Weapon Roles, Part 2

Last time I talked about weapon roles and different ways to get the most out of different fighting styles on their own.  Today's post is all about how those different styles interact and build off of one another. Rather than going through every style combination one by one, I've decided to focus on the basics of what makes individual styles work together, with a few examples in the form of some likely pairs.

Range Control

One of the primary reasons to work together with different styles is range. Every style has a weakness in this category.  Archers and polearms can't do much at close range, shieldmen and two stick fighters lack range to deal with polearms, and min reds have a mix of both problems.  By combining different styles, with different weaknesses in range, a pair can overcome this problem.  Possibly the most common pairing that demonstrates this is a polearm and a shield man.  The polearm is weak at close range, but the shieldman can fight perfectly fine at that range.  Meanwhile, the polearm can help against targets that out-range the shieldman.

This crudely photoshopped image demonstrates the overlapping range presented by a shieldman/polearm team. Note the danger to any target that would stand in the glaive's two handed range. 

The overall effect of this combination of ranges means the an enemy shieldman doesn't have an obvious range to prefer.  Staying at the outer bounds of the shieldman's range means the enemy can't easily attack.  They also can't close on the polearm without being in range of the shieldman's attack.  Better yet, the team also creates a range that is extremely advantageous for them.  In the zone where their ranges overlap, they can both work against the same target.  In the sample above, that means the glaive can be dishing out two-handed strikes while his shieldman is able to swing effectively at the target.

While shieldmen and dual wielders might seem to be the only styles to fit into this close range defense, other styles can also accomplish this task.  Take, for example, a pair of polearms.  Both polearms may suffer at short/close range, but by maneuvering themselves in such a way that their more preferred ranges overlap with each other's weaknesses, they can effectively negate much of this weakness.  One example might be in a formation similar to a phalanx.  The front spear has the longest range and engages targets first.  Behind him, a second spear engages anyone that is able to close on the first spear. Anyone lingering too long in medium range would be fully engaged by both.  This same pair might also exist on a line, spaced out so they can engage against anyone rushing the other while still both engaged against the enemy line.

Risk Management

Combining two shorter ranged fighters poses a different challenge.  Neither of them can reach long range, so the combination doesn't mitigate the weakness.  However, a short ranged pairing can have other benefits.  Lets take a shieldman and dual wielding fighter as an example.  The shieldman has superior defense against missiles and spears, but doesn't have as wide of a shot selection.  This combination allows the shieldman to help reduce the risk of his partner being taken out at long range, while giving the pair exceptional offense once they are able to close to their optimum range.

Risk also comes into play when considering shot selection.  What might be a risky shot in a duel, can now be covered by your partner to make it relatively safe.  One example might be a min red fighter swinging one-handed towards the opponent's sword side, forcing them to block.  This takes the risk away from his partner's attacks, allowing them to choose from a wider variety of shots.  By the same token, the min red might be safe to attack the opponent's shield with a few two-handed swings while his partner cuts off the angle their opponent might have been able to attack from.

Combined Threat

While risk management is about keeping safe on offense, combining the threat of different equipment is all about increasing the opponent's risk.  Choosing the pair equipment that threatens different target areas or angles forces the opponent to make difficult decisions.  Lower their shield to help block off spear stabs or take an arrow to the face, for example.

Spears are often a natural pairing when discussing threat.  Their long range allows them to attack from a variety of angles, even from behind the front line.  Lower angles of attack force shields to come down a bit, while moving more towards sword side to cover the hip.  Other weapons can take great advantage of this shield position, such as flails, glaives, and min reds.  All of these weapons excel at placing shots on the shield side shoulder, which will kill the target or force their guard up and away from the spear.

Threat also has great influence on the enemy's ability to attack.  Archers are a prime example.  Other than shieldmen, no one has great defense against arrows other than perhaps mobility or a helmet.  Even without shooting, the archer can apply threat by holding an arrow at the ready.  Those without shields are forced to either gamble on dodging or to duck for cover behind a shieldman.  Most choose the latter.  Because they are forced to the second rank, they have a harder time applying offense to the front.  Even though spears and glaives can reach targets from the second rank, their own shieldman cuts off a significant angle of their attack, limiting their options for targets. As you might have noticed, this is nearly a case of risk management achieved through the application of threat.

Total Offense

Combined total offense of a pair of styles may give the combination an advantage.  While threat is about opening the target up and increasing their risk, total offense is about overwhelming a target's ability to block. A pair using glaives or other two handers, might be a good example.  Regardless of the threat applied by either glaive, the pair can simply place enough two handed strikes on one target to negate the defense of a shield.  Four solid, shield breaking hits to a shield outright kills anyone, assuming they haven't dropped it before then.  The first two take the shield, the third the arm, and the forth takes the body.  This means that each glaive only needs to successfully land a single hit on the shield for the pair to be able to remove it from the equation.  They may only need two swings each to kill a target, even less if they get a limb or two.

The major drawback of a pairing like this is that it relies on killing targets before they can return strikes to the pair.  A combined charge from multiple targets or a threat that has greater range than the pair greatly reduces their effectiveness. However, while working together with a team on the line, this type of pair may be able to overwhelm a few targets quickly.

Conclusion

Working together with different styles and gear boils down to playing off of your team's strengths and covering each other's weaknesses.  Even though I have written this from the perspective of a pair fighting some target, pairs are a natural building block towards full line fighting.  Take a moment next time you are on the sidelines to watch how the line includes many of these pairings of equipment.  Even in larger groups that seem to be all working together, much of their teamwork will be done within pairs of fighters occasionally supporting other pairs.  This is especially true when looking at how support weapons are deployed.

When combining equipment and styles, the four categories I've mentioned above are all worth considering.  However, regardless of what combination, they all benefit greatly from teamwork and communication. Find a friend, work together, kill lots of people with foam covered sticks.

Glaive

Okfest was a great event. Had a great time. I also had several people ask me for a few tips and tricks to using a glaive. I have a guide floating around the net, though it is a bit out of date. If you want to see a sampling of glaive fighting, check out this video. (I may be a little biased to recommend watching it...)
I decided it might be a good idea to jot down the basics from scratch, because I haven't thought about it for a while. This is geared mostly towards learning to break shields in an safe and efficient way. This isn't always the best place to start for someone completely new to red weapons, so I'd recommend some practice off the field to gauge your ability to do so safely.

One of the first things I hear from people (except those using a ultralight glaive) is about how heavy the weapon is. Most people attempt to wield it more like a spear, and try generating power for shield breaking hits from a low stance. That is rarely going to work and will be very tiring.

The weight in the head of a glaive is a great tool to use to help you get good, solid hits. Starting with a high stance, gravity will do most of the work. You really only have to push/pull for the first half of the swing to get a medium power shield break. Much more than that is mostly wasted effort and adds a bit of danger. Applying too much power for the strike usually means you will spend that much extra to recover from it.

Shield Breaking

The main shield breaking hit I use starts in a high stance, with the tip of the glaive being nearly pointed strait up, then coming down at around a 45 degree angle. The angle changes for safety and space available to swing.  Tightly packed lines make this more dangerous and push the swing to more of a 60-70 degree angle. The target is the shoulder, not the shield. If they block, great, it is probably a solid, shield breaking hit. If they don't, they are dead, even better. Obviously, there is inherent danger to the target's head here, so please get some practice before going onto the field and trying this.

Of course, without a proper base, all that weight swinging around will take you off balance. Take a nice, wide stance, with your front leg and top hand on the same side as you are striking at, ie. right foot/hand forward for breaking shields. Grip the glaive so that your back/bottom hand is against the pommel and your front/top hand is close to the incidental padding. While swinging, this gives you a good mix of control and range.  Moving your front hand back reduces control, but adds reach and vise versa.

As you swing, you will shift your weight forward, bending the front knee slightly. With the swing, push out with your front hand as you pull your back hand towards your hip. As you recover, you shift your weight back, extending the front leg and pulling your lead hand back. This not only helps generate power, but also modifies your range in the most advantageous way. You gain several inches of reach for striking, and then take away that much from the enemy's counter.  By pulling your center of gravity and hand back, you also block off one of the most probable returns, that which targets your arm closest to the enemy.

If your hits aren't landing sufficient to break a shield, add a little bit of twist in your hip and push/pull through a wider part of your swing. If you feel too slow on recovery, back off some of your power for the swing. Ideally, you want to ride the fine line between speed and power until you can safely throw a large number of shots quickly that will still be hard enough to break shields.  All of that being secondary to safety.  Only add power when absolutely necessary, because more power means more risk to the opponent.

High to Low Sweep

Without doubt, there are many other targets than shields. The reason to learn/master the above is so you develop body mechanics that help you with other strikes, and to get into a flow that will reduce the chances of headshots. Your next primary target is then the opponent's lead leg. If you start from the high stance, you can switch to targeting a leg mid-swing by lifting your back hand. The effect should be a smooth curve, pulling around the shield to hit mid-calf or higher.

High to Low sweep at close range, at about the point of impact.
Photo by: Ellie Apland

Most people learning this shot at first put more effort into it than needed, resulting in a lot of wasted effort.  That "smooth" feeling is from letting the glaive do the work.  The proper leg hit here is actually less effort than a heavy shield hit.  You are still doing the push/pull mechanic with your arms, but are now doing so more to change the direction than to add power.  If you find your back/abs/arms are getting sore or feeling overworked doing this shot, change when you start the curve (when you raise your back hand).  Also, remember, the front/top hand ends up going through a curved motion and should act as a fulcrum for the glaive's rotation, but you are letting gravity do the work of adding most of the power to the shot.

The first few times you try this, you'll see a good bit of success, especially at events.  However, veteran fighters will look to cut the angle of the attack off, either by advancing into the incidental padding or pushing their shield down to cut off the curve before it gets to their leg.  You really need to make this more of a "as needed" shot, rather than your main tool.  Make them raise their shield by throwing a few good shoulder shots, then switch to one of these.  With an ultralight glaive, you can also fake this shot, then go for their shoulder.

High to Low to Backhand

Should you miss the leg sweep (or do so intentionally), you now have the glaive on the opponent's sword side, under their guard. This is the perfect opportunity to hit them with a backhand strike. Targeting their arm or armpit mirrors the body mechanics of the normal recovery from a swing. To hit lower (under their guard towards the hip), you'll need to roll your right shoulder back. Rocking back here causes the blade to rotate so you don't flat them and changes the angle of recovery to hit them hip level. It should feel like you are leaning back, into the swing.  This also adds to the overall power of the shot.

You will rarely be breaking shields here, but you can easily generate the power needed to punch through body armor.  Even if you only manage a light shield shot, you've now forced the opponent to worry about you.  Very few will rush against the backhand, because they will often have to open themselves up (or punch block a glaive...) in order to get to you without taking a hip shot. 

This is where working with another reach weapon can really make a difference. By pressuring the lower sword side, the opponent is usually going to expose their upper shield side.  If you have a buddy glaive to your right, the normal shield breaking swing will often be a shoulder shot now.  Even someone with a longsword might benefit from the opening you make here.

Suppression

The other nice thing about the backhand is that you don't have to target the person that you "missed" with the leg sweep.  Once the sweep is completed, you can pull your hands in a bit and sweep past your initial target, then extend your arms to hit a different target altogether. By switching targets in this way, it forces a larger group of people to worry about you. It also keeps that new target from rushing you, which he was probably thinking about when you swung. This is what I generally refer to as "suppression", pushing your weight around to force people to deal with you.

The ones pointed out are prime targets to be dispatched by either you, or your buddy with a polearm.  The corner's of a kill pocket offer you targets if a friendly polearm is stuck in the middle of one. 

 

Regardless of the actual damage you deal, suppressing a group of enemies, at the very least, buys your team time to deal with them. One sweep can get 5-6 people to back up or shift their stance to dodge.  Several sweeps and stabs can cause a large kill pocket to form around you, but not advance. This is dangerous for you, but does open a few people up.  The enemy to either side of the kill pocket (the ones that didn't curve away from you) are now exposed on their flank facing the kill pocket. This is a GREAT time to switch positions to the edge of the pocket, and destroy one of those guys. 

If you see another glaive suppressing a kill pocket, those edges are also a great spot to line up in support.  The corners of the pocket (the first guy turned in a bit) are weak to just outside of the pocket. You can line up roughly across from the first guy that didn't turn into the pocket and stab along the side of the pocket.  You won't get too many stabs in before they end up shifting to counter it, but if you hurry, you might break the pocket open.