Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Melee Polearm Skill #37: Drawing Out the Opponent

A big focus on last night's regional practice was getting one of the polearm fighters some good melee experience.  Between last night, last week, and the last Southern Army practice, we've done a lot of 2 on 1 drilling.  And believe me when I say, I've put a lot of thought into the tactics of the 2 on 1 scenario since the late 90s.

With that in mind, there is something that I've noticed about standard SCA melee tactics.  I used to think of them as "inferior" (oh, now don't I sound smug.......but it is what I thought), but have more recently come to the conclusion that the tactics are centered around getting a bunch of fighters with limited melee knowledge and experience to accomplish what they are capable of in that day's battle.


2 on 1 With a Pair of Average SCA Fighters

Here's an example.  Lets look at a 2 on 1 scenario with pole and shield vs a shield.  What should the pair do?  Well, for this example lets assume that the pair are average SCA fighters.  By this I mean they both have at least a few years under their belt, have been to a few Pennsics and a handful of other battles, hit the occasional tourney here and there, and make it to a couple of practices a month.  Neither one of these fighters, however, really understands small number melee tactics very well.

Given this information, I'd probably recommend that the shield essentially fight the opponent as if it was a 1 on 1 fight (that's what he's going to do anyway) and the pole should stand behind him so that he doesn't get hit and take whatever shots he can, mostly probably landing on the left side of the opponent's head.


The next step is teaching these two how to attack on the 45s.  However, if their opponent is any good, he can easily nullify that by moving to his right using the green shield to defend himself against the pole.  I wouldn't really call this a 2 on 1, but rather more like a 1.2 on 1.  The pole isn't really very useful in this arrangement.  If these fighters are all of equal ability, I give the green team a 60% chance of winning the engagement.


Using the Pole to Draw Out the Opponent

Move the polearm to the left side and teach him how to draw out his opponent and the odds of winning the engagement increase dramatically.  What I mean by "drawing out the opponent" is using the range of the weapon and attacking the open side of the shield to force him to chase you.  With a 7+ foot reach, proper foot work, and at least moderate leg speed, this actually isn't very difficult against most shieldmen.

Begin with the polearm fighter in front of his partner.  (What?!)  Yes, in front.  With the range advantage, he has just established a 1 on 0 fight.  He can hit his opponent, but his opponent can't hit anyone.  Attack aggressively, especially at the face.  He will have little choice but to either stand there and take it, or close the distance.  As he closes the distance, the polearm fighter should move back and away from the shieldman, keeping his range advantage, and attempt to steer him toward his partner.  In general, his partner will soon have easy wraps and onside snaps available to him while his opponent has a polearm in his face.



The Danger of Improper Execution

As we did these drills, there were two key mistakes that some polearm fighters made, both of them centering around not really thinking like a team player.

1.  Getting too close to the opponent

This allows him a chance to get a shot on the polearm fighter.  Even if the polearm fighter's defenses are excellent, why give him a shot at all?

2.  Drawing the opponent in the wrong direction

This is never done intentionally.  I said "drawing the opponent," but really I should call it "running away."  After one of the engagements I pointed out to my partner where the fight eventually ended up.  Instead of ending up somewhere in the vicinity of myself (so that I can kill him), it ended up all the way across the room.


It's for this very reason that I stated earlier that we really can't expect those who've not trained to fight this way to pull off this maneuver.  The above diagram shows what happens more often than not when a fighter isn't certain about what to do.

The Big Picture

I had a very disappointing conversation with a fighter last Pennsic as I was warming up for the unbelted battle.  He had noticed that I was doing a lot of backwards sprinting and wanted to offer some advice before the battle began.  The advice was that I shouldn't be running backwards in the battle, but rather I should be moving through my opponent.

Now I think his heart was in the right place, and he had no reason to believe that I had any clue what I was doing, but I think it is indicative of the "hit the square peg as hard as you can if you want it to go through a round hole" mentality.  I was actually preparing myself to draw out the fighters on our left flank because I had a good feeling that our unit was not going to be fast enough to out flank them.  It turns out that that was exactly what happened, and as a result, I was able to draw two fighters out of our backfield.

Fighting in a melee is not all about being more aggressive than the other guy.  There is so much that can be done without even swinging your stick simply in terms of where you stand and who you point your stick at.  The goal should be to think like a pack of wolves, or a pride of lions.  Make your opponent go where you want him to go, and then kill him.

My final thought on the subject is that we should be looking to learn, teach, and share these slightly advanced skills rather than throwing our hands up and telling our polearms to just hide in the backfield.  If the battle is tomorrow and that's all they can do, fine, but I think there are more long term benefits to going beyond beginner level melee skills.  If anything, I think this exact polearm to shieldman relationship is one of the most important aspects of melee fighting.


Check out One Thing That Would Make Our Kingdom Better at Fighting Battles here


One Thing That Would Make Our Kingdom Better at Fighting Battles

I had a recent conversation with a local knight with regard to an up coming discussion about fighting tactics within the kingdom.  He and I have had several discussions at this point on the topic, and are both pretty passionate on the subject.  After this brief conversation I thought to myself, "If I could make a single recommendation, what would it be?"  I actually thought long and hard on the topic over several days and am pretty confident that I have arrived at my answer.

Spears.

More spears.

Better spears.

Spears, spears, spears, spears, spears!!!!

Okay, that's four things, but if I had to pick one, it would be spears.

The number and quality of good spears in the East is really lacking.  Don't get me wrong, there are some good ones out there.  I always have a good fight with Master Ruslan, and there's a knight that I fought recently who spoke French (Canadian?) who was an excellent spearman.  There are also a handful of local squires that I know who are also very good with their spears.

But only a handful.

Out of what must be 300-400 fighters that I've encountered in the kingdom, I've probably seen less than 10 that I would consider to be expert spearman, and maybe another 10 that I would consider proficient.  That's less than 5% of the fighters in what is, in my opinion, the most important melee weapon on the field.

Lets consider that last point, because I'm guessing that you might be thinking, "but what about the shields?  Shield wall, charge, run them down, etc. etc."  Okay, lets talk about Pennsic 44.

Century Champions Battle:  Static fighting.
Castle Battle:  Static fighting.
Bridge Battle:  Static fighting.
Woods Battle:  Static fighting.
Field Battle:  Moving units, a couple of charges, followed by.........static fighting.

Out of 7 war points, 5 of them are won or lost with spears (and I'd argue that the spear would be effective in the Unbelted Champions Battle if one of the two sides knew how to utilize them).

So how do we solve this problem?  Well, my solution is to blog about it and hope that people read it and some wheels start to turn.  =)  Beyond that, however, we can begin with actually encouraging people to practice with their spears.  Hell, maybe we can compromise and just leave the spear fighters alone.  I've actually been teased for bringing spears to practice.  I've been told that practicing spear duels is a waste of time.  Etc. etc.  The simple fact is, the kingdom has not embraced the spear as a legitimate weapon.

But just think, what if it did?  What if that 5% could become 20%?  What would that do for the level of fighting at Pennsic?

Now grab a spear and go practice!


Check out Fifty Spear Tips here

Friday, January 22, 2016

Fifty Spear Tips

I wrote this a while ago, but now have a place to put it.  Enjoy!




1)  Stance:  stand completely sideways to your closest spear threat.  It creates the smallest profile to hit.  Opening up just 20 degrees opens up a kill pocket in the arm pit.

2)  Stance:  Keep the knees  at least slightly bent.  Find the sweet spot where you can fire your spear as quickly as possible. 

3)  Fire from the hip:  half of the power and speed comes from pushing the hip that is furthest away from the target toward the target.

4)  Avoid lunging:  taking a big step forward with the front foot is slow and telegraphing.  It gives the opponent time to see that the shot is coming, and it gives other opposing spearmen the chance to counter attack.   The return to a defensive position is also very slow.  Learn how to safely get within your opponent’s range so that minimal forward movement is needed.  A small step forward is ideal in order to move into range, but keep this movement as small as possible while still being able to hit your target.  Sometimes a bigger lunge may be appropriate, but be aware of your vulnerability when doing this.


5)  Use the full range of your weapon.  Fight at a range such that you can step in, hit your target while fully extended, and step right back out of range.  Don’t get caught dancing inside too much.

6)  Move your arm, hips, and legs at the same time.  The shot will get to its target in half the amount of time with twice the power than if your arm follows after the hip has rotated.

7)  Fire a spear with one hand:  Removing the “guide” hand off the spear allows you to rotate the body quicker and to extend 6-8” further.   Don’t worry if your spear tip hits the ground after your shot.   Step back just out of range and recover.

8)  Recoil to a defensive position as quickly as possible.  Once your shot is fired, you are exposed (assuming that another spearman is within range).  Get out of range as quickly as possible.

9)  BE THERE!  A spearman who stands a foot behind his fellow spearman might as well not be there at all.  Simply being a threat by being in range of your opponents protects your line.

10)  Fight from the front:  Get out in front of your line and use your spear.  If your opponents charge you, retreat behind your line before they get to you.

11)  Trade shifts with other spearmen.  If you are on the front line, you should be working for a kill and keeping 100% focus.  When you are tired and need a break, step back and let another spear take your spot.  Don’t hog the front line, its bad for you and for your side.

12)  See the whole line in front of you.  Don’t get tunnel vision.  Your potential targets and potential threats to you are not always only the guy right in front of you.

13)  Take good spots on the front line, not just available spots.  This means you will need to figure out how to communicate with random fighters and convince them to move so that you can take a good spot. 

14)  Two spears spread apart with a gap in between them are better than two spears next to each other.  This places the two attacks at wider angles on the opponents making it more difficult for them to defend. 

15)  Don’t crowd the front line.  Too many spears crowded together can’t move to attack or to defend. 

16)  Sometimes its best to find a spot where no spears can kill you so that you can get lots of free shots on poles and shields.  When in this situation, kill them as quickly as you can.

17)  Sometimes  its best to be in a position against lots of spears.  You might be the only thing keeping these spears from killing your line.  In this situation, be very careful.  Even a great spearman will have a difficult time fighting 2-3 opposing spearmen by himself.

18)  Often simply looking intimidating will keep people from attacking.   A line that is ready to press can be stopped by simply stepping forward with confidence and getting in to a very aggressive stance.  Most fighters are actually very afraid of a good spearman.

19)  Deflect an incoming spear with minimal movement.  It usually only takes a slight movement with your shaft to deflect their shot out of the way.

20)  When facing a spearman, you can control where his spear is pointing by pushing it slightly out of the way with your spear.  In general, try to keep your spear pointed at his body while keeping his spear pointed away from your body. 

21)  If he tries to over power your spear, you can disengage by dropping your spear tip just below his shaft which causes him to swing past the position he was fighting for, and you can re-engage on the other side of his shaft with your tip, again, pointed at his body and his tip pointed away from yours.

22)  Draw and counter:  sometimes you can allow him to have the straight  line pointed at your body hoping to get him to shoot at what he thinks is an open target.  When he does, deflect his spear off target so that he misses, and then fire your spear at him immediately after.

23)  Disengage and fire.  While pointing your tip at one side of the body, if he tries to push your spear away from that target, disengage by dropping your spear tip beneath his shaft, and immediately fire to the other side of his body as his spear moves out of the way.

24)  Disengage and disengage and fire.  This is the same as the previous maneuver, except after the first disengagement, you anticipate him to swing his shaft back to knock your spear  back off of line.  When he attempts that, simply move the spear below his shaft again to move it back to the side that you started on and immediately fire.  Both of these maneuvers should be done very quickly. 

25)  Feints:  Pretend to fire a spear shot to one side, then immediately fire somewhere else.  A slight head fake and a slight foot stomp can help.  The previous two maneuvers can be done as feints instead of engaging with his shaft.

26)  Try to shoot around the opponent’s spear shaft. Most shots need only to be straight, but some shots can go around the shaft.

27)  Shooting around from the inside:  if your right hand is back, step out  and to the left with your front foot as you fire your spear (step out to the right if your left hand is back).  Move the hand holding the back of the spear across your body, and rotate your back hand so that your elbow is facing the ground when finishing the shot.  This will give you the greatest angle of attack to get around your opponent’s shaft.

28)  Shooting around from the outside.   When you fire, move your back hand in a direction that swings out and away from your body to get the tip to move up and over the opponents’ shaft.  Beginning with the spear tip a little higher will help move it around the shaft.  As the back hand moves up, the tip will drop onto its target.  When fully extended, the elbow should point out or even up toward the sky.

29)  If you anticipate having your spear deflected in one direction, aim to hit a spot that far to the other side of your target.  For example, if you think he will deflect your shot 8” to the right, then aim 8” to the left.

30)  Watch their eyes.  If your opponent looks away from you, hit him!  (or hit the guy next to him).

31)  Pump and shoot:  This is effective against shields in a static line when you are not threatened by other spears.  Shoot for the face but pull the shot right before it hits your opponent.  He will raise his shield to block.  Hold the spear tip a foot from his face.  When he drops his shield to look, finish the shot.  Because you are only a foot from his face, he will have no time to react once he drops his shield.

32)  If you can, sneak attack good spearmen from the side.  Instead of taking them straight on, try to attack them from a few spots down the line.  They will be less likely to notice you, and their spear will not be in a good position to defend.

33)  Protect your friends.  If the spearman across from you is killing the people to the left and right of you, then you are not doing your job.

34)  Slap me low – too slow.  Ever play the game “Give me five, slap me high, slap me low…too slow?”  Eventually you learn that in order to slap the hand that is low before they pull it away, you have to be quick and sneaky.  This is how you should approach fighting with a spear.  Be quick and sneaky.  Try to hit your opponent quickly and when he doesn’t expect it.  

35)  After firing a spear and hitting your target, sweep the hand left holding the spear  up in front of the face as you recoil for defense.  This will knock incoming spears out of the way.

36)  Target practice often. Hit something that has a little give in it (not a thick tree.  Not a brick wall) but not too much give (not a tennis ball on a string).  A tire swing, weighted pell, or thick vine hanging from a tree all work.  Also, a cardboard box stuffed with cardboard will work provided that the surface is reinforced (a plastic tote lid works).  Place dots on your target for you to aim at.

37)  Practice against your target as if you are really fighting.   Pretend you have an opponent in front of you, and that you need to be quick and sneaky to hit him, and when you do, you need to get out of the way before getting hit.   If you can do this is in practice, you can do it for real.  If you don’t practice in this manner, you will develop bad habits.

38)  Sometimes look at an object away from your practice target, and then turn your head to spot your mark and hit it has quickly as possible.

39)  Sometimes aim for one mark on your target, but hit a different mark as quickly as possible.  Don’t forget to recoil for defense as soon as you do.

40)  Sometimes hit multiple targets in rapid succession as quickly as you can.

41)  Practice recoiling from the target while sweeping the hand holding the spear in front of the face for defensive purposes.

42)  Practice against other spearmen at fighter practice.  Spear dueling, 1 on 2, 2 on 2, 5 on 5, etc. are all good practices.

43)  3 on 3 counter attack practice:  3 spears face 3 spears on a “bridge.”  The spears on the ends can only attack each other.  The spears in the middle can only attack the spears on the ends when those spears are in the process of firing a shot.  This drill is intended to teach the spears in the middle to look for counter attack opportunities on people not directly in front of them and it is to teach the spears on the ends how to be quick and sneaky when multiple spears are watching them.

44)  Practice fighting another spear over a line that can’t be crossed by either spear.  Without this, spear duels often devolve into running each other down and choking up.  That’s a fine technique to win an actual one on one spear matchup, but it occurs less than 1% of the time in actual combat.  Using a line that can’t be crossed teaches the spears how to make those attacks at range, which is more practical.

45) Be aggressive in battles that don’t last long.  Especially with archery so prevalent these days, a spearman may only last a few minutes in the front rank of a battle.  Make those minutes count and get lots of kills!

46)  Pace yourself in long resurrection battles.  If the battle is won in the last five minutes, make sure you have enough left over to be able to hold your ground and get kills in those 5 minutes.

47)  Stay off the extreme flank.  It is very difficult for a spear to defend himself against a charging shield man.  A spear should never (almost never) be at the end of a line unless there is a terrain feature to protect him. 

48)  Use your spear to control the shape of the lines.  You almost always want to be surrounding your enemy by making your lines concave and their lines convex.  When they turn their backs to each other and bulge out in the center, you can get more spears on them in better attack angles.  Be like a sheep dog with that spear.  Make them move to where you want them to be to kill them.

49)  Follow your shields when they charge.  Look for gaps to open up, and dead people to start to create obstacles to fight over.  

50)  If someone charges you, use your shaft and press it against their body to guide them away from you.  A cross check is fine if you are big enough to knock them over, but it doesn’t really take much leverage just to push one man charging into another.



Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Spear vs 2 Poles Drill, 2 on 1, 5 Man 2 on 2 Resurrection Drill

Hey all,

I'm posting here to recap on some of the takeaways from last night's Philly SCA practice.  We did a bunch of singles, worked on a few things, listened to Elglin's "back in the day"stories, but also did some of the following drills as well:


Spear vs 2 Poles Drill

We did this as an alternative to a spear bear bit.  One person has a spear while his two opponents have pole arms.  The pole arms line up next to each other and are required to remain planted in their positions (but are free to move their bodies, arms, head, weapon, etc.).  The spearman then takes shots at his two opponents who attempt to defend themselves.

I think we all liked the outcome of the drill as an alternative to spear dueling (which is also very good practice).  2 on 1 spears is often overwhelming for the single spearman, especially if they are below the level of one of the 2 opponents.  Using 2 pole arms gives the spearman a chance to figure out targeting against two opponents, while the opponents focus on defense not knowing which person the spearman is going to attack.


2 on 1

I've written a lot on the subject already, so I'd like to just highlight two mistakes that came up last night.

Mistake 1:  charging into the middle

The single fighter really needs to commit to one side or the other in order to turn the 2 on 1 fight into a 1 on 1 by getting his opponents to stand in front of each other.  The last thing he wants to do is to charge at one opponent in a position that is between both of them.


Mistake 2:  risky shots from a pole arm

In general when fighting a 2 on 1 scenario, you want to keep your defenses at a maximum and take safe shots on your opponent.  You have the advantage, so why give your opponent a chance to even the odds?

In a 2 poles vs shield scenario, keep the shield at range if you can.  You don't even have to be that mobile.  If he attacks to your side, simply move toward and behind your partner while attacking at full range.  If he's moving toward you, that means that your partner will have easy, safe opportunities to attack.


An alternative to this approach is to tie up the shield and turn him toward your partner.  When doing this, however, you have to fully commit to tying up his weapon and keeping yourself alive.  Again, the biggest mistake you can make is giving him a chance to kill you.  



5 Man 2 on 2 Resurrection Drill

The setup is pretty simple.  Begin with a 2 on 2 fight with a 5th person who waits at the resurrection point.  When the first person dies, he goes back and resurrects while forming a new team with the person who is waiting at the rez point.  The new team moves in and attacks who ever is available (with proper engagement rules).

The purpose of this drill is to learn to make quick team oriented decisions under stress.  In a matter of minutes you find yourself fighting in many different scenarios, combinations of weapons, 2 on 1, 1 on 1, being engaged from behind, etc.  Keep in mind, the key is to keep the fighting constant.  Don't stop, reset, and call lay on between each battle.

Every time we do this drill we have very positive feedback.  Its one of the rare times in SCA practice where we get to really engage our lizard brain and fight under chaotic (but controlled) circumstances.

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Southern Army Practice: Attacking on 45s and Pole Arm Fighting

Greetings,

For those reading this blog for the first time I'd like to begin by stating that the following are my thoughts and ideas on heavy fighting.  As the art of fighting itself is an ever evolving game, so are my own approaches toward it.  There is no one right answer, but as a wise man once told me, there are even more wrong answers!  =)


Southern Army Practice - recap

This past Sunday was the East Kingdom Southern Army practice, run by the southern region unbelted commander, Sterling.  First and foremost I'd like to say that it was a very well run, very productive and fun practice and I think we got the most we could have out of a January practice.

We began with 2 on 1 drills (keeping the same pairs together.  The 1 was always an experienced shieldman).  We then advanced to 3 on 2s before moving outside where there was a bit more room.  From there we moved to 4 on 3s, and then eventually I think we might have gotten as large as 5 on 6.
Total attendance was ~12 or so fighters of varying ability levels.


Attacking on 45s (and other lessons learned).

The key to winning a 2 on 1 engagement quickly and safely (ie without dying) is to attempt to engage the single fighter on 45s.  There was one situation where I noticed the pole fighter of the pair was attacking to the open side of his opponent while his partner (a shieldman) was standing directly in front of their opponent.  This was likely due to experience with single combat.  On their next engagement, the partner shifted 45 degrees off to the shield side of their opponent making the pair much more effective.  By shifting over to the 45 position, this exposes the entire left side of the opponent's body.  The only way to defend himself is to maneuver away from one of the fighters.



The key to winning as the single fighter is to try to turn the engagement in to a 1 on 1 fight by maneuvering to get one opponent to to stand in front of his partner.  If the pairs are doing their job correctly, they should never allow this to happen.  As the single fighter moves around, each person in the pair should be aware of their role in the 45s attack.  In general, which ever way the single fighter moves, the paired fighter on that side needs to be sure not to rotate in place, but rather to slide in the direction that the single is trying to move.  In essence, you are trying to "herd" the fighter, much like a sheep dog team or pride of lions would.



Pole Arm Fighting:

Rory brought up a good point at the practice with regard to pole arms.  Pole arms really should key off of the shields until they have reached a level of ability and confidence to be able to face champion level shieldmen by themselves.  What this generally means is that they should place themselves in positions where they have shields protecting them from getting run down by enemy shields, while being close enough to support their team in an instant.

From this position you are really looking for one of two things.  1)  Find the quickest "cheap shot" available to you.  If that's not available, then 2) hit an enemy anywhere above his knees.  Every now and then you'll hit him as he drops is guard, but more often than not you will prevent him from taking an easy swing at your teammates.


Most pole fighters will begin in this position.  There is an advanced technique that I want to present that I personally use, but understand that I have learned many hard lessons over the years fighting this way.  I will actually fight in front of the shields provided that I have the longest weapon in the engagement.  This accomplishes two things; 1)  It allows me to take free attacks on my opponent while they are at range and 2) it forces my opponent to commit to attacking me, which makes their maneuver predictable and makes it easier for my teammates to counter.  Talen and I were actually very successful with this in the 2 on 1s (I was fortunate enough to get a teammate who has fought with me a lot over the last year) as well as in the 3 on 2s with Talen and Simon.


This technique is also highly successful even with multiple poles/spears within the unit.  The trick is to figure out when a unit charging you is going to outmatch your poles/spears and kill you in quick fashion, or when you have an objective that requires and punch through the other line.  In those instances, the poles/spears need to get out of the way and let the shields do their job.  Also, you may be working with a unit that doesn't understand this strategy, in which case following your commander's plan/philosophy trumps whatever unorthodox technique you might have.  Nevertheless, if you live long enough in any open field battle, you will find yourself in a small skirmish situation like what we practiced last Sunday.  Every technique will find its place in battle if understood well.

Anyway, I am definitely looking forward to next month's practice!


Please feel free to read my other blog posts, particularly my melee fighter's manual: here











Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Singles in a 9 Foot Circle

This is the first post that I've shared on Facebook, so if you are reading this, please see some of my earlier posts.  I've got one on flanking, and another on melee tactics in general.

Having said that, I just got back from the East Kingdom Southern Region monthly practice and had a practice technique to share. We had 5 seasoned fighters tonight and did several rounds of a bear pit.  I fight singles with a 6 foot polearm and move around a lot on my feet.  Fighting against a shield can be very tiring, for both of us.

As we began to start another session, one of the fighters mentioned that he always gets tired fighting me, and in the interest of trying to focus more on fighting technique and less on making the practice a track meet, I suggested that we fight inside one of the 9 foot circles in the gym (used for basketball).  I needed to do some work on my inside game anyway.

The intent was only that we'd fight pole on shield that way, but the shieldmen seemed to enjoy doing it even against each other.  The mentality that we adopted was that "lay on" meant you were actively engaged in the fight.

Several positives came from this:

1)  It forced me to work on my inside game
2)  The fights ended quickly, so we got more fighting in
3)  Its good practice for the Birka tournament (which uses small arenas)
4)  Its good practice for melee where you often don't have the option to take a lot of time preparing your attacks.

There is also one additional positive that I think gets overlooked.  I've found that these kinds of scenarios teach you to think faster.  Often times in combat, things will happen to you that you just aren't mentally prepared for.  When you get into those situations, the lizard brain takes over and panic sets in.  When you train under these conditions, your body and your mind gets used to dealing with the stress and increases its ability to make quick decisions.

Then again........you can end up developing bad habits.  The key is to figure out when the practice is productive, and when its not.  I, for one, definitely got better and more comfortable fighting against these guys as the night progressed.

Check out my last post on flanking.

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Heavy Fighting - Flanking

I've put together a short guide to describe some basics on flanking with regard to heavy melee fighting.  I've learned these principles over years of fighting and I've noticed that a lot of fighters within a melee just don't have the experience to fully understand what is going on during the fight as it happens.

In short, control the flank by either getting into their backfield, or preventing them from getting into yours, be quick and mobile, and only attack when you have the advantage (dying quickly will not win your side any battles)

Anyway, click the link below for the full article.

Heavy Fighting - Flanking



See my previous post on intermediate melee tactics


Sunday, January 3, 2016

Intermediate Melee Combat Tactics

I'd always wanted to put together a guide to cover what I think should be the fundamentals of melee combat tactics.  About a month ago a did just that.

Enjoy!


Link:  Heavy Fighting - Intermediate Melee Combat Tacitcs






sample diagram:




Introduction

Greetings!

I've started this blog as a place to share my ideas on tactics as it pertains to heavy melee fighting in the SCA (though I may blog about singles fighting from time to time, if the motivation strikes me).  As of this writing I am the Warlord of Anglesey, a very successful celtic mercenary group that mostly resides within the borders of the northern region of Atlantia.  Where as most avid heavy fighters tend to focus on tourney fighting, Anglesey has focussed on melee fighting since the early 1980s.

Every practice I attend, I try to involve melee fighting as much as possible.  Whether or not this happens, we often will discuss melee tactics and philosophies.  As a result, we often find ourselves arriving on an "ah ha" moment (perhaps after passing an INT check on a D20?).  It's these moments that I'd like to capture in this blog.

Enjoy! - Barri of Anglesey