[Basic] Questions regarding Heavy Plate Armor

[Napalm]

Hello,

I'm currently rolling up a couple of quick test characters and equipping them in order to gather some experience before hopefully starting a real game.

I decided to have a battle between a very strong character Walter der Starke (ST:14 DX:10 IQ:10 HT:12) and a weaker but more skilled character Thomas der Flinke(ST: 10 DX:13 IQ:11 HT:11).

Walter was equipped with a two handed Greatsword and Heavy Plate armor as well as a greathelm. Effectively giving him DR 7 on all limbs, the head and the torso (hands were DR 5)

Thomas was equipped with a longsword and a medium shield (DB 2) as well as basic leather armor.

Walter had a good sword skill at 13 while Thomas had an excellent sword skill of 16 and high shield skill of 14.

Walter had trouble getting past Thomas' active defences but Thomas couldn't do any damage (poor choice of weapon perhaps against such a heavily armored foe.)

In the end Walter kept All out attacking(double) to try and beat down Thomas' defenses and when Thomas' blows connected his 1d+2 cut roll was quite puny. He coudn't target any chinks in the armor (due to his weapon lacking an impaling attack) and so opted to target the neck most of the time to try and squeeze in extra damage (due to his high skill he was sucessful quite often).

Now I realize Heavy armor is supposed to be effective but are there any options Thomas could have taken to maximize his damage? Or was repeatedly attacking Walter's limbs / neck the best course of action, hoping to wear down the giant over time?

It should be mentioned Walter had High Pain Threshold and was immune to shock penalties.

[Landwalker]

Aside from using a proper weapon to begin with (at the least, a thrusting broadsword—but against an opponent like that, a mace or pick would probably be more appropriate), there are a few things Thomas could have tried.

1) Disarming.

2) Grappling. This would be tough because of his medium shield, but if an opponent is All-Out Attacking and forfeiting his defenses, he automatically loses quick contests related to grapples. If Thomas has good Wrestling or Judo skill, he could use something like AoA (Double) or Telegraphic Rapid Strike for a grab and takedown. Damaging? No. But it does put Thomas is a better position, and he may be able to follow it up with a Pin.

3) By the same token, Sweep.

4) The heaviest gloves and boots in the Basic Set have DR 5 and 4, respectively. If I'm Thomas, that's what I'm swinging for every time. Thomas's best bet (I believe) is to cripple one of Walter's extremities, effectively disabling his opponent without having to break through the really heavy stuff.

[Polydamas]

Don't forget Shield Rush. Someone with a Medium or Large shield has a very good chance of knocking down someone with no shield.

A Longsword can thrust for imp. Do you mean a Broadsword? The vast majority of historical one handed swords, and almost all of those used in cultures with full suits of armour, had enough of a tip to do imp damage. Think of the Thrusting Broadsword and Thrusting Greatsword as defaults, and the Broadsword and Greatsword as what you give fighters from a few cultures without much armour. (The names are a bit of legacy code from the days of Man to Man).

[Ts_]

* Optional Rule: Extra Effort for +2 damage. This costs 1 FP so it's not available very often ... But probably worth it when you see the other one doing an AoA.
* Thomas has a 9% crit chance at skill 16. That might help to get good stuff from the critical hit table, but only in a long, drawn out fight as the critical hit table isn't that great ...
* Retreating gives Thomas at least Block 15, so a somewhat long fight (10-20 rounds at least) is to be expected.
* In tactical combat there might be a way to do something with mobility (hit&run), not sure.

Dunno, it's a difficult fight for both sides ...
Ts

[Trachmyr]

Originally Posted by Ts_

* Optional Rule: Extra Effort for +2 damage. This costs 1 FP so it's not available very often ... But probably worth it when you see the other one doing an AoA.
* Thomas has a 9% crit chance at skill 16. That might help to get good stuff from the critical hit table, but only in a long, drawn out fight as the critical hit table isn't that great ...
* Retreating gives Thomas at least Block 15, so a somewhat long fight (10-20 rounds at least) is to be expected.
* In tactical combat there might be a way to do something with mobility (hit&run), not sure.

Dunno, it's a difficult fight for both sides ...
Ts

Don't forget about extra effort! It can give a huge bonus when the taget opens themself up. at 1d+4, he can punch through those gloves 5/6 of the time, and cripple the hand in possibly a single blow (although if using Edge protection from LT2, it will only be crush damage).

Also in MA:Gladiators, there's rules for placing your shield side forward, which would improve blocks to 16 (parry would drop one though), but give a critical defense roll on a 6 or less.

Finally, vs. an opponent using AoA, respond with telegraphic attacks... thus completely negating the -4 penalty to hit hands or feet, and preseving your high critical hit percent.

[Ts_]

Just some simple statistics:
Walter doing normal attacks/defenses all the time vs. Thomas doing normal attacks/defenses to the neck (DR5) all the time, until someone becomes unconscious (or dead).
Thomas wins only 23% of the time according to my simple simulator ... But that's a lot better for Thomas than trying to hit the torso normally, because then he wins like 0.02% of the time ... (Since he can't do damage, that's somewhat obvious.)

Mind you, no Extra Effort or other options. I guess extra options would mostly favor Thomas, as Walter doesn't really benefit from more damage or crippling ... Though he can increase his hit chance with a -1 deceptive attack against Thomas way too high defenses.

Oh, an regarding Telegraphic Attack: It says something explicitly about not increasing the chance of critical hits. Not sure though how this applies when it balances out a (hit location) modifier.

Ts

[Diomedes]

Originally Posted by Ts_

Oh, an regarding Telegraphic Attack: It says something explicitly about not increasing the chance of critical hits. Not sure though how this applies when it balances out a (hit location) modifier.

I assume it means you add in the TA last, and your critical chance is whatever you had without the Telegraphic Attack, but with all other modifiers.

[Ts_]

Originally Posted by Diomedes

I assume it means you add in the TA last, and your critical chance is whatever you had without the Telegraphic Attack, but with all other modifiers.

This seems to be it. I just checked Martial Arts.

[Anders]

If he has rigid armor, he has chinks sitting in it. Target them.

[Pragmatic]

How much encumbrance is Walter carrying? If he's fighting all-out in heavy armor, shouldn't he be worn out pretty soon?

(Asking as a complete GURPS newbie/collector...)