White Dwarf Issue #21 Review - Looted Battlewagons & Orks!

It's week 4.221 of the Ork Releases and they still keep coming... Do I sound jaded? Well I must admit I am.
This has been an odd release. It lacks the punch of the Knight, the revelations of the Astra Militarum, but it does lack the sheer monotony of the Dwarves, so Games Workshop has at least got that right!
It wasn't until I was reading the Designers notes in this issue that I realised maybe what was missing from this release for me - singularity of vision.
"The all new Ork releases you're seen over the past few weeks were part of a concerted project involving lots of people" - Gavin Newton.
And I think that's it; the releases have seemed less like a "WAAARGH" and more like a "knock knock, can we come in?"... which is a shame because it came just as White Dwarf seemed to be hitting it's strides. 
+ + More after the jump + + 

~ WARNING - 
I am not a photographer, so expect dodgy pictures below 

First cab off the rank this week is the Painboy. I know there have been some rumblings on the net about people not liking this, but the amount of detail on this guy is pretty impressive! Yes, he isn't as bulky as the other Orks, but he does make an interesting mini.
They give some nice detail shots of this guy, so you can make up your own mind.

Now on the other hand - the Mek, to me, doesn't look all that Orky. He kind of looks like an Ork Techmarine. I mean maybe that was the brief, but not sure about this guy. It could be the yellow!

The Codex: Ork double-page spread. I'm wondering if White Dwarf have done the release of Codex: Orks a disservice. Pretty much all the Orks we have seen are Bad Moons - so a lot of yellow. Very few Evil Skulls or Blood Axes or Deadskulls or Snakebites - just a tonne of yellow. I mean yellow is fine, but seeing some of the minis in other colours might have been nice! 
Thank God they didn't do an Ork vs Imperial Fists battle!

... and what would a Codex release be without the big-bang version. This one isn't bad either!It's a Webstore Exclusive with only 2000 copies worldwide. It comes in a chest with a hinged lid and detailed with a large Ork glyph. Inside is two volumes: a special edition of Codex: Orks and the brand new, never before seen special edition of Waaagh! Ghazghull: A Codex: Orks supplement. They both have a unique cover to this edition. But wit - there's more...
It also includes eight art prints within an art wallet; these are the covers of previous Ork books, from ‘Ere We Go and Freebooterz to the latest Ork Codex. There are also a set of 10 brushed metal coins.
Ork fan? Buy this!
Now something I did notice that is very damn cool is that one of the pieces of art included is the Kev Walker Ork pictures from around the time of White Dwarf #120 or so. Kev Walker is awesome!

This issue also has a battle report between the Orks and the Tyranid. An interesting example really.

We then get a look at the Oddboyz, with a really nice Weirdboy mini I hadn't seen before. It's really cool!

In a bit of a welcome break from Orks there is a Hobbit battle report. I haven't played The Hobbit, but I hear good things!

Paint Splatter concentrates on the Painboy this wek with a number of his details explained. A few good tips - but couldn't they have used the for other clans paint schemes?

Now this is an image that's been doing the rounds of the internet over the passed week - its the looted Leman Russ. A nice job, but unfortunately not a kit you can buy. I wouldn't mind betting one could be making an appearance either from GW or Forge World!

Designers Notes - now I know who to blame :)
But seriously - these insights are actually pretty helpful, especially if you are designing your own units.
It's also interesting to see what these guys see as being the core feel of a race.

Now this is a nice way to end the issue, it's the reemergence of War Diary, which chronicles a number of hobbyists as they build their armies for Armies on Parade one unit (or even miniature) at a time.
That Knight pilot is very nice. Great use of bitz!
I love the idea of building an army, so I'm looking forward to this next week too.
I do think this would make a great section for Warhammer: Visions though. You could show the WIP and then the finished unit or mini... I think everyone would love that!

Verdict

Pretty lacklustre to be honest. You can see the units online and the added talky talky content wasn't that great. Unless you're into Orks, you can give this a miss!