I've actually taken out archers "for real", using a sword and shield, as
part of re-enactment. In actual fact, it's the archer that is at a great
disadvantage in this situation. Arrows, even at close range, are relatively
easy to intercept with a 30" diameter shield (which is about standard size
for a round shield), and even down to a 12" shield. If someone with a sword
(or other weapon) and shield decides to close down an archer, the archer
loses 95% of the time. Usually the archers arrows just embed in the shield.
While the archer is running backwards at the same time as trying to get
another arrow nocked, the swordsman is running forwards (much faster) and
getting ready to empty the archers guts on the ground. I've never seen an
archer get off more than two arrows before having to either leg it or draw a
CC weapon. In my game I allow someone to defend against arrows using CC: XX
& Shield with no penalties, as long as they are specifically defending
against that archer. The archer, if he's trying to take out someone bearing
down on him must make very large AP bids, at least half their total, due to
the difficulty of shooting someone with a shield who knows there are arrows
coming their way.
However, an archer will have a huge advantage if they are firing into melee
and their target is unaware that an arrow is coming their way, as the archer
can easily stay out of their targets field of vision, due to them being 30
feet away. In this situation, if the target can only defend using CC, then
he does get a very large penalty. I usually allow players to use something
like Hide in Cover, Dodge, or Agile with a small penalty, to simulate the
fluid, active nature of melee. Although an archer may have sighted perfectly
on his target, once the arrow leaves his bow he has no control over it
whatsoever. It's much more likely that the target has moved out the way of
the arrow while he's moving around while fighting (thus using Dodge, Hide,
or Agile), than he notices the arrow and tries to get his shield in the way
(large CC penalty).
An archers favorite target is someone who doesn't have a shield. Even if someone without a shield knows the archer is there and is actively defending against it, if he can only use CC to defend he will have a very large penalty. Getting out of the way of the arrow is much easier than trying to knock it out of the air with a weapon, unless you have a specific skill of Arrow Cutting. However, in this case, the archer will usually have the advantage.
(As an aside, I once witnessed someone cut 15 arrows in a row with the haft
of a long-axe, with the archer at close range. The archer ran out of arrows
and was then "killed" by the axeman. Amazing.)
However (again) if two or more archers work as a team, with a very wide angle of fire between them, they can effectively cover each other if one of them is in trouble, so that would give a shieldman using CC a penalty against defending against more than one archer. That is, the defending target should get a much larger penalty than the standard multiple attacker penalty of -3 per extra attacker.
In summary:
An archer should always make large AP bids, as arrows should always be used
to "take people out".
Sniping into melee is the most effective way to take out opponents. In this
situation, defending using CC should incur large penalties, movement smaller
penalties.
An archers favorite target should be those without shields.
The best way to take out an archer is to charge him down while defending
using CC and using a shield.
Archers should work together, widely spaced to cover each other and cause
maximum havoc against the opposition.
Terry
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