Alexander's Phalanx by D&D rules

[Andvare]

I guess the problem with using buckler + long spears as your defense would be guys throwing javelins at you. So cavalry will take care of them, you say? But what if those javelin throwers are also highly trained, shield wall using professional infantry, and the only difference between them and a phalanx is that they use bigger shields and short swords?

Man, if that happened, the phalanx might be in trouble.

Sometimes I miss Facebook's like button, which quite possibly is the only good thing there.
This is one of those times.

[NineThePuma]

Sometimes I miss Facebook's like button, which quite possibly is the only good thing there.
This is one of those times.

Me too.

I once had a bunch of Kobold spartans. Was actually pretty neat.

[Lonely Tylenol]

DM fiat.
The DM was obviously trying to tell a story, that Alexander ruined with his munchkiness.

Yeah, I can pretty much guarantee that Alexander the Great was a PC.

Proof?

"The elders present you before the Gordian Knot, an unsolvable mess of ropes tied together meant to frustrate and humiliate all who..."
"I cut it with my sword."

[kardar233]

And Lonely Tylenol wins the thread. As he's done for many, many other ones, but with not so much "oh god the text my eyes why god why".

Also, sounds like something out of DM of the Rings.

[Hiro Protagonest]

Yeah, I can pretty much guarantee that Alexander the Great was a PC.

Proof?

"The elders present you before the Gordian Knot, an unsolvable mess of ropes tied together meant to frustrate and humiliate all who..."
"I cut it with my sword."

A real PC would've lit it on fire.

[Andorax]

There's a great article in Dragon 331, "The Point of Pole Arms", with some interesting material in it.

The Awl Pike is an "extra reach" weapon...able to hit targets 15' away, but not 10' or less. 10 GP, 1d8/x3, 10 lbs, and able to be set against a charge.

Two interesting feats from the same article:

Long Strike (BAB +2): Full-attack action to make a single attack with 5' more reach than normal with a pole-arm.

Shorten Grip (No prq): With a reach pole-arm with which you're proficient, you can 'ignore' the reach benefit, at a -2 to hit. You can't use this feat with an Awl Pike.


So....

Greatspears up front, Awl Pikes behind them.

New guys get put in the 3rd+ ranks, and learn Long Strike as a feat.

When they promote forward, some sort of feat retraining gets used, and you substitute Long Strike for Shorten Grip.

[Hiro Protagonest]

There's a great article in Dragon 331, "The Point of Pole Arms", with some interesting material in it.

The Awl Pike is an "extra reach" weapon...able to hit targets 15' away, but not 10' or less. 10 GP, 1d8/x3, 10 lbs, and able to be set against a charge.

Two interesting feats from the same article:

Long Strike (BAB +2): Full-attack action to make a single attack with 5' more reach than normal with a pole-arm.

Shorten Grip (No prq): With a reach pole-arm with which you're proficient, you can 'ignore' the reach benefit, at a -2 to hit. You can't use this feat with an Awl Pike.


So....

Greatspears up front, Awl Pikes behind them.

New guys get put in the 3rd+ ranks, and learn Long Strike as a feat.

When they promote forward, some sort of feat retraining gets used, and you substitute Long Strike for Shorten Grip.

This must be an elite unit for the new guys to have BAB +2...

[JackRackham]

This must be an elite unit for the new guys to have BAB +2...

Well, as explained earlier, the guys in the front couple ranks of Alexander's formation would have had some serious class levels, many of them fought with him all the way from the his campaign to bring greece (which included wiping out Thebes!) and the Northern Barbarians to heel after his father's death, through asia minor, the levant and egypt (which wisely surrendered without a fight), through mesopotamia and into India - and some of them had likely fought for his father before that.

His losses were surprisingly small, despite being seriously outnumbered and they would each have killed hundreds of men in battles that would have had an encounter level at least a couple levels over their ECL. By D&D rules they would have had a ****-ton of EXP. Keep in mind, many of these men had been recruited as teens and were into their 40's and 50's by the time of Alexander's death, having literally spent their LIVES at war.

This whole thing some of you have where you assume anyone not a PC or BBEG is level 1-2 is just silly. NPCs gain experience like anyone else, and if they've spent their lives killing Persians and Greeks, they'd have adventurer-type experience totals.

[Greenish]

There's a great article in Dragon 331, "The Point of Pole Arms", with some interesting material in it.

Awlpike and both feats mentioned also made their way to Dragon Magazine Compendium.