[MR] WoW Observations from a CA

Mon Oct 12 19:23:33 PDT 2009

only if your practice is published (which makes it an official practice).

regards
logan

"I never did give them hell. I just told the truth, and they thought it was
hell." 
Harry S Truman 
"If an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his
vengeance need not be feared"
Niccolo Machiavelli
For your amouring needs please visit:
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For worldwide listings of fighter practices please visit:
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-----Original Message-----
From: atlantia-bounces at seahorse.atlantia.sca.org
[mailto:atlantia-bounces at seahorse.atlantia.sca.org] On Behalf Of
the.lady.phoenix at gmail.com
Sent: Monday, October 12, 2009 10:15 PM
To: atlantia
Subject: Re: [MR] WoW Observations from a CA

The only issue I see with that is there has to be a CA Marshal at the
training for you to have a CA fighter practice (at least that is what
I was told) and (again as I was told) they are in short supply and
often not at practices.

Sara

On 12/10/2009, Richard E <richarde62 at live.com> wrote:
>
> Siegfried,
>
> Thank you for such a detailed post! That's just the kind of input I was
> looking for. Now if we can just get people practice some of those tactics
> together. If shield men, spearmen, and combat archers don't practice
> together, they will not work together in the chaos of battle!
>
> Unfortunately do to work, I don't get weekends off unless I take leave. As
a
> result, I have only been making it to the wars, and I am not sure what
types
> of training events we have up here in Atlantia. When I lived down south,
we
> would have training events a month or so before any upcoming wars. In the
> mornings we would do drills to get the tactics down pat, and then we'd
have
> Melees in the afternoon to put the training into use. Do we have any
events
> like this up here???
>
> In Service,
> Wolfram
>
>
>
>> Date: Mon, 12 Oct 2009 09:50:39 -0400
>> From: siegfried at crossbows.biz
>> To: richarde62 at live.com
>> CC: atlantia at atlantia.sca.org
>> Subject: Re: [MR] WoW Observations from a CA
>>
>> > Secondly, I'm just tossing out some ideas here for discussion to
>> > hopefully help us fight better against Combat Archers (CA) in the
>> > future, and to make our CA work better with the rest of the Atlantian
>> > Army. I am relatively new to CA (only 2 years) with most of my
>> > experience from fighting sword and board (over 20 years), so I hope you
>> > more experienced combat archers will jump in here with some
suggestions.
>> > If we all work together we can make the Atlantian Army even better and
>> > stronger!
>>
>> Wolfram, you have made some very apt observations, and ones that mirror
>> much of the information I've shared when giving classes on CA tactics
>> (which are also anti-CA tactics)
>>
>> You are correct, that one of the best defenses against Combat Archery,
>> is a tight line of shields. When Combat Archery is on the field, the
>> idea of a skirmish line of spears in FRONT of the shields, an otherwise
>> semi-common tactic, falls short, since an unprotected spear, is an easy
>> target for a combat archer. As it's been said, rock/paper/scissors in
>> the SCA can also be shield/spear/CA
>>
>> Having well trained shieldman, who understand to keep an eye on archers,
>> and keep covered up, will not only rarely be killed (nigh, even
>> targetted) by combat archers, but by extension protect everyone behind
>> them.
>>
>> The second most important thing (actually, perhaps the most important
>> thing) when facing serious combat archery on the opposing side - is to
>> have your units understand one extremely important word: "CHARGE" (Or
>> PRESS for that matter)
>>
>> As long as the armies are pressing together, in a scrum, combat archery
>> is effectively eliminated. Not only because it's hard for the combat
>> archers to be in that press and get a clean shot off. But simply
>> because given the press, the chances of an arrow hitting true and solid,
>> and being detected by the opposing fighter, are GREATLY reduced.
>>
>> The worst thing you can do w/ combat archery on the field (Unless you
>> have superior forces of Combat Archery - Is to sit back and play a
>> waiting game. That is just giving the other side all the time they need
>> to pick you off one-by-one.
>>
>> AS to some of your other points:
>>
>> * Xbow vs Bows in the 2nd line
>>
>> Yes, Bows can operate just fine in the 2nd line of battle. In fact, as
>> a primarily crossbow user, I'm often envious of the bowman's ability to
>> do so. You see, as a crossbow shooter, you stand mostly 'square'
>> usually, and you have to be careful of the limbs of your xbow, making
>> sure you have room for them, and that you don't 'ping' someone in the
>> back of the head with a limb when firing, which not only is annoying to
>> them, but messes up your shot.
>>
>> Therefore, as a crossbowman, I need 'extra' room in the 2nd line. I
>> can't just find a narrow gap and slide-in. On the other hand, a bowman
>> has a much slimmer profile, with vertical bow, and standing sideways
>> when shooting. I therefore often see them slide between two people on a
>> second line, and pop off a shot.
>>
>> For this reason, I'm often actually on the 3rd line, firing over the
>> shoulders of the 2nd line warriors, and between the helms of the 1st
>> line, as I feel that works best for my style.
>>
>> * Tactics/Units/etc
>>
>> You make a good point, about working w/ a 2shield-spear-bow team. That
>> works very well in a skirmish environment. In a static line, it tends
>> to work best instead for the archers to 'float' behind the line, finding
>> the best points to do the most damage.
>>
>> But that also brings up another point. There are often, IMO, two best
>> uses of an archer in said situations. And it typically comes down to
>> the archer correctly identifying their own skill level, and commanders
>> understanding that as well.
>>
>> Which is basically, that the higher skilled archers, can be deadly
>> effective as 'aimed archers'. Floating solo, knowing instinctively the
>> best targets and best place for them to be, at that time. Allowing
>> these archers to do that, is greatly effective. On the flip side,
>> taking the 'less skilled' archers, who aren't as good at the "Kill him,
>> BAM. Kill her, BAM" game, and having them work as a unit, laying down
>> harassing fire, can stop an opposing unit in their tracks, and keep them
>> from charging/pressing. Or if aimed at the opposing archers, keep their
>> heads down and less effective. Even if this crew gets very little
>> kills, due to firing into 'not-easy-to-kill' scenarios, they can be an
>> effective battle changer.
>>
>> In my opinion, the most effective use of combat archery, is combining
>> these two tactics. Mass harassing fire, and 'aimed death', by
>> appropriate combatants.
>>
>> This translates also into your extended triad situation, if not on a
>> static line. It's just weather it's a triad (quad) of 'aimed death'.
>> Or a larger unit (3 shields, 3-5 archers) who lay down harassing fire.
>>
>> In Service,
>> Siegfried - Baron Highland Foorde
>>
>>
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