Snotlings are diminutive greenskins which feature in Games Workshop’s Warhammer 40,000 and Warhammer Fantasy settings.
Description[]
Small, scrawny humanoid creatures of low stature and even lower intelligence, Snotlings fulfill much the same role in Warhammer 40,000 as they do in Warhammer Fantasy: that of being the lowest of the low in Orc (or Ork) society. They perform such menial tasks as the collection of edible fungus from the latrines, scratching the backs of their masters, fetching and carrying smaller items, and sometimes as nothing more than a quick snack for one of their larger cousins.
Snotlings In Battle[]
Occasionally, a particularly foolhardy group of Snotlings will get together before a battle and arm themselves with their most fearsome weapons - broken bottles, small rocks and pointed sticks can all be found in their arsenal - and follow a mob of bigger greenskins into battle. There, they will copy everything their compatriots do, much to the annoyance of these kin, who will throw anything they can lay their hands on at the little buggers in an effort to get them to stop shadowing them. The Snotlings see this as battlefield camaraderie, however, and respond by throwing things back, usually sending their “parent“ unit into paroxysms of fury.
Warhammer Fantasy[]
Very rarely, a group of these critters will unite under a particularly intelligent Snotling and construct a vehicle known as a Pump Wagon. This ramshackle creation is powered by sheer Snotling-strength, and will rumble haphazardly towards the enemy before either being shot to pieces by a canny group of archers, or crashing triumphantly into the enemy lines where, after the initial slaughter, they will inevitably be chopped to bits.
Warhammer 40,000[]
Some Ork Meks will construct devices called Shokk Attack Guns. These machines create a portal through the warp which, if properly aimed, will emerge inside a battle tank or other armoured vehicle. The poor Snotlings are herded through the warp tunnel, a place never intended for unshielded mortals to see, and emerge on the other end as insane bundles of violence and fury which will do their utmost to tear the unsuspecting crew apart before they even know what has hit them.