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ffoulk
United Kingdom
5 Posts |
 Posted - 01 Nov 2013 : 12:24:17
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Pikes in skirmish games have always given me pause because essentially the pike
was a defensive weapon for use en masse, they were far too unwieldy to be
manoeuvred with the speed required in one-on-on combat. Even the famed
Landsknechte relied on their short sword when fights became up close and
personal, (there is a train of thought that says the name of their short swords
- Katzbalger - derives from hand-to-hand fights which were like feral cats
fighting)
Anyway, the pikemen of England's green and tricky land were nowhere near as well
trained as the European mercenaries of a century earlier and they very much
relied on mass rather than skill.
I can see a lot of thought has gone into being able to bring the pike into
WG:DoR and I like a lot of what's been done but for me it's still too much of an
anomaly to have individual pikemen being able to perform the way they do in the
game. However, like many folks, I do want to be able to see some pikes on the
table and to this end I introduced the idea of CLOSE FORMATION whereby in order
to gain the benefit's of the pike there had to be at least six pikemen (rather
arbitrary number and definitely still a fudge to history) within 1/2" of at
least one other man in the group.
Essentially the pike can only be used in a group - otherwise the pikemen rely on
their swords (the pike would be discarded completely although there's no reason
it couldn't be picked up later)
There is one exception to this - individual pikemen can still attempt to HOLD
BACK troops mounted on horses (horses were notoriously reluctant to approach
sharp pointy things) but when applying the result of the pikeman's attack,
killed results become wounded results and wounded results are ignored apart from
being able to HOLD BACK the enemy.
When in close formation all movement is halved.
If you're now thinking 'there are werewolves in the game and he's worried about
the historical use of the pike?!' I fully understand your point, but if you
want to see your brave militia standing shoulder to shoulder as they quake in
their boots at the horrors they are witnessing you might want to give these
modifications a go.
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sarge
United Kingdom
115 Posts |
Posted - 01 Nov 2013 : 14:25:01
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I can see where your coming from with this, and I'm sure no one would have any worries about house ruling it as you see fit.
In games I've played with non-historically experienced gamers as well as my more historically versed friends I have noticed that generally people will put the pikemen in small pike groups.
In more than one game we have had a pike group (not really big enough to be called a block) make Barguest kebabs with their pikes.
Darn it, this game is so good
Check out my blog at www.tabletophero.moonfruit.com |
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Black Sheep
United Kingdom
263 Posts |
Posted - 03 Nov 2013 : 15:29:15
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Hello ffoulk,
Welcome to the forum. I like your adaptation of the rules for using pikemen in Close Formation - thanks for sharing them. We have tried some games using musketeers in Close Formation too. Troops that are 'Trained' and in base contact can declare they are in a Close Formation (positioned in base to base contact) and all of them gain a +1 to their Take Aim and Fire rolls to represent volley fire. Enemy figure(s) that are targeted must be positioned directly in front of the Close Formation and all figures in the Close Formation must shoot at the same time in order gain this +1 benefit.
A new command, Drill, will allow a front rank in a Close Formation. to step back and attempt to Reload- and figures in the second rank to step forward and Take Aim & Fire. Gamers will still need to monitor how many figures from each rank manage to successfully Reload.
Cheers
Black Sheep
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ffoulk
United Kingdom
5 Posts |
Posted - 11 Nov 2013 : 22:31:06
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I'm never sure which is best place to post - here or Yahoo group - so I guess I'll do both!
Fully endorse these rules for trained musket armed units... I tried it out and it has a very cinematic feel to it when a whole volley goes off and the unit is shrouded in smoke.
Think of the lovely smell that powder would make!
Speaking of cinematic; initially we were forgetting the rule to test for who attacks first in fisticuffs (if no one has attack first) but when we realised we decided we *cough* like the way it plays 'our way' better - more like a sword fight with riposte and parry so fast as to be simultaneous or a brawl where each side fights tooth and nail, club and pike. |
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Thoughts on Pikes in the game
