Melee combat with a centaur...

Johnny1A.2 · 10-30-2017, 12:19 AM

Suppose a normal human being is about to have to engage in a fight (real violence, they're trying to kill each other) with a Greek style centaur. Assume the centaur is made of flesh and blood, not a spirit entity or the like.

If our human has a choice of weapons (melee weapons, not guns or bows or ranged weapons of any sort), what is his best bet? The centaur is obviously stronger, taller, and has more reach. It probably has more hit points. OTOH, the horse body would be hard to armor.

I'm trying to work out in my mind what such a battle would look like...

Tomsdad · 10-30-2017, 12:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Johnny1A.2

Suppose a normal human being is about to have to engage in a fight (real violence, they're trying to kill each other) with a Greek style centaur. Assume the centaur is made of flesh and blood, not a spirit entity or the like.

If our human has a choice of weapons (melee weapons, not guns or bows or ranged weapons of any sort), what is his best bet? The centaur is obviously stronger, taller, and has more reach. It probably has more hit points. OTOH, the horse body would be hard to armor.

I'm trying to work out in my mind what such a battle would look like...

A spear and mates (with spears)!

If you can get the centaur into an environment where he can't take advantage of his speed that would be good. Otherwise spears would be good setting against charges as well.

mr beer · 10-30-2017, 02:42 AM

Spear as said above.

Whenever humans needed to kill large, dangerous animals and didn't have guns, they used spears (and missile weapons of course). It's the easiest way to kill them and have some distance.

Rupert · 10-30-2017, 03:47 AM

A spear, or a polearm with a pointy spearhead and various other options. Having a nice strong cutting option for removing legs/feet could be useful, and it's not something you basic spear provides.

If decent armour is available to the human the other option I'd look at is a large shield (and the Shield-Wall Training perk) and an Axe - again, for the cutting damage for crippling limbs.

JoelSammallahti · 10-30-2017, 04:25 AM

Spears are great. For more specifically Gurpsy advice:

If you're using a spear, consider spending on a Fine, Balanced one. It's only $360 and kicks ass. Go for the vitals; at +1 for the centaur's SM and +1 for Balanced, you're only taking -1 to skill to hit, and a miss by 1 still gets the torso.

Another tactic that's less viable in real life probably but great in Gurps is to switch to Staff mode and whack the centaur in the legs. This is how I would recommend starting out the fight, if you can't get a stop hit in. Extra Legs reduces the threshold for crippling, so against a ST 20 centaur you only need 6 points of injury to snap a leg. At ST 12, say, you're doing 1d+4 with a staff swing. That is, crippling is almost guaranteed if you hit. In fact, you could even afford to make Defensive Attacks at the legs, probably, and get another +1 to your parry; with the +2 for using the Staff skill, you're very hard to hit at any decent skill level. Once you've cracked two of the legs, the centaur's down and can't get up, so you can switch back to Spear mode and poke at the vitals.

EDIT: I see Rupert made the same point earlier. With a polearm, cutting the legs out from under the centaur is guaranteed if you hit, but I think the lower defensive potential makes this a slightly more restrictive option.

John_A_Tallon · 10-30-2017, 07:28 AM

Do not forget the caltrops. The centaur's other big advantage, besides his size, is his ability to move faster than a man on foot. Caltrops help negate that advantage.

darksaba · 10-30-2017, 08:38 AM

Caltrops probably aren't that great. Centaurs have hooves and long strides (so I'd imagine) which reduces the effectiveness of caltrops. Centaurs might also be wearing horseshoes or hipposandals which means their feet are effectively armoured.

talonthehand · 10-30-2017, 09:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by darksaba

Caltrops probably aren't that great. Centaurs have hooves and long strides (so I'd imagine) which reduces the effectiveness of caltrops. Centaurs might also be wearing horseshoes or hipposandals which means their feet are effectively armoured.

Caltrops were designed to slow down horses - you just need enough of them to be effective.

~~evileeyore~~ · 10-30-2017, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by darksaba

Caltrops probably aren't that great. Centaurs have hooves and long strides (so I'd imagine) which reduces the effectiveness of caltrops. Centaurs might also be wearing horseshoes or hipposandals which means their feet are effectively armoured.

Shoes* won't stop a caltrop. Hipposandals however work as advertised.

* They only protect the nail, being a 'small' u-shaped piece of iron. The rest of the foot is still susceptible to the caltrop.

D10 · 10-30-2017, 10:35 AM

Well, first thoughts were spear and shield

But thinking about it, maybe attacking his legs from range with a kusari could work

Also, if TL is not a problem, some sort of shock prod.

10-30-2017, 12:19 AM	#1
Johnny1A.2 Join Date: Feb 2007	Melee combat with a centaur... Suppose a normal human being is about to have to engage in a fight (real violence, they're trying to kill each other) with a Greek style centaur. Assume the centaur is made of flesh and blood, not a spirit entity or the like. If our human has a choice of weapons (melee weapons, not guns or bows or ranged weapons of any sort), what is his best bet? The centaur is obviously stronger, taller, and has more reach. It probably has more hit points. OTOH, the horse body would be hard to armor. I'm trying to work out in my mind what such a battle would look like... __________________ HMS Overflow-For conversations off topic here.

10-30-2017, 02:42 AM	#3
mr beer Join Date: Mar 2013	Re: Melee combat with a centaur... Spear as said above. Whenever humans needed to kill large, dangerous animals and didn't have guns, they used spears (and missile weapons of course). It's the easiest way to kill them and have some distance.

10-30-2017, 03:47 AM	#4
Rupert Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Wellington, NZ	Re: Melee combat with a centaur... A spear, or a polearm with a pointy spearhead and various other options. Having a nice strong cutting option for removing legs/feet could be useful, and it's not something you basic spear provides. If decent armour is available to the human the other option I'd look at is a large shield (and the Shield-Wall Training perk) and an Axe - again, for the cutting damage for crippling limbs. __________________ Rupert Boleyn "A pessimist is an optimist with a sense of history."

10-30-2017, 04:25 AM	#5
JoelSammallahti Join Date: Aug 2004	Re: Melee combat with a centaur... Spears are great. For more specifically Gurpsy advice: If you're using a spear, consider spending on a Fine, Balanced one. It's only $360 and kicks ass. Go for the vitals; at +1 for the centaur's SM and +1 for Balanced, you're only taking -1 to skill to hit, and a miss by 1 still gets the torso. Another tactic that's less viable in real life probably but great in Gurps is to switch to Staff mode and whack the centaur in the legs. This is how I would recommend starting out the fight, if you can't get a stop hit in. Extra Legs reduces the threshold for crippling, so against a ST 20 centaur you only need 6 points of injury to snap a leg. At ST 12, say, you're doing 1d+4 with a staff swing. That is, crippling is almost guaranteed if you hit. In fact, you could even afford to make Defensive Attacks at the legs, probably, and get another +1 to your parry; with the +2 for using the Staff skill, you're very hard to hit at any decent skill level. Once you've cracked two of the legs, the centaur's down and can't get up, so you can switch back to Spear mode and poke at the vitals. EDIT: I see Rupert made the same point earlier. With a polearm, cutting the legs out from under the centaur is guaranteed if you hit, but I think the lower defensive potential makes this a slightly more restrictive option. __________________ https://diceandlives.wordpress.com

10-30-2017, 07:28 AM	#6
John_A_Tallon Join Date: Aug 2011	Re: Melee combat with a centaur... Do not forget the caltrops. The centaur's other big advantage, besides his size, is his ability to move faster than a man on foot. Caltrops help negate that advantage.

10-30-2017, 08:38 AM	#7
darksaba Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Cardiff UK	Re: Melee combat with a centaur... Caltrops probably aren't that great. Centaurs have hooves and long strides (so I'd imagine) which reduces the effectiveness of caltrops. Centaurs might also be wearing horseshoes or hipposandals which means their feet are effectively armoured. __________________ Whats worse, thinking you're paranoid, or knowing you should be? Google+

10-30-2017, 10:35 AM	#10
D10 Join Date: May 2009 Location: In Rio de Janeiro, where it was cyberpunk before it was cool.	Re: Melee combat with a centaur... Well, first thoughts were spear and shield But thinking about it, maybe attacking his legs from range with a kusari could work Also, if TL is not a problem, some sort of shock prod.

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