Considering my party makeup of Miles (2 weapons/TWF), Vi (polearms), a Dracon Samurai (TWF), Lizardman Fighter (swords), Mook Ranger (bows), Elf Bishop (slings), Hobbit Gadgeteer (engineering then omnigun), and Human Bard (instruments), how should to arrange my party for (1) maximum melee exposure, (2) maximum bard/gadgeteer/bishop protection?

-EE

I don't know what TWF is, but i'm assuming your Sam is using swords, as that's where their Bonus is....

Maximum Bard/Gad/Bish protection; put them in the middle. (but Bards and Gads can also do well at Melee...) Then put your short-range weapons in the front, covering the flanks and behind with extended/missile (eg. Valk and Ranger, maybe Gad in back if the Gad is only shooting)
With a Mook Ranger, you can use the Giant's Sword, too, which is Extended.

1: How significant a difference is there between having someone at the very top ('point') of the top flank against having them on a side of the front?

2: How do side and rear flanks affect combat?

TWF: Two Weapon Fighting, which is two swords in this case

-EE

If you have someone in the front, the center is protected from short attacks from the front. If you have a 3-cell front (Left, Center, Right, nobody in Front) then even a party of 8 can hit anything directly to the front with Short-range weapons. But as soon as the enemy is to the side a bit, the center and other side need Extended or Ranged weapons. Whereas if you put the Short-range weapons in the front, they can still engage to the Left and Right, and the extended/ranged attacks of the flankers will also engage.

This is what I had written yesterday b4 the forum went on the blink..

Welcome to the Forum!

For maximum melee attacks while offering some protection for your 3 "soft" characters and your ranged attacker:

Miles, Samuri, and Fighter up front (with their short reach melee weapons)

Vi and Ranger in the middle. (Vi has a long reach melee weapon that will equate to the short reach of the front row characters; your ranger will be protected from melee in the middle row except for long reach melee opponents.)

Your 3 soft characters in the rear row. (all protected from extended reach weapons.)

Of course for this to work properly you should always use a 3 sided barrier (in melee combat) with only the front row exposed to melee attacks.

I personally wouldn't vary this format unless my party was flanked for some reason, and if that happened I'd move the characters exposed to harm out of the way during battle.


Maximum melee exposure would be a bit different (and not advisable).

No one in the front row.

Samurai and Fighter in the middle row

Miles on the left row near the front, Bard behind him.

Ranger on the right row near the front, Gadgeteer behind him.

Vi in the rear center, Bishop left or right of Vi.

[ 05-22-2004, 01:48 PM: Message edited by: ScottG ]

Not much, if any. Sometimes it seems that monsters standing directly in front of the party are more likely to swing at a char in the "middle front" position, while monsters which are more to the side aim mostly at chars in the "left front" and "right front" slots. But then again, other times this looks to me to be completely random. So don't worry about that too much.

Quote:

2: How do side and rear flanks affect combat?

If you're attacked from the side or the back, chars in those slots usually take the incoming blows, thus protecting the middle slots, which is where you obviously should place your weakest character(s). Not much more to it, except for the weapon range bit, which should be obvious: chars in the flank slots need extended weapons to hit monsters which are to the front or to the back of the party, charachters in the front rank need extended weapons to hit monsters to the sides and ranged for monsters behind the party, etc.

Scott--the problem with a long, skinny formation is whenever there are more than a couple oppenents, your canter and back become vulnerable to attack from the side because the empty flanks do nothing to distance your rearward characters. Unless you always fight from backed-into-a-corner.

Also, the person in back can be facing the wrong way in battle so you should swing your formation when it becomes obvious the enemy can get to your back. If you have a magic caster or two under attack, you may find they are getting 2x damage from backstabs. You may also notice they are facing the wrong way. Move them to a flank away from the attack if possible.

yup I ALWAYS, (melee combat), fight with a 3 sided barrier if possible* (depending on the quantity of melee opponents).. so what might at first be perceived as a problem is actually an optimal solution.

*Note: it is virtually always possible to have a 3 sided barrier. Just initiate combat out of range and walk/run to location of choice (this may take a few rounds but you'll still be plenty ahead of your opponents to "move into place". You can do this anywhere - Swamp included.

Of course all of this is in detail in the Begginners Ref..

well, for most of my parties formation is easy--everyone goes in the middle. (i stopped playing more than 3 chars long ago)