Favorite Melee Weapon

[Targan]

In my last campaign a Gurkha PC nearly decapitated a Soviet sentry during the mission to plant a nuclear demolition charge inside the wire of WarPac Reserve Front HQ in Lublin. The damage from that hit was so catastrophic the sentry dropped like a sack of spuds.

In a one-shot session I ran back in the '90s the PCs were a unit of French Foreign Legionnaires being stalked on the Iran-Iraq border by a unit of Spetznaz. There was a desperate last stand on a rocky outcrop among thorn bushes and the PCs who could still stand fixed bayonets once their ammo ran out. One of the PCs managed to skewer a Russian before they took him out.

[ChalkLine]

Originally Posted by Targan

In a one-shot session I ran back in the '90s the PCs were a unit of French Foreign Legionnaires being stalked on the Iran-Iraq border by a unit of Spetznaz. There was a desperate last stand on a rocky outcrop among thorn bushes and the PCs who could still stand fixed bayonets once their ammo ran out. One of the PCs managed to skewer a Russian before they took him out.

I think in my entire T2K GMing career I ran the PCs out of ammo only once, and that was when they were part of a larger unit and had to hand in captured materiel. And the sergeant did in fact say "fix bayonets" but the enemy were already falling back.

In fact I think I've never managed to run them out of fuel.

[Trooper]

Billhook. Very common tool here in Finland and its also combat engineer tool in FDF.

[ChalkLine]

Originally Posted by Trooper

Billhook. Very common tool here in Finland and its also combat engineer tool in FDF.

I carried one everywhere for many years as a surveyor. I've cut down sizeable trees with one, dig holes with one and cleared kilometres-long traverse lines of brush and saplings with one. All you need is to keep them clean, go over the blade with a bastard mill file occasionally and replace the handles as they wear out.

I once had a guy who had his brain turned off walk into the backswing of the hook and I missed his head by inches by going over the top. It would have cut his head clean off.

[kcdusk]

A tankard from my local tavern, errr sorry, wrong game.

[Raellus]

I don't recall ever seeing a billhook down at the local big box hardware/home improvement store. Maybe they're not that common in the US?

It strikes me (no pun intended) that a Halligan tool or crowbar might be especially handy given their non-weapon utility.

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[Olefin]

Originally Posted by Raellus

I don't recall ever seeing a billhook down at the local big box hardware/home improvement store. Maybe they're not that common in the US?

It strikes me (no pun intended) that a Halligan tool or crowbar might be especially handy given their non-weapon utility.

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Halligan tool would be perfect - its a tool, its a weapon, its both

[Olefin]

Originally Posted by kcdusk

A tankard from my local tavern, errr sorry, wrong game.

I suspect that particular melee weapon is used in a lot of games