Hi Gary,
Thanks again for taking time to answer all the questions and put up with all this fawning (I'm sure the latter is easier than the former

). Anyway, I've got another OD&D (1974) related question (something of an obsession of mine because I was too young to play it when it was 'current'):
In issue #2 of
The Strategic Review in the article on "The Questions Most Frequently Asked About Dungeons & Dragons" there's a combat example that includes hints of an unarmed combat system that AFAIK never saw print anywhere else. Here's the relevant quote (emphasis added by me):
Was this an actual system used in your games at that time or just something that was created ad-hoc for this example? If the former, why was this (seemingly quite simple and straightforward) system abandoned in favor of the much more complicated percentile-based system found in the AD&D DMG (which was so complex that at least in my games it served to effectively discourage anyone from ever attempting those maneuvers, at least until we got UA)?
Also, I can't help noticing that both this example combat and the combat example in the AD&D PH feature large numbers of orcs taking out superior PC opponents by grappling them rather than engaging in straight up melee (which the higher level PCs would almost certainly win). Was this pure coincidence or were these intended as subtle hints to DMs how such 'mook' monsters should be played -- making up by sheer numbers what they lack in skill and hit dice?
As always,