Where I live, tactics are rarely discussed. Of course, what's to discuss? Form a shield wall and go right, what else is there to say? Who ever hits first and hits the hardest, wins.
The Anglesey approach is much different than what standard units around these parts do. It has its plusses and minuses. The plus is that its more effective. It really is, at least more effective than most. Its like playing college basketball offenses against high school basketball defenses. The downside is that it takes time and dedication to learn. Forming a shield wall and going right can be learned in a day. What I'm about to describe takes years to understand the nuances of more advanced melee fighting.
There are stages of fighting that one must progress through in order to master the melee. In my opinion, most fighters never really get past the first stage.
1 - One on One
2 - Supporter
3 - Leader
Most people begin at the one on one stage. What this means is that if you see a person, you go and fight him with no concept of how it fits into the bigger picture of the battle. This also means that if you see a friend fighting someone, you tend to leave him alone and either watch until the fight is over, or look for someone else to fight. Often times in this stage, the fighter will charge at any one person on the field, even if that person has three friends backing him up. At other times, fighters will actually grab each other's attention and give a little nod like, "Hey, are you ready? You are? Okay, lets fight."
For some people, this stage lasts forever. If you are a unit or army commander with no interest in actually developing these fighters within the context of a melee, the best you can hope for is to teach them to "stick together" and listen to commands (usually either "charge," or some other phrase which means "don't charge").
I've come to expect new fighters, with proper training, to exit out of this stage within 10-15 events (counting each day at a multi day event has its own event). The next stage is the supporter. This is a fighter that doesn't really know what to do, but they know who does. Instead of running out and trying to find a one on one fight, they start watching the experienced fighters drawing attention, and then they run in and kill their opponents when the opportunity arrises.
Great examples would be when I fight with a sword and shield and have either Yangus or Rygus as my wingmen. Now to be clear, no one tells them to be my wingman. They just know by now to look for fighters to support, and we often find ourselves next to each other. Now, since I'm not a particularly great sword and shield fighter, I am often out matched when an enemy shield presses me. What I like to do is draw him in to me with my body movement and get him to turn the back of his head to my wingman who's fighting with a pole, giving that pole fighter an easy kill.
The final stage is to be a leader. This doesn't mean unit commander, but rather one who knows how to make things happen on the field. At this point, he should have other "supporters" watching and helping him out. Typically it takes probably 50 - 100 events to truly get to this level.
5 Fundamentals
This is what I wrote out at Denny's after practice.
1 - Support the Flanks
This is job #1. If your flanks drop, you're dead. So many units make fighting easy because they "stick together," which allows us to form a kill pocket. Keep enemy fighters out of your backfield, or if they do get into your backfield, contain them. Personally I prefer having the two best shieldmen on the flanks.
2 - Even Balance of Weapons and Strength
Spread your weapons and your strengths out evenly unless there is some clear objective that calls for a specific strategy (like the gate you need to defend is on your left and they are lining up a big bubba shield wall to crash into it). Clumping spears together allows the other side a weakness to run over. Clumping shields together in a static battle will give their spears easy targets. Putting all of your new fighters on the same flank will cause that flank to collapse. Etc.
3 - Asses Range Advantage
If they have archers and you don't, you need to press the attack before they can pick your line apart. If you have 4 veteran spears, and they have 2 novice spears, lull them into a static fight and pick them apart.
4 - Push at Least One Flank
Almost always you want to try to get them into a kill pocket. Ideally I like to use a pincer attack and move at both flanks, but sometimes it makes sense to only push on one side while trying to keep the other side stable. Sometimes you don't have the ability to push either side, so you do your best to control both sides, or reposition your unit somewhere else.
5 - Can you win, or will you lose?
Not every battle can be won. If their right flank is stacked with more talent than your left flank, then you have to do your best to draw out the fight and attempt to keep the flank stable. If you can win quickly, then win as quickly as you can because you might be losing somewhere else on the field. If you can't win, then try to survive. If survival is futile, then try to drag out the fight as long as possible and die in a position on the field that sets up the rest of your side for the greatest odds of winning.
When tourney fighting, you have to believe that you can beat anyone in front of you. In melee fighting, you want to avoid any situation where your odds of winning are not greatly in your favor. Stall the knight, kill his squires.
Tactics Cheat Sheet
#5 leads to a simple tactics cheat sheet that our warlord, Arundoor, put together. Its a nice way at looking at the decisions you should make given your tactical situation on the field.
Final Note
Anglesey has been going through a growth phase, which is a good thing. A lot of this growth has occurred within the borders of the East Kingdom. "Kinsmen" are our leaders, and lately we've been getting ~8-12 kinsmen fighting at Pennsic. Ideally we are strongest when at least half of our unit are kinsmen. We only have 2 kinsmen in the East, and until recently, 5 of our other 6 fighters in the kingdom were in stage 1. Anglesey tactics don't work well for that kind of mix of talent, but we always believe in the long game. I fully expect this same group of guys to "hold their own" this year and develop into some real killing machines in just a few short years.
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