photo by Ursus
The fighting was mostly done on a relatively steep hill and all of the scenarios were resurrection battles of some form or another. We began with a woods battle (which was more like a maze battle in paths cut out of thick brush), an open field rez battle, a control point town battle with obstacles, a bridge battle, and then two fort battles.
We had a total of 20 fighters, but most battles were probably closer to about 15-18 fighters on a side, not always with even numbers. Our side consisted almost entirely of Anglesey while the other side had our remaining Bog Celts (Galatia, Concusare, Prechain) plus some tuchux and a handful of SCA kingdom fighters.
There was a pretty wide range of fighter experience and age, but virtually every one had at least a solid 20-30 melee events and practices under their belts, so as one Atlantian guest commented, "there was no chaff on the field," that you normally expect at a melee event.
Unlike most standard SCA melee events, at least in this part of the country, neither side had more than 50% shields. Anglesey had more spears, while the other side had a mix of spears and archers (normally three archers) which probably made the biggest difference tactically.
Woods Battle
I don't really have much to comment on this one. The woods were paths between thick brush with one team on the uphill side and the other on the downhill side. When I fought, the other team had the uphill side. With three archers on their side, there wasn't much we could really do other than try to create kill pockets and try to spear around the corners rather than to stand directly in front of the archers. We may have stood a chance if we were a unit of only shields, but even then we'd have been charging up a fairly steep hill, and they would have been smart enough to form kill pockets at the path intersections.
The nice thing about resurrection battles is that they are almost always fair fights as the front line just gets pushed away from the resurrection point of the better team until an equilibrium is reached, so despite being a little overwhelmed, it was still a very good fight and a lot of fun.
One valuable lesson to take away from the fight is that if you are in a battle and have the option to avoid that situation, I would recommend avoiding it.
Open Field Rez Battle
One of the keys to open field resurrection battles is that the flanks absolutely must be controlled. In the Pennsic Allied Champions Battles that I've been part of, most points are scored from the right flank. The opponent is whittled down by spears on the right, hopefully faster than your left flank is losing ground, and then shields will occasionally capitalize on a weakness in the line before making a push for the flag. While it doesn't hurt to have a strong middle, pushing up through the middle only pushes your side into a kill pocket.
Now those are capture the flag battles. This weekend we fought a four life attrition battle, which has some similarities but also some differences. Pushing toward the other side's backfield doesn't accomplish the same goal if there is no flag to capture. What you are trying to do is find opportunities where a small number of your fighters can overwhelm and out position a smaller number of their fighters, pushing them into kill pockets, and then capitalizing on it with either range attacks or closing with the shields, all the while being aware of enemy combatants returning from the resurrection point.
This battle had a pretty interesting feature being that we were fighting on a slant. To our left was a significantly steep incline, which would have been to our opponent's right. Both resurrection points were at the bottom of the hill. Most of the fighting, as I said, seemed to take place on the flanks. I was on the uphill side trying to curl their left flank but found myself to be, in my opinion, outmatched by the quality and mix of fighters that they had also trying to take the hill. Meanwhile we did a great job pressing on our right flank at the bottom of the hill, leading with our best shieldman, but the other side was doing a great job of countering by pulling their line back toward their resurrection point.
The other side won the scenario decisively due to good fighting and good tactical decisions, but also having an advantage in weapon types (three archers). More importantly, at least from a tactical perspective and understanding terrain, I think that having the rez points at the bottom of the hill, and having the hill on their right flank worked to their advantage. The right flank typically has an advantage on either team, but adding a hill advantage once they turn their right flank, and a rez point effectively "defending" their left flank were additional features that were difficult to overcome.
If there's anything I would have tried differently, it would be to have assigned one of our better defensive shieldmen to protecting our left flank, or possibly even moving our best shieldman up the hill to see if he could use it to his advantage.
Comment on resurrecting in groups: This was recommended by several people and it is something I actually don't agree with. There are already groups of people out there. Why wait at your rez point for two more fighters to join up with when you can just walk out onto the field and find two fighters to join up with? And if you find yourself in a situation where you are outmatched by a group of fighters and are all by yourself, then just walk backwards toward your rez point until others join up with you.
Waiting to join up with others only keeps your fighters out of the fight for longer periods of time, IMO.
Town Battle
This was a timed unlimited resurrection battle on a hill with a control point. A stop was called every few minutes and whomever controlled the point was awarded a point. The buildings were small (a few feet by a few feet) wooden structures that could be fought over and around. Again, the team with the high ground had a big advantage, this time being us.
The biggest lesson from this fight is, again, the flanks are the key to the fight. Pushing up the middle gets you into a kill pocket, while working the flank can push your opponent into a kill pocket.
On both flanks we had newer (a few years experience) shieldman who didn't fully understand how to hold the position. They were actually doing something that most SCA shieldman are taught, and it is 100% wrong.
Both extreme flanks, with rare exception, should have a shiledman on that flanking position. His job is to defend that flank itself, not his teammates on the flank. That means that his foot should be on the boundary line, regardless of where his teammates are (unless, of course, there are no opponents to defend the flank from in that position).
Additionally, not only do I want our shieldmen to understand the importance of holding that position, but also that they should be looking for it on the field when they come back from rez point. If there's a gap on either flank, it needs to be filled. Furthermore, the job is only to defend, unless you have a clear advantage, rather than to attack. In one case we had a newer fighter engage the shieldman in front of him, in this case the shieldman being someone with three decades of experience. The odds of winning that fight are low, and the consequences of losing is the dismantling of our previously secure flank.
Taking Ground and Falling Back
In any control point or objective capture rez battle you have to balance the pros and cons of moving the line forward. The benefits, or course, are getting closer to your objective, or pushing them further away from theirs, which means that if they can break the through the line or make a big push, your side will of time to adjust. The down side is that you will be further away from your rez point and they will be closer to theirs, which means that they will be feeding reinforcements much more quickly and fatiguing themselves from less required walking.
Another factor to consider is terrain features and overall line consistency and shape. Pushing from the flanks is generally a better option than pushing up the middle and into a kill pocket. Pushing to fortifiable positions is generally better than pushing into an open field, or worse, into a position where they can surround you, or have some sort of terrain advantage like up onto a hill.
Never be afraid to fall back. This is a problem that a lot of tourney fighters have. Tourney fighting requires you to stand up to the biggest of challenges and to do your best to win the fight. In the melee, on the other hand, it is often better to avoid those fights. As I wrote in my last blog, one of the best things you can do tactically is to be able to identify what you will have a hard time beating. On the field, you avoid these fights, or attempt to drag them out. In a rez, you generally want to fall back closer to your rez point. If professional football players can punt, heavy fighters can fall back.
This weekend I felt like we had a good fortifiable position to push up toward, so whenever we had the chance, we did. We never got beat from this position, but I did call many withdrawals (fallbacks) when I saw that the other side had the advantage at our position.
Controlling Areas with a Spear
You've likely heard that you aren't fighting the guy in front of you with your spear, but rather the guy next to him. Well, that's half right. You are fighting both, but more importantly, you are really fighting to control an area. Simply moving in an out of positions and pointing your spear at people poses a threat that they have to deal with.
Other Thoughts on the Day
In the remaining battles, we had some small bridges and breaches to get through. The other team had superior archery to ours, so it was clear that we had to push through the breaches. Not only did coordinated charges need to be called, but the entire unit needed to follow the charge through the breach to support the chargers and to make sure that we don't lose our opportunity. I've found that this requires a "Go! Go! Go! Get through the breach!" to be called. This sends the message to everyone what our objective is. I can tell you as an old, undersized spearman, I do not like charging it to the enemy if I'm not certain I'll have the support of my unit with me. Hearing this command called fills everyone with confidence and makes the charge more effective.
Being on the other side of the breach gave us a much better chance than standing there and getting picked apart by archers.
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