Field Combat Roles: How Do You Contribute Best?

    So you think you know how to swing a stick, but do you know what do you do when you're stuck amidst 200 other foam-wielding peons?  No matter what you’re armed with on the field, there are generally more and less effective ways you can utilize your weapons set to help your team achieve victory.  This is not to say that there are not plenty of non-standard ways of making a weapon combination useful and deadly, but this article should help provide guidelines for newer fighters looking to have an impact.

Weapon and Shield:  Regardless of what you’re wielding, this is the bread and butter combination for most battles.  The large defensive surface space allows for a greater number of safe options in any given combat situation.  Flankers with boards are harder to take down than their shield-less counterparts and can often penetrate deeper into lines when sweeping in.  In a line, shields help dictate the pacing of combat.  They can push in conjunction with poles to advance the line, and should provide defensive cover to their team’s longer reaching weapons.  Most board kills should occur when a staggered push happens in either direction, letting your poles handle the lion’s share of the kill work.

Florentine:  Well-suited for dueling in skirmish settings, matching up 1v1 against fighters on the outside edges of combat.  Generally at a disadvantage in close quarters line fighting, given lack of range on poles, and lack of defense against shields in a static setting.  However if a gap in a line is broken, a Florentine fighter can do considerably more damage than a SnB fighter when running the backs of a line. 

Spear :  Weapon of choice for bridge battles and line fighting.  Can selectively be used in 1v1 skirmish settings assuming either high skill levels, side-arms or ally support.  Spears are the primary dictators of the ability of a line to push forward.  A single highly skilled long-spear can potentially demolish an enemy line unless he is either matched by a similar length/skill spear or matched by multiple shorter weapons and heavy shield support.   Shorter lighter spears, with significant practice can be wielded single handed with a shield, making a solid skirmish combination.  The best spear fighters have extreme proficiency in the fine manipulation of angles, critical for a mostly one-dimensional style.

Short Reds (48”-70”):  Useful skirmishing weapons, where the lack of a serious range advantage is balanced by an increased ability to cope in close-quarter situations.  Like Florentine, not ideally suited for line work at the shorter end of the range, but quite powerful as you reach the 70” mark as long as you avoid much longer poles.   Beyond the actual ability to break shields, is the equally powerful potential shield-breaking threat.  Sometimes greater effect can be garnered from placing a single red on a shield, and making your enemy fearful to engage, than by completely destroying it.   Also, the ability to ignore armor makes it deadly inserted behind a line, also much like a Flo fighter.

Long Reds (70”):  This category generally refers to glaives and war-poles, unwieldy in close-quarters but powerful when used in concert with allies, or given sufficient space.  The ability to both stab at max range, as well as deliver shield-breaking damage creates a large threat radius around a skilled pole user.  Given enough time and opportunity a highly-proficient pole fighter can topple the balance of a line engagement by forcing the enemy line to either back off or attempt a counter charge.

Archers:  The key to effective and efficient combat archery is based strongly on the archer’s target selection.  The best archers I know aren't just accurate and quick, they intimately understand the flow of combat, and have a strong ability to judge threat.  Is it better to take the open arm shot on the pole?  Or go for a head-shot against an unwary SnB fighter?  Much of this boils down to knowing which fighters are dangerous, and prioritizing properly.

A complete army will consist of all of these elements, in varying quantities.  A heavy line fighting group might slew heavy on tower shields and spears, whereas a skirmishing unit will have more mobile, less well protected fighters wielding high-damage weapons.  Poles should be interspersed throughout the line, stacking up only to counter high-threat spears and poles.  Large shields work well to bulwark a line, with smaller ones serving as either flankers or support for poles.  Archers should be spaced with wide cross-angles allowing for multiple opportunities against high-value targets. 

Hope this guide helps you navigate the fields of battle with more purpose, I'll be writing a part two soon describing different ways to engage.  Slay well.

-The Golden Lion