Attacking with shield and axe/mace

[Mavelic]

Hi,
I guess the question has already been answered somewhere, but my searches where fruitless.
So, imagine a fighter wielding a medium shield and an axe (or mace), can she attack with her shield while readying her axe ? So she can attack one round with her axe, then attack the next round with her shield - if she doesn't block, ofc -while readying her axe...
If yes, what are the conditions -if any- to do so ?
If not, is there a maneuver able to do that ?
TIA for your answers and advices.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by Mavelic

Hi,
I guess the question has already been answered somewhere, but my searches where fruitless.
So, imagine a fighter wielding a medium shield and an axe (or mace), can she attack with her shield while readying her axe ? So she can attack one round with her axe, then attack the next round with her shield - if she doesn't block, ofc -while readying her axe...
If yes, what are the conditions -if any- to do so ?
If not, is there a maneuver able to do that ?
TIA for your answers and advices.

Are you using 3e? That sounds like a 3e sort of question because in 3e weapons in the Axe/Mace class became Unready after Attacking. The answer to your question in 3e would have been "No" because "Ready Weapon" was a an Action of its' own and if you didn't spend a Turn taking that Action your Axe/Mace weapon never became Ready again. There was an exception for very high ST scores but then your weapon didn't become Unready.

In 4e most Axe/Mace weapons don't become Unready after Attacking. They jsut have the notation of "Parry U" and simply can't be used to Parry on any Turn they are used to attack but they can Attack every Turn if they don't Parry. You'll be busy using your shield to Block and won't be Attacking with it anyway.

[Varyon]

As Fred notes, in 4e you typically wouldn't need to worry about it, as most axe/mace weapons are Parry U but not ST ‡ (which would make them UnReady after an attack). If you're using a normally-two-handed weapon in one hand without enough ST to negate it becoming UnReady, then it could come up. In a situation like that, Ready and Attack are two distinct maneuvers, so the only way to do both in a round would be with ATR. However, there are a few cases - most notably the Fast Firing Bows rules - where you can have an attack replace a Ready with a successful roll, and I could see allowing that here, for a roll against Shield -4 to hit your target and Axe/Mace -4 to Ready your main weapon again (using the DWA penalty rather than the default -6 for Rapid Strike).

Also, I'm unaware of any rules in 4e that disallow bashing with a shield and blocking with it on the same turn.

[the_matrix_walker]

As mentioned, in your action economy, the maneuver you use to attack is different than the one you use to ready.

The Monster Hunters Power Ups book has a wonderful (and almost broken-ly good) variation of Extra Attack that can be used as a Ready.

[Mavelic]

Oh, well... That's very embarrassing...
I've effectively & stupidly transposed 3e to 4e :/
Your answers are perfectly clears, I see my mistake and the "problem" is solved.
I think I must also read again more carefully the 4e rules.
Thank you all.
Regards