Tactics

All too often, a warrior character simply charges up to the front line in every combat, and in non-combat situations sits back and listens while his wiser mage and priest friends handle all the niggling details of the adventurer's life outside of combat.

Well, neither of these approaches is particularly good.

In combat, the front-line attack is only one of several options the party needs to cover. And out of combat, the fighter is admirably suited to dealing with several everyday details that concern the adventuring party.

Combat Tactics

When the characters (not just the warrior characters) enter combat, these are some things that the warrior should remember and provide for:

Shield-Walls and Polearms

As has been mentioned before, a character with a polearm (or long spear, or javelin) can stand behind a character with a shorter weapon and attack the same targets that his ally is attacking. That's one of the principal advantages to the polearm, but it's ignored all too often in AD&D® game campaigns.

This is the way it works:

The character with the polearm positions himself behind an ally, preferably a fighter with a shield. Because the polearm fighter must work around the friend in front of him, he suffers a –2 to hit anyone on the other side of his friend. However, he isn't limited just to the enemy of the man he's standing behind; If our polearm hero is standing behind a line of three men (who are side-by-side), he can strike at anyone who is close enough to attack any of those three men with a medium-length weapon.

This is useful in a combat because the polearm wielder can attack targets without being right in their faces, or engaged with them. That means he can switch targets without any fancy footwork. When one of his buddies is foundering, or taking a beating, the polearm wielder can begin attacking that buddy's enemy.

And don't forget the polearm vs. polearm Parrying, as described above under that maneuver's description.

Wolf-Pack Tactics

When the adventuring party gets in combat with a single large monster which can be confronted directly (like a troll, for instance, and unlike a dragon, which has a strong mix of melee abilities, ranged combat abilities, and mobility), it's foolish just to line up and hack at the thing. In fact, it's not necessarily clever just to surround the monster and hack at it. Try this instead:

Surround the monster, of course.

On the first round, half of the circle of heroes should perform a Parry, or the Parrying maneuver. The other half should attack as vigorously as possible.

On the second round, the action switches: The group which attacked last round, now defends, and the group which defended now attacks.

In real life (for example, when practiced by wolf packs), this often has the effect of confusing the prey and reducing its fighting effectiveness. The prey feels a bite to its rear andturns to attack there; but while it's concentrating on enemies in that direction, the wolves now to its rear make their attack.

In the AD&D® game, the wolf pack tactic can have similar effects . . . if the DM wishes to allow it to. If the DM approves of this tactic, he can cooperate by having the monster, for a few rounds at least, behave in the predictable fashion: Each round, the monster turns and attacks the group that attacked it last, which is now defending. This will give the party several rounds of combat where it has the advantage and can whittle the monster down.

But be aware: Even if the DM is nice enough to give you this slight tactical advantage, eventually even the stupidest monster will get wise and try to break through the circle of fighters. A good thing doesn't last forever.

It may be that your DM has no interest in letting this tactic work. Ask him if it has a chance of doing some good in your campaign. If he says no, don't even try it. Even if he says yes, he may not remember to grant that little benefit; if, after a few wolf-pack attempts, you haven't seen it work once, give up on the tactic.

Tactical Mix

It's a good idea for the fighting characters (including rogues and priests) in a party to represent a mix of weapons and combat styles. Several should be frontline fighters, bearing heavy armor and large, damaging weapons. One or two would be behind-the-lines fighters, carrying polearms. And one or two should be missilers, carrying bow, crossbow, or even sling or throwing knives.

This gives the party a certain amount of versatility. The heavy fighters can engage the heavy opposition. The polearm fighters can attack the enemy with reduced risk of being hurt. The missilers should concentrate on eliminating enemy missilers first, and then can turn their attention to doing unreturned damage to the melee-fighting enemies.

It's especially good when characters can mix and match their roles. Any character can have a sling or a throwing axe at his belt and become a missiler in a matter of seconds, for example.

Rotation

It often happens that a front-line fighter becomes seriously damaged when fighting—and then must continue fighting, because he has no other option until the enemy is defeated. This doesn't have to be the case.

In a large party combat, particularly damaged front-line fighters can be "rotated out," pulled from the front line and replaced by a less hurt warrior . . . or not replaced at all: The shield-wall (i.e., the other front-line fighters) can close ranks and plug up the hole.

See the rules for Retreat. During his combat action, the injured man announces that he's retreating; the ally or allies he stood side-by-side with need to announce that they're blocking pursuit (i.e., they're moving so that the enemy can't just wander in through their line). That puts the hurt man behind his own line, where he can keep away from damage or even seek some healing.

If one of the polearm fighters is accommodating, they can take the rest of their combat round to switch weapons. The injured man takes the polearm, and the other fighter takes the front-line weapons. On their next combat round, the uninjured man moves up into the line and the injured man begins whacking enemies with his polearm.This is a good way to keep people alive.

Spear-Carriers

In some campaigns, players have the attitude that NPCs are along to get killed so that the PCs won't.

That's patently ridiculous; an adventuring party with that attitude would soon gain a very bad reputation, and would find it increasingly difficult to hire NPCs, would find that inns and taverns always denied them service, would find that sages told them to buzz off, etc.

However, there's a type of spear-carrier NPC that any group of adventurers should consider hiring—and that's the actual spear-carrier.

In many towns and villages, the heroes can find a strong, strapping youth who is willing to come along with them for the promise of some treasure and combat training. This energetic youth shouldn't be slapped in armor and put up front to be killed: Instead, he should be charged with carrying an extra weapon or two and making sure that all his allies have weapons at all times in combat. In a combat, the spear-carrier may act as a behind-the-lines polearm warrior, if his hands aren't full already. He also serves as backup defense for people who stay behind the lines because they can't fight well: Noncombatant NPCs, mages, etc.

Here's how it works:

The spear-carrier is given a single weapon of his own, such as a spear, and also carries a couple of extra weapons, which are party-owned weapons—such as a long sword in a back sheath and a short sword on his belt, for instance.

In combat, he stays behind the line and takes the occasional spear-poke at the enemy over the line. Whenever a PC loses a weapon (to a fumble, or an enemy's Disarm, or when a weapon is shattered by a foe), the spear-carrier uses his next available combat round to move in close and give the PC one of the extra weapons he's carrying.

The spear-carrier is also useful for keeping a more distant eye on what's going on with the combat. He might notice new enemies arriving on the horizon, or notice an enemy skulking to get around the edge of the shield-wall, before a player-character has the opportunity to do so.

Since this character is an NPC, he doesn't have to share the player-characters' frantic desire to make every combat round of every combat count for something. He can afford to keep an eye on things and won't necessarily be desperate to bang on an enemy every round.

A variant of this character is the spear-carrier devoted to a specific PC. A PC who is a spear-thrower, for instance, might have a page or squire devoted to carrying two or three extra spears for him. In such a case, the PC is usually responsible for teaching the page or squire to fight (without getting him killed) so that NPC might someday become a knight.

Directing Traffic

It's very helpful for one fighter in a party to act as tactical coordinator (that is, combat leader). In combat, he keeps his eye on the situation and issues orders to his allies.

The tactical coordinator should be the one to notice that one of his frontline friends is being chopped to pieces, and order that character rotated back behind the line. When one particular enemy is discovered to be more deadly than the rest, the tactical coordinator should order missilers and polearm fighters to concentrate their efforts on that one. When the fight goes against the heroes and can't be turned around, the tactical coordinator should order theretreat—and make sure, if possible, that it's an orderly one, with no one missing and fighting-ranks still maintained.

If no PC fighter volunteers or naturally evolves into the combat leader role, the DM can help "push things along" by determining, in his best opinion, which PC would be best in that role—and then having NPCs turn to that character for orders when combat situations come up.

Campaign Tactics

The warrior isn't helpless or useless outside of combat, either. In situations where the party is preparing for an adventure, planning a mission, or just arriving in a new place (town, castle, whatever), the fighters (especially the combat leader) should make themselves responsible for learning the following things . . . and reporting these facts to the others:

Combats and Combat Missions

What's the lay of the land? The fighters should get detailed descriptions (and, if possible, maps) of the area where they will be fighting; this will help them plot strategy, ambushes, etc. What sort of forces does the opposition muster? This might be details of the enemy army, or the garrison of a castle the heroes want to invade, or just rumors of what might be found in the dark dungeon the characters intend to explore.

Is anything strange going on at the site? If there is, it might be symptomatic of something important to the characters. Do the locals hear grumblings and rumblings deep in the earth that weren't there before? This might indicate that a dragon has moved in . . . or that someone is doing some mining secretly. Are there suddenly a lot of strangers in town? This might mean the enemy has spies in town, or is hiring new warriors, who pass through town on route to their final destination. Whenever there's something strange going on, the heroes will have to face its source eventually, and should be as prepared as possible. When the fighters hear of something strange going on, they really ought to consult with the mages and priests, who might have ideas on the matter based on their own fields of learning.

Can the heroes count on local help? If this is a combat assault, can the heroes request, hire or levy local troops to back them up? If they can, and the situation warrants it, they should. But if they never ask, they almost never get help.

Can the heroes hire local experts? If their mission is to take them into an area where a local knows more about the situation than they do, it's a good idea for the characters to hire a local expert. Guides who know the local sites, especially, are an invaluable resource.

What sort of equipment will the party need? Any sort of special situation (walls to climb, specific monsters to fight, interesting terrain to cross, etc.) is likely to require specialized equipment, and it's the fighters' responsibility to determine what sort of equipment that is . . . and then to get it.

Just Arriving In Town

What are the characters' rooms like? Whether the heroes are being accommodated by friends, by an inn, or by a local ruler or noble, the fighter should check out their rooms in terms of defensibility. If the heroes are attacked in their rooms in the middle of the night in the dark,the fighter should know (because he's prepared himself in advance) how many exits there are from the room, whether they are open, closed, or locked, how defensible the room is, what story it is on and how far it is to the ground, etc. He might wish to consult with the Rogue, who might be inclined to check for secret doors or traps, or on the feasibility of going up to the roof when the heroes go out the window.

What are the local laws? The fighter should find out what the local ordinances are concerning the carrying of weapons and the wearing of armor. If it turns out that either is illegal or restricted, he ought to let his friends know about it. Contrary to what some campaigning groups think, local communities have the right to make such laws and enforce them . . . and when player-characters defy the local authorities, refuse to take off armor or abandon weapons, and even attack and kill local peace officers, the PCs are for the moment villains, not heroes. The other character classes have their own subjects to explore in the same situations. By comparison:

Mages can take responsibility for: Learning the history of the current situation, how it came to be; perhaps there's a clue to getting things fixed in the history of the matter. Getting details of the magic of the situation; only a mage can properly evaluate these details; perhaps the mage can arrange or research a counter-spell useful in the situation.

Priests can take responsibility for: Learning what the local priests think of the situation. Communing with their deities to see if the deity has any prophecy, advice or admonition to offer. Provisioning the party; the priest is best suited to arranging for ordinary provisions (food, clothing, etc.).

Rogues can take responsibility for: Putting an ear to the street (that is, the people of the street) and seeing what's afoot; it's always a clue to the resolution of a problem if the rulers say one thing and the common people say something different about a situation. Evaluating infiltration and break-in opportunities; the rogue is best suited to determining how possible and useful it would be to getting a spy in the enemy camp, breaking in to a specific site, etc.

Naturally, all these descriptions are generalizations. Any specific character might be particularly talented at one of these roles, even if he belongs to a "wrong" character class. But someone should undertake each of these tasks; otherwise, the characters are going into a situation knowing less than they could know about it.