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Re: (TFT) Death Test I (spoilers, if you care)



There's little currently discovered on shield use. I.33 is sword and buckler. There, the buckler is mostly used to cover the hand during offense, and follow the bind on defense. I don't recall that it's usedto strike, as the whole point of that manuscript appears to be unarmoured civilian combat, where keeping distance is a key to the whole system. The ancient/Roman phalanx use doesn't seem to have used the scutum offensively, but that's massed combat (but you could look up my old Shield Wall talent). I haven't read the eddas, but those who have and read parts to me haven't read anything about offensive shield use. It doesn't seem possible to prove that the shield was used offensively until the age of the rapier, where there's a maneuver called 'mustaching' someone -- striking them in the face with the edge of the buckler. And as far a realistic shield use goes, shields prevent attacks from landing, they do not make successful attacks do less damage. Well, that's most of the time, though sometimes you just catch a bit of a blow and the rest gets through, but that's not a deliberate use.
Neil Gilmore
raito@raito.com

The phalanx

Quoting gem6868 <gem6868@verizon.net>:
It seems very likely that most ancient shield users with training / drill
used both their weapon and their shield offensively and defensively in
coordination.  I'm uncertain that that might translate to in TFT with a
minimum of rule changes and in keeping the spirit of the rules.  It would
seem to me that if you get two strikes, the -4DX for two weapons is in the
spirit of Melee.  As any offensive motion with the shield would still leave
you behind it, I'm uncertain you should lose the defensive bonus (most
likely you are "punching forward" with the shield, leaving you behind it,
right?).  In other words, the shield isn't an either/or attack/defense
weapon.  I think the -4DX should be enough for what is, after all, a pretty
weak strike, 1d6.
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