Does a main-gauche stop hits from a thrown weapon?

[Reaper Steve]

My son and I played our first two games of Melee yesterday and really enjoyed them!

The post title has our first question:
Does a main-gauche stop hits from a thrown weapon?
Since the game distinguishes between thrown and missile weapons, and the m-g specifies 'non-missile,' I think RAW allows for them to stop a hit from a thrown weapon as long as it's from a front hex.
But knocking javelins and axes from the sky with a parrying blade seems odd to me. Does range matter? In other words, does 'front hex' mean the attacker must be in an adjacent front hex, or can he be at range as long as the weapon flies through a front hex?

[hcobb]

And can the main-gauche parry a 2-hex jab?

Also, does the main-gauche DX adjustment (of either plus or minus one DX) prevent a DX 12 Fencer from using it?

[Reaper Steve]

Originally Posted by hcobb

And can the main-gauche parry a 2-hex jab?

Also, does the main-gauche DX adjustment (of either plus or minus one DX) prevent a DX 12 Fencer from using it?

A main-gauche cannot parry a 2-hex jab:
- all pole arms, except the javelin, are two-handed. A main-gauche can only parry one-handed weapons.
- a javelin is too short to do a 2-hex jab (p.12, last line).

I'm unfamiliar with the main-gauche's Dex adjustment; where do you see that?

[hcobb]

Main-Gauche DX adjustment (if any) is unmentioned in Melee.

Melee page 15:
Small shield takes 1 hit/attack (to front); no DX penalty.
Main-gauche parries 1 hit/attack (to front); see p. 13.

ITL page 110:
Main-Gauche 1 1 $ 20 0.5 – Attacks as dagger. See Left-Hand Weapons.

(Note not a -1, but a 1)

Finally, what is the talent to unlock the listed defensive bonus of the MG, is it Knife or Shield? What if you have Fencer, or Two Weapons?

One more thing, what if my silver Main-Gauche is also my wizard's staff?

[Lord Twig]

ITL page 108, under shields it states that shields protect against missile weapons from the front 3 hexes, but main gauche do not. I take this to mean that they do protect from thrown weapons. I draw a line following the hex lines from the front hexes to create a big cone that counts as "front hexes" for ranged attacks.

Likewise using the Two Weapons talent (p41) would block 2 hits from thrown weapons while parrying with one weapon (only from the front).

But if the Two Weapon user used BOTH weapons to parry, it looks like all attacks against them from the front would have to be made with an extra die (4 dice) and they would block 4 hits. (Honestly this seems a little too good.)

Finally, thrown weapon attackers would NOT subtract 1 from their DX when attacking Fencers (p40) because they are not making a melee attack. The Fencer's defend doesn't work against thrown or missile attacks, of course, but melee attacks would need to be made on 5 dice ( if I'm reading it right. )

[larsdangly]

Originally Posted by Reaper Steve

A main-gauche cannot parry a 2-hex jab:
- all pole arms, except the javelin, are two-handed. A main-gauche can only parry one-handed weapons.
- a javelin is too short to do a 2-hex jab (p.12, last line).

I'm unfamiliar with the main-gauche's Dex adjustment; where do you see that?

Spears are pole arms that can be used 1 handed and can jab

[Reaper Steve]

Originally Posted by larsdangly

Spears are pole arms that can be used 1 handed and can jab

I'm showing spears as two-handed, at least in the basic Melee rules.

[Skarg]

Spears are two-handed in basic Melee.

In ITL, they can be used either with one hand or two. (They do one less damage when used with one hand.)

[mark hill]

In chinese cinema, ready daggers can *totally* be used to deflect arrows, or even bullets :) whadda I know, I didnt get real far in karate class

[FireHorse]

In Chinese cinema, you don't even need the dagger. Bare hands are quite sufficient for defense, and are usually more dangerous as weapons too.