The Orks are probably one of my favourite factions in 40K (after the Imperium, of course), so I relished the chance to make a memorable mission that played up their eccentricities. They are a sheer force of nature when they are organized under a cunning and intelligent leader - especially one whose ambition is guided by a brutish logic that is one step above simply, “kill”. Gorgutz is one such leader, and it’s been fun to watch his character evolve and gain power over the course of the Dawn of War franchise. The twist with him is that he definitely gains power, but is unaware that is usually the side effect of his singularly focused efforts at obtaining whatever object his kleptomaniacal obsession desires (he fought an Inquisitor in DoW2: Retribution over a hat, after all!). Thus, looking back, I am proud to have written part of his origin story. I think I did a good job in letting the personality of the Orks shine, playing up their special brand of brutal, thuggish humour.

Gorgutz wants more power, so he reasons that by destroying the Waaagh Banners that each of the 5 Ork clans in the mission unite around, they will lose their faith and will then rally around the next strongest Ork presence (him!). He also knows that he must have all the clans united in order to be able to defeat the true enemy in this level - Chaos, who have set up a base in the area as well.

Each of the Ork clans on the map encompasses a part of the Ork tech tree - with the first banner that Gorgutz destroys giving him the basic HQ and troop production buildings. As this mission is the first mission and also the very first time the Orks are presented in Dawn of War, the intention was for the player to gradually see and unlock parts of the Ork tech tech tree as they progressed through the map and allowing them to experiment in a combat environment that is heavily in their favour. This specific phase of the map ends on an assault on the final Ork clan that controls the most powerful Ork units in the game (the Footstompas who breed the Squiggoths). The twist here is that the player now has to destroy some generators to open the gate to allow the Orks to bust through. Doing so kills the clan’s original leader in the ensuing chaos when the Squiggoths break free and rampage through the base. Now, the player has to free an imprisoned “Mad Dok” who can tame the Squiggoths by moving him up to them.

Once this is done, the player can now destroy the Chaos base at their leisure, experimenting with the Orks as they please for they now have access to the entire Ork tech tree, and all the surviving Orks on the map!