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<blockquote data-quote="Water Bob" data-source="post: 6112683" data-attributes="member: 92305"><p><strong>HOW TO FIGHT EFFECTIVELY WITH A REACH WEAPON</strong></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><em>You'll never look at City Guardsmen armed with Pikes the same way again....</em></p><p></p><p>There are a few reach weapons listed in the core rulebook: War Spear, Staff, and Pike. Whips and Lances are also considered reach weapons. There may be others available in your game from supplemental sources or weapons that you've added yourself. Lances usually have a penalty associated with them if used on foot in melee. The Whip has a 15' reach instead of the usual 10' distance. Pikes have a reach of 20' only. And, the Staff is unique among reach weapons in that it can be used effectively at both standard melee range of 5' and reach range of 10'.</p><p></p><p>Look at the <strong>Fighting On The Run</strong> rule on page 184 of the 2E Core rulebook. This rule allows you to move, attack, and then move again, as long as you're making a melee attack, and as long as you don't move more than your Speed rating. Although the rule is there, it is not used much in combat because a character using the rule still provokes an attack of opportunity when leaving a threatened square.</p><p></p><p>If you use a reach weapon and make use of your move correctly, you can move close to a target, make a melee attack from 10 feet away, then retreat some distance. If you do this correctly, you can achieve two advantages on the battlefield.</p><p></p><p>1. After your attack and movement, it is easy to set yourself up so that your enemy has to come through your threatened square in order to attack you in normal melee. This means that he will provoke an attack of opportunity, and you will gain a second, free attack on your foe before he attacks you.</p><p></p><p>2. Furthermore, if, after your attack, you move more than five feet away from your opponent, your attacker will have to use his movement to engage you in melee. This means you will have robbed your opponent of any Full Actions--which means, your enemy will only get one attack on you even if he is capable of more than one attack (by level or by holding a second weapon).</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>This Reach fighting style is particularly effective against foes who use a weapon in each hand or high level foes who gain additional attacks due to character level. <strong>Combat Reflexes</strong> is a good feat to consider if you are going to use the reach fighting style often as you can often position yourself in combat to attack many foes some distance from you (of course, a high DEX is desireable as well).</p><p></p><p>One problem that comes up with Reach fighting is that you draw attacks of opportunity when you move away from a foe after he has attacked you. There are a few ways to combat this problem, though. For example, you can use the <strong>Fighting Defensively</strong> rule when pulling away from your foe (taking a -4 penalty on your attack). That will give you a +2 to defense when your foe takes his attack of opportunity on you.</p><p></p><p>Another thing you can do is try to attack every other round. In between, when your foe is just 5 feet from you, use your turn to Withdraw. If your foes keeps up the pressure by pressing you, he'll rob you of your second attack (you won't get your standard attack because your foe will move into base-to-base contact before it is your next turn, but you will get your attack of opportunity on him when he moves out of your threatened space). But, if he doesn't immediately press the fight, then you've got him and can peform as I describe above. You'll get two attacks on him--your standard attack plus an attack of opportunity when he decides to attack you again.</p><p></p><p>Depending on the weapon you use, having a high <strong>Tumble</strong> skill will allow you to tumble out of any attacks of opportunity that you provoke from your enemy.</p><p></p><p>Of course, any Feats that improve your defense, like <strong>Dodge</strong>, <strong>Parry</strong>, and <strong>Light-Footed</strong>, are also helpful for a Reach fighter.</p><p></p><p>A Gunderman Pike Fighter, with the <strong>Gunderland Pike-And-Shield Fighting</strong> Feat can be quite a deadly animal using this fighting style.</p><p></p><p>It's easy to see, too, that the Reach fighting style is vulnerable to missile or thrown weapon attacks.</p><p></p><p>Sometimes, the 5 foot step is all you need to set up the double attack that I mention above. See the example below.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><strong>Let's look at an example.</strong> </p><p></p><p>Ragnar the Aesir wields a war spear against a Vanir raider. We start the round with the two fighters in base-to-base contact. Ragnar cannot attack at this range, so he moves back 5 feet, putting his foe now at 10' distant. Ragnar attacks with the war spear, then, using the Fighting On The Run rule, Ragnar moves the rest of his movement, which is 10 more feet (because he's can only move half Speed when he Tumbles). This would normally provoke an attack of opportunity, moving away from the foe like this, but Ragnar makes his Tumble check.</p><p></p><p>Now, Ragnar has attacked and has ended the round 20 feet from his foe. This robs Ragnar's foe from making Full Attacks because the foe has to move 15 feet in order to engage Ragnar. So, at most, Ragnar's foe will get one attack on Ragnar next round. And, the foe will be subject to Ragnar's attack of opportunity when the foe moves past Ragnar's threatened space into close quarters in order to attack Ragnar. Thus, Ragnar gets two attacks on his foe this round while his foe can only take one attack.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><strong>Reach Fighting--</strong></p><p></p><p>1. A reach weapon is mandatory.</p><p></p><p>2. A high DEX is desireable.</p><p></p><p>3. High Tumble skill or some other method of defeating Attacks of Opportunity (bonuses to defense) is desireable.</p><p></p><p>4. Combat Reflexes is desireable in order to perform more attacks of opportunity on your foes. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><strong>Gunderman Pike Fighter</strong></p><p></p><p>Consider a 2nd level Gunderman Soldier. This character is allotted 4 Feats (1st level Feat, 1st level bonus Soldier Feat, 1st level Favored Class Feat, and 2nd level Soldier bonus Feat). Pick Combat Reflexes, if his DEX bonus is higher than +0, Gunderland Pike-And-Shield Fighting, Parry, and either Weapon Focus (+1 Pike attack), or Skill Focus (+3 Tumble), or Acrobatic (+2 Tumble, +2 Jump).</p><p></p><p>Use Hyborian Adaptability to make Tumble a class skill for this Soldier. This adds another +2 Tumble. Make sure to max out Tumble ranks with skill points.</p><p></p><p>GM's consider customizing Hyborian Weapon Familiarity for this character to be he Gunderman Pike instead of the greatsword.</p><p></p><p>Equip this character with a large shield, the Gunderman Pike shown on pg. 5 of Hyboria's Fiercest, and light armor* plus steel cap.</p><p></p><p>*It's imperative that light armor is used that does not impede the character's Speed rating. When tumbling to avoid attacks of opportunity, Speed is cut in half, and at least 15 feet of movement is needed each round in order to position the pike 20 feet away from the foe--Pikes are effective at a reach of 20 feet only. Also, the armor check penalty applies to the Tumble check, so you'll want to minimize the penalty by using light armor. Add a helmet to increase armor DR by +1.</p><p></p><p>When creating such a character, you'll want a high STR rating for attack, damage, penetration, and the Parry defense. You'll also want a high DEX to support Tumble and Combat Reflexes. A high INT is useful for the skill points as Soldiers do not get many, and we want to max out the Tumble skill.</p><p></p><p>This character combats his foe's attacks of opportunity through the use of the Tumble skill and a high Parry AC. He uses a large shield, which is +3 Parry in this case, and the Parry Feat gives him a +4 Parry, plus another +1 Parry for his 2nd Level Soldier bonus. This gives him a total +5 Parry in addition to his STR modifier. And, he benefits from DR 4-6, if he is hit, depending on which light armor he uses. His Tumble skill is improved by skill points, DEX bonus, and possibly either the Skill Focus (+3 Tumble) or Acrobatic (+2 Tumble) feat. In addition, his Hyborian Adaptability gives him another +2 Tumble, for a possible +5 Tumble above skill points and DEX bonus.</p><p></p><p>Weapon Focus gives the character +1 attack with the Pike, on top of his STR modifier, and the Gunderman Pike from Hyboria's Fiercest features higher damage and higher Armor Pierceing capability than the standard pike listed in the core rule book.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>EDIT:</p><p></p><p>In the not-so-great <strong>Conan The Destroyer</strong> film, the scene where the party meets Zula shows her using her staff as both a Reach and Melee weapon. In the film <strong>Centurion</strong>, the character Etain uses a war spear, which has a 10 foot reach.</p><p></p><p>If you have a weapon with a reach of 15+ feet, you won't have to take advantage of the Fighting On The Run rule. Just keep your enemy in the target zone, and backup after he engages you in melee, avoiding the attack of opportunity that you create when you do so. This will always set up the attack of opportunity. Thus, with a Pike, keep the target 20 foot distant. You attack at 20 foot, then on your foe's action, he will have to leave the Pike's threatened space to approach you in melee, thus you get a second attack--the attack of opportunity when he leaves your threatened square. After he attacks, do what you an to avoid his attack of opportunity and move back so that your foe is again 20 foot from you, then attack normally....and repeat. Doing this will consistently give you an extra attack against your foe (unless he, too, is able to avoid attacks of opportunity) and rob your foe from gaining extra attacks due to a second weapon or from high level.</p><p></p><p>Imagine, if you will, a phalanx of soldiers, three abreast, guarding the drawbridge in front of the players. Consider them all 3rd level Soldiers. Gundermen, not unlike the 2nd level pikeman I mention above. They each have the <strong>Skirmisher Formation </strong>ability, which gives all three of them +1 defence on top of the other bonuses I describe above. THIS will make your players respect pike phalanxes. Think of the number of attacks of opportunity that will happen!</p><p></p><p>To beef up the phalanx line, add another row. The soldiers behind the first row can either attack normally through the first line, doubling the attacks and creating another row of threatened squares from which to make attacks of opportunity. Or, you can have the second row of Soldiers use the <strong>Aid Another</strong> rule to give the first rank either an additional +2 to defense or a +2 on their attacks!</p><p></p><p>Also remember, in addition to everything I've said, the <strong>Multiple Opponent's</strong> rule may also be utilized if your phalanx out numbers their target. This will give them an additional to-hit bonus.</p><p></p><p>Looking at it this way, Pikemen and their phalanxes are certainly a battle technique to be feared!</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>2nd EDIT:</p><p></p><p>Also, don't forget the<strong> Weapon Length</strong> rule on pg. 174 of the core 2E rulebook. This can mean an additional +2 Parry AC for the wielder of the two-handed weapon and a -2 Parry AC for anyone fighting him using a light weapon (or a -1 Parry AC for a foe using a one-handed weapon).</p><p></p><p>The Gunderland Pike is still a two-handed weapon even though the Gunderland Pike-And-Shield Fighting Feat allows the weapon to be used one-handed, thus it counts as a two-handed weapon when using the Weapon Length rule.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Water Bob, post: 6112683, member: 92305"] [B]HOW TO FIGHT EFFECTIVELY WITH A REACH WEAPON[/B] [I]You'll never look at City Guardsmen armed with Pikes the same way again....[/I] There are a few reach weapons listed in the core rulebook: War Spear, Staff, and Pike. Whips and Lances are also considered reach weapons. There may be others available in your game from supplemental sources or weapons that you've added yourself. Lances usually have a penalty associated with them if used on foot in melee. The Whip has a 15' reach instead of the usual 10' distance. Pikes have a reach of 20' only. And, the Staff is unique among reach weapons in that it can be used effectively at both standard melee range of 5' and reach range of 10'. Look at the [B]Fighting On The Run[/B] rule on page 184 of the 2E Core rulebook. This rule allows you to move, attack, and then move again, as long as you're making a melee attack, and as long as you don't move more than your Speed rating. Although the rule is there, it is not used much in combat because a character using the rule still provokes an attack of opportunity when leaving a threatened square. If you use a reach weapon and make use of your move correctly, you can move close to a target, make a melee attack from 10 feet away, then retreat some distance. If you do this correctly, you can achieve two advantages on the battlefield. 1. After your attack and movement, it is easy to set yourself up so that your enemy has to come through your threatened square in order to attack you in normal melee. This means that he will provoke an attack of opportunity, and you will gain a second, free attack on your foe before he attacks you. 2. Furthermore, if, after your attack, you move more than five feet away from your opponent, your attacker will have to use his movement to engage you in melee. This means you will have robbed your opponent of any Full Actions--which means, your enemy will only get one attack on you even if he is capable of more than one attack (by level or by holding a second weapon). This Reach fighting style is particularly effective against foes who use a weapon in each hand or high level foes who gain additional attacks due to character level. [B]Combat Reflexes[/B] is a good feat to consider if you are going to use the reach fighting style often as you can often position yourself in combat to attack many foes some distance from you (of course, a high DEX is desireable as well). One problem that comes up with Reach fighting is that you draw attacks of opportunity when you move away from a foe after he has attacked you. There are a few ways to combat this problem, though. For example, you can use the [B]Fighting Defensively[/B] rule when pulling away from your foe (taking a -4 penalty on your attack). That will give you a +2 to defense when your foe takes his attack of opportunity on you. Another thing you can do is try to attack every other round. In between, when your foe is just 5 feet from you, use your turn to Withdraw. If your foes keeps up the pressure by pressing you, he'll rob you of your second attack (you won't get your standard attack because your foe will move into base-to-base contact before it is your next turn, but you will get your attack of opportunity on him when he moves out of your threatened space). But, if he doesn't immediately press the fight, then you've got him and can peform as I describe above. You'll get two attacks on him--your standard attack plus an attack of opportunity when he decides to attack you again. Depending on the weapon you use, having a high [B]Tumble[/B] skill will allow you to tumble out of any attacks of opportunity that you provoke from your enemy. Of course, any Feats that improve your defense, like [B]Dodge[/B], [B]Parry[/B], and [B]Light-Footed[/B], are also helpful for a Reach fighter. A Gunderman Pike Fighter, with the [B]Gunderland Pike-And-Shield Fighting[/B] Feat can be quite a deadly animal using this fighting style. It's easy to see, too, that the Reach fighting style is vulnerable to missile or thrown weapon attacks. Sometimes, the 5 foot step is all you need to set up the double attack that I mention above. See the example below. [B]Let's look at an example.[/B] Ragnar the Aesir wields a war spear against a Vanir raider. We start the round with the two fighters in base-to-base contact. Ragnar cannot attack at this range, so he moves back 5 feet, putting his foe now at 10' distant. Ragnar attacks with the war spear, then, using the Fighting On The Run rule, Ragnar moves the rest of his movement, which is 10 more feet (because he's can only move half Speed when he Tumbles). This would normally provoke an attack of opportunity, moving away from the foe like this, but Ragnar makes his Tumble check. Now, Ragnar has attacked and has ended the round 20 feet from his foe. This robs Ragnar's foe from making Full Attacks because the foe has to move 15 feet in order to engage Ragnar. So, at most, Ragnar's foe will get one attack on Ragnar next round. And, the foe will be subject to Ragnar's attack of opportunity when the foe moves past Ragnar's threatened space into close quarters in order to attack Ragnar. Thus, Ragnar gets two attacks on his foe this round while his foe can only take one attack. [B]Reach Fighting--[/B] 1. A reach weapon is mandatory. 2. A high DEX is desireable. 3. High Tumble skill or some other method of defeating Attacks of Opportunity (bonuses to defense) is desireable. 4. Combat Reflexes is desireable in order to perform more attacks of opportunity on your foes. [B]Gunderman Pike Fighter[/B] Consider a 2nd level Gunderman Soldier. This character is allotted 4 Feats (1st level Feat, 1st level bonus Soldier Feat, 1st level Favored Class Feat, and 2nd level Soldier bonus Feat). Pick Combat Reflexes, if his DEX bonus is higher than +0, Gunderland Pike-And-Shield Fighting, Parry, and either Weapon Focus (+1 Pike attack), or Skill Focus (+3 Tumble), or Acrobatic (+2 Tumble, +2 Jump). Use Hyborian Adaptability to make Tumble a class skill for this Soldier. This adds another +2 Tumble. Make sure to max out Tumble ranks with skill points. GM's consider customizing Hyborian Weapon Familiarity for this character to be he Gunderman Pike instead of the greatsword. Equip this character with a large shield, the Gunderman Pike shown on pg. 5 of Hyboria's Fiercest, and light armor* plus steel cap. *It's imperative that light armor is used that does not impede the character's Speed rating. When tumbling to avoid attacks of opportunity, Speed is cut in half, and at least 15 feet of movement is needed each round in order to position the pike 20 feet away from the foe--Pikes are effective at a reach of 20 feet only. Also, the armor check penalty applies to the Tumble check, so you'll want to minimize the penalty by using light armor. Add a helmet to increase armor DR by +1. When creating such a character, you'll want a high STR rating for attack, damage, penetration, and the Parry defense. You'll also want a high DEX to support Tumble and Combat Reflexes. A high INT is useful for the skill points as Soldiers do not get many, and we want to max out the Tumble skill. This character combats his foe's attacks of opportunity through the use of the Tumble skill and a high Parry AC. He uses a large shield, which is +3 Parry in this case, and the Parry Feat gives him a +4 Parry, plus another +1 Parry for his 2nd Level Soldier bonus. This gives him a total +5 Parry in addition to his STR modifier. And, he benefits from DR 4-6, if he is hit, depending on which light armor he uses. His Tumble skill is improved by skill points, DEX bonus, and possibly either the Skill Focus (+3 Tumble) or Acrobatic (+2 Tumble) feat. In addition, his Hyborian Adaptability gives him another +2 Tumble, for a possible +5 Tumble above skill points and DEX bonus. Weapon Focus gives the character +1 attack with the Pike, on top of his STR modifier, and the Gunderman Pike from Hyboria's Fiercest features higher damage and higher Armor Pierceing capability than the standard pike listed in the core rule book. EDIT: In the not-so-great [B]Conan The Destroyer[/B] film, the scene where the party meets Zula shows her using her staff as both a Reach and Melee weapon. In the film [B]Centurion[/B], the character Etain uses a war spear, which has a 10 foot reach. If you have a weapon with a reach of 15+ feet, you won't have to take advantage of the Fighting On The Run rule. Just keep your enemy in the target zone, and backup after he engages you in melee, avoiding the attack of opportunity that you create when you do so. This will always set up the attack of opportunity. Thus, with a Pike, keep the target 20 foot distant. You attack at 20 foot, then on your foe's action, he will have to leave the Pike's threatened space to approach you in melee, thus you get a second attack--the attack of opportunity when he leaves your threatened square. After he attacks, do what you an to avoid his attack of opportunity and move back so that your foe is again 20 foot from you, then attack normally....and repeat. Doing this will consistently give you an extra attack against your foe (unless he, too, is able to avoid attacks of opportunity) and rob your foe from gaining extra attacks due to a second weapon or from high level. Imagine, if you will, a phalanx of soldiers, three abreast, guarding the drawbridge in front of the players. Consider them all 3rd level Soldiers. Gundermen, not unlike the 2nd level pikeman I mention above. They each have the [B]Skirmisher Formation [/B]ability, which gives all three of them +1 defence on top of the other bonuses I describe above. THIS will make your players respect pike phalanxes. Think of the number of attacks of opportunity that will happen! To beef up the phalanx line, add another row. The soldiers behind the first row can either attack normally through the first line, doubling the attacks and creating another row of threatened squares from which to make attacks of opportunity. Or, you can have the second row of Soldiers use the [B]Aid Another[/B] rule to give the first rank either an additional +2 to defense or a +2 on their attacks! Also remember, in addition to everything I've said, the [B]Multiple Opponent's[/B] rule may also be utilized if your phalanx out numbers their target. This will give them an additional to-hit bonus. Looking at it this way, Pikemen and their phalanxes are certainly a battle technique to be feared! 2nd EDIT: Also, don't forget the[B] Weapon Length[/B] rule on pg. 174 of the core 2E rulebook. This can mean an additional +2 Parry AC for the wielder of the two-handed weapon and a -2 Parry AC for anyone fighting him using a light weapon (or a -1 Parry AC for a foe using a one-handed weapon). The Gunderland Pike is still a two-handed weapon even though the Gunderland Pike-And-Shield Fighting Feat allows the weapon to be used one-handed, thus it counts as a two-handed weapon when using the Weapon Length rule. [/QUOTE]
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