This is the primary reason I play Melee instead of Advanced Melee.
Advanced Melee adds a lot of great things to the game, and it
codifies a lot, but all that goes completely down the drain due to
the rule that Pole Weapons always go first. The result is that Pole
Weapons dominate the game. Your character must, MUST have a pole
weapon or he/she is dead meat. You must start with a spear in your
hand, hope that you do enough damage in the charge/reception of
charge to prevent your opponent from striking with his/her halberd,
and then shift to a sword once engaged. One could argue that's
historically accurate, but it certainly loses some fun.
It's easy to house rule that requirement away, of course.
--- On Wed, 10/5/11, gem6868 <gem6868@verizon.net> wrote:
From: gem6868 <gem6868@verizon.net>
Subject: Re: (TFT) Death Test 1, take 4: SURVIVED!
To: tft@brainiac.com
Date: Wednesday, October 5, 2011, 7:58 PM
A pole arm used as a "planted
defense" vs a charging attacker only has an edge if they are
approaching so fast that they are rendered slower to react
than the person ready with the pole arm. Anyone making
a measured approach should still act in order of DX.
While there is certainly an advantage in a longer weapon, it
is often lost by the more cumbersome nature of the weapon
itself. This can change when you are talking about
large formations of people. But at the scale of Melee
/ Wizard, a pole arm's main use is to gain reach v a mounted
opponent (or a larger one ie Giant, Dragon), and it is at a
disadvantage against the sword/shield combo, and quite
possibly just a skillful broadsword. When I get to
Advanced Melee, I'll try and post more specific thoughts.
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