Rude Slayings

[Michael Gunter]

Sir Lyonel asked for some viable alternatives when you find yourself behind
the lines in a non-Killing From Behind melee.  Speaking as someone who spends
much of his time behind the lines in melees, please allow me to profer some
of my habits.

Once behind the lines there are a myriad of wonderful actions that can be
performed to cause the most desirious amount of grief to one's opponents. 
First and foremost is to take out the spears and poles.   The middle of a
group of spearmen is a delightfully target-rich environment.  Once you have
survived that and there are no more pesky spears to worry about then what? 
One tactic that I have found effective is to go to one end of the shield wall
and crash into it, thus creating a domino effect.  This creates a deal of
confusion amongst the wall and usually the spears have a field day with all
the new targets thus presented.  Another tactic is just to walk over to the
side of the wall.  You'd be surprised at how just one fighter can turn an
entire flank of a wall.  Notice that in neither of the options presented have
I killed anyone in the shield wall, thus not causing the worry of whether or
not I have "properly" engaged someone.

Also, when a group of opposing fighters is in amongst the spears and poles
the members of a shield wall frequently get distracted and look over thier
shoulders to see what's going on often to face forward again to see a spear
tip headed right between their eyes.  

So there are a lot of options to create a great deal of havoc and confusion
even when K-F-B is not allowed.

I hope this creates some stimulating discussion.

Yers,

Gunthar

(U.S. Army Ranger School Graduate.  s'funny how some tactics remain the same
over the centuries...)