Optional Armor and Hit Location Rules for Warrior Heroes Armies and Adventures

Been working on this for a bit now and thought I'd share.

This minor addition to the Warrior Heroes Armies and Adventures combat procedures breaks out armor by area of the target hit.

One side effect of this is an increase the dreaded chain rating. You see now if your chappy gets is wearing a hauberk and gets hit in the chest it really is the chain that has been hit. If he gets hit in the leg though...

In any event it adds one roll to the missile combat mechanics if a hit is scored and may add one roll to melee, mostly on those "score two more" results.

It's in the  Official THW Rules Updates Warrior Heroes Armies and Adventures folder. What a mouthful that is : )

You will have to be a member of the Two Hour Wargames Yahoo Group to see it. Apologies for any inconvenience.

Give it a whirl and feedback welcome.

The Haddenogres' First Action: Sharke's Halfling!

Wanted to get the new Mahdists stuck in straight away.

As it happens my Rifle company was already out on the table ready for another project.

So...The Rifle company has been sent forward to establish piquets to protect main force's camp.

I had the orcs advance with one platoon out front skirmishing with the second platoon forming a company reserve to feed fresh orcs into the skirmish line.

Naturally as number 4 section neared a wadi, a screaming horde (9 actually, not much of a "horde"), broke cover and charged!

Lt. Sharke was up to the challenge and had half the orcs fire on the approaching Halflings, dropping three of them, one stone cold dead, the others just stunned.

The rest of the furry footed foes thought better of their headlong rush and disappeared back into the brush!

There is more movement in the scrub to the front. Is an overwhelming charge in the offing?


First couple of turns of a game played with the draft version of Musket and Mohawks. Similar results could have resulted from the published "Long Rifle" rules although that game is not intended to handle formations and quite so many figures.


Thought I might as well finish the story below rather than start a new post for the conclusion so here goes:

We left off after the first Haddenogre rush had been beaten back. It was now clear that more Halflings were massing in the scrub directly in front of the company.

A bit of a lull ensued. One Rifleorc from 2nd section trod on a Black Mamba and later died of wounds received.

There must also have been at least on Otterman among the foe as 1st and 2nd section were taken under a desultory sniper fire although no losses were sustained from it.

Lt. Sharke ordred fourth section to consolidate its position in the recently won wadi, while third section moved into the scrub on high alert.

Third section flushed a group of ten Halflings in the scrub. The fight was on!

And here I made a costly blunder. I had Sharpe have all of third section fire in hopes of routing the Haddenogre. The fire was actually quite effective, with five of the Halflings dropping. Only two were seriously injured though.

Instead of running as any sensible orc would have, the remaining five Halflings charged!

As I had thoughtlessly kept no reserve of loaded weapons the Rifleorcs panicked and fled!

Sharke and Harpy managed to rally a few of the lads and stood up to the charge. 

 

But it was not enough. All but Sharke were cut down by the cruel foe.

Captain Pebblekettle ordered 2nd section to fire in support and a few more Halflings fell.

The survivors, the lust of battle strong in their tiny frames charged the reserve platoon.

Only to think better of it and turn back round and head for the hills.

Meanwhile, Sharke had to contend with the survivors of 3rd sections first fire and was cut down where he stood.

Fire from 2nd section soon sent the remaining Halflings packing.

And "What." I hear you say. "was 4th section about while their comrades were so badly mauled"?

After having fallen back, the Halflings facing 4th section rallied, well half of them did anyway and commenced to spend the next few turns milling about in cover.

After 3rd section met with disaster I tried to form 4th section in line to better repel any new assault. Sadly the commanding Sgt. was not able to bring the orcs under orders and they remained in skirmish order for a few turns longer than I would have liked. Actually they never did come under orders again and the issue was forced when the remaining Halflings charged back into the wadi!

Skirmish formation or no, 4th section held their ground and opened a telling fire.

With two out of five warriors dropped the Fuzzy Feet withdrew to trouble us no more.

Rather a bad showing by Sharke's lads. Suppose that's what comes of elevating a rookery orc above his station eh?

In this action the company lost 1 Officer and 1 Sergeant severely wounded, 3 Other Ranks killed, and two more missing.

Halfling losses were estimated at 9, but as they carried off most of their dead its hard to tell.

Hope you enjoyed the tale!

Close up photos of the Halfling Dervish

Had a request for some close up photos so here goes:

Fire in the Suddan

The Halfling Tribes Gathered

Here they are in all their furry footed glory. 

As with all of my posts, a left mouse click on a photo will open an enlarged version. Should you wish to see more detail a second left click on the enlarged photo will usually produce and even larger image.

That out of the way the rather diminutive "host" is composed of one mounted unit and three foot.

They will be fighting alongside and against the Otterman of the Othari Empire.

They will also be standing in for the  non-Othari tribes of North Afri as Giggers and Co. continue their expedition into the area.

Bettan ah Bey
A conversion of an Alternative Armies studio painted figure.

Bettan serves as leader of the combined Otter-Halfling army that resists the Ferach Empire forces of Mordred the Usurper at such well known battles as "The Battle of the Pyreemiddens". In addition he also fills the role of Bilboist commander and that of Brigand Chief as required. This is not meant as a slam on his character so much as a product of the limitations of my collection.

Bettan Ah Bey oversees the host

When serving as Aegyptian Mamelukes fighting the Ferach, this mounted unit is backed up by four units of Otterman Gnoll Riders, and foot levies. 

Some day I should like to add another unit or two of mounted Halflings. As they seemingly come in only one pose at the moment, I've been putting off expanding the force.

The Mamelukes
Alternative Armies studio painted

Bettan Ah Bey's followers with the Pipeweed Banner

These chaps are the household foot of Aegypt's Mameluke rulers. Being city folk they prefer much more ostentatious clothing than their desert dwelling comrades.

Alternative Armies studio painted with home made flag

The following units were converted and painted over the last week or so. 

As an experiment I used only Army Painter paints and varnish on these fine fellahs.

With one exception. Found the Army Painter gold or "dwarven gold" had very bad coverage and so mixed it with Vallejo Brass. Rather like the combination if I dare say so myself.

Found the other Army Painter paints more than satisfactory and shall be purchasing more as required.

The text on the banners all come from "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, books vice films.

They are all lines spoken by Bilbo at some point which follows the theme that Bilbo is the true Messanger of the Author. Of course as far as any self respecting Halfling is concerned there is only one Author and Tolkien is his name.. 

The Haddenogre 

These dashing fellahs were quite a bit of fun. During the Mahdist wars of the late 19th Century, the Haddendowah tribe became famous for both their ferocity and their outrageous fros. So much so that they entered the British lexicon as "Fuzzy Wuzzies".

Decided to replicate and accentuate the hair style on the Halfling versions through the use of pom poms from the craft store. This required quite a bit of cutting the figrues' head gear but it has given the desired effect.

I took the liberty of giving their leader, "Osman Digit" a particularly large fro in an homage to the  Blaxploitaion films of my youth.

In truth Digit would be better represented as a mounted figure racing about the battlefield as needed. Perhaps one day, but this will have to do for now.

Converted Alternative Armies Halflings with home made flag
and converted leader figure

Finally, the followers of the Black Flag that started it all.

Finding suitable Bilbo Baggins quotes for the banners was quite a bit of fun in itself.

The followers of Bilbo Ali

Apart from their leader, and the lengthening of the flag pole, these are stock Alternative Armies Halflings.

These were painted after the style of the Mahdist warriors of Egypt and Sudan. 

If you look closely they have the colorful patches of poverty bling that became so popular during that rebellion.

Alternative Armies Halflings with home made flag
and converted leader figure

One more shot of the Black Flag Halflings

So there they are. Job done. Could use some more but I really do not like painting and would much rather play than do so.

Hope you enjoyed the photos and thanks for stopping by!

Raise the White Flag

Finished the third banner of the Suddan Halflings today:

The Haddenogere are one of the most fierce halfling tribes. This is due in no small part to what some say is a misconstruction of the Prophet Bilbo's words.

The Haddenoger believe they have been instructed by the Author to eat any Elves that fall into their hands.While this was almost certainly neither the Author's nor Bilbo's intent, anyone attempting to explain that to the Haddenogre is quickly deemed an Elf in other guise sent to sew dissension among the faithful...

The reverse face of the banner celebrates the near legendary hardiness of the Halflings.

Just need to flock the rank and file and then give all a final coat of matt varnish and the Halflings of Suddan will be ready for action.

Thanks for stopping by!

Osman Digit; WIP

Apologies for the poor quality photo. It's from my phone.

That out of the way here is a shot of Osman Digit (pronounced "dig-IT" (on the left), leader of the followers of the White Flag. The figure on the right is how Osman started life well they were both unpainted but you get the idea.

Have just finished hair application to the 24 Haddanogre tribesmen. The along with the additional 24 tribesmen of the Black Flag (of which the chap on the right is one), are just awaiting basing. 

I'll give them a bit more time for their wash to dry and than have a go.

Raise the Green Flag: The Halflings' Leaf

"There is another astonishing thing about Hobbits of old that must be mentioned, an astonishing habit: they imbibed or inhaled, through pipes of clay or wood, the smoke of the burning leaves of a herb, which they called pipe-weed or leaf, a variety probably of Nicotiana."

J.R.R. Tolkien (2009-04-17). The Lord of the Rings (p. 8). Harper Collins, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

The Green, or "Pipeweed" banner is proudly displayed by the household troops of Bettan Ah Bey. In company with good drink and good food, good tobacco is one of the thee pillars of Shirelam, and Bettan Ah Bey favors this pillar most.

Bettan Ah Bey cut his teeth so to speak, resisting the Ferach invasion of Aegypt. Having gone on to fight the Ottermen and Albion forces sent to oppose the Ferach, Bettan Ah Bey has led his followers south to the Suddan. It is not clear if  he is there on a recruiting/slaving expedition or has joined with the followers of Bilbo Ali.

As this figure was taken from a unit of halflings purchased already painted the "conversion" consisted of simply creating the flag and extending the halfling's banner pole.

Raise the Black Flag: WIP

Here is the prototype of the Black Flag of Bilbo Ali, descendant of the prophet Bilbo, praise Sentinel.

The actual banner will be textured a bit and of course wind blown  but I wanted to see how it would look before I put the figures under the spray can.

Soon the Suddan will run red with the blood of the hated Otterman overlords and Park and Giggers will have to be well mindful of their course and actions!


The Halflings of the Suddan and indeed most of the Shirelamic territories of the world believe that the words of the Prophet Bilbo, when written onto, well, pretty much anything, produce a charm of great power. Of course there is a limit to what will fit on a banner held by a 28mm scale (about 20mm tall) halfling and still be legible so their are fewer quotes than I should have liked to fit.

Only been able to put in a few minutes a day on this project so it is taking longer than I should have liked. More photos when its finished, along with the Green Pipeweed Flag of Osman Digit, leader of the Hadanogre tribe.

So which side of the banner ought to be forward facing? EDIT: Any thoughts on which quotes should face front?

Thanks for stopping by!

Meet Bartholomew

 A while back a tragic dipping accident left me with a Rackham Wolfen without a head. While I was casting about for a replacement, fenntroll on the Two Hour Wargames Forum  wrote:

"And so begins the "Legend of the Headless Wolfen"".

Now that is a splendid idea!

After a bit of searching and gathering bits from a couple of GW kits, here he is.

Now as Doctor Doofenshmirtz would surely agree, every villain needs a back story so here goes:.

With the loss of the Virgin of Chartres, the Sons of Malsum were once again free to enjoy the hunt, and he was the greatest of their pack.

To be a pack leader is always to be on guard lest another try to take your place. He had let his guard down.

Wounded and left for dead, he was discovered by the Haliwell sisters. Taking pity  on this, one of the Adversary's creatures, they took him in and he was made whole again. or near enough for their purposes.

They named him Bartholomew and he is their creature. 


Like all good headless creatures of folklore, Bartholomew spends his down time looking for his original head, a pastime in which he will never succeed.

But you can't blame a ghoul for trying! As Coolio might have put it, he's been searching and chopping so long that even Malsum thinks that his mind is gone.

After and before so to speak. One of his pack mates displays his pre-op look.

It is hoped that Bartholomew will serve both in his capacity of indentured servant on the frontier of Colonial America, and in a number of less mundane capacities.

I'm currently working on arming a number of Wolfe to serve as another tribe to fight or join with the Mohorcs, the Ferach, the forces of Albion, and those of the Rebels of New Albion as needed.

They may also appear as one of the many tribes of Afri, although of this I am not sure.

To that end I wanted him to be holding a head that could pass for an Elf if used in a setting where there are no humans. Think he will do.

As always thanks for stopping by

Firefight Muster / RT Marine Size Comparison

Click to Enlarge

This is not a real post.

Well, OK, it really is.

A fellow Notable asked for size comparison between these two figure ranges and as they happened to be at hand...

Hope this proves useful!

EDIT: added some additional photos as I found a Muster guy who is kind of crouching down like the Marines.