Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you:
No adverts like this in the forums anymore.
Times and dates in your local timezone.
Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance.
Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely.
Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net.
If you are already a member then feel free to login now.
2025/01/21 17:48:05
Subject: Hairfoot Jousting by Joseph McCullough - Coming 29th of May
If already posted elsewhere, hit that triangle of love and a fellow mod will make it all go away!
It began as a joke, a bit of online back and forth banter with a friend. What would halfling jousting look like? What kind of creatures would they ride? And how seriously would they really take the sport? It probably would have ended there, but I had to leave the conversation and go hang out the laundry. I hate hanging out laundry, it’s so boring. My brain will do just about anything to escape it. In this case, it decided to come up with some mechanics for halfling jousting. By the time the last sock was pegged, I had all the core mechanics mapped out in my head.
Over the next couple of days, I wrote those rules down after I had finished my ‘real’ work. It amused me, but I didn’t take it too seriously. Then I started to think about the arenas and stadiums that halflings might build and the different challenges jousters might face, so I added those in. And some light campaign rules, because all good skirmish games need some campaign rules.
It was all starting to add up to something, and I thought it might be something I could self-publish as a ‘zine. I showed the rules to my friend Phil, thinking he might get a kick out of them. Of course, Phil, apart from being my friend, also runs Osprey Games. He wrote back, ‘Let me publish these,’ or something to that affect. I hadn’t really considered the game for proper publication before that point, but I knew that Osprey would make it look awesome… so I agreed.
For the next month or two, the game became my ‘real work’, as I expanded, polished, and play-tested. Despite its simplicity, it is a game unlike any I’ve written before. A game that is mostly about movement, where the players are only sort of in control of the movement. It’s perhaps more akin to pinball or air-hockey than high-fantasy storytelling. A beer a pretzels game, where even the miniatures on the table are more interested in the beer and pretzels than grand strategy.
I gave my final approval to the layouts last week. It’s now out of my hands. Hopefully it’ll be in yours in late May!
So, here’s what you need to know to get ready for the next Hairfoot Jousting season!
- Jousting teams consist of three riders. The specific mount doesn’t matter much, though sheep, dogs, pigs, giant weasels, turkeys, and geese are popular.
- There are plans for official miniatures.
- Riders should be mounted on 60mm circular bases, with little arrows on the base denoting the exact front and back of the figure.
- Each player will need 4 six-sided dice.
- You will need a set of 6 movement templates for the table. These will be in the book, or downloadable off the Osprey website. It’s possible that some MDF ones will be available when the game is released.
- Other terrain for the game is pretty minimal, though it might be worth having a few extra 60mm bases and some blocks handy to get started.
- Bring a sense of humour.
You see, the thing about Hairfoot Jousters is that you can point them in the right direction, but you can’t always control where they will go…
You can preorder the game on Amazon, but it will also be available at North Star, Osprey, and hopefully wherever fun miniature games are sold!
That’s all I’ve got to say for the moment. Oh, the game does include one other major surprise… but I’m not allowed to talk about that…
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2025/05/02 15:21:28
This sounds fun. It's too bad Half Tilt doesn't have PDF rules; I have enough minis from Mantic and Malifaux that I could little jousting teams of halflings and gremlins. So I'll look forward to this, as an Osprey book should be more self contained.
Interesting that it's coming out as an Osprey Games title and not one of the Osprey Wargames series (whether the blue books or the bigger hardbacks), though. I'd have thought the latter for sure, though I suppose it's not about fighting, directly.
2025/01/23 03:31:56
Subject: Re:Hairfoot Jousting by Joseph McCullough
- Jousting teams consist of three riders. The specific mount doesn’t matter much, though sheep, dogs, pigs, giant weasels, turkeys, and geese are popular.
If I may this seems a misstep. As soon as I see Halfling Jousting rules my first thought is that the rules should totally differentiate among geese, pigs, bulldogs etc. Each with its own advantages, disadvantages and costs.
It's in line with games like Frostgrave where the only difference between a hard-bitten human ranger, an aristocratic elven archer and a pipe-smoking Halfling marksman is the pointiness of their their ears and the hairiness of their feet. In other words what your model looks like doesn't matter, an archer is an archer is an archer.
But in game as limited as jousting I think the difference between an ostrich, a hedgehog and riding on your buddy's back should matter.
And then you add the goblin expansion rules with wolves and sandworms and bats and...
I may have a rule set by the end of the day.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2025/01/23 03:33:08
Between the pedigree of Joe's awesomeness, and the fact that Lumpin Croop's Fighting Cocks need some Cav support, I'm in.
At Games Workshop, we believe that how you behave does matter. We believe this so strongly that we have written it down in the Games Workshop Book. There is a section in the book where we talk about the values we expect all staff to demonstrate in their working lives. These values are Lawyers, Guns and Money.
2025/01/27 15:16:48
Subject: Re:Hairfoot Jousting by Joseph McCullough
- Jousting teams consist of three riders. The specific mount doesn’t matter much, though sheep, dogs, pigs, giant weasels, turkeys, and geese are popular.
If I may this seems a misstep. As soon as I see Halfling Jousting rules my first thought is that the rules should totally differentiate among geese, pigs, bulldogs etc. Each with its own advantages, disadvantages and costs.
It's in line with games like Frostgrave where the only difference between a hard-bitten human ranger, an aristocratic elven archer and a pipe-smoking Halfling marksman is the pointiness of their their ears and the hairiness of their feet. In other words what your model looks like doesn't matter, an archer is an archer is an archer.
But in game as limited as jousting I think the difference between an ostrich, a hedgehog and riding on your buddy's back should matter.
And then you add the goblin expansion rules with wolves and sandworms and bats and...
I may have a rule set by the end of the day.
You're not wrong, I think, given there are only three models. I'm hoping maybe there'll be like, traits you can choose for mounts that will allow you to differentiate between mounts (and riders) if that's what you'd like. I certainly went to thinking about goblins, gnomes, and other assorted other normal sized four-foot-folks riding various squigs, wolves, bats, chickens, etc.
2025/02/10 18:10:35
Subject: Re:Hairfoot Jousting by Joseph McCullough
At Games Workshop, we believe that how you behave does matter. We believe this so strongly that we have written it down in the Games Workshop Book. There is a section in the book where we talk about the values we expect all staff to demonstrate in their working lives. These values are Lawyers, Guns and Money.
2025/02/11 14:12:20
Subject: Re:Hairfoot Jousting by Joseph McCullough
- Jousting teams consist of three riders. The specific mount doesn’t matter much, though sheep, dogs, pigs, giant weasels, turkeys, and geese are popular.
If I may this seems a misstep. As soon as I see Halfling Jousting rules my first thought is that the rules should totally differentiate among geese, pigs, bulldogs etc. Each with its own advantages, disadvantages and costs.
It's in line with games like Frostgrave where the only difference between a hard-bitten human ranger, an aristocratic elven archer and a pipe-smoking Halfling marksman is the pointiness of their their ears and the hairiness of their feet. In other words what your model looks like doesn't matter, an archer is an archer is an archer.
But in game as limited as jousting I think the difference between an ostrich, a hedgehog and riding on your buddy's back should matter. [...]
You're not wrong, I think, given there are only three models. I'm hoping maybe there'll be like, traits you can choose for mounts that will allow you to differentiate between mounts (and riders) if that's what you'd like. [...]
That'd be nice; a good balance between flexibility in miniatures and variation in rules. Then up to the player if they want to associate speed with different species of mounts, or different breeds of dogs, or different temperaments of the various oversized geese being ridden.
Either way, I hadn't heard of Halt Tilt before, making this a fun and interesting novelty I'm greatly interested in, and I think I'd prefer the vibe of this game (by the looks of things, more about improvised gear in a disorganized rural setting, while Half Tilt has tiny knights in full armour, which essentially end up looking like poorly proportioned 15mm miniatures or somesuch). Probably simple and light-hearted enough to play with the spouse and kids, and nicely colourful too.
2025/05/02 15:21:13
Subject: Re:Hairfoot Jousting by Joseph McCullough
Finally got my book in and, typos and typical crappy Osprey Games page formatting aside, not to mention reusing some of the art quite a bit, the book has character to it?
But huh.. mounting those tiny models on massive 60mm bases, that's an interesting choice alright.
