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Old 10-21-2019, 02:24 AM   #38
Steve Plambeck
 
Join Date: Jun 2019
Default Re: Pole Weapons: Attack / Defense Question

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom H. View Post
There seems to be only two solutions:
  1. At some point, moving next to an enemy will commit you to declaring your action before you get to take it, or
  2. The benefits of pole arms in charges should be available solely upon threatening movement without regard to attacking.
I tend to favor option 2, and my hunch is that so will Skarg.
That entire post was extremely clear and well reasoned!

Heartily agreeing with option 2, and adding a "sugar-coating" for anyone who doesn't:

Any time an armed, weapon-at-the-ready figure moves in on an opponent, that's virtually an attack regardless of the final option exercised. Move and Attack or move and Defend, either way the figure moves in with weapon raised and swinging. That's obvious of course for the Attack option, but equally true for the Defend option because of how it is defined: using the ready weapon against the opponent's weapon (a parry).

You can charge in swinging to hit your enemy's person, or charge in swinging to hit your enemy's weapon. You are attacking the body (Attack option) or attacking the weapon (Defend option) but either way you look at it, that's an attack.

The subtle difference between the two options is that you are making a choice between (1) possibly putting hits on your opponent, or (2) possibly avoiding hits on yourself. You can't have it both ways, so choose wisely. But none of this has any effect on what your opponent does or how they do it if they are going first.
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Last edited by Steve Plambeck; 10-21-2019 at 02:33 AM.
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