and most powerful Orks of all, known as Warbosses or Warlords. These monstrous killing machines can reach up to ten feet in height.



Here's a couple of images I snagged off Dakka Dakka to show the difference from a boy all the way up to a Warboss (sorry about the 1st image being blurry)... 

















As you can see, there's quite a difference. Earlier on in the codex it also says this...


Ork 4th ed. Codex Pg. 4 said:


> A typical Ork stands around the same height as a man, though he would be much taller if he would only stand up strait.


Taking the first quote from page 8, along with the one on page 4, I think we can assume the average Ork Warboss would actually be much taller than 10 feet if he were to "stand up strait." 

Interestingly, there's also another quote in the codex that says the size of an ork is directly related to how much combat they've seen... 


Ork 4th ed. Codex Pg. 8 said:


> Orks excel in the field of war, on everything from a personal to a galactic scale. It is conflict that governs their entire society, their technological advances, and even their individual grown. Prolonged periods of conflict lead to a proportional increase in the size and strength of an Ork, and greenskins who have fought in an active warzone for a few years tower over those who have been deprived of such stimulus. Longer wars produce ever larger combatants. At the climax of Warlord Thogza's decades-long Waaagh! into the Duros sector, the Ork veterans were reputed to reach a size almost twice as tall as a man.


Thinking about this, it stands to reason an Ork Warboss could get larger if he were in combat more frequently/for long periods. 

Not that wikipedia is always accurate, but the average height of a man... and since we know by listening to Black Library Audio books, that every man in 40K is English, :grin: I should say _Englishman_ is 5 feet 9 inches. That would put the veterans in Warlord Thogza's Waaagh! (most likely referring to Nobz here, since Skarboyz didn't make it from 3rd ed. to 4th) at 11 feet 8 inches! That's not an exact of course, but it's as good a guess as anyone. 

So that begs the question, what size must Thogza be???

Considering these facts, I think *Protoss119*'s thoughts on Ghazghkull being about 14-20 feet tall (especially in mega armor) is about right. My guess is that's probably the same range for Thogza. 

What is an Ork Warlord's upper size limit? That's a good question...

Based off the codex, I'd say it stands to reason that if an ork kept on living and fighting, he would keep on growing. How big? I'm not sure. While I'm not prepared to jump on the Imperator Titan bandwagon (I mean why construct Stompas, Gargants, and Great Gargants if this were possible?), I do think a particularly long lived Ork Warlord who was constantly immersed in combat could reach the size of a dreadnought or wraithlord. 

Orks are an incredibly violent race. I have a hard time imagining a Warlord surviving long enough to reach to reach Imperator Titan status. 








.


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## Reaper45 (Jun 21, 2011)

Malus Darkblade said:


> Count me in as a supporter of this theory.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I have a really good counter argument

WAAAAAGH.


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## emporershand89 (Jun 11, 2010)

Uber Ork said:


> I think Protoss119's thoughts on Ghazghkull being about 14-20 feet tall (especially in mega armor) is about right.


He has to be. When The Last Chancer are on Armageddon they tell of how Ghazghkull had ripped the turret of a Bane blade clean off with his claw. You consider the size of that tank and take a good measure of it compared to a normal human and I'd say Protoss119 was probably right.


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