Orlock Lore is all about greed and the need for iron. The war machine of the Imperium needs ore and House Orlock is happy to fill the orders.
It’s like there’s been a ton of new Necromunda releases lately or something… Today we take a look at the miners of Necromunda who are one of the best equipped of all the houses. Their sleazy business practices have won them many enemies and few friends. Get out your best mining equipment and let’s learn about House Orlock!
The House Of Iron
As one of the six main houses of Necromunda, they have been around for ages and wield insane amounts of power. It’s not by accident they garnered the nickname the Iron House either. They are responsible for almost all the iron production on Necromunda and rule large swaths of territory rich with the ore.
A large part of their power comes from the fact that they run a monopoly on the Ash Wastes slag-heaps. While the land isn’t very pretty, it produces iron like nowhere else on the planet. Their miners are known for diving deeper into the slag-heaps than anyone else ever would. They have caused more than one earthquake by going too deep, oh well. They don’t care, they need that ore!
Slag-heaps aren’t all they control either, they have full control of much of the hive’s transportation routes. If you need to get through the vast wastes of Necromunda, you must go through house Orlock. They control everything in and everything out. Makes it easy for the lords of the upper hive. They don’t have to dirty their hands with such small matters.
Shady Business Dealings
They didn’t get to be so strong by playing nice. Throughout their history, they have done many shady dealings, but the most notable of all was when they sabotaged House Delaque. They sabotaged one of their largest factories right before they were supposed to deliver on a massive order. This forced them to lose their contract with the noble house Ulanti. There was some doubt at first who did it, but once Orlock won the contract the very next week, the cat was out of the bag. Needless to say, they have been bitter enemies ever since.
Since they control all the transportation routes, not much gets from place to place without Orlock first “protecting it”… At least house Escher doesn’t care too much. The two houses have had a long-standing relationship of trade and friendship.
Diving Through The Ruins
The last vestige of their wealth comes through scavenging. They take whatever the Upperhive throws away and turn it into useable material. It’s often they take the trash, turn it into something and resell if right back to the nobility. Then they discard it and the process continues.
They don’t limit themselves to high-society trash either. They constantly rummage through the remains of the old materials left to decay in the Undercity. It may not be pretty, but it makes money. They are very correctly labeled for their industriousness and can make anything from nothing.
That does it for an overview of the House! We are super excited by the new minis and can’t wait to field a gang of these miners!
More on House Orlock
About the Author: Travis Pasch
Travis Pasch
Job Title: Head Writer & Editor
Socials: @paschbass
About Travis Pasch: Travis has been a Warhammer 40k hobbyist since the 1990s, playing the game since Third Edition. Through extensive traveling, he’s seen a lot of the miniatures hobby from across the world, giving him a unique perspective on the latest gaming topics and trends.
Travis’s brother even owns a commission painting studio, where he’s picked up a lot of good advice and techniques for painting Warhammer and tabletop miniatures over the years, as well. Travis joined the Spikey Bits team in 2019 and has been the lead writer since 2020.
Currently, he’s working on converting all his 40k Adeptus Mechanicus models and becoming a true tech enjoyer, complete with both sad and happy robot noises!
