Re: (TFT) Pole weapons in Rick's campaign - Play styles.

[Peter von Kleinsmid <pvk@oz.net>]

Yeah, I think it's pretty clear there are a number of options about 
how to play, and we all choose which ones we like, and many of us are 
(re)learning what all the options are and what the various odd 
editions of Melee said and so on.

I gave up trying to convince people who are still playing TFT to play 
a certain way, or to play GURPS, a long time ago, but I still mention 
my own tastes and ideas when it seems there's interest.

FWIW:

My style of playing TFT was (theoretically is):
Advanced Melee, only anti-polearm rule was the added option for 
weapons to try to cut through them, from Interplay.
So, double-damage 1-hex charges, 1d/1d+1 spears, 2d halberds, and all 
else from AM/ITL.

I am interested in what's realistic, but don't try to make TFT be 
more realistic than is fairly easy.

I do play GURPS. I don't find it slow, and I really like what if 
offers over TFT for realism, detail, varied tactics and wild combat 
situations. I add optional & house rules for more detail and realism. 
Yummy yummy crunch crunch.

I find I have to mess with GURPS Magic to make it something I like 
enough. I tend to use different or heavily modded magic rules. 
Advanced Wizard is a sentimental favorite which I do like, though I 
think it has its issues too. (One can of course make house rules to 
adapt Advanced Wizard to GURPS.)

As for the idea that spears and polearms weren't used as main 
military weapons after the Greeks, I hope to see some interesting 
discussion about that. Recently I've been seeing people make opposite 
arguments - that swords were almost always secondary weapons, and 
that spears and polearms were always main military weapons from the 
first militaries up through the arrival of good gunpowder weapons.

As for Steve Jackson's intent, I don't mean to go back and forth on 
that, but after re-reading Advanced Melee's pole weapons section, it 
looks pretty clear what the intent was at that point, and then going 
back and reading my copy of Melee, I see a terser version of what 
seems like the same rule - resisting a charge attack with a pole 
weapon doesn't even lose the +2 DX if he has to turn to face. In the 
Jackson-era Melee, Charge Attack is very clearly going from 
non-adjacent to adjacent. That takes out all questions of using 
initiative to maneuver to avoid a pole charge bonus in an open 
sword/spear duel, unless your spear opponent moves first and provides 
open side/rear hexes for some reason.

Which is of course not to say that any way a person or group 
agreement wants to play it isn't fine as long as no one's getting a 
bad surprise. It was fun getting out the map and trying to see what 
could be done with initiative and maneuver with various 
mis-rememberings I had about the rules. :-) I think the initiative 
dance is actually kind of interesting. Rick's house rules are also 
pretty interesting. I personally don't really like the 3-hex straight 
line rule as I've seen it published, though, because it seems odd and 
can be worked around by retreat/disengage, back up 2, charge 3, but 
only if you have room and have MA 10+... that seems kind of 
artificial and gamey to me.

PvK

=====
Post to the entire list by writing to tft@brainiac.com.
Unsubscribe by mailing to majordomo@brainiac.com with the message body
"unsubscribe tft"