Prisoners of the WAAAGH! by Justin Woolley.
The men and women of the Imperial Guard are hopelessly outgunned out there in the long, dark reaches of the galaxy. Most of the time, they’re thrown into fights where they’re little more than cannon fodder, bodies for the grinder, holding the line through sheer attrition. Anyone who survives the first brutal moments of an Ork invasion might feel lucky, but that feeling doesn’t last. Every now and then, if a Warboss can keep his Boyz from killing absolutely everything in sight, the Orks take captives. Some are kept for the kind of menial jobs even Gretchin won’t touch, some are worked to exhaustion, some are saved so the Warboss can make an example of them… and some end up as food. This is the story of one group of Guardsmen trying to survive as the unwilling playthings of a Waaagh.
This short story clocks in at just over a hundred pages, but I still found it a really enjoyable read. The pacing is solid, the narrative flows cleanly, and there aren’t any obvious gaps or jumps. I especially liked that the Imperial Guard soldiers aren’t portrayed as anything more than what they are — fragile, ordinary humans trying to survive in a galaxy full of monsters. We’re so used to following transhuman warriors who can shrug off almost anything, or facing down the wildly overpowered horrors of the setting, that it’s refreshing to see a story grounded in the Guard’s vulnerability. The development of the main group of captives is handled well, showing the pressure they’re under while still trying to maintain discipline and the kind of mindset that keeps them alive. One mistake could get them killed. If anything, the only thing I missed was the usual Orky chaos and humour that tends to follow the green tide around. Still, it’s a book worth reading, and its few shortcomings are easy to forgive.
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