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Of beards and helmets


captain fabian

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Hi Wolves. I was painting that Runepriest a couple of days ago and I thought ''Why don't I give him a helmet to play with''

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.p...i&img=93572

 

And I did. However that got me thinking. How do you imagine all those warriors rocking beards/topknots/hair use and wear their helmets? I know Space Wolves prefer not to use them but they have to at some point.

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Hah, you tie around the back of your head, or you stuff that bad boy down the neck piece as best you can.

 

Honestly, I think the idea of the Wolves' preference for fighting without helmets on is a little exaggerated.

 

In the Ragnar saga, I count at least ten occasions in the first two books alone when the Blood Claws got boned for not having their head gears on. I mean, get a load of this: one time, they had to close their mouths and hold their breath to avoid nurgle-flies filling their lungs. Then, they had genestealers clawing at their eye balls. One time, I think so much blood splashed on Ragnar's face that he couldn't see his foe. And another time, a nurgling vomitted on one marine's face and suffocated him.

 

Like come on! Really?

 

Little stuff like that could cost you battles, it seems, so I'm going take a safe guess and presume that Space Wolves tend to wear their helmet more often than not.

Oh, here's another good one, before I forget.

 

Ragnar's Claw, by William King.

 

Our beloved and perpetually self-conscious Blood Claw hero Ragnar is scouting out an Ork outpost where the Orks are celebrating their victories, shooting guns in the air and what not. Ragnar is lying flat in a bush, doing recon.

 

An Ork splits off from the camp and goes to take a piss. He urinates on Ragnar, then farts.

 

Ragnar, not being able to stand the smell, chokes. The Ork notices, and if Ragnar had been any slower to kill the Ork, the Orkgreenskin would have shot him in the face with a shoota.

 

Picture that scenario in your head. It says the urine splashed on his armor, but which direction was he facing? Couldn't have been his leg or his hands, it wouldn't have smelled that bad, and it couldn't have been his backpack or his chest, cuz he literally would have to be sprawled in front of the Ork. So it was likely his shoulders, or face...

 

 

The Ork's piss probably splashed on his face. That would explain why he choked, I would presume. A helmet likely would have filtered that smell. So let me re-iterate.

 

 

Ragnar Blackmane got pissed on.... by an Ork... in the face... without his helmet on.

 

 

And it nearly got him and his squad killed. Piss happens, brothers! Wear your helmets!

It may have been in Battle of the Fang, or one of the two Omnibus...I dont recall as I read them all back to back in about a week. They kind of blend together. Irrelevant anyway, point being that somewhere it talked about them oiling, or laquering their hair and beards down to be battle ready. I imagine that takes care of jamming them into helmets.
Ironically, Blood Claws aren't even allowed to start growing facial hair until they become Gray Hunters, so they should be the ones wearing helmets all the time. I don't remember which SW or BL book it was but long-haired characters braid their hair and pile it around their head so that the helmet rests comfortably on it.
Ironically, Blood Claws aren't even allowed to start growing facial hair until they become Gray Hunters, so they should be the ones wearing helmets all the time.

 

That's fluff from the Space Wolf Omnibus I believe, so strictly speaking, isn't exactly canon lore... and therefore no more truthful than me saying all helmeted SWs have baby krakens suctioned to their skulls. You're more than welcome to believe what you want. I just prefer reading things that are delivered with all the facts.

 

Edit - This may come off as snarky or otherwise ill-received. Know that this is not my intent. Just wanted to set the record straight.

all helmeted SWs have baby krakens suctioned to their skulls.

 

Hey Joe, did you know that all SW have baby krakens suctioned to their skulls....... so let it be written so let it be.

 

 

 

 

All I have to say is have you ever seen a woman with tons of hair wear a wig, I mean where do they put all that hair.

The new BL novels all mention that hair and beards are waxed/laquered/oiled down. I would suppose this allows then to properly seal up. I am sure at sometimes the need to trim or shave it off arises and they just make do until they can grow it out again.

The old norse where not stupid and helmets where very common. They would braid their hair in a fashion that allowed the helmet to slip comfortable on top. These practical people actualy used their long hair as comfortable lining to protect their skulls from being battered by their own helmets.

 

Other cultures used soft fur or velvet caps for the same purpose, some going so far as to shave their head's bald to enable a comfortable fit.

Other cultures used soft fur or velvet caps for the same purpose, some going so far as to shave their head's bald to enable a comfortable fit.

Looks lke they still do... Look at those Grey Knights having to wear leather caps under their helmets because they prefer to adopt standard Grimdark fashion (ie: screaming-bald-guys look)!

Other cultures used soft fur or velvet caps for the same purpose, some going so far as to shave their head's bald to enable a comfortable fit.

Looks lke they still do... Look at those Grey Knights having to wear leather caps under their helmets because they prefer to adopt standard Grimdark fashion (ie: screaming-bald-guys look)!

 

Yeah, the bald option was very common with the knightly orders. it also helped reduce the problem of lice while on campaighn.

Seems to be a personal choice thing. Wolves have natural senses that are superior to the auto-senses of power armour and they have a cultural bias in which they prefer that their enemy see the face of the warrior that kills it.

 

Balance that with the fact that the enemy have weapons that will take your head clean off.

 

Each wolf makes his choice.

the thing is, as depicted in wolf's honour amongst others, a helmet dulls the space wolf enhanced senses.hence they prefer not to wear one when it isn't needed.

 

Have these wolves outweighed the risks of not wearing a helmet with the use of their senses? Has the possibility been overlooked that things could affect one's senses because one DIDN'T wear one's helmet in an effort to preserve those senses in the firs place?

 

Examples. All these dangers could, and have often been portrayed, as bouncing off of ceramite harmlessly.

 

Take a lasrifle shot to the eye ball. How do you aim? Or an auto-gun shell to the jaw. Now you're entire mandible is dangling from your head. What do you taste? Or say you dodge an Ork choppa with great genetically-enhanced dexterity, only to have it scrape against the extremities and take off a chunk of your nose. Now all you smell is your own blood. How about a grot jumps on your backpack unit and sticks a screwdriver into your ear hole?

 

Or when Ragnar Blackmane got urinated in the face by an Ork?

 

Is that really worth it? I bet you, by the time a Blood Claw makes it to Grey Hunter, he'd have at least ten close-calls that would have taught him to wear his helmet into combat at all times.

 

The math doesn't add up. I don't think it's consistent. See, officers in other Marine chapters have force fields and Void barriers that protect them, like an Iron Halo or the Rosary beads the Chaplains wear. Maybe the Belt of Russ. You take off your helmet, and you still have a forcefield keeping you safe. Hell, you can even go into space bare-headed, and you're fine so long as the field is in place and there's oxygen flowing behind the barrier.

 

Only if a great number of those bare-headed wolves have some kind of forcefield, and those forcefields don't diminish the capabilities of their senses, twould I feel it's plausible. Otherwise, I doubt the validity of the notion.

when hunting and stalking their prey, I can easily understand not wearing the helmet, and having it maglocked to the armour. before charging into the fray, you put on your helmet. easy, quick, best of both worlds.

 

The reason i model all my bare-headed wolves with a helmet on their belt :D

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