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Has this ever com up for anyone else?
It all depends how complicated you want the game to get. DW uses a very simple 'initiative' system where the person with the highest Reflexes goes first. I have played around with this a little, introducing what I call 'Combat Initiative' but I have deliberately kept the modifiers to a minimum (to avoid excessive complexity).
For example, a Battleaxe will give a -1 to Combat Initiative (effectively a -1 to Reflexes just to see who goes first). A battleaxe is a big, heavy weapon with a lot of impact damage - but it is
slow.
A greatspear (really closer to a pike) will give +4 to Combat Initiative but
only until the wielder is struck by his opponent.* After this point, the distance has been closed and the spear loses its initiative advantage.
(A shorter spear only gives +2 to Combat Initiative - again until the opponent has landed a blow.)
* Irrespective of success on ABP roll.I have avoided giving initiative modifiers to other weapons just to keep things simple (some weapons have other combat modifiers anyway).
The problem of 'reach' is one that is often not well represented in role-playing games. In reality, a long stabbing weapon can hold an opponent at bay and has a distinct advantage...
at first. As soon as the opponent comes inside the reach of that weapon, the long weapon is at a real disadvantage (and we should really be considering a penalty). This is why the Macedonian phalanx was so effective - an attacker had to get past up to 5 rows of spearheads before being able to close with the front rank! Scottish schiltrons were similarly highly effective at keeping opponents at bay... But quite vulnerable once the opponents were up close and able to use short weapons.*
* Highly vulnerable to missile fire too. Tightly packed bodies of men make easy targets... Especially once canon appear.**
** Or, in DW games, Firestorms...Which raises another question: if a man with a short bladed weapon (shortsword, gladius, dagger) gets in close,
realistically anyone using a bigger weapon would have to step back to be able to continue fighting effectively. If they can't, then not only would their "attack" be impeded but (if they haven't got a parrying weapon or a shield) they are likely to find their "defence" reduced too. (Historically, this is one of the big advantages Republican Roman armies had against Gaulish and Germanic enemies.) Such a consideration, however, would mean keeping careful track of where everyone is, how 'tight' the combat is, if there is room and time to move, &c.
It really is a matter of how many rules you want. After all, it might not be just about reach - does the situation allow a particular weapon to be used at all? (Can a long spear be used in a winding corridor? Does the heavy undergrowth and low branches impede the swing of an axe or greatsword? &c...) For me, the draw if DW is that it is a simple game, yet it still works - this is why I've been very careful about adding extra combat rules...
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Trample (suggested rule)
Hmm. Why not simply use the damage listed for a horse? It says 'kick' (d10, 6), but that could also be the trample damage...