Oh, those pesky Halflings. . .

King Hasalot, powerful noble and recurring character, has long laid claim to the small Hairfoot Islands, however, the resident Halflings have for years ignored the summons to pay taxes.  The good and kindly King, fed-up with the little twits, had declared a bounty for each live Halfling brought back to his lands to work his fields as a means of paying off their hefty back taxes.  Of course, this is seen as easy money by pirate captains the world over, and many heed the call to arms.

This photo is an overhead view of the island, shot as the ships are making their approach to its shores.

If there is one truism in the world of Pirates!, it is this:  When you get a bunch of pirates together, all seeking after the same thing, there is bound to be violence.  Lots of violence.  This being the case, it was not long before the ships began firing on one another.  By the end of the third turn, two ships were well on their way to sinking!

In this photo, you can see an airship approaching the island, attempting to land and make a quick grab of as many Halfling's as possible.  Coming straight at the airship is a Goblin contraption that looks a lot like a fighter, launching smoking and wildly inaccurate rockets!

Meanwhile, the Halflings began to put up a stout defense, meaning that many of them retired to the local tavern to drink some stout.  Several of them, bolstered by alcohol, ran to man (or Halfling) the few bolt throwers placed around the island.  With these they began to pepper any ship that strayed too close. . .

The carnage continued as ship after ship launched assault parties against the shores of Hairfoot Island. An Undead captain send ashore a party of skeletons and zombies in a rowboat.  They quickly gathered up a half dozen non-unconcious Halflings, but before they could get back a passing ship had blasted their rowboat into kindling!  Still, the enterprising Undead ran their sloop aground, picked up their landing party and their prize, and proceeded to be completely unable to get their ship off the beach.

The Dark Elves faired no better.  They made a landing in force against the northern end of the island with many marines and crew.  They swarmed up into the center of the Halfling village, only to be trapped by hordes of the little buggers, who, now cornered, fought rabid rats in a do-or-die conflict!  Although the Dark Elves knocked many of them silly, they were heavily outnumbered and it was not long before they were all dead!  For his efforts, the Dark Elf captain was taunted mercilessly about the alleged quality of his marines!

In spite of these set backs, several of the captains did manage to get away with several Halflings.  In fact, one managed to make off with an even dozen.  He accomplished this by letting another captain do all the work, and then, when they were safely aboard, he boarded and took the ship and all the Halflings!

One ship, captained by the redoubtable Dwarf, Lord Biggles, made the unfortunate mistake of wandering too close to an Elf ship.  The Elf navigator, incensed by the Dwarf's effrontery, summoned a sea serpent with the help of a magic scroll.  Although the Dwarfs eventually beat back the monster, it was not without heavy casualties, and they ended up not getting a single Halfling for their troubles!

When all was done, the pirates sailed home.  The few that managed to get away with some Halflings would receive a reward from the King.  The one captain that came back with a dozen would receive a full pardon for any previous crimes, and a commission in the King's navy.

All in all, Halfling Island was another hit, well received by players and observers alike.  You just wouldn't believe how excited a bunch of wargamers can get over the prospect of bashing in Halflings.  I am sure that Mr. Tolkein is turning over in his grave. . .

I shot almost an entire roll of film at this event.  Unfortunately, I shot it with my wife's camera, who, I discovered when I got home, had changed her status to ex-wife.  Apparently her camera was aware of this turn of events, and so decided to shoot a bunch of lousy, out-of-focus pictures.  Fortunately, these pictures were shot by my good buddy and Flagship Games partner, Thomas Foss.