Lots of thoughts on the battle, but first and foremost, here's a video that gives a good aerial view of the fighting. Really cool stuff!
Aerial View Video
Spears
If you take a look at the video, you can see that there are spears everywhere. This kind of battle, a limited front resurrection battle, is always going to come down to the number and effectiveness of spears and archers, yet so few people put much time into practicing their spears. A well practiced veteran spear in a battle like this can have a 5:1 to 10:1 kill ratio. Not only that, he can get well over 50, or even a 100 kills. I say this all the time; if you want to get better as a unit, practice your spears!
A friend of mine said he wanted to watch what I did on the field to get a sense of how I find good places to fight. As a result, I made sure I took a mental note of the kinds of things I look for.
Find a Safe Spot to Attack Spears on an Angle
So here's an example of a good fighting spot that I found pretty early on:
I'm represented by the white spear in the middle. To my right were a handful of spears stacked up against each other with a handful of shields straight across from me. Essentially I had a really good position where I could attack these spears on the oblique while not really being in any danger of having someone attack me.
Find a Bunch of Unprotected Poles and Shields
In this situation you can see that I'm really unopposed. I can take unlimited shots against the pole and shields without any concern for getting killed. If they charge, which always takes a bit of organization (which I can usually pick up before it happens), and can just sink back behind my line and let our shields and poles engage them. Also, something to note, the charges are few and far between in a 100 minute resurrection battle (its too tiring), so there's less threat here than, say, a single death field battle.
Challenge the Spear God
If a "Spear God" goes unchallenged, he or she can really rack up a lot of kills for the other team. If you see one on the other side, it might be a good idea to put a spear on him in order to slow up his kills. Lets say, for example, he's a "level 10" spear and you are a "level 5" spear (I'm using made up D&D levels to illustrate a point), if left alone, he might get 10 kills for every 5 kills that you get somewhere else. However, if you challenge him by standing within range, you might slow him down to 1 or 2 kills within that same time period.
When engaging a "Spear God," however, you really need to come in with your top focus, and top defense. I'm about as experienced as any spearmen out there, but I have a list of about 10 spears that I remember that when I see them, I absolutely bring my A+ game to the field.
From the other end, I also noticed that after having a good run of kills, a veteran fighter would step up from the other side and put a spear on me. Every time it happened, it really slowed down my progress. One friend of mine who is an excellent fighter, but not an extremely experienced spearman, did just this many times. He was smart enough to drop out of my range every time I faced him, but would creep up on me every time I turned to target someone on an angle. I only managed one kill on him for the day, but he kept me from getting many kills because I couldn't ignore him.
When engaging a "Spear God," however, you really need to come in with your top focus, and top defense. I'm about as experienced as any spearmen out there, but I have a list of about 10 spears that I remember that when I see them, I absolutely bring my A+ game to the field.
From the other end, I also noticed that after having a good run of kills, a veteran fighter would step up from the other side and put a spear on me. Every time it happened, it really slowed down my progress. One friend of mine who is an excellent fighter, but not an extremely experienced spearman, did just this many times. He was smart enough to drop out of my range every time I faced him, but would creep up on me every time I turned to target someone on an angle. I only managed one kill on him for the day, but he kept me from getting many kills because I couldn't ignore him.
Look for a Bulge in the Line
Any time you can see a bend in the line, you can often find good kill opportunities right at the peak of that bend.
Here would have been a great spot for a spear to stand in order to get some good attack opportunities on the two fighters at the peak of this bulge.
Learn how to Handle Archers
I learned much of my spear fighting from about 1994 - 2004, before I took a decade off from fighting. One of the biggest changes when I got back into the game was the increase in archery. It used to be that if you were a good spearman, you could just get right up in the front line and stay there as long as you knew where all of the spear threats were. For the most part, those days are gone!
I've really worked on my archer defense over the last 9 months. I really got lit up at 100 Minutes last year, but still thought that getting hit by an arrow was just something that happened to you. It wasn't until I got about 20 minutes into the ravine battle at Gulf Wars (which was just swarming with archery) that I decided that I really needed to change my whole approach. Did I improve? Well, in the last month I had three different archers tell me that I'm really hard to hit. I don't think they would have said that a year ago. And I can say confidently that I probably got killed 1/10th as much by arrows this year than I did at the same event last year.
The biggest thing I learned about archers is that they like high percentage shots. You don't have to make yourself impossible to hit, You just need to make yourself harder to hit than some other target on the field. There's a few ways to do that.
- Always note where they are. They will watch your eyes and know when you are looking at them. If they know that you are aware of them, they are less likely to shoot at you,
- Get into a defensive position when they aim at you. Again, if they take aim, pointing your spear at them and getting ready to dodge will often make them pass on the shot. It'll also get you ready to block or dodge if they do shoot.
- Don't move in predictable patterns. This is actually a good thing for fighting against anyone ,let alone archers. Some spears will move almost like ballroom dancers. Target, step, shoot, recover. Target, step, shoot, recover. 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4. Target, step......crap, I got shot.
- When ever you need to step back and take a break, look for the archers. If you get on a really good run and kill 2-3 guys in quick fashion. Stop and look for the archers. If they aren't there, get back to work. If you see one, try to see if he's paying attention to you. If he is, wait until he shoots at someone else. If he won't leave you alone, find a different spot.
I've really worked on my archer defense over the last 9 months. I really got lit up at 100 Minutes last year, but still thought that getting hit by an arrow was just something that happened to you. It wasn't until I got about 20 minutes into the ravine battle at Gulf Wars (which was just swarming with archery) that I decided that I really needed to change my whole approach. Did I improve? Well, in the last month I had three different archers tell me that I'm really hard to hit. I don't think they would have said that a year ago. And I can say confidently that I probably got killed 1/10th as much by arrows this year than I did at the same event last year.
The biggest thing I learned about archers is that they like high percentage shots. You don't have to make yourself impossible to hit, You just need to make yourself harder to hit than some other target on the field. There's a few ways to do that.
- Always note where they are. They will watch your eyes and know when you are looking at them. If they know that you are aware of them, they are less likely to shoot at you,
- Get into a defensive position when they aim at you. Again, if they take aim, pointing your spear at them and getting ready to dodge will often make them pass on the shot. It'll also get you ready to block or dodge if they do shoot.
- Don't move in predictable patterns. This is actually a good thing for fighting against anyone ,let alone archers. Some spears will move almost like ballroom dancers. Target, step, shoot, recover. Target, step, shoot, recover. 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4. Target, step......crap, I got shot.
- When ever you need to step back and take a break, look for the archers. If you get on a really good run and kill 2-3 guys in quick fashion. Stop and look for the archers. If they aren't there, get back to work. If you see one, try to see if he's paying attention to you. If he is, wait until he shoots at someone else. If he won't leave you alone, find a different spot.
Fighting with Sword and Shield
In battles like these, there is one major flaw that at least half of the shieldmen have. They have a habit of coming up to the line and standing just inside of spear range. Most shields would die far less often if they'd stand 12" back from where they normally stand. There are rare exceptions to this, Duke Edward being one of them, as well as a handful of guys in Anglesey, where the shieldman can stand in the front rank and defend himself while preparing for an attack of opportunity. If you have no plan for that, then you shouldn't be on the line (additional note, Count Thorson is also really good at making himself a target on the front line to occupy other spears, but his defenses are good enough that he can pull this off).
The exception to this rule for all shields is that if your side runs out of spears, you have no choice but to hold the line and try to weather the assault.
Look at this video.
Just after the 50 second mark you can see 3 shields on the right side standing right inside spear range. Eventually one gets legged, while the other gets popped in the face.
Now you might wonder, if not standing on the front line defending spears, what should a shieldman be doing? Well, there are a few things. One is to back up your spears. Early on in the war, I got run down by a shieldman and killed. When I turned to resurrect, I saw that no one was standing behind me. Had there been some shields and poles back there, that guy never would have charged. And if he did, he would have paid for it!
Another is too stack up a bunch of shields and then column charge into the other side. This is very effective at taking ground in most battles. The problem is, in a resurrection battle such as this where there is no banner to capture, the shields that do this need to ensure that they are creating more kills than they are taking. Most shields that charge in this manner will charge until they die. I think it is more effective to charge, get a few swings in, and then recover to a safe place (a pulse charge). This accomplishes a few things. It gets a few kills, it opens up a few opportunities for the spears, and it makes the opponents wary of future charges, which hinders their effectiveness.
When this is done, however, the shields must clear out after the pulse is over. Too often I've seen shields pulse, and then clog up the front rank after they've finished.
The best thing a shield can do, however, is to do a solo pulse and run down the line. Duke Edward was doing this a lot, and I'd often see him get upwards of 7 kills in the process.
Look at this video.
Just after the 50 second mark you can see 3 shields on the right side standing right inside spear range. Eventually one gets legged, while the other gets popped in the face.
Now you might wonder, if not standing on the front line defending spears, what should a shieldman be doing? Well, there are a few things. One is to back up your spears. Early on in the war, I got run down by a shieldman and killed. When I turned to resurrect, I saw that no one was standing behind me. Had there been some shields and poles back there, that guy never would have charged. And if he did, he would have paid for it!
Another is too stack up a bunch of shields and then column charge into the other side. This is very effective at taking ground in most battles. The problem is, in a resurrection battle such as this where there is no banner to capture, the shields that do this need to ensure that they are creating more kills than they are taking. Most shields that charge in this manner will charge until they die. I think it is more effective to charge, get a few swings in, and then recover to a safe place (a pulse charge). This accomplishes a few things. It gets a few kills, it opens up a few opportunities for the spears, and it makes the opponents wary of future charges, which hinders their effectiveness.
When this is done, however, the shields must clear out after the pulse is over. Too often I've seen shields pulse, and then clog up the front rank after they've finished.
The best thing a shield can do, however, is to do a solo pulse and run down the line. Duke Edward was doing this a lot, and I'd often see him get upwards of 7 kills in the process.
Look at this video.
At about 2:30, you see the shieldman on the left in the foreground step right up to the front line within spear range. I would normally say that this is not a good position, but he started putting pressure on the flank and eventually moved in to attack. I'm not sure if he got the kill, but he did die in the process. The result may not have been the best, but he had the right idea. Maybe he'll be more effective next time, or maybe after some more experience he'll be effective *most* of the time.
Right after the 3:10 mark, the other side stacks up their shields and charges. I can't tell from the video, but I didn't see a lot of dead people coming out of the back. Again, the key here is not just to charge into a kill pocket. You need to get kills and stay alive!
In the previous video (here), right at 21 seconds you can see a solo charge coming from the middle of the uphill team. Notice how he finds his opportunity, dives right into it, and then runs down the line.
In the previous video (here), right at 21 seconds you can see a solo charge coming from the middle of the uphill team. Notice how he finds his opportunity, dives right into it, and then runs down the line.
The Learning Process and Having Fun
Its not all about winning. We didn't have a lot of veterans come up to this event. I had a handful of new guys who each had 0-5 events under their belts. Anglesey is a strong, cohesive unit, but we also pride ourselves in having a lot of autonomy and individual abilities in melee. Rather than have the whole group stick together, I really think it was more fruitful for them to go out and play, find different areas to fight in, try different things, etc. The last thing I want is for a shieldman to come to his first event and be forced to follow me around to all of the spots that are best for me.
As for myself, I saw that Sir Moe was at the event at about the half way mark. He's an amazing spearman, and I really wanted to challenge myself, so I went and fought across from him for the second half of the battle, taking a small break to go and get a sniper kill on a friend of mine over on the left side. =)
All in all, it was a great day. Thanks to everyone who made it happen!
As for myself, I saw that Sir Moe was at the event at about the half way mark. He's an amazing spearman, and I really wanted to challenge myself, so I went and fought across from him for the second half of the battle, taking a small break to go and get a sniper kill on a friend of mine over on the left side. =)
All in all, it was a great day. Thanks to everyone who made it happen!
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