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Mekboy

"Da best shoota I eva made, dat iz. Loadza barrulz, so dat it’s ded shooty. ‘Sept dat wun, ‘cos dat’s da skorcha, dat’s burny insted. Yeah, good an’ propa. An’ da bullitz is ‘splosiv...dey goez boom inna fings wot you’z shootin.’ An’ dat button dere...dat’s da best bit. Wot it duz, see, iz...iz...oh, zog. Nah, its nuffin’ boss. Nah, you’z don’t need ta see wot dat button duz...‘onist. Don’t push it!"

- Last words of Nazdakka Boomsnik, Renowned Mekboy.text-middle[Help]


Bad Moons Big Mek Mogrok with Tellyport Blasta[7]

Mekboyz (also known as 'Mekaniaks' or just 'Meks') are Ork Oddboyz, and are the engineers who build all the gunz, vehicles, and other machinery used by the Orks.[1]

Overview

Mekboyz are Orks with a natural and innate genetic gift for engineering and building things, nearly all of which have a deadly battlefield application. However, they are jovially imprecise craftsmen, content to weld, rivet, and hammer away at chunks of scrap until they have something resembling a working gun or Bionik leg. As a result of this individualistic and unplanned approach, Ork technology develops in a ramshackle and exploratory way. This suits Meks just fine, and the weaponry they create can easily be just as deadly as the more aesthetically pleasing weapons of the T'au or Eldar.[8a]

Mekboyz are an essential part of every warband, as without them vehicles and spacecraft would no longer keep running and the Orks would never be able to mount a proper Waaagh!. As such, lower-ranked Mek apprentices known as Spanners often lead mobs of Lootas and Burna Boyz, going around any Ork settlement or ship and keeping all their technology in the greenskin equivalent of working order. Meanwhile, Warbosses and Nobz who want a new Battlewagon or weapon go directly to a Mek and commission him to build it then and there in their personal workshop[8a], using Teef, scrap, or the opportunity for an interesting field test as incentive.[10] In a scrap, Mekz will themselves take to the field in battle, wielding a variety of crude but exotic and high-tech weaponry.[8a]

Meks are one of the spiritual leaders of Ork society, as they are at the heart of the spontaneous psychic event known as the Waa-Ork, which sees the psychic energy of the Ork race manifest through the building of great war machines, and a subsequent military rampage through the galaxy.[1c]

Ork Technology

Mekboyz are an interesting example of the Ork race because their abilities with machinery are not a learned knowledge. It is less intelligence or skill, and more instinct, as their relative wealth of technological is expressed in their trademark crude and ramshackle style of building.[1a]

 
Ork Mek[9]

It should be noted that the bulk of their "technology" is so incredibly crude that its ability to function would apparently contravene not only common sense but the laws of physics as well; a given shoota is, more than likely, literally slapped together out of scrap metal, leaving it by rights incapable of firing.[1a]

That it works at all is testament to the power of the Ork Waaagh!, as its peculiar psychic field allows them to bypass the physical impossibilities that would ordinarily render their gear useless or broken, simply via belief. Within limits, if an Ork believes a particular gun is working and pulls the trigger, it will fire. Although this doesn't mean that anything will do, and Mekboys create what conceptually might be relatively close to their intended weapon or wargear.[1a]

The power of the Waaagh! gives the item that extra push it needs to operate. Mekboys are therefore critical to the maintenance of Ork technology not only physically, but psychically as well, as they can instil sufficient credibility in the Waaaagh! regarding a given device to get it actually working. A related version of this system is why "da red wunz go fasta".[4b]

Mekboyz are especially important to Kult of Speed, as they maintain their prodigious amount of bikes and vehicles.[1b] Meks also oversee the use of various powerful and exotic heavy weapons known collectively as Mek Gunz.[9]

Variants

Spanna Boy

Main article: Spanna Boy

Spanna Boyz are Orks who have a natural inclination with the "worky bits" of guns, buggies, and Ork technology in general. As they grow older Spannerz become drawn to Mekboyz and work under them as an apprentice of sorts. Every Spanner hopes of one day becoming a fully-fledged Mekboy themselves. Even though they are working by instinct alone, Spannerz can usually keep buggies, traks, and bikes working.[6]

Big Mek

Big Meks are stronger, more powerful Mekboys who have, over time, gathered a following of Mekboys and acolytes. Their mastery of technology is unsurpassed and they are often seen with forcefields protecting them and their creations while wielding bizarre yet devastating weaponry, such as the Shokk Attack Gun or Tellyporta Blasta.[3][8a]

A Warboss will not often tolerate a Mekboss as a rival and will very often threaten them into exile, where they will be hiring out their skills as Freebooterz.[7]

Mek-Boss

Mek-Bosses are the biggest and most powerful Meks, whose inventiveness helps them design machines of war beyond any other Mek or Big Mek, allowing them to rise to such a position of power has to lead their own Warband.[5a]

Mek Musicians

 
A Mek Musician[1d]

Mek Musicians are Mekboyz who have a technical skill for playing, recording, sampling, synthesizing, mixing "musik". They often Warboss employers and greater Ork mobs with their musical acts, which often take the form of styles such as Rokk, Evvy Mettal, of the Goff-orientated Goffik Rok. They often blend the sound of gunfire, machinery, and explosions into their music and can construct great Gargant stages from which to play. Others prefer tamer and more organic music, utilizing Squigpipes. Mek Musicians often utilize Grot and other Ork performers in their acts. Some Mek Musicians even construct portable headphones and recording players so other Orks can listen to their works on the go.[1d]

Mek Wargear

Notable Mekboyz

Images

Miniatures

Big Meks

Meks

See also

Sources

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