One of the things to keep in mind during the spear discussions is that I'm not imagining spears being used in a vacuum. I do have some ideas about staying out of reach, which would affect how a spear is used. Specifically, a combatant with the higher combination of Move + Reach gets a bonus to attack and defense. (I said "attack or defense" in the linked post, but it should probably be both; I'm also considering upping this to 2 points each instead of 1 point each.) This abstracts opponents with short weapons trying to close distance and those with longer weapons backing away, so that we don't have to track each movement or roll multiple contests between two sides to see who can move outside or inside the other side's reach.
There is a proviso, though: even though I'm not a combat grid kinda guy, I wouldn't completely ignore position on the map. If someone is staying outside of an opponent's reach, they're backing up. If the opponent presses the attack, continually maintain distance may result in being backed into a corner or pushed off a cliff/into a pit. At some point, a spearman may have to stop worrying about the advantage and charge forward, just to keep from losing ground.
"Specifically, a combatant with the higher combination of Move + Reach gets a bonus to attack and defense."
ReplyDeleteI like where this is going.
"If someone is staying outside of an opponent's reach, they're backing up."
Backing up is usually not a good idea - circling away is the way to go. If you watch two (knowledgeable) people fighting, you'll notice a lot of circling going on.
If you want to increase distance, you move in a larger circle than your opponent.
If you want to decrease distance, you move in a smaller circle.
Straight forward and backward is for Olympic fencers, not real fighting.
Not to say there aren't limitations on how much circling away you can do - but straight back is a weak move, tactically.
You can't circle your opponent in a melee. Especially in a typical dungeon situation. Especially if there are more goblins or whatever behind the ones you're fighting right now. Circling means you're moving around your current opponent and into the midst of several others. And, assuming it's a typical "armored fighters stop the bad guys from reaching the weak, unarmored people behind them" situation, circling moves you out from between your opponent and the 1 hp magic-user.
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