So after yesterdays post I slept for s#!t. I realized that I was fine with Malifaux’s child combatants and the Sithling but not the Lulus. Of course I started wondering, why? The answer I came to was thus; the Sithling is a pre-pubescent sociopath. If you left her behind there would be relief if you ONLY found a dissected porg on display. A Jawa or Ewok would not be a surprise.

Most of the “children” in my Malifaux collection are actually eldritch abominations in disguise. The ones that aren’t are Victorian street rat orphans abducted by another eldritch abomination as slaves, a possibly inhuman possibly just sociopathic little girl that has modeled herself on a mercenary that occasionally wanders off and hires herself out as a merc as well, and a Victorian street rat orphan that shows up unannounced and uninvited to “help” the target of their hero worship.

Limiting it to the human/human moraled species, they’re either forced into it and the horror isn’t sugar coated or they chose to join in/aren’t “normal”

I’ll let Raging Heroes themselves explain the Lulus:

“Life is not easy for the Jailbirds... They are constantly on the run, fighting for their survival. And in their wake follow all kinds of fugitives and survivors. Many of them are very young, lost children who don't have a home anymore, or who never had one...

Who they are and how they fit in the game...

The Lulus are a patch of stray little girls who have become the protégés of the apparently emotion-less One-Shot Blondie. The little girls worship their hero and always try to emulate her, following her wherever she goes. But Blondie always keeps them safe, never letting them come near violent action. And to make sure they are not tempted by real weapons, she has equipped them with inoffensive dart guns that she crafted herself... Of course, we don't want them to be part of the fights on the battlefield. So we decided that in-game, the Lulus will have very specific capabilities. No one will be able to target them, and they will be virtually indestructible. They won't be able to inflict any damage to anyone but they will distract enemy focus, and/or create safe zones around them for the Jailbirds”

So ignoring their intended rules (Which don’t appear to exist in any way) you have a GROUP of children armed in an organized way by their hero and although theoretically protected and kept away from combat they’re still on the battle field. Malifaux’s options limits it to a single child that either wasn’t invited or at least implied to be something not quite human or outright slaves. I’ll admit my Sithling (a personal creation) hits a lot of the same boxes as the Lulus: child, hero worship/mentored, invited along, and intentionally armed. But while the Sithling can take care of herself between the force powers and a natural tendency towards violence she still has a personal bodyguard meanwhile the Lulus have 1 adult watching the group and are NORMAL LITTLE CHILDREN!!!!

It's bewbs isn't it? I should have known the answer is always bewbs