The disappearance of GW half-orcs - what happened?

[Hobgoblin]

A thought struck me yesterday while working on these guys: what happened to Warhammer's half-orcs? They were around since the first edition and played parts in some of the classic 2nd and 3rd-edition scenarios. And - if memory serves - they features in some WHFRP scenarios.

I've never seen any edition of Warhammer after 3rd. So were they just dropped altogether in 4th? Or did they feature in some of the later editions?

[King Arthur]

I do believe they just faded away after 3rd edt. I played up until 6th edition, Storm of Chaos era before I dropped out of the hobby in my younger days and they were not in any army books afaik.

With us Oldhammer collectors now, that's part of their allure, that they were never massed produced, being nominally a Merc entry so didn't feature that often in any great numbers.

I had them all at one point but didn't have a place for them in my Dark Elves, Undead or Nurgle 3rd edt forces..... great sculpts though!

[Cubs]

I was half-heartedly thinking about collecting the Half-Orc regiment of renown, but in truth I found it quite hard to get hold of them so I gave up on that particular ambition.

I like the Half-Orcs more now than I used to as a kid. Back then they seemed to be a bit ... ordinary. They had average stats and no special rules so I didn't see the appeal. Now I'm a bit longer in the tooth (not to mention belt) that's exactly the reason I like them. I do have the Half-Orc hero which I plan to paint up at some point and may keep an eye out for the RoR models if I see a good bargain.

[Globlin]

They were in the 3rd edition and included in the Warhammer Armies army list book, but I think they were dropped for the 4th edition - they certainly weren't in the Orc & Goblins 4th edition army book. That marked the start of GW aiming their products at a younger generation. It may well be that the thought of half-orcs was considered a bit icky - it's fine to slaughter your enemy and build piles of their skulls, just don't have sex with them!

Also I think GW decided Orcs grew from fungus spores (or at least Orks did in WH40K) and therefore half-orcs didn't fit in with the new fluff.

[Hobgoblin]

King Arthur - thanks! So they were just quietly dropped? A shame!

Cubs - good point about their Warhammer profiles. As I remember it, they were just slightly worse humans (lower Ld or Initiative or something) for almost the same points cost.

I have the RoR ones. They've aged better than my schoolboy paintjob has and are due for a Biostrip bath at some point:



Those were the halcyon days when GW knew what size a warhammer was!

I actually think the best of the lot are the solid-based non-ROR ones. It's a tight contest between these and Aly Morrison's hobgoblins for my favourite miniatures of all time:



The subsequent slotta-based ones are fine, but there's something less appealing about them: they're a little more comical and a lot less menacing. I think there's possibly something about the freedom afforded by slottabases that makes them slightly less successful (the one with the halberd over his head might be a case in point here). Also, their faces are less sinister, by and large: some of those solid-based ones have really evil, fanged visages.



I think the C36 hobgoblins straddle the slotta divide rather better: partly because a lot of them are the same models, and partly because the ones that aren't seem to show more postural restraint in the slotta-based stages. Gyurokinti vs Baron Brightgore? It's a tough call. (My copy of the latter has long vanished, annoyingly.)

The RoR half-orcs are an interesting intermediate stage: they've got much bigger heads and a more slouched posture than either the before or the afters. I still have the slotta-based champion to paint up, with the company pay-chest strapped to his back.

[Hobgoblin]

They were in the 3rd edition and included in the Warhammer Armies army list book, but I think they were dropped for the 4th edition - they certainly weren't in the Orc & Goblins 4th edition army book. That marked the start of GW aiming their products at a younger generation. It may well be that the thought of half-orcs was considered a bit icky - it's fine to slaughter your enemy and build piles of their skulls, just don't have sex with them!

Also I think GW decided Orcs grew from fungus spores (or at least Orks did in WH40K) and therefore half-orcs didn't fit in with the new fluff.

It's odd, though: the original GW half-orc fluff was very Tolkien-esque (unspecified sorcerous abominations carried out "offscreen" and in the past) and no worse than much else they produced for high elves and dark elves.

Interestingly, the first-edition half-orcs did have some rules-based attractions: the assassins' profiles are quite tasty, with WS4 and Frenzy. But they were shorn of all that in the second and third editions, where they were much more bland.

The shaman/cleric figure illustrated here is one of the quintessential "classic Citadel" models. Everyone seemed to have him back in the 80s.

[aiteal]

Normally I'm a sucker for Ally Morrison sculpts, but in the case of the half orc range I think the Perry pre-slottas are much nicer (and easier to collect). What I particularly like about the half orcs is the range of skin tones I can paint them in without breaking the 'unit look'. Mostly I paint them with Foundry's Native American Flesh triad these days.

[Hobgoblin]

Those look great - but they are by Aly Morrison (see the ad above!). They're superb models.

Your paintwork is excellent. Do you have any more shots of them and their kin?

I've just bought the one with the sword from eBay; the chap with the wolfskin is one of three or four that I don't have (yet!).

[aiteal]

The slotta guys are Aly, even without the name on the flyer it's impossible to mistake his posing and faces, the pre-slotta guys were Perry iirc.
Probably have some pics of the others on the Oldhammer forum, missing a few variants myself, but coming up on 40 of the little buggers now as allies for my hobgoblins

[Hobgoblin]

No, the pre-slotta guys are by Aly too. Look at the feet and faces!

But - to settle it beyond doubt - look at the boxed text in the order form in the ad I posted above ("designed by the incomparable Ali [sic] Morrison"). It's from June 1984 and is advertising the preslotta range; slottabases didn't come in until 1985. The slottabased half-orcs came out in November 1985.

Also, the preslotta ones are signed "Aly" on the underside of the base.

I'll have a search on the Oldhammer forum - cheers!

[aiteal]

Fair dues, I always assumed they were Perry as the faces lack the cartoon quality that I associate with Aly in that era.

[Hobby Services]

Fluff-wise, half-orcs ceased to make much sense about the time orcs/orks became geneered creations of the Brainboyz.  They don't reproduce sexually, probably don't even have the parts needed to do so, and they certainly don't seem to have sexes or genders anymore.  All about the fungal spores since those days.  While I guess you could modify the fluff so that a human (or elf, or whatever) female could be infected by the spores and produce a hybrid, that walks a little too close to the whole Aliens trope that the Genestealers are already ripping off.

[Cubs]

I have the RoR ones. They've aged better than my schoolboy paintjob has and are due for a Biostrip bath at some point:
I still have the slotta-based champion to paint up, with the company pay-chest strapped to his back.

You should really save yourself the bother. Why not offload them cheap to ... oh, I don't know, me for example ... and clear out your lead pile. You'll feel better, I promise.

As will I.

[Cubs]

Interestingly, the first-edition half-orcs did have some rules-based attractions: the assassins' profiles are quite tasty, with WS4 and Frenzy.

Oh man, I've never seen that! Being in White Dwarf instead of the rules I guess I missed it. If I'd seen that perhaps I'd have been more interested in them.

[Hobgoblin]

It must have been released just before the second edition of Warhammer came out. It's in the style of the first edition's bestiary, which had lots of interesting - though largely unexplained - troop types (orc guards armed with darts, for example, like a couple of the C15 armoured orcs).

I didn't ever play first edition, though I acquired a copy at some point in the later 80s. I really like the way it breaks goblins into night, great and red, and its RPG/wargame crossover feel - which now looks rather modern.

This site has (probably) the complete listing of the solid-based C10 half-orcs. I think they really showcase Aly's excellence converting his own figures into variants. These two, for example, are both great figures, and the subtle shift in head/body alignment makes them look really different even when they're standing next to each other (as they are on my painting table at the moment):