Baron Girard in Armor

After the devastating morning where I had to bury my favorite cat, Gandalf, I’m in debt to my Baronial Army for allowing me some martial therapy Sunday afternoon.

I’m so proud of them.  We really were fighting by about 1:15, and everyone was warmed up and ready to go by the time 2:00 rolled around.  We were able to work on some charging drills, talk about some goals for the army, and learn quite a bit.  Thank you as well to Sir Falcone for taking a leadership roll on Sunday, as my mind wasn’t quite 100% in it.  Twelve fighters doesn’t sound like a huge turnout for a Baronial Practice, but let me stress that this is the start.  It was the first one we’ve had all year, and that number will only grow as Pennsic looms closer.  That said, don’t underestimate what a dozen well trained and disciplined shiledmen can do.

We charged each other so well and so many times that my shield arm was sore.  That doesn’t happen at Pennsic folks, so let that show that we’re training harder than we’ll fight.  Ulrich also nailed my right hip quite well, right where the armor wasn’t, so the walk into work today was spent stretching that out and walking it off.

Great practice folks, I’ll see you all next month.

(Special thanks to Lady Zita for the picture.)

Let’s say the situation comes down to 2 relatively less experienced fighters vs. 1 fighter with relatively more experience.  We’ll call it 2 squires vs. 1 knight.  What the knight wants to do is string out the two un-belts so that he can have 2 single fights.  If the knight can accomplish, even for a couple seconds, a one-on-one with an un-belt, he’ll look to kill or leg that un-belt then move off to clean up the other one.

Of course, the two squires have a much better shot at killing said knight if they can both attack him at the same time.  Actually, any two fighters that are out of the “novice” bracket should be able to kill just about any white belt they can catch together.

So, watch what happens.  Sir Killer (red w/ white stripe) is looking at Squire Green (green w/ red stripe) and Squire Meat (blue w/red stripe) from the House of Green Eggs and Ham.  Sir Killer is going to quickly size up the two squires, and try to figure out which is the weaker.  He will run to that side of the formation.  In our situation, Squire Meat is the weaker guy.  (See Illustration 1.)

Illustration 1

Reactions to this vary.  In the “realy bad” department, they will just turn.  At that point, Sir Killer has two easy kills lined up.  If he’s feeling sneaky, he can charge Squire Meat and actually throw a shot at Squire Green.  Should such a thing happen, you’ll usually see Sir d’Oeuf, the guy who gave red belts to Meat and Green, on the side of the field crying into his glass of wine and considering when to have household ass wrap practice.  (See Illustration 2)

Illustration 2

In the “still quite bad department”, Squire Green will try to go around Squire Meat on his Left side, following the Knight.  If the knight in question is of the older, slower variety, and the Squires of the newer, faster varieties, this may work.  Also, if they already had their back to the wall (‘wall’ being the out of bounds line or other obstacle) this may be the only if not the best solution.  If done quickly, you can trap the knight against that wall and kill him.  In that situation, Squire Meat should be 90% defensive and the killing blow should come from Squire Green as he closes.  However, in an open field situation, this is not the right motion.  (See Illustration 3)

Illustration 3

The right motion is to “cut the corner” or “head him off at the pass”.  It’s shorter by half at least, and most of the time, will have you crashing into the knight as his momentum takes him past your squire brother.  At this point, you’ve successfully denied the knight his one off fight.  You have two on one, so both of you should be raining blows down upon the knight, forcing him to block blows from opposite sides at the same time (or get out). (See Illustration 4).

Illustration 4

There are three possible motions that you may see at this point assuming the knight has survived the barrage.  First is, the knight continues on his first course of motion, and now seeks to isolate the guy who just cut him off.  The counter to that is, Squire Meat has to pull off what his comrade just accomplished – he has to cross behind and cut Sir Killer off at the pass.   Following on the knight’s heals only works if you are much faster than he is, so don’t do that.  (See Illustration 5)

Illustration 5

The second course is that Sir Killer may reverse direction, and attempt to roll around the other side of Squire Meat  (See Illustration 6).  This is the riskiest of all possible options, for both the knight and the two squires.  Squire Green has to make a choice – does he throw a shot at the knight as he tries to get away (usually opening himself up to parting shots) or does he simply book ass back behind his comrade (the opposite of the motion he just did)?  The answer has to be made in that split second.  The first option is more aggressive, and should be undertaken on knights who move slower than you.  The second option is more defensive, and should be undertaken on occasions where the knight is much better than the average white belt.  Squire Meat can make this a bit easier on his buddy if he can push “out” (or towards the right in our situation).  This makes Sir Killer’s path longer, and Squire Green’s path shorter.

Illustration 6

The last option for our Knight here is to retreat.  They will tend to make a retreat along a “J” or “C” type path, where he both backs out and curves toward the side of one fighter or the other.  (See Illustration 7)  Sir Killer’s goal here is to see who runs faster, and try to get you strung out again.  If he successfully escapes, don’t go rushing to follow and thereby leave your comrade behind.  If he gets all the way to the side of your formation, the guy in the back needs to cut the corner again and keep both of you on him.  Advance at him with the pace of the slowest guy, stay together, and don’t let him string you out.  If you get that glory hound howling behind your eyes, trying to run him down while he’s running backwards, you will leave your buddy behind and both of you will most likely die.

Illustration 7

While you are in the two on one, watch out for the “blind” shot.  Just because the knight is in front of your buddy, fighting with him, doesn’t mean he won’t throw a shot at you without looking at you.  He’s got you in the corner of his eye (how do you think he’s blocking all your shots?), and when he see’s enough bar grill open up, he’s going to shoot for it.

Most of the time, in larger melees, this is kind of stupid.  If one person can tie up two for any significant length of time, he’s won, regardless of who’s alive and who’s dead.  However, you may be called upon to do this in cases where an opposing spearman is chewing up our flanks and causing a lot of casualties.  Also, this might be the best way to open a hole so that another force can charge through for a shot at an enemy commander or archer.  In those situations, it’s important to realize how far you need to go, and not chase the singleton across the field.  Once they’ve moved off, let them go.  If they come back, we’ll have you charge them again.

Why no tactics for a 3 or 4 on 1 situation?  Because the only time that should happen is at the very end of a “last man standing” type battle.  There’s very little reason to tie up more than two people trying to kill one enemy.  If you find yourself in such a situation, just make sure you stay together and mob the person.  Kill them as quickly as humanly possible, and keep throwing power until you hear good or they are on the ground, then move on.  You got caught by a speed bump, the least you can do is hit the gas afterwards.

Windmasters' envelops another unit at Pennsic 35

“Make yourself a short sword with a thrusting tip, and bring it to war.”  How many times have I heard that…?  Each time, I roll my eyes and look away.

Why?  Why is that such horrible advice?  Well, it’s based on the idea that when two units crash into one another, personal space is tough to find.  In those moments, hopefully, with a shorter sword that is thrusting tip equipped, you may be able to thrust someone in the face and get a kill.  Sounds great right?

The trick is, if you are a shieldman in a charge, or a press, or a scrum (or whatever you call it), your job isn’t to kill people -at least not with your sword.  You job is to move people, with your shield and your body.  Your job is to stay alive, press to the back field, keep the spears and polearms alive, and deliver them to the back field.  If your sword is not blocking your face, you’ve opened yourself up to face thrusts from your opponent’s spears, and those guys have seen you coming and are ready for you.

That said, when you are suddenly in your opponent’s backfield, and they find their lines in chaos and disarray, *that* is the time for you to be swinging your stick.  You have room to maneuver, a lot of targets who are back on their heels, and they tend to be higher value targets (spears, archers, commanders, kings).  You’ve broken through, you spot a knight shouting orders and move towards him, you take that last step needed and swing…

If you are using your normal length sword, the one you practice with and fight with at tournaments, you know your range and you know where to step, and you connect with that knight’s head.  He shouts “good” as his last words and falls to the ground.  You’ve killed the opposing commander and your unit mops up the rest of them.

If you are using some short stick with a piece of foam on the end of it, you miss and swing short.  Of course he spots you, takes the very important micro step to your sword side, and drops a blow over your shield that you never knew was coming.  You fall to the ground, the knight rallies his forces, and your unit is lucky to get out of there with half its people on their feet.

Don’t be that guy, dead under his shield, clutching a short stick, while your unit is routed.  Be the hero, go back to camp with a story about how you killed a commander.