Palladium Combat (and other fun)

Roll for Initiative
Roll a d20. High roll strikes first. Roll a d20 to hit. If you score a 5 or more, you hit. If the number on the die is more than 4, but not higher than your opponent's armor class (AC), the hit lands on the armor (Mr. Siembieda spells it armour, but I am not sure why a guy from Detroit would do that?). If the score is higher than the target's AC, the blow lands on the unarmored parts of your opponent and damage is taken directly from the character's hit points. Damage is rolled according to weapon and damage is deducted from armor if the blow landed there or from the PC's physical body if the blow bypassed armor. Once all the armor points (Structural Damage Capacity or S.D.C.) reaches zero it absorbs no more damage and is useless (until repaired). Once physical body (hit points) reaches zero, the PC is dead. Most PC's get two (or more) strikes per melee round and may attempt to parry all incoming strikes against them (unless they choose an action that prevents parrying).
Men of Arms, those Occupational Character Classes (O.C.C.s) that fight for their living, have combat skill benefits corresponding to their class called "Hand to Hand". Hand to Hand,  like other skills, increases in effectiveness with level/rank. Bonuses to attack, to parry/dodge, to damage and some special effects (stun/unconscious, etc)  and additional attacks all come at different levels according to the O.C.C. Hand to Hand tables.
A successful parry, a roll which equals or exceeds the to-hit roll, blocks the strike and no damage is done. With this system, a number of rounds may go by with both opponents blocking each other's blows. The occasional missed parry may result only in damaging armor, provided the opponent is wearing any. Hence a melee may be a rather lengthy affair of strike, parry, strike parry, especially when opponents are evenly matched. This situation seems to have some validity when thought through. The wild-card in The Palladium RPG, and something to keep in mind in old school games in general, is that encounter balance is not really emphasized. In play, fights often end quickly because one side has significant advantage in skill, equipment or numbers. Knowing when to avoid bloodshed is part of player skill in such games.
Like any good game, The Palladium RPG begs for house-ruling. What if a PC is surrounded on all sides? Can the PC parry attacks from the rear? What about parrying arrows? Can dragon breath be parried? A referee can look for "official" answers to these and many other questions that occur during a game, or make reasonable rulings that then become part of "how WE play the game". For me this is part of the fun of being a referee.