There seems to be some inconsistency between the rules for great spears in the Book of Battle/Book of Armies and the core rules. In Bob/BoA great spears have the +d6 damage bonus, while the core rules state that the weapon does not enjoy that benefit. Which one is correct? The additional damage bonus would make a great spear a far superior weapon in comparison to a halberd (which does not negate the bonus for lance charges), a later technological development.

P.S Pardon my English, it's not my native language.

As I played until now is that the great spear does not get additional bonus. the only thing is that it negates the -5 penalty while fighting horsemen.

I rechecked the books and also conclude that the armies seems inconsistent with the rules. In BoB it only speaks about the negation of the penalty in the text, but the armylists presented make the Great spear the same damage as Twohanded weapons .

There seems to be some inconsistency between the rules for great spears in the Book of Battle/Book of Armies and the core rules. In Bob/BoA great spears have the +d6 damage bonus, while the core rules state that the weapon does not enjoy that benefit. Which one is correct?

My general rule is that the latest publication is right in settling a conflict


The additional damage bonus would make a great spear a far superior weapon in comparison to a halberd (which does not negate the bonus for lance charges), a later technological development.

A halberd too ought to not suffer the height difference of a horse


P.S Pardon my English, it's not my native language.

Your letter was perfect

So, lets see how things stand now:

Great Spear:
- Counts as Two-Handed, so +1d6 to damage
- Cancels the Lance bonus (+5) vs. non-lances
- Cancels the penalty of a footman vs. a horseman (-5), but the horseman still gets his +5 bonus

Halberd:
- Counts as Two-Handed, so +1d6 to damage
- Cancels the penalty of a footman vs. a horseman (-5), but the horseman still gets his +5 bonus

I agree with Helmward that Halberd needs some additional bang for the buck, especially as it takes a whole new skill while Great Spear doubles as a boar-spear (useful for hunting) or can be used with Spear Expertise, if you use that Special Skill. I'd be tempted to give it extra +1d6 damage for a total of +2d6; the halberd on a swing packs a heck of a wallop.

On the other hand, I would be also temped to penalize the long hafted polearms (Pike AKA Great Spear and Halberd) in a dueling situation, like -5 to skill, to reflect the fact that it is not as nimble a weapon up close. And yes, I know about dueling manuals for halberd (or is that a pollaxe?). But this would keep Pike and Halberd in the battlefield compared to other two-handed weapons. On the other hand, I am not THAT bothered even if Halberd becomes de rigueur amongst the knights in Twilight period. Pollaxes were a regular feature in knightly combat in the Hundred Years War, although these regularly had a bit shorter shaft than a halberd, and would be better modelled by what Pendragon calls a warhammer.

Thanks for your help, everyone!

I house-ruled in my campaign that Halberd received a +1d6 extra-damage against plate armour, since halberds/poleaxes were - as far as I know - designed to be can-openers. That left other two-handed weapons slightly underpowered in comparison to Great Spear and Halberd, and caused some grumbles amongst my players, who developed a (healthy) phobia of Halberd-wielding guardsmen :)

I also toyed with an idea that a Halberd would give a -5 modifier to DEX in Knowckdown rolls from horseback, since they often had a hook for pulling riders from saddle, but I abandoned that feature in favour of the plate armour damage bonus.

I also toyed with an idea that a Halberd would give a -5 modifier to DEX in Knockdown rolls from horseback, since they often had a hook for pulling riders from saddle, but I abandoned that feature in favour of the plate armour damage bonus.

I could see adding a special move for "pull rider down" or some such for a poleax
Opposed resolution, no damage except when the knight hits the ground
and yes, it would modify the rider's roll to stay on

I also toyed with an idea that a Halberd would give a -5 modifier to DEX in Knockdown rolls from horseback, since they often had a hook for pulling riders from saddle, but I abandoned that feature in favour of the plate armour damage bonus.

I could see adding a special move for "pull rider down" or some such for a poleax
Opposed resolution, no damage except when the knight hits the ground
and yes, it would modify the rider's roll to stay on


I'd second the idea of explicitly granting halberds and other hafted weapons with hooks the ability to hook riders down or to trip a foe. I would then view that as setting up the pollaxe or halberd wielder for falling upon or otherwise grappling with the victim.