Quote from: 1stLevelWizard on April 23, 2024, 10:02:49 PMLike you said, once you're past the point of the polearm, the weapon is useless. Kinda makes me laugh whenever you see guards in medieval fantasy armed with spears where there are only one or two other guards to support them.

That's not true. First of all, it's still six pounds of solid oak, or as it's sometimes known, heavier than a quarterstaff. Second, you can usually choke up on the grip, depending on the type of weapon, and use it as an axe or spear. Third, many of them were constructed with a butt spike. So if you get inside their reach, they might still stab your foot, or your abdomen. Polearms are so versatile that smaller versions were often used as dueling weapons, or carried by knights or man-at-arms. Very long ones were used in formation, but palace guards aren't going to carry a ten foot long partisan.

Cthulhu by Gaslight is one that was not bad.

Also there was Masque of the Red Death for 2e and 3e D&D. Victorian era Earth.

Rebel Moon Part 2 was laughably bad. I guess they were trying to go for something not-quite-steampunk with the coal powered spaceships and hand-cranked weapon turrets, but it seemed really dumb. Even worse was that everyone with a gun seemed to want to get close enough to hit people with the body of the gun rather than just shooting them. Still, I did laugh (at it), so not a total loss of time.

Quote from: jeff37923 on April 22, 2024, 01:59:41 AMWhen I was playing RPGA games of AD&D2e, that spell was the bane of my existence.

We accidentally aged the groups dwarf to death with Haste.

"Driverless cars" are a true wonder.

Quote from: Domina on April 23, 2024, 06:02:44 PMIs there some reason this had to be a video rather than a few paragraphs of text?

Pundit always posts his thoughts as videos.  You know this.  Your question is Irrelevant at best.  If this is the quality of your contributions to this site, maybe you should go back to trolling.  Oh, wait, you are...

Quote from: 1stLevelWizard on April 23, 2024, 10:02:49 PM

Quote from: Exploderwizard on April 23, 2024, 12:30:40 PMAD&D reach is really only used in charging situations, otherwise it isn't much of a factor. Speed factors are rather funny because they completely ignore strength considerations. GURPS does that fairly well. A reach weapon, such as a long spear or polearm loses a lot of effectiveness when not used in formation. Against a single weapon of that type, a swordsman can deflect and slip past, and unless the reach weapon user can retreat quickly, that swordsman will be inside the weapon's effectiveness forcing the pole weapon wielder to drop it and draw a shorter weapon.

Yeah, the effectiveness of a spearwall and how a ling of points can keep the enemy away. I can't remember if it's the case in AD&D, but I know in 3e there were rules for polearms where if the enemy was adjacent, the weapon can't be used since it's too long. Like you said, once you're past the point of the polearm, the weapon is useless. Kinda makes me laugh whenever you see guards in medieval fantasy armed with spears where there are only one or two other guards to support them.

Historically, guards were frequently equipped with halberds, bills and partisans (and sometimes very long two-handed swords). I think people underestimate just how difficult it is to get inside the reach of a polearm, especially one with cutting potential. The big advantage of a long weapon in single combat is its ability to change line of attack quickly. A smaller movement of the hands produces a larger movement at the tip of the weapon, so when your swordsman charges, he runs a serious risk of the billman taking a step back and cutting at his legs before his shorter weapon gets into reach. When used in both hands, a shorter polearm can also be choked up on to fight at what is basically sword-distance, and a big heavy weapon like a halberd is not going to be easy to effectively control with a sword blade. Sure, a pike is next to useless without a formation to back it up, but even a short spear (of the 7 to 8 foot length which is typical of one-handed spears across history) is surprisingly nimble in single combat.

Here's an interesting video. Unfortunately it's edited quite choppy, but starting at around 1:50, there's a show of what some close combat partisan techniques might have looked like.


Long cutting weapons (particularly swords it seems) were also popular with bodyguards and other people who might expect to face multiple opponents. By just sweeping a large volume of space with a big intimidating weapon, you can hold several attackers at bay for a while, even if you're unlikely to actually kill any of them. There's an (admittedly not great) attempt to demonstrate that here:


EDIT: You also have to remember that guards are not necessarily gearing up for life or death single combat. A polearm could easily be a very useful tool for crowd control. When performing more "law enforcement" type activities like breaking up fights or making arrests, they'd probably expect to outnumber their opposition and for the felons to be more likely to surrender or run away rather than stand and fight. Real people are a lot less likely to fight the local authorities to the death over a minor infraction than RPG players are. Plus, if you want to put someone down without killing them, a spear haft is going to do the job better than a sword. 

This is now a polyrhythm thread.

Thank you. I'll have to experiment with it a bit, as I'm zoomed in at 125% at the moment.

Quote from: Exploderwizard on April 23, 2024, 12:30:40 PMAD&D reach is really only used in charging situations, otherwise it isn't much of a factor. Speed factors are rather funny because they completely ignore strength considerations. GURPS does that fairly well. A reach weapon, such as a long spear or polearm loses a lot of effectiveness when not used in formation. Against a single weapon of that type, a swordsman can deflect and slip past, and unless the reach weapon user can retreat quickly, that swordsman will be inside the weapon's effectiveness forcing the pole weapon wielder to drop it and draw a shorter weapon.

Yeah, the effectiveness of a spearwall and how a ling of points can keep the enemy away. I can't remember if it's the case in AD&D, but I know in 3e there were rules for polearms where if the enemy was adjacent, the weapon can't be used since it's too long. Like you said, once you're past the point of the polearm, the weapon is useless. Kinda makes me laugh whenever you see guards in medieval fantasy armed with spears where there are only one or two other guards to support them.

Another rule with polearms, especially spears, that I cant remember where it comes from is they attack first. I know in 3e with 10ft reach, you'd get to "attack first" against a closing enemy as you got an attack of opportunity. But I could've sworn it was in 2e that long polearms get an attack against closing enemies as well, but I might be confusing D&D with Warhammer Fantasy Battles.