Can the Strength of an attack be reduced to Zero?

I'm trying to think of an existing case (in the official rules) where the Strength of an attack could be reduced to 0, and whether there is a rule to prevent this.

The best example I can think of right now would be a Halfling (S2) using his fist (-1S) against a Resilient hero (-1S).

Has there been any official, FAQ or Mod answer on this before?

If not, should S1 be the floor for any Strength-reducing effects?

If an attack can/is reduced to S0, would you extend the Wound chart so that S0 attacks could still Wound up to T3, or would you rule that S0 attacks cannot Wound at all, regardless of target Toughness? Judging from the wording on Zero-level characteristics, especially on WS0, I might presume that S0 attacks cannot wound at all, regardless of target Toughness.

I think it is important to differentiate between temporary level 0 chracteristics and permanent ones. If a model is permanently reduced to e.g. Toughness 0 (easily possible through Serious Injuries), then it will die. I think I did read that somewhere. I'm not sure if it is true for all characteristics considering that animals, e.g. sometimes have a WS of 0 (are hit automatically in combat) or BS 0 (cannot shoot at all). It seems apropriate that Strength 0 then means "cannot wound others at all" and Toughness 0 is "cannot live at all".

Temporarily having your Toughness reduced to 0 will most likely result in being taken out of action, but probably not permanently.

I don't think extending the to wound chart could ever be an official answer to that question. It would equal "we forgot something". It's not even logical or plausible anyways. Characteristics of "0" and "-" do exist in Warhammer and Mordheim and that is meant to indicate that a model cannot do the related action, such as shooting or fighting. With a Strength of 0, you simply cannot wound. Seems obvious to me. I mean, that's what it says... Strength 0 is "no Strength".. a hit with no Strength, a hit you don't even notice.

As Cianty noted there is nothing set in stone in the rulebook. With zero strength you could not wound in HTH.

It is one of those things the rulebook left up to the player to decide.

i would loet someone live with toughness 0 if the guy really wanted to almost happened to a skaven with t1 he had two injuries that gave him -1 t

fact is, almost no one would want such a char to be in his warband, so most cases he get's sacked.

for the strength thingy, well if he had 0 strength, i'd give him a bow or something

Well, the situation arises when you have a Halfling play the 'Last Orders' scenario.

Or, if you're playing the Snotling Warband that Ram Rock & I came up with.... although, that warband's HIGHLY unofficial, and we added in the rule to the warband that their strength couldn't be reduced below 1.

I'd agree. Strength of 0 cannot wound, but they can hit. Since they can hit, they can use poisons. So black lotus would give them autowound on 6 and dark venom would give them 1 str. If facing something with tentacles (removes one attack from someone) it could remove the 0 str attack.

No official wording, but it is an interpretation from the online rules.

rain9441 wrote:

I'd agree. Strength of 0 cannot wound, but they can hit. Since they can hit, they can use poisons. So black lotus would give them autowound on 6 and dark venom would give them 1 str. If facing something with tentacles (removes one attack from someone) it could remove the 0 str attack.

No official wording, but it is an interpretation from the online rules.

Very good points.

I completely understand the possibility and effects of a model's Strength characteristic being reduced to 0.

The weight of evidence shown on this thread, and opinions from responses, indicate that an S0 hit would not, by itself, have a chance to Wound, and I especially like rain9441's comments on this.

Even so, I see that Styromfoamking has already encountered this situation, and I have a feeling it's best for our group to house-rule that an attack's Strength cannot be reduced below 1. At least that'll give weaklings some kind of chance without having to extend the Wound chart.

Thanks, all!

The person obviously dies or retires, to week to continue any further odysseys...
Really I don't know, it sounds more fun to actually play a 0S character.

The original question is asking about 0str from modifiers... Like if the model's actual strength was 1 and you do an offhand attack at -1 str, bringing that ATTACK to 0, NOT the model's strength.

Cross posted this over on the yahoo group. Good scenario with the halfling fist v resilient, Wyldhunt. I think my personal preference would be to set st 1 as minimum.

As others have said, strength 0 would mean you are not capable of wounding in hand to hand combat.

Interesting result on the Mordheim Yahoo Group on this, which effectively says "yes" to reducing attacks to S0, and no Wound result possible, but "no" to increasing attacks beyond S10. Most of the reasoning relates this to entries on the Wound chart, and that characteristics can go to 0.

I say that reducing an attack's Strength below 1 is not the same is reducing the Strength characteristic to 0 - if we're going to restrict attacks to use the Wound chart, then we should restrict both ends, not just the top. I'm not arguing this on the Mordheim Yahoo Group, but it will be our house rule that an attack's Strength cannot be reduced below 1, and it cannot be increased beyond 10. Further, we're house-ruling that a Strength 0 model is not strong enough to Wound, nor wield a weapon or shield.