Halflings (Warhammer)

This article or section is about something oldschool - and awesome. Make sure your rose-tinted glasses are on nice and tight, and prepare for a lovely walk down nostalgia lane.

"That's a real nice Daemonic steed you've got there. It'd be a shame if the lads were to shoot it full of arrows and spitroast it over a fire with a pineapple shoved in both ends. But since you're on your way to Stirland and all that isn't gonna a problem now, is it?"

Remember back when Warhammer Fantasy was about combining history with criticism of the modern world and comedy while adding stuff "inspired" by the young and evolving modern fantasy genre alongside Tolkien, the works of Michael Moorcock, Glorantha, and Dungeons & Dragons all for the purpose of selling models of the aforementioned IPs?

Don't worry, Games Workshop doesn't either.

Halflings are a remnant of the older Warhammer, mostly forgotten aside from those moments that modern writers want a touch of levity. They've appeared off and on throughout the years, but never once in the starring role of anything. They were more or less removed from the game September 9th 2006 with the release of 7th edition by virtue of not having rules, officially removed in 8e by virtue of not existing in any rulebook and the Dogs of War army no longer being supported by omission in the core rule army list. The last of them perished in End Times, and as one would predict they were not brought back for Age Of Sigmar nor in any sort of demand by the fans of that game. UNTIL NOW! Featured as victims of the Kunnin Krew!

For their Warhammer 40000 equivalent, see Ratling.

For the record, if you want to proxy them on the tabletop they use a 20x20mm (AKA Goblin-sized) base.

Origins & History

For a summary, "Tolkien Hobbits but black comedy in the Warhammer universe, with surprisingly few changes other than making some gentle fun of Hobbits".

In the prehistory of the world the Old Ones were trying to create a race that they could use as their army of slaves against Chaos because it would eventually invade, not realizing that drawing magic from Chaos was making it a self-fulfilling prophesy. First they created the Elves in a special magical continent called Ulthuan, who were effective Chaos fighters but lacked the reproduction rate needed to keep a long war going and were easy for Chaos to manipulate. The Dwarfs were created in the mountains of the Old World as everything good about the Elves, but instead of channeling the power of Chaos into magic and sending it right back at them, the Dwarfs were resistant to magic and even nullified it. But the Dwarfs were also slow to reproduce, and although designed to be so stubborn they were hard to manipulate, they were too uncompromising to react to the changing tactics of Chaos. Humans were next, which were created in Nehekhara, and since they were worse than Elves and Dwarfs in every single way other than reproducing quickly, it can be assumed they were just a test batch.

Halflings were the next creation, set just northwest of the Dwarfs in the Old World in a highly fertile and perfect land full of valleys and rivers which would be called the Mootland. This is only really meta-knowledge however. While the Slann of the Lizardmen may know the true origins of the Halflings given they likely were participants in their creation, nothing regarding the Halflings has been mentioned in any of their plans. Dwarfs don't really know where they came from, only recording that humans and Halflings have been together as long as they've been paying attention to races other than Elves and that it took some time for them to realize they weren't just human children. Elves seem to have no real interactions with Halflings. Humans believe they're a failed creation of one of their gods, either as an experiment in Chaos-fighting by Verena or as a joke by Ranald.

After their creation the Old Ones were apparently pleased, given they immediately set about creating Ogres, which are pretty much just giant Halflings; however they were too late, the Warp Gates exploded and Chaos invaded the world before they were finished. As a result the Ogres were physically finished, but their environment couldn't support them (unlike how the Moot could the Halflings), and their culture was entirely unfinished, which resulted in a race of brutes with very little intelligence.

Elves have the most complete record of the world, and between their creation and the invasion of Chaos was a golden age that no records survive from. Since all the (intended, natural) races of the world were finished (barring Ogres which simply exist) by the invasion it can be determined that approximately 5500 years passed before the recorded history of the Halflings began. The Empire AKA Warhammer Germans had existed for about 1000 years, having absorbed the territory of the Halflings at some point, when Emperor Ludwig II Hohenbach AKA "Ludwig The Fat" granted them autonomy from the rest of the Empire. Previously the Moot had been split between the provinces of Averland and Stirland as their primary source of arable land, but the combination of insults from the daughters of the Counts of those provinces and an especially delicious meal served by a Halfling chef had won the favor of the Emperor. Along with having a vote in the election of new Emperors, they became important to all provinces in the Empire for the massive supplies of food which support the rest of the nation. The Moot has no true Elector Count due to not having a Runesword, and instead the Elder Of The Moot is their supreme leader so much as they have one. The Elder vote is known for being obtained primarily through personal bribery of food and drink as well as promised protection for the Moot, and in the events of civil wars and election crises the Moot is generally left untouched. The Elder is the keeper of the Haffenlyver, a record of the geneology of the Halflings which was first recorded upon the independence of the Moot.

Aside from that, Halfling history is simple. They grow food and send it to the Empire, they play host to traveling Dwarfs, sometimes they are invaded by greenskins or the undead although Chaos invasions are generally unknown. Well, there was that one incident where they provoked Marius Leitdorf of Averland in 2502 IC, causing the bloody massacre known as "The Halfling Rebellion"...

In the End Times the forces of the Moot were kept at home to defend, with only the Fighting Cocks (see below) leaving to defend their human allies albeit mostly by fighting on their way home to the Moot. They battled Skaven the entire way before finally disappearing in Averheim at some point between the siege of the city by Skaven and Tzeentchian forces and its destruction by Archaos The Fuckwad. Whether this was a cheeky reference to Bilbo's lack of participation and invisibility during the events of the final battle of Tolkien's The Hobbit or just the writers forgetting they existed is open to interpretation, but the former is probably pretty unlikely (but let's pretend it was anyway, since it makes it a bit less painful). The Halflings themselves were destroyed by an infinite horde of pure darkness that came when the Warp consumed the world, having fled to Sylvania and found temporary protection alongside the last of the civilians of mankind among the undead forces lead by Queen Neferata and High Queen Khalida.

Halflings weren't involved in Storm Of Chaos aside from their participation in Empire armies.

In an alternate universe of Total War: WARHAMMER the Halflings don't participate in any way beyond some scripted events but multiple factions can find them as chef companions. The fate of the Moot is dependent on what faction you play as, but generally speaking they'll probably be taken over by Vampires at some point before being destroyed by greenskins or liberated by the Empire or Dwarfs. In the 2nd game, Markus Wulfhart's campaign gets a Halfling chef advisor named Berry Drury, whom was shown in a portrait with a disturbing-greenish-worm-crawling-cupcakes he probably baked.

On Halflings

Halflings are short, stoutly built humanoids, naturally tending towards the portly given their propensity for eating and drinking in ridiculously large quantities. They have rosy cheeks although this isn't a natural trait so much as the result of their constant intake of ale and imported wine. Both the men and women have hairy feet and tend to go barefoot, but sporting a beard is rare given that Dwarfs thought them to be children and know them as unbearded folk.

While the general perception among folk who haven't met them is they are peaceful simple folk unaccustomed to war, the truth is they take after their Ogre cousins a great deal but just have a culture that doesn't reward the ambition needed for conquest and live in a land that provides for their massive appetites. Non-Halflings in Halfling lands can sometimes feel uneasy, and its implied that killing troublesome foreigners and eating them in pies is not unheard of. Halflings live in extended families among their clans, and have rivalries that can be bitter but rarely result in war. A result of this lifestyle is a general belief that you can just take anything you need since everyone is kin anyway, and when they need it they'll just come and take it back...or take a similar item from someone else who shares their blood anyway. When in foreign lands (or working as chefs/servants in the rest of the Empire) they will still show this trait from time to time and have developed a reputation as thieves (although nowhere near as bad as fucking Kender at least). The more aggressive Halfling takes this trait to its logical conclusion, as Halfling brigands, poachers, and bandits are well known throughout the lands of men. Ever since being granted the Moot they have organized militias of bowmen for standard defense, but in times of trouble they'll form true armies. Some Halflings of a more militaristic bent will enlist in Empire armies, usually as mercenaries. Others are strangely attracted to the armies of Ogres or in companies of Maneaters, despite the fact that Ogres will constantly enslave their people for their cuisine and even eat them; its possible that willing Halflings are treated with more respect and enslavement occurs when no willing Halfling can be found. Ogres greatly prize access to Halflings for their cooking skills, and the greatest of Tyrants almost certainly have at least one on standby. Mankind similarly enjoys Halfling cooking despite the aforementioned thievery, although its unknown if races like Elves and Dwarfs or even Vampires would desire having them around.

As you'd expect given their "inspiration", Halflings have almost supernatural sneaking ability and a strange affinity for nature; they instinctively are aware of the best farming techniques and conditions, and have a connection to the forests that are beyond even that of Wood Elves (treekin are somewhat resentful of the Elves and fiercely hate every other race, other than Halflings who they serve by simple request).

Being a rural folk, even in their towns, the Halflings are earthy types who enjoy good food, strong drink, a good smoke, and conversation that would turn a Marienburg marine’s ears blue. Expressive to a fault, Halflings think nothing of discussing their aunt’s nightly business with perfect strangers in complete detail. “Just to pass the time, y’know.” They love a good chat and strangers are welcomed by farmers along the roads as long as they bring gossip, coin, or lunch. Or preferably all three.

In essence, they're a send-up of the original Hobbits, just hornier. No, we're not kidding. There's a story in White Dwarf involving a dwarf army needing to defend the Moot against an orcish invasion; one dwarf general is scandalized by a halfling barmaid who keeps bluntly flirting with him, complete with pinching his arse, and mention is made of a pair of halfling youths deciding that underneath a dwarven battle wagon was a great place for a shag - and not stopping when the wagon rolled off of them despite being surrounded by mortified and pissed-off dwarves.

It's possible that the Halflings and Ogres were meant to be companion species in a similar manner to Kroxigors and Skinks. While there are exceptions, members of the two races have an uncanny tendency to get along when they meet. After the depature of the Old Ones left the two species in seperate geographic locations, the Ogres started taking on Gnoblars as their protectorates, which could be related to their affinity with Halflings through the Ogres trying to fill in the void caused by their missing companions with an inferior substitute.

Religion

As far as religion goes, they have their own gods although they don't really do much to worship them. Halflings aren't a faithful lot, seeing religion very much in terms of "what will you do for me in exchange for my devotion?". In some parts of the Empire Halfling gods were substituted when Sigmarites drove out the old pagan faiths and their witch priests. Stirland is the only place where Halfling religion is wholly considered heretical.

• Esmerelda

Goddess of hearth and home, symbol is a triangle above a vertical line. Her only rules are:

Never refuse food to the hungry.

Never use cooking utensils for anything else.

Never water ale down.

Never eat less than three quarters a meal a day.

Never do anything strenuous after a meal.

Never leave anything unattended while it is cooking.

Always observe Pie Week.

Humans technically worship her too, given Pie Week is celebrated throughout the Empire.

• Josias

God of farming, only invoked at the start of planting seasons (spring and summer), grants knowledge of the weather and can make depleted soil fertile again for the devout.

• Hyacinth

Goddess of fertility and childbirth, primarily only invoked during the act of childbirth by the mother-to-be and attendants (fertility presumably not being a problem with Halflings).

• Gaffey

God of building and villages, we don't really know anything else about him.

• Quinsberry

God of ancestry and traditions, we don't know much about him either.

• Phineas

God of smoking tobacco. We know his pouch is eternally full of the stuff, but nothing else.

Halflings are said to have many more gods, but all of them are unknown to outsiders and worshiped even more rarely than the above by Halflings themselves.

The primary faith of the Halflings is actually Sigmar, and despite there being no records of him interacting in any way with them he's nonetheless seen as their protector (which is the only reason he's worshiped of course). Its not known if the other human gods or any of the Dwarf gods have Halfling devotees, but given that some humans think that Halflings were an experiment to develop an anti-Chaos race its safe to say they're unfriendly with worship and devotees of the Chaos Gods.

Pie Week

The single most important halfling holiday is Pie Week; an entire week (1st to 8th Erntezeit) devoted to doing nothing but baking and eating pies, pies and more pies. Originally a holy rite to the goddess Esmerelda, Pie Week has become viewed as a largely secular affair; as far as the halflings are concerned, so long as they're busy baking pies and stuffing them down their gobs, the goddess is pleased, so they don't really bother with a lot of religious pomp and pageantry the way humans do. Despite this overt lack of religious attributes, Pie Week is Serious Business to halflings. The Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd edition adventure "A Brutal Finish" spells it out plainly that only crazy halflings don't indulge themselves during Pie Week. As in, not only can you literally spot the insane halfling arsonist Clempo Buttleburr by the fact he's the only halfling not constantly shoveling pies down his gullet, but it's mandated that halfling PCs will suffer a whopping -20% penalty to their Fellowship checks with halfling NPCs if they refuse to eat pies during the festivities, since not gorging themselves will be taken as a sign that there is something seriously wrong with the non-indulgent halfling's mind.

In and of itself, Pie Week is largely devoted to eating pies, with competitive sideline activities such as pie eating, best pie, and most unusual pie being largely suggested by humans - the rite's lack of overt religiosity has seen it become fairly popular amongst humans as well. Pie Week is often folded together with other harvest season festivals in which it overlaps, such as Averheim's annual Wine Tasting Festival.

The Moot

Mootland
Elector Count as of 2520IC	Hisme Stoutheart
Province capital	Eicheschatten
Runefang	None (cuz Halflings)
Specialties	Cooks and pipe makers
Commerce	Food, leather and tobacco
Primary military colours	Unknown (probably green or green and white)

The Halfling homeland. Was once the best bit of farming country in all of Stirland (and to a lesser extent Averland), until Ludwig the Fat gave it to the halflings as a reward for the delights his halfling chef showered on him. The Stirlanders are still pissed about that, and the Averlanders aren't all that thrilled either. It's beautiful farming country, but there's not much more to it than that.

• 

Provinces of the Empire
Reikland - Averland - Hochland - Middenland - Nordland - Ostland - Ostermark - Stirland - Talabecland - Wissenland
Cities: Altdorf - Averheim - Middenheim - Mordheim - Talabheim - Nuln
Lost Provinces: Solland - Drakwald
Independent Provinces: The Moot - Marienburg - Sylvania

The Halfling Rebellion

Whilst the Moot has traditionally been a peaceful place largely spared the wars that've wrecked the rest of the Empire's shit time and time again, there is a particularly notable exception in that history.

The so-called "Halfling Rebellion" is a particularly bloody piece of the Moot's history that occurred in early 2502, Imperial Calender. A Goblin Warlord named Nhobgarg was gathering a WAAAGH over in the Worlds Edge Mountains, which prompted the Elector Counts of Stirland and Averland to agree to unite their forces in a singular counter-crusade. There was just one problem: how to get the two armies together to march on the Worlds Edge Mountains? The answer was simple; to use their common borders on the Moot and march their forces through it. But that posed its own problems. First, they would have to pass through halfling country, already a trial in and of itself. Second, the Moot's roads and bridges are legendarily awful, even by Imperial standards. Finally, the proposed route would require crossing the River Stir. Now, there were certainly local ferries criss-crossing the River Stir, but attempting to use ferries to transport a whole army and all its baggage would have been ridiculously impractical even if said ferries weren't being managed by a race notorious for its indolence and larcenous inclinations.

Full of good intentions, the Elector Count of Averland sought a diplomatic solution, petitioning the Council of Elders for the right for his army to not only move through the Moot, but to engineer superior roads and bridges as they traveled, an act that would incidentally benefit the Moot greatly by making trade and travel through their lands much easier. Unfortunately, halflings are as avaricious as they are gluttonous, and so this kind of enlightened self-interest wasn't enough; the Averlander Count had to sweeten the pot with a colossal bribe of gold and livestock before he got permission. Still, permission was received and the engineers of Averland set to work, making pretty good time... up until they reached the River Stir.

That was when things started to go wrong. The Averland engineers began to sink pilings for the new bridge; so far, so good. And then they woke up the next morning, and some cheeky bastard had scattered the pilings, forcing them to start over! And when they did, the next day, it happened again! And again! They posted guards, but said guards would vanish with the stones, only to turn up serveral days later in nearby ditches, bound and gagged.

As it just so happened, the area where the Averlanders were trying to build their bridge was "controlled" by a halfling ferry clan, the Tomfiddle family, and it didn't take a genius to realize that they were probably behind all this goblin business. The Averlanders pleaded with the Moot Elders to make the Tomfiddles knock it off... and instead, the Elders said that they couldn't; they only gave the Count of Averland permission to build roads, they never said anything about bridges!

Now, it's anyone's guess why the Moot Elders would do this. Maybe they were hoping to score another bribe; halflings are infamously corrupt, even compared to their human neighbors, after all. Maybe they were just reacting with knee-jerk halfling bigotry, instinctively deciding to support their own kind as a "screw you" to the humans, without considering the logical repercussions of their actions. Either way, it was the absolute worst decision they could have made.

Most Elector Counts would have taken a very dim view of these shenanigans, but the Elector Count of Averland at the time was Marius Leitdorf. A man whose own people called him "The Mad Count". We don't know the precise details of what communication was exchanged between the two sides, but the Moot Elders decided that the best course of action to take with an Elector Count infamous for his unpredictable behavior and maniac outbursts of intense rage was to continue provoking him. The end result? Marius gathered the Averland forces and marched against the Moot, with the stated intent of massacring the entire population. No joke; his order to his men was literally "slaughter every one of the malodorous runts".

Realizing they had perhaps made a boo-boo, the Moot's Elders marshalled all the halfling warriors they could find and sent them to the Moot's southern borders to intercept the Averland forces. It went... even worse than you're thinking; the so-called "Battle of Nearstream" became one of the most one-sided slaughters in Imperial history as the halflings took one look at the grim-featured humans marching stoically towards them and collectively thought "stuff this for a game of soldiers!" They turned and ran before the Averlanders had so much as begun the attack, but being small and near-morbidly obese to a one, they were swiftly overrun and slaughtered.

Most Elector Counts would have had their ardor cooled by this first blood, and would have leveraged the butchery to wring the Moots' Elders' necks metaphorically now that they had them fully intimidated. But Marius was nuttier than a squirrel turd, so as far as he was concerned, the fight was just beginning.

We don't know the details of Marius' rampage, except that it become so excessively bloody that over three quarters of his army quit in disgust, an act that only further enflamed the mad count's rage, to the point he would spend the small hours stalking the mist-shrouded fields and screaming challenges at trees and shrubs. Whilst the dwindling population of the Moot either ran for their lives or otherwise tried to avoid being butchered, the Elders hid themselves in the deepest, darkest holes they could find and began sending desperate letters for aid to literally anyone in the Empire they thought might be able to help them.

One of the people they contacted was, of course, Emperor Karl Franz, who was mortified to hear what Marius was up to - as annoying as the halflings might be, letting one electoral province massare another would set a bad precedent. So he immediately dispatched the Reiksguard to bring the Count of Averland to heel. But it would take time for his forces to arrive.

Luckily for the Moot, two of their letters found receptive mercenaries. The first was Lumpin Croop, whose Fighting Cocks immediately came running to the motherland's aid in a patriotic fury. Far more useful was the second; the Tyrant of a small ogre tribe, one Blaut Feastmaster. Mustering his whole tribe, or at least a decently large gathering of his bully-boys, Blaut came thundering along to the Moot and agreed to bash the Averlanders. Who knows what the Moot Elders offered to pay for his protection, but it evidently worked.

The details of the subsequent battle are murky. All we know for sure is that Marius emerged alive and apparently sated his bloodlust, at least enough that when the Empire finally caught up with him, he called off his attempted halfling genocide. The proof? The halflings are still alive! Thus ended the Halfling Rebellion.

As for Blaut Feastmaster? We don't know if he left of his own volition or ran with his tail between his legs, but he definitely didn't leave the Moot empty-handed. No, when he returned to the Ogre Kingdoms, he brought entire clans of halflings with him, dragging them back to serve as slaves in the Mountains of Mourn. To this day, the Feastmaster tribe is famous for scorning the use of gnoblars and instead keeping dozens upon dozens of halfling slaves to attend their every whim, which means they have some of the best cooking in the entirety of the Ogre Kingdoms, something that attracts great envy from their fellows. And so the once fat, lazy little bastards instead find themselves working like dogs to keep life and limb intact in the service of bigger and meaner fat great bastards.

Who says there's no justice in the Warhammer world? If karma has any sense of humor, the entirety of the Tomfiddle clan is there now.

Notable Characters

Unfortunately, the Halflings don't have many characters other than Lumpin.

• Hisme Stoutheart: The current Elder. Although he only supported Karl Franz due to extensive bribery in the form of beer and oatcakes he also secured a lucrative trade deal, and has been more active in sending Halfling forces to defend the Empire than previous Elders.

Lumpin Croop

"I don't always bullshit my way into being more famous than Markus Wulfhart. But when I do, its with some stolen turnips and a rabbit from the local lord's private forest. Stay hungry, my cocks."

The only notable named halfling character in all of Warhammer canon. Bastard son of an itinerant carrot salesman and a blacksmith's daughter, Lumpin grew up on the wrong side of the tracks, his father dead before his birth (possibly at his grandfather's hands), his mother a drunkard and his grandparents hating him. The ginger-haired little nuisance ultimately ran away from home to become a pickpocket, con-artist and poacher. This ultimately got him into trouble when, one evening, he was ambushed at a halfling tavern - The Old Pig & Bucket in Beggar's End - by a band of vengeful gamekeepers, ready to give him a sound beating.

Staring down so many angry halflings, with no way of escape, Lumpin did the only thing he could do: he started spouting bullshit. He spun his audience a yarn of of excitement, treasure and vast banquets waiting to be had in the lands over the mountains, of how they could have adventure, gold and glory by becoming mercenaries. And they bought it hook, line and sinker! Next thing Lumpin knew, his former angry mob was now a loyal band of glory-seeking mercenaries, and he found himself reluctantly leading them from the Moot to the wider world. He keeps trying to give them the slip and escape, but they're better trackers than he is, so he always gets caught. He also has a tendency to end up in the most amazingly fortunate turns of events, usually winning glory despite his attempts to keep away from the fighting.

Amazingly, his followers adore him, and believe him to be a brilliant, adventurous thrill-seeker, whom they'd follow into the Chaos Wastes if he asked. In this, he can be seen as a sort of prototype for Ciaphas Cain... complete with a certain level of ambiguous heroism, as his fluff usually states that Lumpin is starting to become loyal to his men.

In 6e, Lumpin Croop has Movement 4, Weapon Skill 3, Ballistic Skill 5, Strength 3, Toughness 3, Wounds 2, Initiative 6, Attacks 2, and Leadership 9. He carries a hand weapon, a bow, a shield, and light armor. He has the Skirmishers special rule.

The Fighting Cocks

The former gameskeepers turned mercenaries who follow Lumpin Croop. Despite his endless attempts to escape them or keep them out of danger's way, they keep tracking him down and getting themselves into danger. And they absolutely love their new lifestyle; they wouldn't give it up for the world. They have endless faith in Lumpin for putting them on this path, and constantly rationalize his cowardly behavior as just brilliant tactical insight. And, in fairness, his "training exercise" (the Fighting Cocks tracking him down when he tries to run away) have made them some of the best damn scouts in the Empire.

Their battlecry is "Hurray! Hurray! The Moot! The Moot!". This was born out of an early battlecry when Lumpin tried to flee the field, shouting "Run Away! Run Away! To the Moot! To the Moot!", but the chaos of the battlefield garbled the message and they instead made a heroic charge that brought the Empire victory.

The Fighting Cocks are a halfling Dogs of War unit that have appeared in most editions of Warhammer Fantasy.

In 6e, each individual member of the Fighting Cocks has Movement 4, Weapon Skill 2, Ballistic Skill 4, Strength 2, Toughness 2, Wounds 1, Initiative 5, Attacks 1, and Leadership 8 - the exception is the Standard Bearer, Neddly Hamfist, who has Ballistic Skill 5. The default Fighting Cocks consist of Lumpin Croop, Neddly, a Hornblower, and three halfling archers at a total of 90 points; they can purchase additional halfling archers for +7 points per halfling, to a max unit size of 20. The Fighting Cocks are a Special Unit for Dogs of War and a Rare Unit in any other 6e Army, except Bretonnians, who won't have anything to do with them.

The Halfling Hot Pot

The other halfling Dogs of War unit, the Halfling Hot Pot is a pissed off team of halfling chefs using a giant slingshot to propel kettles of boiling hot soup at the enemy.

A Halfling Hot-Pot, in 6e, consists of the Hot Pot itself and 3 halfling crew for 50 points. The Hot Pot is a warmachine with Toughness 4 and Wounds 2; it fires as a Stone Thrower except it has a maximum range of 36" and hits are S3, no Armor Save allowed - the model directly under the template's hole takes a S6 Armor-Ignoring hit that does D3 wounds. The individual halflings have Movement 4, Weapon Skill 2, Ballistic Skill 4, Strength 2, Toughness 2, Wounds 1, Initiative 5, Attacks 1, and Leadership 8, and are armed with hand weapons.

The Hungry Horde

The first ever Halfling army list appeared in issue #36 of Citadel Journal in the year 2000, which also contained rules for a Halfling warband in Mordheim. Wayne Oldfield, one of the longest of the Longbeards in tabletop gaming and alumni of the notorious Nottingham Games Club (seriously, in the introduction to the army this magnificent bastard mentions his 10,000 point Dogs Of War army) wrote the rules while the British author David Lee Stone (best known for the The Illmoor Chronicles novels) wrote the lore. The lore is canon to the setting unlike a fair amount of supplementary material which tends towards the questionable, showing it to be Black Library Approved (literally, a picture of a purity seal with that exact phrase appears to the side of the text).

All Halfling infantry have the Woodsman rule, giving them immunity to penalties from Woods terrain.

Believe it or not, the army is fairly OP for an army of its time period, although if the general rules for transferring stats to modern editions are used, it becomes even stronger since your monster options are damn decent and don't end up as cannon fodder like the monsters of most armies.

After this brief appearance, halflings as a fighting force... technically never appeared again. The February 2006 issue of White Dwarf (#313 for UK, #314 elsewhere) contained a scenario called "The Revolting Moot", which allows you to fight the decisive battle of the Halfling Rebellion between the halflings and their ogre allies under Blaut Feastmaster vs. Marius Leitdorf's remaining imperial troops in a game of Warhammer Fantasy 6e.

In this scenario, the "Halfling Army" is basically just a normal Ogre Kingdoms army, but using gnoblar fighter and trapper units to stand in for halfling militia squads. It can also include Lumpin Croop & His Fighting Cocks, Halfling Hot Pots (replace Gnoblar Scraplaunchers), and "Kathleen", the Halftank (also known as the Soup Tank); a broken-down Steam Tank clumsily salvaged and rebuilt by the halflings as a mobile soup kitchen, but still capable of fighting in an emergency.

Kathleen the Halftank is a 0-1 Rare Unit in the arm that costs 150 points; she has Movement 6, Weapon Skill 1, Ballistic Skill 4, Strength 5, Toughness 6, Wounds 6, Initiative 0, Attacks 0, and Leadership 10. She has the special rules Large Target, Unbreakable, Unit Strength 6, Cause Fear and Nearly Irresistible Force; she can't march, but when she charges, she inflicts D6 Impact Hits, just like a chariot. When engaged in melee, she does D3 Strength 5 hits each turn, representing the halflings trying desperately to run over whatever is in the halftank's way. Its sole armament is the Soup Cannon, which fires in a 45 degree arc from the halftank's front; place the Flame template touching the cannon and roll Artillery dice - move the template this many inches forward. Models hit by the SouP Cannon take a Strength 5 hit that ignores Armor Saves; models covered by the template are hit automatically, models partially covered are hit on a 4+.

Regiments

These are equivalent to the "Core" of 8th edition. At least 25% of your army must consist of these models, and each unit has to have a minimum of 5 models with no maximum limit to unit size (this is before rules to prevent things like the "1000000 Skaven Slave" list).

• Halfling Militia

Basic troops. Your standard Halfling.

• 0-1 Great Eagle Riders

Yeah, even before the movies people were making "Eagles save the day" jokes. Its common enough in-universe that "When the Halflings are in trouble along come the Lords Of The Air." is a common saying. Two Halflings ride on each Eagle, and can be equipped with Light Armor for 1 point, and Spears and a Shield for 0.5 points each.

• 0-1 Swan Riders

The rider is a highly skilled archer, and the swans themselves are large enough to maul and even kill using their wings (those who scoff at the idea haven't met a real swan or their goose cousins). They fly in a V formation like small swans, quickly maneuvering the battlefield. They can move and shoot, and can even attack other models that are flying too high to be in range albeit at a -1 penalty. Have Light Armor in addition to their bows.

• 0-1 Battle Ram Riders (Halfling heavy cavalry)

Male War Sheep. They are specifically trained and intended for use as cavalry. Their wool is thick enough that it grants Barding bonuses and a +1 to save.

• War Sheep Riders

Halfling War Sheep are technically the best of their normal female sheep, which have been bred to massive size and for obedience unusual in livestock. However they are still just sheep, and have a -1 Leadership during Break Tests.

• Goat Riders

Unlike the War Sheep these are just the largest of their ordinary goats. They don't suffer penalties from Woods or Hills, and can be Skirmishers.

• 0-1 Pantry Guard

Elite chefs who can be assigned to guard the Chuck Wagon, earning them a +1 Combat Resolution bonus. Can be equipped with Light Armor and Double-handed Weapons (meaning cleavers). They can also carry a Magic Standard.

• 0-3 Crazy Chefs

Night Goblin Fanatic knock-offs who can be part of the Pantry Guard. Their behavior is due to them getting into the "spicy dumplings".

• 0-1 Halfling Housewives

A squad of female halflings come to add their own vicious temperament to the fray; become Frenzied if other halflings die within 8". Have higher durability than standard militia due to their childrearing and housework (that's the canon explanation, not our joke). You can only take one unit of them because they'd become too jealous (again, that's not us making that joke). Their weapons are all Hand Weapons, but are listed as rolling pins, barrels, cudgels, and brooms. They can be equipped with corsets AKA Light Armor (why Halfling women care about hiding their fat guts isn't clear, though it may be that they get better support for their chonky bosoms than with bras) and the The Washing Line magic item. They can also take Double-handed Weapons for 1 point (so you can have an entire unit of Halfling ladies bashing Warriors Of Chaos with fucking barrels).

• 0-1 Lords of the Harvest (elite halfling infantry being carried piggyback by lowly Gatherers)
• Poachers (halfling archers)
• Treemen

Warmachines

• Halfling Hot Pots
• The Reaper & The Shearer (halfling "chariots" (repurposed farming machinery) which do 2d6 damage on a charge due to their abundance of spinning blades)

Monsters

• Baby Dragon (can be taken as a character steed or a general monster)
• Pegasus (can be taken as a character steed or a general monster)
• Giant Eagle (can be taken as a character steed or a general monster)
• Giant Swan (can be taken as a character steed or a general monster)
• Poultry Swarm: Angry chickens, ducks, and geese herded onto the field of battle.

Characters

Can be up to 50% of your points.

• Moot General

Designated by bearing a (ceremonial?) Picnic Basket which is how Halflings mark their military commanders (no, really). Mandatory for your army as your General; can take the Ring of Concealment for 30 points to become immune to missile attacks and inflict a -2 penalty on enemy melee attack rolls, and must take Glammyding, a magic sword that grants +2 Strength and causes Fear in Orcs & Goblins - yeah, they're Bilbo ripoffs). Glammyding is not a one-of-a-kind item, it's a type of magic sword that all Halfling Generals bear to distinguish them from officers. They can be upgraded to ride a Battle Ram or anything from the Monsters section.

• Chuck Wagon

The Halfling Battle Standard Bearer. Contains most of the rations for the army, and is pulled by two Aurochs which are the giant feral ancestors to cattle (note: Aurochs existed in real life, they're just extinct in our world while in Warhammer the Halflings have preserved them as delicious war beasts). The crew consists of two Cooks and a Chef who are equipped with Light Armor and Hand Weapons with the Chef being allowed to equip a single magic item. If the Chuck Wagon is captured by the enemy (instead of destroyed) the ENTIRE HALFLING ARMY GAINS HATRED AGAINST WHATEVER TOOK IT. Meaning they've decided who's going to replace the lost rations.

• Halfling Hero

Your standard Halfling character, with no limit on how many you can take. Have the lowest stats of your Characters. May have any combination of available weapons and armor, and a maximum of two magic items (unless given one by a Thief). Can ride Battle Rams, War Sheep, Goats, or any model from the Monsters section.

• Halfling Master Chef

Master Chef may only be in a unit of Cooks. Same upgrades as the Hero.

• Halfling Housewife Lady

Like the Master Chef she can only lead a unit of Housewives. Same upgrades as the Hero.

• Halfling Thieves (0-3)

The Halflings call them their "Scouts". They have a 1/3 chance chance to steal the weakest magic item or a 1/6 chance to steal any magic item of their choice from any enemy unit that their unit is in base contact with, which they pass to any Character also in their unit but may not use any they steal on their own. There is a 1/6 chance they fail to steal anything but are not revealed to the opponent, a 1/6 chance to fail and be revealed, and a 1/6 chance to immediately be killed (and obviously revealed). As a result this die roll is based on the honor system. They can be equipped with any weapons/armor, can be equipped with one magic item of their own, and can ride a Battle Ram or anything from the Monsters section although they can only hide in units using the same mount.

• 0-1 Sheep Dog

The companions of Battle Ram Riders in lore, becomes a Familiar to any character model you want in crunch. They must stay within 12 inches of their master and take his/her Leadership for morale tests, and if they can get into base contact with any War Sheep or Battle Ram unit that is fleeing it automatically rallies.

• Halfling Champion

The weaker form of the Hero. They use the same equipment as their unit, and can carry a single magic item.

• Halfling Chef

The weaker form of the Master Chef, can similarly only join Cooks. Same upgrades as the Champion.

• Housewife Matron

The weaker form of the Housewife Lady, can similarly only join Housewives. Same upgrades as the Champion.

• Halfling Wizard

Lousy; they cap out at level 2 and know 1 Battle Magic spell per level. They can be equipped with any weapon/armor combination however, may take one magic item for their magic level, and can ride a Battle Ram or anything from the Monsters section (ironically making them a very good wizard option for most armies even if their actual magic is not great).

The Comradeship

A send-up of the Fellowship from The Lord of the Rings, these guys were special characters in the halfling army that debuted in Citadel Journal #36. Consist of the mad mage Olorin the Grey Wizard, Aragand the Layabout, Giblet the Dwarf, and Legles the Elf.

Olorin is a 4th level Wizard Lord who costs 290 points and wields Battle Magic and Grey Magic spells. He is armed with a sword and 4 magic items of the player's choice, and has the following stats: Movement 4, Weapon Skill 3, Ballistic Skill 3, Strength 4, Toughness 4, Wounds 4, Initiative 6, Attacks 3, Leadership 8. He is characterized as a mysterious wanderer whom the Moot mostly knows as a traveling entertainer who creates fireworks and pulls (tasty) rabbits out of hats. It is said he has a secret, but he won't say what it is.

Aragand is described as the type of scruffy, unwashed bloke you see sitting the dingy part of any tavern in the Empire, usually all on his lonesome. Aragand claims to be a king in waiting from a far-off country, and who knows, maybe he's telling the truth. He costs 290 points, wears light armor, wields a Magic Sword of the player's choice as a two-handed weapon, has 2 other Magic Items of the player's choice, and has the following stats: Movement 4, Weapon Skill 6, Ballistic Skill 6, Strength 4, Toughness 4, Wounds 3, Initiative 6, Attacks 4, Leadership 9.

Giblet is a failed Slayer, so bumbling and incompetent that his disgusted peers sent him out to make friends with an Elf... which, somehow, he did. Now the two are inseparable, with Giblet loyally trundling along after Legles, who does his best to help Giblet avenge his dishonor by getting himself killed. This failed Dragon Slayer costs 30 points, goes Unarmored, and wields a Great Axe, although he's permitted to take 2 Magic Items and/or Rune Items. He has the following stats: Movement 3, Weapon Skill 6, Ballistic Skill 5, Strength 4, Toughness 5, Wounds 2, Initiative 4, Attacks 2, Leadership 5. He is Immune to Psychology so long as Legles is alive, but suffers from Stupidity if Legles dies.

Legles we know the least about, which is saying something. Ever since Giblet forcibly befriended him, he's been stuck leading the dwarf all over creation, hoping to get the dwarf killed so he can fulfil his Slayers Oath. Costing 104 points, he wears Light Armor, wields a Wood Elf Longbow and a Sword, and can take 2 magic items. He has the following stats: Movement 5, Weapon Skill 6, Ballistic Skill 6, Strength 4, Toughness 4, Wounds 2, Initiative 8, Attacks 3, Leadership 9.

Warhammer Army Project

As laughable as halflings are, it's worth noting that they've been a part of Warhammer's military forces for quite a while, from being an Ally mini-list available to Empire and Wood Elf generals in 3e to being one of the core Empire units in 4e, to say nothing of their consistent appearance throughout the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. So, it was inevitable that the Warhammer Army Project would try to cook up an army book for them for their Warhammer 9th Edition project.

The WAP version is clearly based on the Hungry Horde article from Citadel Journal #36, but does put a few unique twists on it.

The obligatory Commanders are the Elders (Lord Tier) and the Sheriffs (Hero tier), these representing the figures of authority in the Mootland.

One of the new additions to the Hungry Horde in 9e is the Enchanters; halfling wizards. They aren't common, as that "resistance to Chaos" thing means halflings have difficulty drawing in the raw magical energy needed to fuel a spell unless they actually work at it good and hard - and you know how halflings feel about work! Still, that same resistance to the forces of Chaos means they excel at disrupting hostile magic, and usually don't have to worry about the "minor side effects" like human wizards do. Most live simple lives as entertainers or arcane physicians, but a few are truly devoted to magic and get good enough that they can be called upon to lend their spellcasting powers to the Moot's defense. A halfling enchanter (or its Lordly counterpart, the Grand Enchanter) can practice all of the common forms of magic but the Lore of Death, and their special "Resistant to Magic" rule means they only channel Power Dice on a 5+, but channel Dispel Dice on a 3+. They are, however, going to be vastly outgunned power-wise by any comparable wizard; Enchanters are fixed at Level 1, and Grand Enchanters at Level 2!

Master Chefs are to the Hungry Horde what Battle Standard Bearers are to pretty much every other race; these are the guys who inspire the army to fight harder. They may often go to war alongside the Pantry Guard; deputized cooks charged with guarding the precious Chuck Wagon that holds the valuable supplies needed for the post-battle meals. Nothing inspires a halfling to fight like the idea that they might lose their lunch!

Master Thieves are, of course, some of the most skilled and famous of all halfling burglars and pickpockets, often motivated to lend their aid to the defense of the motherland. Whereas regular halfling Thieves clump together for mutual protection and safety, Master Thieves go it alone as characters.

The humble Militia makes up the bulk of the Hungry Horde's fighting forces, whilst the professionally trained Vigilante Guards are more of an elite trooper. But even they are not as respected as the Fieldwardens, who keep the peace on the Moot's borders and serve as its first line of defense against goblins and the undead.

Physically handicapped by short legs and a racial proclivity towards obesity, halflings don't exactly make natural cavalrymen. Yet in times of war, the pony-riding couriers known as Hobilars are the best they've got... or were. Hound Riders, Ram Riders, and Swan Riders may not be as fast as the Hobilars, but at least they're not so likely to fall off at the first bump! Plus, they have their own unique advantages.

The halfling Rangers, crack archers and wilderness scouts, are the most well-known and respected of the halfling's meager military might, providing backup to the Fieldwardens and scouting for the imperial armies of their neighbors.

The Housewives are, well, exactly that; halfling women who've shown up to make sure their menfolk do a proper job of keeping the Moot safe, complete with the ability to carry a clothes line full of newly cleaned laundry as a banner. ...Yes, we know, they weren't that funny even in the 2000s, but can you really say that Warhammer is above this kind of humor? They're no longer a 0-1 unit, but they do use up Special Unit slots.

Not being particularly blessed with native monsters and creatures to tame, the halflings have had to get... creative... when it comes to supplementing their forces. Bee Swarms are gathered from the many hives on Mootland farms and tied up in sacks, then released in the hopes they will sting the enemy to death and not their wielders.

Similar creativity can be found in the Lords of the Harvest; gangs of young halfling youths that ride each other piggyback into battle in hopes of proving their martial prowess, their use of the Reaper and Shearer farm machinery as weapons of war, and of course the legendary Halfling Hot-Pot and Kathleen the Half Tank.

Finally, there is the true muscle of the Hungry Horde; the small but disproportionally powerful bands of Moot Ogres.

Of course, what would an army list be without some special characters?

• Hisme Stoutheart is the Halfling Elector Count and the Elder of the Mootland.
• Nicholas Warfoot is the descendant of one of the Moot's few dedicated military families, and its current overall commander.
• Clegg the Indomitable is a Master Thief with a small but potent arsenal of magical items.
• Gabbo Flugbend is a now-retired adventurer of genuine skill, who rides a loyal [[[pegasus]] named Greywing.
• Ogglethorpe Bulnhelm is the latest scion of the most legendarily skilled chefs in the Moot.
• Jolly Bolbottom is an inkeeper who became an unlikely hero when he killed a giant by being swallowed whole and then igniting the fetid gases inside of its gut, causing it to explode, which he miraculously survived.

Age of Sigmar

Confirmation of their existence in the Mortal Realms is here! In the novella "Nadir" in the compilation "Harrowdeep": Halflings are counted among the prisoners held captive in a trap created by the Kunnin' Krew. Not much is known about them beyond their race name and that they are recognizable at a glance by a Stormcast, but they're here!

A new subspecies was recently confirmed in Aqshy, specifically Aspiria: The Rockwrist Halflings. They have periwinkle skin and indigo blood.

Bloodbowl

The joke team of the already humorous football fantasy game. The technical deficiency of Halfling teams is legendary. They're too short to throw or catch, they run at half pace, and it goes without saying that their blocking game leaves something to be desired. Most Halfling coaches, aware of the material that they have to work with, make up for quality with quantity. If you are able to somehow win a game that act alone will impress other players. Being a halfling coach requires in depth knowledge of the game and skill in order to make a decent team from horrible starting units.

Gallery

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  The legit Halfling minis. The one with the sword is Lumpin Croop himself.

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External Links

• Warhammer Wiki article on Halflings: https://warhammerfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Halfling
• Warhammer Wiki article on Lumpin Croop & His Fighting Cocks: https://warhammerfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Lumpin_Croop%27s_Fighting_Cocks
• Online copy of Citadel Journal #36: https://img.fireden.net/tg/image/1535/88/1535889742650.pdf