Mounted combat and two-handed weapons

[phiwum]

A horseman can carry and use any weapon for which he
has the ST, including missile weapons, thrown weapons, and
polearms. A horseman may “jab” with a pole weapon, just as
though he were on foot. A horseman charging does 1 die extra
damage if he hits with a pole weapon, and takes 1 die extra
damage if a pole weapon hits him.

Really?

I guess I know that one can fire a bow from a horse, but I'm having trouble picturing a rider using a two-handed melee weapon (halberd, two handed sword, etc.) from a horse. In fact, using a bow without the horse running straight at the end of its movement or slowly is a little hard for me to imagine.

Now, I have little imagination, so someone knowledgeable can tell me whether this sounds right.

Thanks.

[hcobb]

It's been done historically.

https://www.the-ninth-age.com/commun...-on-horseback/

[phiwum]

Thanks, Henry.

[Shostak]

Conan wields a two-handed sword while mounted on a horse in “The Scarlet Citadel”, if that’s not evidence; I don’t know what would be. ;-)

[TippetsTX]

This is more 'house-rule' territory, but I require EXPERT HORSEMANSHIP for hands-free riding or mounted combat with a two-handed weapon.

[phiwum]

Originally Posted by TippetsTX

This is more 'house-rule' territory, but I require EXPERT HORSEMANSHIP for hands-free riding or mounted combat with a two-handed weapon.

I was thinking something similar. At least Horsemanship to use a two-handed weapon from horseback, if not Expert.

You could make the following rules:

Non-horseman using two-handed weapon: 4/DX to keep from falling off each turn.

Non-expert horseman ... : 3/DX to keep from falling off each turn.

Expert horseman: Priceless.

Okay, pop culture references got in the way there, but you get it.

[amenditman]

Two-handed weapons: A figure with a ST that is 3 or
more above the minimum ST required for a 2-handed
weapon may use it one-handed. ITL p15 (insert)

[phiwum]

Originally Posted by amenditman

Two-handed weapons: A figure with a ST that is 3 or
more above the minimum ST required for a 2-handed
weapon may use it one-handed. ITL p15 (insert)

Sure, but that's not the situation I was concerned about. If one can use a two-handed weapon one-handed, then there's no real difference on horseback.

[phiwum]

A new question.

Mounted Combat Attacks
Both an animal and its rider may attack, and both may
attack in the same turn. A rider may attack regardless of how
far his mount moved that turn, although the animal itself
cannot attack if it moved more than half its MA. To determine
whether the rider is making a charge attack, of course, you
consider the movement of his animal.

So a rider may fire a bow no matter how fast his horsey is going, right? (Ignore the questions about two-handed weapons above for now and just assume that the rider can use a two-handed weapon as RAW suggests.)

If we apply RAW, a centaur can only move one hex and fire his bow. He can also only make a half-move to charge attack. I'm not sure that sits well with me.

Obviously, one could just say that a Centaur is a special case, acting like a mounted rider in combat, but that would be a serious upgrade. The fact is that a Centaur has to pay attention as he gallops while the horse, not the rider, pays attention.

Still, sure seems to me that a Centaur ought to be able to fire a bow after a half-move (maybe because it sounds cool). Anyone ever think about this?

Thanks, as always.

[Steve Plambeck]

Originally Posted by phiwum

Still, sure seems to me that a Centaur ought to be able to fire a bow after a half-move (maybe because it sounds cool). Anyone ever think about this?

Seems like a very happy compromise to me. Only allowing 1 hex movement while firing does seem too restrictive -- as a 4-legged high speed creature it's very different than a humanoid archer. But letting it move full MA in the same turn as making a melee attack is overly generous -- perhaps not unrealistic, but far too powerful in terms of play balance. I'd go with firing the bow or making a hand weapon attack while moving up to half MA.

There's lots of homemade Centaur counters in my aging collection, but I can't recall any instance of when they actually got used.