Joss: Is that charcoal?? You should try using some white chalk too, because you are doing well with tone and I think you could handle doing highlights with it.
I like both of them because they have a lot of implied movement (the second especially). Some of the forms of the bodies look a bit off but that is probably just an issue of practice.
Red Fortune: Not sure if you used a reference but to my eye some of the proportions look odd. When I stand in a similar position the top of my fist is at or above the top of my head. I think the problem lies in the the upper arm is overly foreshortened although it is not actually protruding towards the viewer.
It also looks like there is some issue where the torso meets the hips. It looks as if the stomach needs to be longer, but tightening the armor a bit might solve that.
Also, the feet aren't actually that far back from the picture plane (the 'window' that the viewer 'looks through') and so they look overly small.
Anatomy is one of the harder things to do without using references. Although, looking at it now, you probably were using a reference and it is the addition of armor that is tripping it up.
The lower left corner is too simple and bright, which is making it too bold for the composition. It is stealing attention from the subject.
Overall the work is strong, and I think you could push it to very strong/awesome by fixing up the aforementioned. Push push push.