People have wondered why the rulebook has a section on
aerial combat (p. 139), but not on mounted combat, where
the latter situation is much more frequent, actually.
This section of my site tries to remedy that by giving
rules for a number of specific combat situations.
If looking at reach for melee weapons, we can
roughly distinguish three different categories.
Weapons with long reach include demilances, flails
and great weapons, halberds, lances, and spears.
Normal weapons are the foil, virtually all hand
weapons, and the rapier. Weapons with short range
include daggers, gauntlets, knuckle-dusters and the
main-gauche. Quarterstaffs are special; depending
on how they are used, they can fall both in the
category of long reach and of normal reach.
If two opponents face each other with weapons that fall in the same category, there is no problem. However, if two opponents have weapons of different reach, the person with the shorter weapon will initially not be able to attack his opponent. He will first have to succeed with a Manoeuvre action (an opposed test - see p. 128); success indicates that he has managed to step past the sticky point of opponent's weapon and now has his opponent within reach. In that situation the opponent has a problem; now he cannot make attacks unless he makes a successful Manouvre action. Or switches to a more suitable weapon.
The WS bonus for outnumbering foes (see the Combat Difficulty section on p. 131of the rulebook) is applicable to the manoeuvre test too; if a group of halberdiers outnumber one or more opponents who are trying to manoeuvre to inside the reach of the halberdiers, they get a bonus to their WS when rolling for the test.
This set of rules was originally suggested in a thread in the BI forums, by Jericho. This text has a few adaptations to his rule.
Mounted combat
Mounted combat is perhaps the most common "special"
combat situation in the game. It can occur when two
or more parties fight each other while mounted, or
it can occur when only one party is mounted. The
rules below cover both situations.
The first thing to consider is whether the mount is trained for combat. If it isn't, a character will have to spend half an action each round to make a Ride check. If he succeeds, he can use his other half action to make a combat action. If the Ride check fails, the character will have to work hard to get his mount under control and loses half an action this round. If the Ride check fails critically (by more than 30% if you don't have special rules for critical failures), the horse will bolt, or throw off its rider, or something equally disastrous.
The rules that follow assume that the mount is larger than the unmounted opponent. In other cases the rules may not be valid. A wolf rider charging a giant, for instance, should not be able to trample the giant or use the Mounted Charge action - instead the normal Charge action would apply. GM and players are supposed to use a bit of common sense in determining in what situations the rules below apply.
A mount can trample unmounted opponents. (actually, any large animal can trample smaller opponents) A rider can make a Ride check, or, if he already has to make a Ride check, apply a -10 modifier, to direct the mount to an opponent that should be trampled. Treat trampling as unarmed combat, but it inflicts SB-2 damage.
We need a new action for charging. Imagine a full plated knight on a horse charging you, and suddenly the standard Charge action looks pretty poor. So we introduce the action "Mounted Charge". A mounted charge action can only be used if the character is mounted and the mount has a Move score of 5 or higher. This action gives gives +10 to WS, plus a bonus to damage. This damage bonus is equal to the mount's M score - 4.
Fighting from higher ground (and a mount generally is higher ground, but this would also go for fighting on stairs, on a table in a bar brawl, and so on) gives a character a +10 bonus to WS. This only counts if fighting unmounted opponents; if your opponent is also mounted, you get no bonus.
A mount must also be considered when determining if one side is outnumbered. Basically, the mount counts as another character in the fight. If unmounted combatants want to outnumber a rider and his horse, there should be at least four of them. The other way round, a rider and his horse automatically outnumber a single unmounted opponent.
If the mount is slain, the rider can make an Ag check to see if he can get off unharmed. If the check is failed, the rider gets damage as according to the rules for falling. If the check is failed critically, the rider can end up under the mount.
The first thing to consider is whether the mount is trained for combat. If it isn't, a character will have to spend half an action each round to make a Ride check. If he succeeds, he can use his other half action to make a combat action. If the Ride check fails, the character will have to work hard to get his mount under control and loses half an action this round. If the Ride check fails critically (by more than 30% if you don't have special rules for critical failures), the horse will bolt, or throw off its rider, or something equally disastrous.
The rules that follow assume that the mount is larger than the unmounted opponent. In other cases the rules may not be valid. A wolf rider charging a giant, for instance, should not be able to trample the giant or use the Mounted Charge action - instead the normal Charge action would apply. GM and players are supposed to use a bit of common sense in determining in what situations the rules below apply.
A mount can trample unmounted opponents. (actually, any large animal can trample smaller opponents) A rider can make a Ride check, or, if he already has to make a Ride check, apply a -10 modifier, to direct the mount to an opponent that should be trampled. Treat trampling as unarmed combat, but it inflicts SB-2 damage.
We need a new action for charging. Imagine a full plated knight on a horse charging you, and suddenly the standard Charge action looks pretty poor. So we introduce the action "Mounted Charge". A mounted charge action can only be used if the character is mounted and the mount has a Move score of 5 or higher. This action gives gives +10 to WS, plus a bonus to damage. This damage bonus is equal to the mount's M score - 4.
Fighting from higher ground (and a mount generally is higher ground, but this would also go for fighting on stairs, on a table in a bar brawl, and so on) gives a character a +10 bonus to WS. This only counts if fighting unmounted opponents; if your opponent is also mounted, you get no bonus.
A mount must also be considered when determining if one side is outnumbered. Basically, the mount counts as another character in the fight. If unmounted combatants want to outnumber a rider and his horse, there should be at least four of them. The other way round, a rider and his horse automatically outnumber a single unmounted opponent.
If the mount is slain, the rider can make an Ag check to see if he can get off unharmed. If the check is failed, the rider gets damage as according to the rules for falling. If the check is failed critically, the rider can end up under the mount.
Combat in the water
There are situations when the characters are
fighting while up to their belly in water (or less
pleasant liquids). If a character finds himself in
such a situation, he loses one half action per
round, due to the difficulty of moving through
water. This penalty can be ignored if the character
has mastered the Swim skill; he has learned how to
compensate for the difficulty.
Weapon reach
If two opponents face each other with weapons that fall in the same category, there is no problem. However, if two opponents have weapons of different reach, the person with the shorter weapon will initially not be able to attack his opponent. He will first have to succeed with a Manoeuvre action (an opposed test - see p. 128); success indicates that he has managed to step past the sticky point of opponent's weapon and now has his opponent within reach. In that situation the opponent has a problem; now he cannot make attacks unless he makes a successful Manouvre action. Or switches to a more suitable weapon.
The WS bonus for outnumbering foes (see the Combat Difficulty section on p. 131of the rulebook) is applicable to the manoeuvre test too; if a group of halberdiers outnumber one or more opponents who are trying to manoeuvre to inside the reach of the halberdiers, they get a bonus to their WS when rolling for the test.
This set of rules was originally suggested in a thread in the BI forums, by Jericho. This text has a few adaptations to his rule.