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The following is a list of events within the timeline of the Greenskins. Note: Orcs and Goblins do not use written records, so these accounts are gleaned from Dwarf and Imperial histories. All dates are given in the Imperial Calendar.[1b]

A History of Orcs and Goblins[]

  • c.-10,000: Near the dawn of creation, the Greenskins appeared, although no one knows how. Shamans tell stories of Gork and Mork falling from the sky to populate the world with Greenskins. The Old Ones recognise Orcs and Goblins as a threat and send the Saurus to war with them. They are unable to exterminate the undesirables.[1a]
  • c.-1578: The Dark Elf slaver host known as the Children of the Black Lotus descend en masse upon the Black Guff tribe of Night Goblins. In desperation, the beleaguered Night Goblins empty their entire harvest of Mad Cap Mushrooms into the Cave Squig pens. The resultant carnage sees a most undignified retreat by the Dark Elves before the frenzied, frothing Squigs turn upon their Goblin masters.[4a] 
  • c.-1500: The Elves abandon the Old World and the Dwarf Empire is ravaged by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Orcs and Goblins pour over the lands, looting the remnants of the Elf Cities and besieging many Dwarfholds. The Dwarfs term this time, which lasts for 500 years, the Goblin Wars. Karak Ungor is the first Dwarf Hold to fall and is known hereafter as Red Eye Mountain.[1a]
  • c.-1499: The lower levels of Karak Varn are flooded in earthquakes and the defending Dwarfs are overrun by Night Goblins from above and Skaven from below, making it the second Dwarfhold to fall. This lair is henceforth known as Cragmere and from then on, foul things begin to grow and mutate in the depths of Black Water lake, making it dangerous to even approach the shoreline.[1a]
  • c.-1387 to -1367: The Silver Road Wars are fought between Dwarfs and Goblins. At their height, only one in five Dwarfen caravans survive the journey through the Greenskin-infested Deadrock Gap. Mount Silverspear is taken by the orc Warlord Urk Grimfang, who naturally renames it Mount Grimfang.[1a]
  • c.-1250 to -1230: Thunder Mountain erupts, dislodging many Trolls and prompts what the Dwarfs call the Troll Wars.[1a]
  • c.-1245: A Dwarf offensive clears out many Greenskins and, after much hard fighting, regains control of the Worlds Edge Mountains between Karak Kadrin and Mad Dog Pass. The Dwarfs begin rebuilding, but are outraged by the many despoiled tombs and strongholds of their ancestors.[1a]
  • c.-1185: Kadrin Redmane the Dwarf Runesmith leads an expedition from Zhufbar to the ruins of Karak Varn. Many on both sides are slain when the fighting nears the lake edge and mutated monsters burst forth to feed upon the combatants. The Dwarfs are victorious and inhabit The Karak for many years, even requesting to reinstate it as a legitimate hold.[1a][5a]
  • c.-1175: The Ancient human civilization of the Strygos battles Greenskins for control of what will later become known as the Badlands. Kadon, an ancient Necromancer who has found the Crown of Nagash, helps the humans send the goblinoids fleeing to the Dark Lands. The humans build many cities, as well as burial grounds and cairns for their dead.[1a]
  • c. -1136: Kadrin Redmane is killed by Orcs on the shores of Black Water while transporting a shipment of Gromril to Karaz-a-Karak. With his last breath, the Runesmith throws his Hammer into the Black Water to stop it falling into enemy hands. The Dwarfs are forced out of Karak Varn once again by Greenskins from above and Skaven from below.[5a]
  • c.-1020 to -1000: A Waaagh! sweeps through what is now the Badlands, reclaiming it for Orcs and Goblins. The human cities are turned to rubble and Kadon is slain by Savage Orcs. The mysterious crown is carried northwards by Kadon's few surviving disciples.[1a]
  • c.-975: A Dwarf Army intent on recapturing Red Eye Mountain fails when they are ambushed somewhere north of Karak Kadrin. The bulk of the force is slaughtered and the Dwarfs give up their attempted reconquests. Focusing instead on fortifying and consolidating their current holdings, which is why so few records are made on Orc activity for the next few hundred years. The Dwarfs called this event the Battle of a Thousand Woes but Greenskins refer to it simply as 'anuver big stunty bake!'.[1a][5a]
  • c.-750: The Red Cloud Goblins discover a long-lost Dwarfen passage linking the Red Cloud and Fire Mountains. They use this secret way to attack and partially occupy Karak Azul. It takes ten years of fighting for the Dwarfs to cast them out.[1a] 
  • c.-740: Bitter infighting in the ranks of the Red Cloud Goblins allows the Dwarfs to reclaim control of Karak Azul, though the passage beneath the mountains must be guarded for all time lest the Goblins infiltrate through it once more.[3a]
  • c.-513: The Fall of Karak Eight Peaks. The Dwarfs, led by King Lunn, retreat after nearly two hundred years of fighting beneath the massive Dwarfen city. The battle continues with Greenskins fighting the Skaven for domination of the old Dwarfhold.[1a]
  • c.-469: Greenskins lead by the Orc Warboss Dork destroy the Dwarfhold of Karak Azgal, but abandon it when they can't find the well-hidden treasure.[1a][5a]
  • c.-466: Three years after abandoning Karak Azgal, Dork and his Army attack and capture Karak Drazh, renaming it the Black Crag. Now all the mountains between Mad Dog Pass and Karak Eight Peaks are in Greenskin hands.[5a]
  • c.-370: Orc Warlord Ugrok Beard Burner leads a Waaagh! to the Dwarf capital of Karaz-a-Karak. The Dwarf High King Logan Proudbeard is captured and humiliated, but the Greenskins are driven back and defeated at the Battle of Black Water. The newly invented Dwarf Cannon plays a large part in the Greenskin defeat (and the beheading of Warlord Ugrok).[1a]
  • c.-15 to -50: In a series of running battles, the Greenskins are temporarily beaten out of the lands west of the Worlds Edge Mountains. Stunties and 'umies ally to defeat a massive Waaagh! at the Battle of Black Fire Pass (Imperial year -1). Sigmar goes on to become the first Emperor.[1a]
  • 577: The Bretonni fight a great incursion of Greenskins that descends from the Grey and Apuccini Mountains. Orc Warlords demand tribute from the Bretonni tribes, but are rejected. For the next 400 years the Bretonni fight the Orc hordes.[1a]
  • 1115 to 1140: Forest Goblins emerge from the woods to fight the Skaven over the spoils of the plague-ridden Empire. All human settlements closest to the Black Pit, the sacred spider grounds deep in the Drakwald, are razed to the ground. The few survivors of those villages tell tales of spiders larger than houses.[1b]
  • 1142: Guillaume, the third Bretonnian King defeats a large Orc army at the Battle of Armandur and drives out the last of the Orcs from Northern Bretonnia.[5a]
  • 1452: Knights Errant battle Greenskins at the crossings of Blood River. Bretonnian knights build castles to hold back many tribes of Orcs travelling up from the Badlands. Thus are born the fiefdoms known as the Border Princes.[1b]
  • 1707 to 1712: Hailed as the greatest Orc Warlord of all time, Gorbad Ironclaw leads a massive Waaagh! into the Empire. Averland and the Moot are devastated, Averheim and Nuln are taken and burned. At the battle of Solland's Crown, Eldred, the Count of Solland is slain, his Runefang taken, and Solland is wiped from the face of the world. Gorbad is badly wounded at the Battle of Grunberg, but the day is won and the Empire flees to Altdorf.[1b][5a]
  • 1712: Altdorf is besieged and Emperor Sigismund is devoured by a Wyvern. Gorbad's wound makes him weaker and weaker and the Siege drags on so long that many in his WAAAGH! grow board and begin to desert. A full retreat is called and Gorbad is last seen in battle against the Dwarfs of the Worlds Edge Mountains, who corner his forces in Black Fire Pass on their way home.[1b][5a]
  • 2201: King Louen Orcslayer begins the Errantry Wars by declaring his intention to rid his realm of Orcs. Over the next century Bretonnian territory is gradually cleared of Orcs who take to the mountains and forests to escape the Kings Knights.[1b][5a] 
  • 2205: The Dwarfs and the Goblins fight the Battle of Black Falls on the shores of the Black Water. Both Dwarf High King Alrik and Goblin Warlord Gorkil Eyegouger are slain, but only the Greenskin army retreats.[1b]
  • 2302: The Great War Against Chaos. Many northern Greenskins are pushed from their lands. Some tribes join alongside the forces of Chaos, but most attack Chaos armies as they pass.[1b] 
  • 2470: Goblin Warlord Boggrub Legbiter leads the Broken Nose Tribe against the Dwarfs of Karak Azul and captures many war machines. Using these weapons they carve a path of destruction through the Worlds Edge Mountains and into Averland.[1b] 
  • 2473 to Present: Dwarf King Belegar, son of King Lunn, takes advantage of raging battles between Night Goblins and Skaven to re-enter Karak Eight Peaks. They refortify the old citadel and repel many attacks, but are themselves besieged by Skarsnik's Crooked Moon Tribe and the Skaven.[1b] 
  • 2488: The Battle of Death Pass. A Bretonnian army is defeated by Orcs led by Morglum Necksnapper, after which he proclaims 'Let 'em tell da King. Da east belongs to da Orcs. Dat east belongs to Morglum. Da east is green.'[1b] 
  • 2498: Battle of the Jaws. Skarsnik orders a Dwarf army from Karaz-a-Karak ambushed in Mad Dog Pass. Gorfang Rotgut, Chieftain of the orcs of Black Crag, loses his eye in the fierce fighting. A loose alliance forms between Skarsnik and Gorfang.[1b]
  • 2500 to 2510: Orc Warlord Gnaskrak forms a Waaagh! that rampages through the Worlds Edge Mountains for years, threatening to capture the Dwarf capital. Gitilla and his Howlaz are pivotal to Gnashrak's success, but leave before Gnashrak is finally slain at the Battle of Broken Leg Gully (2510).[1b] 
  • 2503: Gorfang Rotgut unsuccessfully besieges Barak Varr and later joins up with Orc and Goblin Tribes lead by Morglum Necksnapper to launch a surprise attack on Karak Azul. Many of the Dwarf Lord's kinsfolk are captured and taken back to the dungeons of Black Crag. The Dwarf Lord's son, Kazrik, was not taken captive but was shaved, and his head tattooed with a crude Orc glyph. He was then nailed to Kazador's own throne. Although Kazrik survives, the experience leaves him somewhat unhinged.[1b]
  • 2510: An army led by Night Goblin Spinny Backstab destroys many farms and villages surrounding Middenheim. Backstab is eventually defeated by Middenmarshal Kurt Helborg, who has the Goblin squashed under a Steam Tank dispatched from Nuln.[1b]
  • 2511: Forest Goblins destroy the Empire town of Glumhof and fashion a huge totem out of the skulls of their victims.[1b]
  • 2518: The Forest Goblins are stirred up when humans encroach upon the Black Pit. The Battle for the Drakwald is begun.[1b]
  • 2521 to present: Skarsnik prepares to lead the Crooked Moon tribe to wipe the Skaven and Dwarfs out of Karak Eight Peaks. Grimgor Ironhide tires of slaughtering Skaven beneath Red Eye Mountain and sets off on a new trail of blood and destruction.[1b]

Source[]

  • 1: Warhammer Armies: Orcs & Goblins (8th Edition)
    • 1a: pg. 28
    • 1b: pg. 29
  • 2: Warhammer Armies: Daemons of Chaos (8th Edition)
    • 2a: pg. 22
  • 3: Warhammer Armies: Orcs & Goblins (7th Edition)
    • 3a: pg. 14
  • 4: Warhammer Fantasy Battles: Rulebook (8th Edition)
    • 4a: pg. 175
  • 5: Warhammer Armies: Orcs and Goblins (4th Edition)
    • 5a: pg. 14-15
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