White Dwarf issues 156-158 - When Squats died.

[AranaszarSzuur]

Space Wolves from Book of Astronomician didn't have Nordic names and didn't use runes. They used imperial iconography, for example laurels.

But then in WD156 Space Wolves were effectively turned into Squats.

Both squats and Space Wolves are more human than the Imperium, use runes, have beards and sometimes mohawks, drink copious amounts of alcohol and have very strong sense of honour.
Space Wolves have Iron Priests that recruit from sons of Forgemasters from Guild of Smiths. Sounds oddly familiar.

Remnants of Squats remained in 2nd ed era but they were just a redundant race who didn't receive a codex and were soon written off.

 

[symphonicpoet]

I can't really argue with that. In an odd twist of Irony, I used a squat head for a converted Space Wolf commander. The general beardiness just fit. I think you're onto somethin.

I suppose that might also be half the reason I've gone less Nordic and more biker on my Squats. Heck, I gave my guildmaster a Mongolian name: Bogino Ganbaatar. (To be fair, he kind of came out looking like a Mongol to my eye, but I think Genghis and his classmates out Viking the Vikings themselves. They just used horses instead of boats, which makes sense in the environment. Could Vikings eat their ships when they broke down? That would explain a lot.)