Measure

Every weapon fights at a distance of its own, and that distance is its measure. A spear wants a hex between the two men. A sword wants the next hex. A dagger wants no distance at all. A man who fights from anywhere else pays for it, or cannot strike at all.

The three distances

Point range and arm's length are only a matter of where two men stand. Closed is something one man does to another: he has to close in, and it holds between those two men only (Closing in). The action bar says which distance a man's weapon fights at, or whom he is closed with. The "Fights at" column in Arms and armour gives every weapon's.

Beyond his weapon's measure a man cannot strike at all, except with the few strokes that reach out (Reaching out). A swordsman has nothing for a man two hexes off.

Fighting inside the measure

A man nearer than his weapon's measure can still strike, but badly:

• one distance inside, −15 to hit;
• two distances inside, −35.

So a spearman with a man in the next hex is at −15, and a spearman closed with a man is at −35. A swordsman closed with a man is at −15. When a man is closed, each stroke button shows what the measure costs it, or a dash if the stroke cannot be made in there at all.

It costs his defence too. A weapon turns a blow only at its own measure or farther off: there a sword counts for +5, a longsword +6 and a spear +5 (the "Turns a blow" column in Arms and armour). One distance inside its measure the weapon turns nothing and is −5 to his defence instead, and two distances inside it is −10.

Reaching out

A few strokes reach one distance beyond their weapon's measure, at −10: the dagger's Slash and the bare-handed Punch. A man with a dagger can cut at a man in the next hex without closing on him, but he cannot stab him. The tooltip says when a blow is reaching out past the blade.

Shortened grips

A sword and a longsword each have a Half-sword stroke: a hand on the blade, the point set like a short weapon's. It is a stroke of the closed measure, and cannot be made at arm's length. Once a swordsman is closed with a man, it strikes at +7 with no measure penalty, and finds the gaps in armour more readily: 25% for the arming sword and 60% for the longsword. The grip does not help him defend: in there the sword is still inside its own measure, and turns nothing.

Closing in

Close in (4) (C) steps a man inside the guard of an enemy in the next hex. It costs 4 action points and as much wind as a stroke.

First, the enemy may strike as he comes in. He does if he still has his blow for the round (A turn), has a stroke that reaches, and is not reeling or on the ground. His blow is hurried, at −10. It does not stop the man coming in unless it puts him out of the fight.

Then comes the attempt itself. The tooltip gives the chance to get inside. What decides it:

• each man's skill at the art of the weapon in his hand, and each man's strength, which counts for a good deal;
• the enemy's defence, and whatever both men's wounds are costing them;
• his shield. A shield keeps a man out: 8 off the chance.
• Friends at his shoulder. Each of his own beside him takes 4 off.
• His weapon. A weapon at its own measure fends a man off as it would turn a blow, by the share his arc gives it: all of it to his front, 45% to his flank, none behind (Facing). A weapon already inside its own measure, like a spear in the next hex, has nothing to fend with, and makes getting in easier.

The chance is never less than 10% or more than 95%. Against a man who is reeling, on the ground, or cannot wield a weapon, it is 95%.

If it fails, he has been kept off, and the points and the wind are spent.

Inside

Two men who are closed fight each other at the closed measure, whatever anyone else is doing. In there:

• A short weapon comes into its own. A stroke whose measure is closed (the dagger's, a half-sword, a punch) strikes at +7 and pays no measure penalty. That is on top of the stroke's own bonus, so an arming sword's half-sword strikes at +4 and +7 together, and a longsword's at +8 and +7.
• The gaps are easier to find with a short weapon. A dagger finds the gaps in a harness 50% more readily, a war hammer 30%, a short sword and bare hands 20%.
• A shield is worth less than half. It catches 45% of the blows it would catch outside.
• A long weapon is little use. The measure penalty and the lost defence above apply in full.
• Wrestling is possible (On the ground).

The grip is lost the moment either man takes a step, in any direction. It is also lost when one of them breaks away, or is killed or falls out of the fight. Being thrown to the ground does not break it.

Breaking away

Break away (4) (X) shoves a man clear of one he is closed with. It costs 4 action points and as much wind as a stroke.

The man inside gets a parting blow first, if he still has his blow for the round, and it is not hurried. Then the attempt, which the tooltip gives as a chance: skill at each man's weapon's art, strength, the other man's defence and both men's wounds, as for closing. A man whose weapon fights closed does not let go: breaking away from a dagger or from bare hands is 12 harder. The chance is never less than 10% or more than 95%.

If it fails, he is still held.

A step also loses the grip, and walking away is answered like any walk out of a weapon's reach (Free blows on the move), with one exception worth knowing. A weapon that fights closed (a dagger, bare hands, a war bow) reaches no hex at all, so it gives no blow to a man walking away from it. A man held by a dagger can step off for the price of the step, and the grip goes with him. This is a fault in the game, not a rule, and is item 52 in the register.

Dagger and spear

The two ends of the measure want opposite things.

A spear fights best with a hex between. At point range it strikes and a sword cannot answer. In the next hex it is at −15 and turns nothing, and it fends nobody off, so a man closing on a spearman gets in more easily than on a swordsman, and the spearman's blow at him is both hurried and inside its own measure. Closed, the spear is at −35. A spearman wants his friends at his shoulders, where they keep men from getting in, and wants to hold a point for the man walking up to him (Holding).

A dagger fights best closed. At arm's length it can only reach out with a slash. It has to buy its way in, with four points and the blow it walks past. Once in, it strikes at +7, finds the gaps in armour half as readily again, and the shield in front of it is worth less than half. A man it has hold of is 12 harder to break away from, though a plain step away is free (above). Against a man in armour that is the whole point of a dagger: the plate is not cut, it is got round.