About Weapon and Armor (and more)

[Reiher Allendi]

I don't like to use, but looks like polearms are the best weapon of choice in Exanima. Then I asked myself: if polearms are cheaper and perhaps easier to use and repair, why in medieval setting it's not too much used by historical characters?

We know that polearms have weakness in too close combats - I used this weakness against expert arena boss. But, I think polearms with wooden shaft shouldn't be able to block too many attacks without breaking. So I would ask myself if it's right to have a high price or requires a high rank / points in Exanima.

Some research I've made:

"A Swiss peasant used a halberd to kill Charles the Bold, the Duke of Burgundy—decisively ending the Burgundian Wars, literally in a single stroke. Researchers suspect that a halberd or a bill sliced through the back of King Richard III's skull at the battle of Bosworth." [1]

"The purpose of using pole weapons is either to extend reach or to increase angular momentum—and thus striking power—when the weapon is swung. Because they contain relatively little metal, polearms are cheap to make." [2]

"George Silver considered the 18 ft pike one of the more advantageous weapons for single combat in the open, giving it odds over all weapons shorter than 8 ft or the sword and dagger/shield combination." [3]

The long staff, morris pike, or javelin, or such like weapons above the perfect length, have advantage against all manner of weapons, the short staff, the Welch hook, partisan, or glaive, or such like weapons of vantage excepted, yet are too weak for two swords and daggers or two sword and bucklers, or two rapiers and poniards with gauntlets, because they are too long to thrust, strike, and turn speedily. And by reason of the large distance, one of the sword and dagger-men will get behind him." [4]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pike_%28weapon%29#cite_note-4
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Something interesting to is the fact that "Game of Thrones" may be inspired in "Wars of the Roses" (at least partially). I found it when I searched for Battle of Bosworth Field:

"The Battle of Bosworth (or Bosworth Field) was the last significant battle of the Wars of the Roses, the civil war between the Houses of Lancaster and York that raged across England in the latter half of the 15th century." [5]

"The Wars of the Roses were a series of dynastic wars for the throne of England. They were fought between supporters of two rival branches of the royal House of Plantagenet, the Houses of Lancaster and York." [6]

"The House of Plantagenet was a royal house which originated from the lands of Anjou in France. The name Plantagenet is used by modern historians to identify four distinct royal houses – the Angevins who were also Counts of Anjou, the main body of the Plantagenets following the loss of Anjou, and the houses of Lancaster and York, the Plantagenets' two cadet branches." [7]

"Edward III of England - House of Plantagenet" [8]
King of England
13 November 1312 - 21 June 1377 (Birth/Death)



"Coats of arms of the House of Plantagenêt"



Portrait of Edward, Prince of Wales (1330-76), 'The Black Prince'


1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halberd
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pole_weapon
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pike_(weapon)
4. http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/paradoxes.html
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bosworth_Field
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wars_of_the_Roses
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Plantagenet
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_III_of_England
9. Weapon: A Visual History of Arms and Armor (http://bookzz.org/dl/2221282/9159a8)
Roger Ford, R. G. Grant, Adrian Gilbert, Philip Parker, Richard Holmes

 

[Murf]

Personally, for me, sword and shield is best thing to use in Exanima, it is what I first learned the game on and what comes natural to my play, I can use polearms but not nearly as effective as I can sword and board.

 

[Reiher Allendi]

Personally, for me, sword and shield is best thing to use in Exanima, it is what I first learned the game on and what comes natural to my play, I can use polearms but not nearly as effective as I can sword and board.

Strange, for me, shield + one handed sword is for me, harder than any style. I can play it only "crouching" - something not fair.

 

[Murf]

Yeah it is that way for a a lot of ppl, they started with 2h sword, it was the easiest to learn, but i could never get the hang of it at the beginning, sword/board felt right and was much easier to pick up on.

 

[MindSliver]

Everything depends on the situation. When thinking about weapons usage historically we have to consider the context. For example. Is the fight taking place in town between civilians, like a duel? or is it on field between armies? Are the characters in question nobles or peasants? Did they ride a horse to get there?

Pole-arms are extremely good weapons. there is a reason that almost every battlefield the world over featured them. attempting to fight a halberd with a sword is no easy prospect, it has superior reach, insane cutting power, sharp points for thrusting and spikes for puncturing plate, blocking a direct strike from such a weapon could break your sword or even your arm (deflecting would be preferred of course but no guarantee). Even a two handed sword is not so versatile and yet, even with all that power you can retract the pole to fight reasonably well at much shorter ranges. However... a sword (even a long sword or 2 handed sword) can be worn on the hip, in a scabbard. A pole-arm must always be carried. Going for a walk on the town? not expecting to have to go into battle? Bring the sword.

There is also the question of cost. Anyone could own a bill... but carrying a bill is not prestigious. Armor and weapons mattered from a social stand point. And swords were big ticket items.

From an Exanima standpoint it also depends on the situation. I find that if I'm in Arena my best bet is the 2 handed sword. it offers good range, excellent cutting power, sufficient impact/crush damage so I can use it even against plate without too much difficulty and it's fast enough to fight against anything. Pole weapons however are also very useful and the longer ones make it even easier to hit those big counter attack head shots without putting myself in danger. I still prefer the sword for it versatility though.

In the campaign however. I almost always fight 1 hand sword with my torch in the other hand (until I find a certain item that makes seeing in the dark easier). It's amazing just how good a job that torch does of getting in the way. And of course now that thrusting is in the zombies go down like punks. By the time I get to skellies it's usually 2 handed sword again for the versatility and the fact that there's just not enough room to use the broad sweeping attacks from pole-arms in many places.

 

[Tyon]

For expert and master tiers, the poleaxe is king now since thrusting and that new armor skill has been added. It scares me though, since that's just a "reasonably well made" poleaxe and it already outclasses the halberd which is stated to be finely crafted or something. I'm very interested in seeing how a finely crafted poleaxe performs.

 

[Space Warlock]

For me, the Pole Hammer is the way to go for expert and master tiers. Bashing my opponents armor in with great speed too! Pretty poor on thrusting but great on the overheads. The range in open areas are what make pole arms so great.

A one handed fighter stands little chance unless they get in close.

However that being said, in tighter areas I've noticed my swings sometimes get caught on the surroundings leaving me open to be hit by smaller weapons.

 

[Orlacktherof]

Quarterstaff.




closest thing to Kung-fu we can get get, deh

 

[arisian]

Personally, I find the Bardiche to be my favorite in the "intermediate" arena tiers; it's good against most anything other than the top-tier pole arms (you can still win, but it's not as effective as it is against everything else), so I use it from Novice to Expert. I like the spear too, for its great combination of reach and speed (don't think of it as a pole-arm, think of it as a quarterstaff with a sharp bit on the end), but it can make for some very long, drawn out fights when the enemies are well armored. At Master rank, the top-tier polearms (halberd, pole-axe, pole-hammer) do currently dominate, but I think part of that is the way that blocking and attacking works at close range.

I've always struggled more with shield/sword combos, mostly because I feel like they don't behave the way I keep expecting them to. I'm sure with enough practice, I'll figure it out, but I've had much better luck with two-handers so far. Does anyone have any general tips for fighting against enemies with longer weapon reach than you?

It seems like it should be the case that a reach weapon (e.g. halberd or pole-axe, or in some cases even a two-handed sword) should be at a disadvantage when you're in close, but in fact the polearms frequently do significant damage, even when you're close enough they should have no mechanical advantage. Basically, at very close range there's not enough space for full "swings" or "stabs", even with something small (e.g. a dagger); the partial-swing-flailing of a halberd is still quite dangerous, though, even when the partial-swing-flailing of small weapons is not (it's not clear to me why stabbing at this range is not an option, since it seems like that's what daggers are for).

If I manage to close to chest-touching range, and I have a shield, and the enemy's weapon is outside my shield, it really seems like I should have a free shot...but because the shield is touching their weapon and/or armor, I can't attack. At longer ranges, though, I feel like I need a similarly long weapon or I'm at a big disadvantage.

 

[MindSliver]

Personally, I find the Bardiche to be my favorite in the "intermediate" arena tiers; it's good against most anything other than the top-tier pole arms (you can still win, but it's not as effective as it is against everything else), so I use it from Novice to Expert. I like the spear too, for its great combination of reach and speed (don't think of it as a pole-arm, think of it as a quarterstaff with a sharp bit on the end), but it can make for some very long, drawn out fights when the enemies are well armored. At Master rank, the top-tier polearms (halberd, pole-axe, pole-hammer) do currently dominate, but I think part of that is the way that blocking and attacking works at close range.

I've always struggled more with shield/sword combos, mostly because I feel like they don't behave the way I keep expecting them to. I'm sure with enough practice, I'll figure it out, but I've had much better luck with two-handers so far. Does anyone have any general tips for fighting against enemies with longer weapon reach than you?

It seems like it should be the case that a reach weapon (e.g. halberd or pole-axe, or in some cases even a two-handed sword) should be at a disadvantage when you're in close, but in fact the polearms frequently do significant damage, even when you're close enough they should have no mechanical advantage. Basically, at very close range there's not enough space for full "swings" or "stabs", even with something small (e.g. a dagger); the partial-swing-flailing of a halberd is still quite dangerous, though, even when the partial-swing-flailing of small weapons is not (it's not clear to me why stabbing at this range is not an option, since it seems like that's what daggers are for).

If I manage to close to chest-touching range, and I have a shield, and the enemy's weapon is outside my shield, it really seems like I should have a free shot...but because the shield is touching their weapon and/or armor, I can't attack. At longer ranges, though, I feel like I need a similarly long weapon or I'm at a big disadvantage.

The shield mechanic still needs a bit of work as taking an impact on the shield still stops you from attacking, which in reality is the BEST time to attack. The problem with that of course is that they would be even more of a pain in the ass to fight against XD. You might try going in with a shorter weapon and no shield? not as safe at range but you don't have your attacks stuffed by your own shield in close.

Overall I would say that fighting someone with a longer weapon is difficult just as it is in reality. You must pass through their kill zone before you can get to your own and that's never a simple task. I can fairly easily defeat a plate and pole arm user with a 2hand sword with a bit of timing by attacking after their attack misses but attempting the same thing with a 1 handed weapon of any kind is still quite difficult for me as my blow will usually be short a few inches.

 

[CandleStickZombie]

Buckler and 1hand falchion is the way of life, I can fight everyone without being outclassed. Its heavy enough to kill plait, and quick enough to match other swords. And it will bring the pain, cut or impact.