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Message: <blockquote data-quote="(Psi)SeveredHead" data-source="post: 6323195" data-attributes="member: 1165">Some of the proposed strategies aren't likely to work. Shield walls worked in older, larger D&D groups (the kind with numerous henchmen and with enough PCs to supposedly need a caller) but not in more typical groups of 4-6 players with only one or two fighters.Even if you had an all-fighter group, six fighters is not enough for a shield wall outside of a dungeon or similar indoor environment. The enemies can easily outflank a group of only six people in the open (even if they have to go through difficult terrain to do so).Shield walls are an army strategy, not a squad tactic.In one of the games I'm in the players are fans of the "strategic flank" in order to make life hell on enemy squishies. Group composition varies but we usually have a stealthy and nonstealthy half. As a wizard with no stealth skills or stealth magic, I go with the nonstealthy half. The nonstealthy group grabs attention and then the stealthy guys hit 'em from behind. Even if they fail at stealth we still usually have a strategic flank, just no surprise, as the two groups can use magic to coordinate movements at a distance. This doesn't even directly interact with the rules, but those low AC spellcasters and archers tend to expect their tough guys to protect them, and tough guys can't block all the angles in the open.In one encounter we fell into an enemy ambush, and even then we managed a strategic flank. Our decidedly non-stealthy dwarf has a shield that lets him walk on water, and the battle took place next to a lake. He walked on the water, hoping to attack from a different direction, only to run into a bunch of lizardmen using blowguns. They got surprise, but by himself he tangled with them, tying up about a quarter of the bad guys. (Everyone else got stuck in Entangle. Ow.)</blockquote>

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