Welcome
This site is dedicated to tabletop wargaming
as well as the models, miniatures, and terrain associated with
it. Most of the models you will see in here are for use with Warhammer
40,000 (hereafter 40k), but there are a few other games represented
here as well.
IRONDOG Studios is a one man show. Every model
contained in these pages, as well as all the web design is the work of one person. There is no painting staff, no design team, no marketing department, just me.
I have chosen the Orks
as a theme for my website because,
simply put, Orks are the best army in the 40k universe, it just
took me a while to remember it...
A long time ago...
Set the wayback machine for 1987. I was a
young lad (still in high school) and managed to get my hands on
the first edition of the 40k game, known to most of us old time
gamers as Rogue
Trader. The rules were suited to 'skirmish' level games compared
to the larger games that are played today.
Shortly after that came the first boxed set
of plastic Space Marines and the first boxed set of Space Orks.
"Thrugg Bullneck's Space Ork Raiders" was a box of 16
metal Ork figures. While some of the sculpts were fairly primitive
by today's standards, they still had a lot more character than
the old "beakie" Space Marines in my opinion.
The background for the Orks was fairly limited
in those early days, but something about them appealed to me.
I think it mostly had to do with the following excerpt from the
book:
People say on their first meeting Man
and Ork exchanged a long, hard look, didn't care much for what
they saw, and began a long interstellar conflict that has gone
on ever since.
A few years later, the 2nd edition of the
game followed. The Orks retained their comical nature, and received
a serious boost in the background department. There were three
hardcover game supplement books devoted entirely to Orks, more
than any other army. The 2nd edition days were great for Ork players.
Even though most of your weapons were just as dangerous to you
as they were to the enemy, Orks were great fun to play.
After a hiatus of several years I got back
into 40k during 3rd edition. I found that the rules had not only
been vastly simplified, but the character of the Ork army had
changed. They were more thuggish and brutal rather than comical,
but they still had some of the greatest background in the game.
I always meant to pick up the Orks, but was sidetracked by other
armies, notably the Tau
and the Space
Wolves.
When the 4th edition of 40k was released,
I finally came around to the Orks again. By this time the rules
for the Orks were 'dated' to say the least. They were considered
by many to be an underpowered army, but I still managed to do
just fine with them. Besides, I play Orks for their character,
and the Ork models are some of the most characterful in the entire
range.
Fast forward to today. The new Codex: Orks
has brought "Da Boyz" up to a competitive level equal
to the other 40k armies, something they had been missing for a
long time. I will miss their underdog status, but the new rules
and models are just too cool!
In the beginning, there was the word. And
the word was...
WAAAGH!
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