I have just had a read of the banner rules in the Hobbit book and it there is no mention of the weapons and equipment restrictions as in the old rules.

I assume that this means that a banner bearer may now be equipped with a shield or Bow?

Yes. We were discussing tis in another thread, and we came to this conclusion…

In FAQ as well:
Q: If a model is equipped with a banner or a war horn can
it still be upgraded with other equipment such as spears
and shields? (p72)
A: Yes.

Time to convert all those banner bearers to have shields (and perhaps spears as well, when they're standing behind the lines anyway...)!

Time to convert all those banner bearers to have shields (and perhaps spears as well, when they're standing behind the lines anyway...)![/quote]

I a, in no way against this, but its going to be a lot of work!

I like to see as much variety as possible in minis - conversions add to the variety. And when you think about it, banners and flags were very important in warfare for thousands of years as they were used for indicating position, passing on commands and as a morale booster for armies in the days before telecommunications existed. Standards were borne by veterans, usually with some other hard cases nearby to protect them. If the designated bearer was killed or incapacitated, someone else immediately took their place. So, in Middle-earth, if a standard bearer falls, they why wouldn't someone else take up the banner immediately? And that being the case, who knows how they may be armed.
I support the concept of banner bearers having shields and additional equipment.

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You do realise that Boromir of the white tower can now have F7 with D7 too, as he can have the banner and shield now...

AWESOME!

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