What color is...

Feros_Ironfeld wrote:I've seen and read differing opinions from the White Dwarf and Black Library. It seems it could be red or green.

Many novitiates have queried me in the past as to why, given the symbiosis of algal material in Ork DNA, their greenish pigmentation is apparent only in their skin and not other parts of their anatomy such as blood plasma, inside the mouth, internal organs and so on. The answer to this is simple. Much like more primitive plant-forms, the green pigment of Orks is produced by photosynthesis occutring in algae just beneath the skin, a phenomena which does not affect internal tissues. This means that an Ork's blood, with its oxygen-rich haemoglobin, is just as red as that of homo sapiens and often more so due to its enhanced capacity for carrying oxygen. Real world note: There's actually another good reason for giving Orks red blood - it makes painting gore on them dramatic, the red shows up on green in a defined way just like red blood shows against human flesh. When you try using green blood stains on Orks, they look like they just had an unfortunate accident with a gooseberry squishy.

I say Ork blood is whatever the hell color you want to paint it.. red, green, yellow, black..

The fluff supports red blood, but after that, it's your own call. Why? cause it's your paint and your models.