376 replies to this topic

[Jaguar6]

Well if that's what you want then I guess the Shirrifs will have to stay using sticks and stones. I just can't see a Hobbit using a staff in one hand (which is incredibly hard to do, unless you have training) and a hatchet and knife in the other.

[{IP} Aridor]

Well if that's what you want then I guess the Shirrifs will have to stay using sticks and stones. I just can't see a Hobbit using a staff in one hand (which is incredibly hard to do, unless you have training) and a hatchet and knife in the other.

They would have had training. They are the sheriffs.

[Jaguar6]

Not enough training to use a staff single handed, even I can't do that with over 4 years of weapons training. I doubt they get good training, they are probably just given a staff and told where to hit people

[{IP} Aridor]

It depends on how long the staff is. If it is a half height staff then it would be easy. If it was a full height quarterstaff, then it would be hard. Since the Sheriffs walk all around the shire for their work it would seem like it would be more likely that they would have half height staffs, b/c that would make a better walking staff.

[Devon]

It'd have to be a quarter height, they're hobbits

[{IP} Aridor]

Were talking in hobbit sizes.

[Jaguar6]

I'm pretty sure that Tolkien meant they have quarterstaffs, they are all around a better weapon then halfstaffs, an I personally find them easier to walk around with.

[{IP} Aridor]

He only ever says staffs, so it is up to us. Well I would disagree in the walking around bit. But why couldn't we do something like we do for the orcs. Vary the staff/ax combo.

[Jaguar6]

That's what I was thinking of, but what about the knifes? And what will their ranged weapon be rocks, bows, or slings (please not slings).

[{IP} Aridor]

Bows. That is what Tolkien gave them. That is what what we should give them. I think the knife could be a random attack. Like at random times the pull out a knife and attack.

[Jaguar6]

That is the best idea I've heard so far, but is it possible? So they use a double handed axe or staff, and will randomly pull out a knife and slash the enemy, then to make them even cooler they can toggle to a bow What if we gave the Hobbit Militia the knife ability too, any farmer would have a good hunting knife on them you know.

[{IP} Aridor]

I would like to see a one handed ax.

[Jaguar6]

Wouldn't it be strange if some of them had one handed weapons yet some of them had two handed weapons. Anyways I kind of stretched the truth when I said that they wouldn't have double handed axes You use double handed axes for cutting down trees, splitting logs, and cutting large pieces of fire wood, and you use hatchets to cut down small saplings, cut twigs, and make more "portable" firewood. Or did you men a one handed axe for the Hobbit Militia?

Edited by Jaguar6, 29 August 2008 - 02:13 AM.

[{IP} Aridor]

A short staff in one hand a tomahawk in the other.

[Jaguar6]

Tomahawk is a Native American word, I doubt Hobbits would use them And like I said before the most common axe would be a large one that would be used double handed. Anyways, how would they pull out a knife when they already have a axe in one hand and a staff in the other?
About the type of staff, Tolkien always compared the Hobbits to the English people, and since the Quarterstaff was a very popular weapon among the peasants, I think that is what he meant. The Quarterstaff originally comes from England, and would some times have metal-reinforced tips, and they could be anywhere from 6 feet to an incredible 18 feet long!

[Shikari]

Why exactly do we need a new hobbit unit?

I thought we were just discussing weapon variation...

vv oh, and Aridor, niiice vv

Well I guess Orwell was right, newspeak is inevitable.

[Jaguar6]

We aren't discussing a new Hobbit unit, we are discussing what weapons the "new Shirrif (previously Hobbits" should get, since we already discussed what the "new Militia (previously Hobbit Pitchforks) got.

[Dalf32]

may i remind you that we have not decided that we want to call them the hobbit milita yet. or at least i have not accepted it yet.

tolkien may have compared hobbits to the english, but they are also much much smaller so they would not craft weapons for a human, but would craft them so that they would be able to use them effectively. therefore i dont see why they couldnt simply make their staff small enough to be used with one hand and have a small axe (doesnt have to be a tomohawk specifically, but it could be very similar).
i would think that when they pull out their knife they would stash one of their other weapons (perhaps both; depending on time constraints), give the enemy a slice or two, restash the knife, and then pull out the other one (or two) weapon(s) to fight as they were before.

[Jaguar6]

Yes I know, but you haven't come up with any better names yet have you

They would make their own style of Quarterstaffs, I never said that they would use human Quarterstaffs. I though they were a force that would grab what they had, they wouldn't have time to make a good fighting staff (which takes a really long time) and hatchet. They would use what they already have, the staffs that they have for Shirrifing, axes for chopping wood, bows for hunting, and knifes for skinning/gutting. You can't stop, put your axe in your belt, pull out a knife, stab your enemy a few times, put the knife back, and pull out a hatchet in the mist of a battle, your enemy would stab you the instant you put the hatchet away!

[Dalf32]

alright, if you dont think you would have time to put a small axe away, then how about doing a simple slash with the knife and then putting it back? you wouldnt necessarily need to stash the axe (or the staff for that matter) but could instead grip it differently so that you can grab the knife, slash once, put the knife away, and then go back to hacking and whacking. its hard to articulate, but if you think about it, it could work.

EDIT: actually i think sam (or one of the hobbit heros) has an animation that shows him slashing in the same motion as he pulls out his knife. im thinking something like that.

Edited by Dalf32, 30 August 2008 - 12:40 AM.