Wolf-Pack Tactics

When the adventuring party gets in combat with a single large monster which can be confronted directly (like a troll, for instance, and unlike a dragon, which has a strong mix of melee abilities, ranged combat abilities, and mobility), it's foolish just to line up and hack at the thing. In fact, it's not necessarily clever just to surround the monster and hack at it. Try this instead:

Surround the monster, of course.

On the first round, half of the circle of heroes should perform a Parry, or the Parrying maneuver from the DMG. The other half should attack as vigorously as possible.

On the second round, the action switches: The group which attacked last round, now defends, and the group which defended now attacks.

In real life (for example, when practiced by wolf-packs), this often has the effect of confusing the prey and reducing its fighting effectiveness. The prey feels a bite to its rear and turns to attack there; but while it's concentrating on enemies in that direction, the wolves now to its rear make their attack.

In the AD&D® game, the wolf-pack tactic can have similar effects . . . if the DM wishes to allow it to. If the DM approves of this tactic, he can cooperate by having the monster, for a few rounds at least, behave in the predictable fashion: Each round, the monster turns and attacks the group that attacked it last, which is now defending. This will give the party several rounds of combat where it has the advantage and can whittle the monster down.

But be aware: Even if the DM is nice enough to give you this slight tactical advantage, eventually even the stupidest monster will get wise and try to break through the circle of fighters. A good thing doesn't last forever.

It may be that your DM has no interest in letting this tactic work. Ask him if it has a chance of doing some good in your campaign. If he says no, don't even try it. Even if he says yes, he may not remember to grant that little benefit; if, after a few wolf-pack attempts, you haven't seen it work once, give up on the tactic.

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