[MR] Cuan's notes on Pennsic 32

Tue Jun 3 11:21:47 PDT 2003

Unto their Royal Majesties Logan and Isabel, Their Royal Highnesses Ragnarr 
and Kynebur, Barons and Baronesses of Atlantia, great captains, ensigns, and 
warriors of every rank and degree come greetings from His Grace, Cuan, Dux 
Bellorum Atlantae:

Gracious Majesties and Good Gentles All,

I address you today as Kingdom Warlord.  I have finished reviewing the rules 
for the upcoming Pennsic conflict and would like to cover some important 
points that will be new and strange to those Atlantians attending the war in 
August.  Please read this missive thoroughly, and when you have finished, go 
to WWW.PENNSICWAR.ORG and carefully review the rules and conventions for 
yourself.  I suggest that anyone intending to participate in ANY combat 
related activities at Pennsic print a copy of the rules and carry it to the 
War.  I include information here about rapier and combat archery.

In this message I will address Pennsic conventions and scheduling first, 
then address training opportunities leading up to the War, and finally speak 
to matters concerning the organization and operation of the Atlantian army.

PENNSIC CONVENTIONS AND RULES

There are MANY changes to the rules, conventions, and battle schedule for 
Pennsic 32.  If you would like clarifications on any rules, I suggest you 
contact the War Marshal.  Hopefully, I will anticipate some of your 
questions here.

FACE THRUSTS.  Face thrusting will be closely monitored this year.  As some 
of you have read, the Society Earl Marshal has declared personal war on 
excessive face thrusting.  Any fighter who engages in excessive face 
thrusting, beyond a "one off" episode, will be removed from combat.  I do 
not know what a "one off" episode is.  What I do know is that the quality of 
marshalling varies wildly at Pennsic from marshal to marshal.  If someone 
falls onto your spear, resulting in an unintentional excessive face thrust, 
and witnesses can back that interpretation of events, you will probably be 
O.K.  But that will probably be your "one off" episode.  I suggest that you 
maintain good communication with your opponents whenever we engage in line 
combat so that misunderstandings are minimized.

Please note that face thrusts that miss and pass a foot beyond the 
opponent's head may be deemed excessive by the marshals.  Also, shots that 
hit the top and sides of the helm when missing the face should also be 
thrown so as to land with the force of a directed touch.  Now, some of us 
have seen shieldmen gaurd their faces with the baskethilt of a sword.  And 
some of us have seen or employed the tactic of trying to dirve the spear tip 
between the basket and the top of the shield to get to the face.  Some have 
even driven the spear into the baskethilt over and over again to get the 
fighter to remove his block from in front of the face.  I GUARANTEE THAT 
THIS SORT OF SPEAR OR GLAIVE TACTIC WILL LAND YOU IN MARSHAL'S COURT.  I do 
not care if it is unrealistic to try to block a spear with a baskethilt, the 
spearman will lose this argument every time.

Adding to the confusion of face thrust rules is the fact that you may 
encounter thrust and throw javelins that may be thrown at you OR stuck in 
your face.  Also, at Pennsic, buttspikes will be allowed on GREATSWORDS.  I 
mention these because I do not want you to be angry if you are struck with 
the hilt of a greatsword.

If we are not careful and skilfull in our use of face thrusting, we risk 
injuring our opponents and generating numerous irritating holds (usually at 
inconvenient times from a tactical point of view).  If you are face 
thrusting someone who is not taking your blows, DO NOT CRANK IT UP ABOVE A 
TOUCH.  Pick a different target on that fighter, attack a different fighter, 
or team up on your opponent.  Please do not cause a hold by calling in a 
marshal.  Generally, we lose more from the hold than we gain by having a 
brief investigation that may or may not result in the offender's removal.

If you are removed from the field for an allegedly excessive thrust, please 
get the name of the marshal removing you, take a minute to look around and 
notice witnesses that you can identify, and notify the Atlantian Earl 
Marshal, the King, or me, immediately after the battle and before the 
marshal's court convenes. The Kings of the East and Atlantia have an 
agreement that no Atlantian fighter may be hailed into marshal's court 
without the King of Atlantia being given the opportunity to be present.

ARMOR AND WEAPONS INSPECTIONS.  Armor may be inspected at the marshal's tent 
on the main battlefield or by the Atlantian Earl Marshal.  Read this next 
bit carefully:  WEAPONS WILL ONLY BE INSPECTED AT THE MARSHAL'S TENT ON THE 
FIELD.  WEAPONS WILL ONLY BE INSPECTED AT THE MARSHAL'S TENT ON THE FIELD.

WHAT DO I NEED TO TAKE TO INSPECTION?  You must take three things to 
inspection: 1) your Pennsic site medallion, 2) your Atlantian authorization 
card, 3) a photo ID.  If you lack any of the three you will not be 
inspected.

WHEN SHOULD I GET INSPECTED?  Please get inspected as early as possible.  If 
you can get armor and weapons inspected at the marshal's tent, you will save 
yourself and EM Alan Gravesend a lot of headaches.  Please note that the 
Woods Battle is scheduled for MONDAY this year.  Marshals tent will close 
about an hour before the 11:00am battle.  If you wait until Monday morning 
to try to get your weapons inspected, you may well miss the battle.  More on 
the Woods Battle later.

WEAPONS STANDARDS.  There will be buttspikes on some greatswords that you 
will face.  Maximum spear length is 9 feet.  7.5 foot long unpadded polearms 
may be used (and may be used by Atlantians under our current law).  Thrust 
and throw siloflex javelins will be used (those will have 12" of blue tape 
at the head end of the shaft).

SIEGE WEAPONS.  I refer you to Lord Mungo McKlinchey for specific siege 
weapons questions.

COMBAT ARCHERY.  ALL ATLANTIAN ARCHERS FALL UNDER THE PENNSIC CONVENTION FOR 
"MEDIUM ARCHERS".  This means that Atlantian archers must have WHITE PHEONS 
ON THE HELM, and be armored according to SCA minimums with a full gauntlet 
or hockey glove on the bow hand and a half gauntlet on the string hand.  
Medium archers are killed by a touch.  There will be heavy archers at 
Pennsic who look like regular fighters (no pheons), and light archers who 
wear white diamonds on helm AND tabard.  Light archers are "called" dead by 
a fighter within 10' and will not take the field, but will shoot from the 
sidelines.  Fighters must know the differences between archers.  Please do 
not hit the wrong kind of archer.  Please note that Baldar Egg Blunts may 
not be used at Pennsic.  Full archery rules may be found at the Pennsic 
website at sections 2.4 et supra.

WAR POINT BATTLES AND OTHER COMBAT EVENTS OF NOTE

WOODS BATTLE, MON. AUG. 11, at 11:00am.  Atlantia will muster at 10:00am on 
the side of the woods closest to the camping area.  If this is your first 
Pennsic, plan to get a vehicle to camp from the parking area early in order 
to ferry you, your buddies and your gear to the muster point.  PLEASE get 
inspected on Sunday or be at the marshal's tent as early as possible on 
Monday morning so you do not miss the battle.
Remember to take ID, auth. card, and Pennsic medallion.  Do not miss what 
most Atlantians find to be the most fun battle of the war.

The woods battle is different this year.  We will be allowed to enter the 
woods and set up anywhere along the western edge of the banner zone.  Yes, 
that's right, both forces will set up in the woods.  The three banners will 
be in the positions we established several years ago.  They may be moved for 
2 minutes after capture, but may not be planted within 50 yards of another 
banner.  To resurrect, you will still need to walk out to the edge of the 
woods per usual.  The battle will last 1.5 hours and the victor will be the 
holder of two of three banners at the final cannon.

I do advise, once again, that you do not wait until Monday morning to get 
your harness and weapons inspected.

OLDCASTLE SILVER ANNIVERSARY TOURNAMENT, MON. AUG. 11, 3pm.  I ask all 
Atlantians to come out to the Green List to celebrate the 25th anniversary 
of a legendary Atlantian dynasty.  Hope to see you there.

CASTLE BATTLE PART I, TUES. AUG. 12, 10:00am.  Muster behind/inside the fort 
at 9:00am.  We and the East will be defending in part I of this battle.  
Look forward to lots of objects flying through the air, as combat archery 
and siege and thrown weapons will be employed in this battle.  We will need 
plenty of archers and long weapons for this one.

ATLANTIAN BATTLE, TUES. AUG. 12, 6pm.  Stay tuned for possible schedule 
change on this one.  HRM Middle wanted to fight a battle between the Middle 
and Atlantia.  It looks like we drew the dinner slot.
As I said stay tuned for details.

CASTLE BATTLE PART II, WEDS. AUG. 13, 10:00am.  Muster before the fort at 
9:00am.  We will be attacking.

KNOWNE WORLD SQUIRES TOURNEY, WEDS. AUG 13, 3pm.  This has become a very 
popular tourney created by HRM Logan to showcase the talents of the unbelts 
and foster contacts between the future leaders of the kingdoms.  Please come 
out and support this tourney.  Knights need to be present to sign in their 
students, or designate a knight to foster them for the purposes of the 
tourney.

BRIDGE BATTLES, THURS. AUG. 14, 10am.  Muster at 9:00am on the main 
battlefield.  This battle will be fought over three bridges.  Three battles 
will be fought, with the victor taking two of three.  Victory in each battle 
is achieved by either wiping out the other side, or holding the midpoint of 
two of three bridges at the end of the battle.

HEROIC CHAMPIONS, THURS. AUG. 14, 2pm.  These are individual champions 
fights.  The number of slots afforded Atlantia depends on the number of 
allies fighting for the East.  Their Majesties will have me inform those 
fighters tapped for duty in the Heroics as soon as we know how many slots we 
have to fill.

RAPIER CHAMPIONS BATTLE, THURS. AUG. 14, 4pm.  Main battlefield.  
Participants will be determined by their Majesties.  Please note that this 
combat is limited to "schlagers and other heavy rapier blades only".

FIELD BATTLE, FRI. AUG. 15, 10am.  Main battlefield.  Standard battle to the 
last man.  Muster at 9:00am.  Note that counting gates will be employed for 
this battle; please do not be late.

ALLIED CHAMPIONS, FRI. AUG. 15, 2pm.  Muster at the main battlefield at 
1:00pm.  Rules for this battle, including numbers of participants, time 
limits, and victory conditions, will be negotiated by the allied Crowns.  
This battle is the last War Point heavy battle.  I will encourage His 
Majesty to push for wide participation so that we may include as many 
Atlantians as possible.  This battle my very well decide the war.  Since 
this is the one battle the rules of which His Majesty and I may influence, I 
gaurantee that we  will look for maximum fun and minimum B.S.  His Majesty 
and I will try to publish a roster for this battle by early Thursday.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON PENNSIC

Please do not complain to me about the rules.  I did not write them.  
Rather, I would ask that you arm yourselves with a thorough knowledge of the 
rules so that you may adapt accordingly.  The rules will hit everyone the 
same, so embrace them and enjoy your vacation.

The battles this year do seem to play to Midrealm strengths (or at least 
mask the Mid's weaknesses).  Only the field battle will allow the East to 
potentially gain an immediate advantage through speed of movement.  The 
Woods has been changed to eliminate the East's sprint to the flags, the 
bridges and castles potentially restrict the East's flanking ability.  The 
theme of Pennsic this year will be the stand up fight.

UPCOMING TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES

WINDMASTERS HILL BARONIAL CHAMPIONS, JUNE 27-29.  I will conduct an open 
discussion on tactics and leadership in the SCA combat environment.  I will 
also be willing to do some work in armor as long as it does not interfere 
with the event.

KINGS ASSESSMENT BATTLES, JULY 11-13.  PLEASE make every effort to attend 
this event if you are planning on going to Pennsic.  We will have a lot of 
fun doing melee training at a neat hilltop site in Buena Vista, Va.  This 
will be our last chance to test our readiness as an army.

LAST CHANCE AUTHORIZATION EVENT, JULY 26.  This event, centrally located in 
Petersburg, Va., offers the last chance to authorize for Pennsic.  You must 
be authorized by July 31, 2003 in order to fight at Pennsic.

ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS

Lord Gruffyd (sp?) has kindly agreed to help me set up a Warlord website.  
Give me some time on this though, because this tech stuff is way outside of 
my comfort zone.  Look for something online in the near future, but the site 
won't be finished for awhile.

I would like to thank Count Thorbrandr and Sir Vladimir for their work with 
the Northern Region.  At this time, HRH Ragnarr is assuming command of the 
Northern Region.  Please support him as you have supported Tbone and Vlad.

I would like to see Regional Commanders encouraging those running local 
practices to include some melee work during the run up to Pennsic and 
continuing as we approach Crusades in October.

Thanks for your patience with a long post.  I think it is more important to 
lay things out at the risk of boring folks rather than have a bunch of folks 
lost and confused at Pennsic.

Take care all,

Cuan

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