Thorne:
Inspirational and hillarious ! gotta love it Tommy !
Thommy H:
The Queen owns all the unmarked Mute Swans on open water, which is not quite the same thing as owning all of them, and in practice only exercises that right on certain stretches of the Thames - which is where the Swan Upping thing you mentioned happens. Like the “break a man’s arm” thing, it’s one of those little factoids that you hear repeated a lot, but which doesn’t have a lot of value as information. This, however, makes it prime material for showing up in Warhammer. Or at least, the Warhammer of my youth, when Nigel Stillman was filling the Dogs of War army book with dubious historical in-jokes. Good times.
Thanks for the compliment, Thorne. They were written when I first moved into my current flat and didn’t have internet access (or a job) yet. I was trying to think of another obscure army to collect after Chaos Dwarfs and was seriously considering Halflings, but nothing ever came of it. The rules are still on my hard drive though.
The Brain:
I love the GW halfling models i have a whole army of them, the old Citadel journal rules were fun, but these days the Orc and goblin work well and every once and a while they are used as high elves. check out my army page i even have swams of chickens and swans they make great snotling bases.
The brains other armies
Call Me Dave:
Thebattleforge halflings are great, same for their giant too. I have just bought a couple of units Halfling Militia and can’t wait to start painting them.
I gather that the early Citadel miniatures where his inspiration. I think that is apparent from some the giant head options that I saw at Salute. The giant was on the Armies of Arcana table so I am guessing thebattleforge himself now plays by those rules.
The table is on this thread
http://chaos-dwarfs.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=7535
and their new dwarves, due for release at the end of the month, can be found here
http://www.artwho9figurepainting.co.uk/BATTLEFORGE%20MINIATURES%20GALLERY.htm
hint: click on the pics for more shots
cornixt:
Need more food-based magic items!
Father Grumpmas:
A lot of the ideas banging around for Halflings seem come from the 5th edition WFB Halfling list in the Citadel journal e.g. swan riders, crazed halfling housewifes, treemen.
This site has a good summary of halfling miniature producers on it
Halfling House: 1st post!!!
This summary of halflings are good if a bit dated
Colonel Marbles Miniatures Masterworks :: Halfling Showcase
A good variety of halfling types at Mega Miniatures
http://freeboardgamesnow.com/search.aspx?find=halfling&log=false
Ronshank:
I’m not sure if a stubbon rule is such an awesome idea unless the units are capable of killing a decient amount of the enemy.
How about a ‘Halflings have no concept of danger’ rule that would allow them to ignore fear based tests until the halfling army gets it’s first causualty. This is based on the idea that the idealic lifestyles they live is so far removed from the constant wars around them that they do not realise the true danger they are in. It will also give them a fighting chance as it will allow archers to attack before the Halfling carnage begins.
Allanp:
That is a fantastic idea ronshank. its true i guess the concept of a halfling killing things is a long shot haha.
thanks everybody there are some good links there. and some really good models. from going from nothing to several choices of model poses the opposite problem model wise. hahaha
i just love the variety of things you could do with this concept. although i have to say the most appealing is the orcs and goblins of old style. something that is just so insane and weird that it works with loads of really amusing things hat could happen…really dont know how im going to start even thinking bout those yet hahaha. rules were never my strong point.
that table spread is fantastic call me dave
and your army is brilliant The brain some of those old models are so much fun
Allanp:
right hello again. i am currently just getting some idea down for units etc and i have run into a problem. an easy one to fix though. does anyone know offhand where i could find the rules and profiles for the halflings that exist. i had a browse on games workshop but couldnt find anything. i also tried finding the units that exist already and usually when you click on them it will tell you about them and give you their profile underneath bt this doesnt happen with the haflings. i was just wondering if your profiles in your attachment were the accurate ones Thommy.
also along this point are these rules now outdated? thoughts?
Thommy H:
The profiles of the basic troops in my army list are identical to the ones that appeared in the 6th Edition Dogs of War list in White Dwarfs. Heroes and Wizards are extrapolated from those because, to my knowledge, there have never really been any Halfling characters since 5th Edition.
I recommend seeking out the Dogs of War pdf for the closest thing you’ll get to “official” Halflings though. You can’t make a whole army of them, but you at least get the rules for a unit and a war machine.
Allanp:
hey there everyone. sorry i have been away for so long.
right after having a manic year and finally being able to slow down again (if only briefly haha) i have come back to have another look at this army idea and have come up with some ideas that i would like your esteemed opinions on. below are a collection of ides for a halfling army that i thought suited quite well. but i will let you judge that :). as you will see there are no profiles, set rules, or points values yet this is just simply to test the water and see what people think or might suggest.
Lord choices
Halfing landlord/elder -
if a halfling landlord then it acts much like a single character model and would follow those kinds of rules, if an elder i like the idea of him sitting at the back of the army barking orders or information at units maybe through a set of runners. maybe roll a d3 at the start of a turn and no matter where they are on the battle field the unit can use his leadership or reroll leadership rolls or something. in any case i think we can forgo the idea of halflings as very good fighters and make them more of a psychological influence on the battlefield. standard 100pts of magic items
Wandering wizard -
simply a wandering wizard that was passing through the area and either got caught in between the battle lines or simply wanted to lend a hand. i dont know whether to make him a level 2 or 4 wizard (or even 1 or 3). in terms of magic items it might be more fitting to only let the wizard take items from the common magic items list.
Halfling Gaffer -
this guy is basically the master of the halfling lores of magic i guess with the standard level 3 profile whilst being able to upgrade to level 4. same again 100 pts of magic items
Heroes
adventurous halfling -
this fellow is more to beef up the lines of the general troops and like before may well present better psychological bonuses than fighting prowess. the ordinary kid of equipment rules will probably apply though along with the 50pts of magic items
Herb lore apprentice -
this is lower form of the gaffer and so is a level 1 version, with the option of upgrading to level 2. 50 pts of magic items
Travelling hero -
for this i thought there could be the option of recruiting a hero from a race of either men, elves, or dwarves to represent an old ally or just another traveller lending a had. i thought this option could be selected from the relevant book with all their normal options bar maybe the magic items. perhaps these should only be from the common items too.
Core
Halfling Farmers -
your basic run of the mill hand infantry unit. armed with an array of simple farm tools such as pitchforks, sickles, scythes etc to represent that they aren’t properly trained line infantry. for these i thought light armour, hand weapon. options for a command squad and a shield that could be some sort of barrel lid or dart board or something
Halfling archers - the mainstay unit. halflings are very good archers due to keen eyesight. equipment fr these would be bows (or short bows) and no armour. option would include a command, possibly armour. i had a thought about a rule of making all shots fired by halflings automatically hit on a 4+ but i am not sure about this one yet.
Halfling drunkards - this idea is pretty self explanatory and could provide for much hilarity. they wont have any weapons as such, mostly using fists although it is quite possible that a couple of them will be carrying a bar stool or mug of ale. with these i have had a thought about some rule, such as a version of animosity due to their drunken nature. and possibly rolling at the start of a turn or battle to see just what effects the beer has had on them ( i had thought of doing some sort of table like 1-2= +1a 3-4= +1 toughness and 5-6= frenzied or something like this). i had also thought about making them immune to psychology. no equipment as such other than hand weapon. options could include a ringleader(champion)
halfling hunters/young boys -
this idea is based around creating a unit to harass the enemy flanks. it would basically be a skirmished unit that lob stones at the enemy or fire a bow. it could be an option for them to upgrade from the naughty halfling boys (who only use stones) to the more refined huntsmen who use bows. equipment would be stones (boys) and bows (hunters). options would be some form of champion so a ringleader and a master of the hunt
Special
Dwarf warriors -
this is following the travelling warriors theme. they may even be staying in the moot somewhere and come to help or just fancied a fight. this would be taken from the relevant book and the options for them and the equipment etc
Empire state militia -
sent by the emperor to help the halflings in the peril. stats etc would be taken from the relevant book
Swan/great eagle riders -
they had these in the journal entry i read on halflings and i thought they were an interesting idea. i thought of having these as another long forgotten ally. maybe having 2 halflings riding on each bird and armed with stones and spears. optoin for a lead swan or something
the halfling aristocracy -
there are weapons and armour in the moot but mostly used as decoration on the walls of wealthy halflings. this unit represents that fact. not much different in profile than the basic halflings (maybe an extra toughness to represent they have had the luxury of more food or something?) they would come out in a range of mixed up and ill fitting armour but armour none the less. equipment would be heavy armour and hand weapons. options for command and maybe some form of halberd/great weapon
halfling trained militia -
this is another idea i thought of. it is based on the fact that there must be at least some trained fighters in the moot and this would be them. perhaps with an extra weapon skill/ toughness as well. this unit could also potentially inspire nearby units possibly making them stubborn? equipment would be spears or halberds, light armour. options of a command and shields
Pony traps -
the halfling form of chariot. simply a trap pulled by 1 pony with 4 angry halflings aboard, one being the driver, wielding weapons and throwing stones. perhaps 2 chariots per choice. equipment would be spears and stones. the options of an extra pony and bows
Halfling hotpot -
Of Course ;). although i had a thought about selecting different ammo types for different effects?
Rare
Pony riders -
i put these as a rare choice because it struck me that there wouldn’t be very many halflings who were big enough to ride a pony or if they even knew how to ride one. they would be armed with hand weapons and light armour. they would have the options for a command, spears, shields, heavy armour
Tree man or woman -
the woman idea based on the loss of the ent wives in lotr (thanks to Thommy H). the rules would be the same as those in the relevant book.
Cannon -
i thought about cannons as a choice maybe through the empire giving the moot some canon a long time ago. these would be small bore so only strength 7 or something. also had a thought of a special rule where you have to role to see if it fires the first time due to a lengthy time in storage (maybe a mouse has made a nest in the barrel in the meantime). basic rules for the cannon. the 3 crew only have hand weapons.
Giant cooking pot -
same sort of principle the anvil of doom i imagine but with more of a view to benefit the halflings rather then attack the enemy. it could choose one of 3 or so recipes for its cooks to create which would instil different benefits on units. a thought i had was something like the pot nominates a group of archers within a set distance and the aroma makes them fires twice as efficiently so they fire in the shooting phase and the magic phase. but you get the basic idea. maybe 5 crew with hand weapons.
i am still giving thought to the special character idea and the magic items and magic lore etc. i thought that the magic lore would be less offensive like the nature of the lord and hero benefits. but please feel free to suggest anything you might find interesting or think could be cool related to anything and everything i have talked about :). all advice and views are very welcome.
sorry its a long one haha. :cheers
Allanp:
also forgot to add on an idea for an army rule that may follow the same lines as the blessing of the lady in bretonnia. same efects