Pennsic - Part 4 - Bridge Battles

The Bog (Anglesey, The Concusare, Galatia) fighting with Atlantia did well in the bridge battles this year.  We historically do well on bridges for a few reasons.  We have a lot of really good spears.  We have a few shields who know how to fight from the front rank.  We have poles and shield who know how to support the spears, and we have a good system of fighting.  We were one of the first "spears to the front" units dating back to the late 80s/early 90s when conventional wisdom had shields in the front with spears trying to shoot from behind them.

Working Together

We found it very frustrating fighting in the MOAB battle when on the attacking side.  Too many SCA people would get mixed in with our group, and they just don't work the way we do, and its very hard to be effective.  Kinsman Karuk pushed for us having our own frontage when we fought the bridges so that we could keep The Bog together without too much mingling with other fighters.  We negotiated with Atlantia to give us a piece of the bridges they were on, with us taking the right side and them taking the left.

Our first battle went well, but we had a few Atlantian shields mixed in our front rank that were difficult to work around.  In the next three battles we did a much better job at clearing them out after the initial charge, but fell off of that on the 5th battle (which was our worst battle).

Starting the Battle

Always begin the battle with a shield wall.  If you begin with spears up front, and they begin with a shield wall, they will run you right over.  Always start with a shield wall, and if the battle is a timed battle for control of the middle, charge that shield wall as fast as you can right across the bridge.

Spears to the Front

Once the line is set, the key to the battle is going to be getting as many of your spears on the front line as possible, BUT with plenty of space between them so that they can work.  Too many spears get in each others way, they plug up lanes for potential pulse or column charges, and they can' t retreat back into their own ranks when receiving a charge (see the top unit in the diagram below).

Oh, and one piece I can't emphasize enough;  get your shields out of the front rank.  If you aren't anchoring a particular spot on the bridge for some reason, or your shields don't effectively know how to get kills from the front line, then get them out of the front rank.  They are just taking up space and preventing your spears from being able to work.  They aren't "protecting" anyone.  They are just in the way.

Exceptions can be made for the rare shieldmen who actually know how to jump into a line of spears and get a few kills.  The vast majority of shieldmen can't do this.

Spears - Shields - Poles

Upon establishing the spear line, the next two ranks need to be organized.  The second rank should be shields, so that a charge can be repelled, or so that they can charge out of the second rank when the opportunity arrises.  Examples would include when the other side has too many spears in the front rank (such that they can't retreat easily), the other side has two ranks of spears (easy kills), or the other side has weakened and territory can be gained with a charge.  The third rank should be poles as they can effectively back up a shield wall.

If the unit receives a charge, the spears melt back into the 3rd rank as the shields and poles push past them.  If the unit wishes to charge, the same exact method applies.

Badly Organized Front Line

We did very well in the bridge battles this year, but the 5th battle we were poorly organized.  We allowed too many shields to plug up the front ranks.  My apologies to the shieldmen in this picture, they were doing what they thought was right and we, the commanders, failed to get the line organized correctly.

I count 5 shields and a pole in the front rank, and only 4 spears, who were crowding each other.  We had not captured the bridge for the point, yet, and there was no way it was going to happen with the way we were disorganized in this line.

As I've been learning in the last couple of years, working together and individual prowess can go a long way, but good command and good organization can account for quite a lot!