Room needed for effective weapon use?

[kentreuber]

The hexes in TFT are 4' wide. Can you realistically swing a broadsword, axe, or 2-handed sword in such a limited space? For example, imagine 3 characters side by side in a corridor. I would think a 2-handed sword would be further handicapped by the height of a labyrinth corridor (in D&D about 10').

[ecz]

I house ruled that pike ax is used at -1DX for each adjacent hex occupied by any friend/ enemy figure or other man-sized obstacle (not counting the target of the attack).

[ak_aramis]

Originally Posted by kentreuber

The hexes in TFT are 4' wide. Can you realistically swing a broadsword, axe, or 2-handed sword in such a limited space? For example, imagine 3 characters side by side in a corridor. I would think a 2-handed sword would be further handicapped by the height of a labyrinth corridor (in D&D about 10').

ABSOLUTELY.

Sir Georg of Glaciers Edge can physically knock me backwards with an ax-simulator (a rattan weapon in axe shape) without a swing outside the width of his body.

The linear space (space on the line defined by the points occupied by wielder and target) need varies by weapon length - a 6' spear needs at least 4' behind the wielder - but needs almost no transverse space (side to side along the linear space).

The most powerful broadsword swings do need roughly a semi-circle of a radius equal to about forearm length + weapon - but there are still-powerful forward swings, and most swords can thrust, too, so, yes, 4' wide isn't a huge issue.

When doing indoor SCA heavy, the rough minimum vertical clearance is about 3' over the head of the tallest fighter, with 4-5' over (typically 10-11' ceiling) being much preferred, and 12'+ for having no worries for even greatswords in full utility.

If you have horizontal but not vertical clearance, the hemisphere plus a few inches over the height of the wielder will do for swung weapons.
For polearms, you need length minus distance behind you, plus a foot or two.

For thrusting swords (rapier, estoc, foil, and such), you need only a matter of inches to either side, and little behind at all.