Saturday, April 2, 2011

Second Ed Saturdays - "Manly" Orks or What happened to the Beards?

A few weeks ago, I did an article on Where did all the mushrooms go?  Now, as the time machine is fixed, we journey to the not so distant past of 1991.  (That was nearly 20 years ago! - ed)  Wow, 20 years?  Has it been that long?  Ok, so 1991, The year that DC Comics debut the title Superman: The Man of Steel, Adam Sandler joins Saturday Night Live, and kids ate their Saturday morning cereal to the Back to the Future cartoon.


As I look through the 'Ere We Go book, (copyright GamesWorkshop 1991)  I noticed that there were quite a few Orks with beards.  Now we already know these are simply squigs attached to their faces.  But, why don't we see more of them?  In 3rd edition, Orks who had an affinity for beards just seemed to vanish.  Too silly?  Perhaps it was not the direction that GW intended for orks to go.  Perhaps it just made the race seem "too human".  Whatever the reason, I for one like the beards. 

So what do you think?  Do orks "deserve" beards?  Why did they disappear?  More unsolved mysteries of the universe that is 40k.
These orks from the 'Ere we go book enjoyed giving the Waaagh Banner the "Mr. T" treatment...and is it just me or does the ork in the upper lefthand corner look like Dog the Bounty hunter?

3 comments:

  1. Orks with beards have always looked snazzy. Bring them back I say, full and fuzzy. Greenstuff will do until then.

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  2. I dunno...I have a hard time with Orks with hair in general. I never know what color to paint it. What color is a fungus's hair anyway?

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  3. @ The Jersey General - Whatever you want it to be. Red complements the green skin, but if you have blue facepaint, or are playing up reds and browns on the rest of the mini, maybe an orange or deep yellow.

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