Over on bluesky, Zenopus Archives posts a new favorite Holmes/OD&D house rule: "...that thieves can fire into melee without penalty; i.e. no friendly fire". This is a great rule and keeps positioning thieves as a specialists in combat. While they still could use a spear in the second rank, thief PC could be out of rank acting as scouts/recon- this rule allows them to use that position and further encourages the *risk* of breaking rank.
