If you haven't read the previous post, please do so, as that shows a nice tactical progression from 1v1 all the way up through 3v4 and 4v3.
By the time I had finished that blog, it was time for the next regional melee practice. We did this one at a local renaissance faire and were able to draw a nice crowd watching us on the hillside, which was very nice. On the day we did some singles, some 2v2 fights, and some drills, but I think the highlight of the day were several 6v7 single death field battles (I believe we had some 7v7, and 7v8, but to keep things a little simple, I'll focus mostly on the 6v7 for this post).
The Setup
Two teams with a defined field that was maybe proportionally a little bigger than what you see below. The field was wide enough that it wasn't a bridge, wide enough that either side could break up into two separate units, but narrow enough that fighters couldn't really just run away from the fight and sneak around into the backfield.
The green team (actually we were purple) consisted of three shields, a medium pole, a long pole (6'8"), and a 9 foot spear. The red (yellow) team had four shields, a shorter axe, a medium pole, and a two sword fighter. Sizes, speeds, and ability levels were varied across the field.
Some General Principles
This follows pretty well from the last blog post on smaller teams.
To quote from that post:
"Best Decisions (each one is a unique tactic):
-Surrounding the enemy with all fighters engaged
-Sticking together and amassing the unit around one flank
-Spreading out and finding opportunities for mismatch kills (shield charges spear, 2v1, etc.)
-Denying one flank while attacking the other"
"Worst Decisions
-Turtling up and taking it
-Fighters not staying engaged
-Spreading out with no ability to stay engaged (a disorganized mess)"
Below are some hypothetical examples of how these battles often play out with my assessment of whether or not the team is applying a good tactic or a bad one.
Keep in mind, as I said in the previous post, that some tactics are usually bad, while the remaining "good" ones often only work if you can properly predict a bad response from your opponent. For example, sending a mass of fighters around the right flank definitely works if the opposing team's left flank doesn't respond. If they do respond with an envelopment, then it really comes down to which team executes better. If both teams use sound tactics, then it becomes a chess match of figuring out what will work out best for you against your opponent.
Considering Weapons Mix
Let's revisit the setup picture. Which team has the advantage with range weapons?
The green team has three long weapons compared to red's two long weapons. Additionally, green's long weapons were longer (green had the only spear on the field plus the longest pole).
Often times these fights will break down into some long weapons' dueling on either team, with the shields serving more of a support role. Red had made the decision to push for an in your face engagement in order to neutralize the green team's long weapons, which I believe was the right decision and one that worked out well for them.
Tactics Employed that Day
In every scenario, red was pretty aggressive at lay on. They mostly attempted to either send all of the troops to the right, perform an attack right - deny left, or split up into two units on the edges of the field.
Green tried to get off ranged shots before the shields got into range. If red went all in on their right, green would try to envelop. If red left smaller numbers of fighters on their left, green would try to beat them quickly and then quickly rejoin the rest of its unit.
Notes on Denying a Flank
Green struggled to secure the left flank. Later in the day Sir Galvin helped with the flank and got them to do a nice retreat which allowed the right enough time to win its flank and then join up with the left.
Remember, denying the flank doesn't mean that you need to win the flank, only that you need to keep the flank from getting around you and into the backfield, and if you do lose, that you lose slowly. A slow retreat can accomplish the same goal. You'll note in the picture below that though red has pushed the flank back, it never really got around it.
Spear Movement
A question came up yesterday about spearing in this situation. The bottom line is the spear needs to be very mobile and always have a good idea where the enemy is coming from. It's a bad idea to let the enemy out of your sight for too long.
As the swirling tidy bowl often forms, you end up with this kind of S shape on the field (if you aren't familiar, a lot of battles end up with a counter clockwise rotation on the field, has both teams tend to be stronger on their right flank, and weaker on their left flank due to the right handed nature of most shield fighters). The spear needs to be careful not to get caught with the enemy coming behind and from the left. Often the spear needs to move either to its right or left to prevent this from happening.
Notes on Center Position
When talking about the "center" position, I'm really talking about fighting in the eventual gap that forms once the units break. I had a discussion last night with a veteran melee shieldman (Arundoor) and we both talked about how we prefer this position as it allows us to better influence the outcome of the battle.
Having said that, it is probably a position for a fighter of a certain level of experience/prowess. Most fighters would likely feel more comfortable fighting within a smaller defined group of people (like a triad, or the center of a small group of 4 or 5 fighting on a flank). Fighting the gap requires good field awareness and mobility.
Observed Trends
One thing I've noticed over the last 7 years since I've really started paying attention to tactics is provided that both teams have at least one experienced competent melee fighter and have the flexibility to make adjustments (ie they were not instructed by someone to use a specific tactic), these battles almost always end up with each side splitting into a left unit and a right unit on both sides.
Many years ago, as I said in my last post, we were taught that the flanking maneuver was "the way" to win these battles. Again, I agree that that is an effective tactic provided that the opponent doesn't know how to counter, and often times they don't. Especially if you are at a big war and your opponents are a collection of fighters who don't usually fight together, and half of them haven't put on a helmet in months.
But when you have a group full of active fighters who are motivated, it doesn't usually take long for one side to figure out how to counter. If you bunch up and charge right, we're going to see that and should be able to get behind you pretty easily ("should" is the operative word).
Side note to this: There was a point in time when I thought that a collection of fighters should be able to figure this out on the fly. Over the years, I've been in situations where the best tactic really was to put them together in a block and point them at something, as the average fighter on the field just did not have the experience to move and adapt well on the fly.
Some Notes on 2v2
We did some 2v2s yesterday and discussed some of our tactics afterward. I believe everyone realized that ultimately the 2v2s were going to break down into two 1v1s. One of the teams said that when they fought, they focused on how they wanted to match their fighters up against their opponents to give them the best odds of winning one of the 1v1 fights quickly.
Another tactic that was pointed out to me was since I was fighting with a pole and like to thrust on the oblique a lot, one of my opponents made it his job to pull me away from his teammate so that I would not be within thrusting range.
There are lots of little nuances like this that are endless, which is part of what makes this game so fun.
Thank You
Special thanks to Myq and the Barony of Carilion for organizing and hosting us, to Sir Ryu for marshaling, providing feedback, and keeping the crowd engaged, and to Sir Galvin for leading and motivating the melee fighters throughout the day. And, of course, to everyone else who keeps coming to these practices to make them happen. Right now this is, IMO, the best game in town!
THL Bari of Anglesey
East Kingdom
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