Replay: Sotahuuto 14

Ok, this is something new to me and the blog, so hopefully you find it useful.  If it seems helpful, I'll look into doing other posts in this type of fashion in the future.

A reader from Europe sent me a link to video from one of the large foam fighting events they've attended over there.  While it isn't Belegarth rules (tap fighting, head legal, and a few others), the video does illustrate a few concepts that are universal to the large scale fighting we see at events.  Please note, those are indeed 15' spears you see everywhere.

Here's the video, it's nearly 40 minutes of quadcopter footage of the event.  The noise from the copter might be a little annoying, fair warning. Those later castle battle are pretty insane and worth a watch, especially with destructible haybale walls. However, I really only want to look at the first battle for this post.  I chose this first fight to look at because it illustrates how important maneuvering can be.  If someone wants me to look at other fights or videos, I'd be more than happy to later.

 

For starters, our friend from Europe and his group are among the black/purple clad group at the center, we'll call their team the good guys.  The green group to their left appears to leave an intentional gap, I suppose as a trap or some variant of a kill pocket (the blue area marked below).  The right flank has pushed forward aggressively, just out of frame in this first picture.  We can see a gap, marked with yellow start to appear even this early in the fight.

 

Maneuver Phase of the battle.  Blue=intentional? gap.  Yellow=Gap to watch later

 

 





Other keys to this part in the battle are how the enemy forces are arrayed. Directly ahead of their middle, the good guys are up against a high (insanely high compared to Belegarth) concentration of spears.  They've already grouped up and have no signs of changing course.  The enemy line is already curving away, bowing out towards our friends.  This makes the entire field a scaled up version of a kill pocket.

 

Stalemate Phase of battle.  Even the spears are mostly at max range. 
The enemy has cut off the flanking group, but haven't fixed that gap yet.

 

Once the lines are close enough to engage, we reach the stalemate phase.  At this point one would expect that our little yellow gap here would have been closed up, but groups maneuvered away from it to engage our friendly flanking groups.  The enemy black/yellow group pushed out to engage, leaving only a few skirmishers to cover the area.  We can also see that the friendly lines haven't engaged the outside corner at all, leaving a large chunk of forces to the right flank of the black/purple group essentially in reserve.




The moment when decisive action could be taking place. 
Easily could have happened sooner than it did in the video.
Black lines are what I would have my line do at this point.

A closer look at the gap.  The group friendlies directly across from
it eventually push through.

This all sounds like a huge advantage for the friendlies, and it is.  However, there are few things that could have helped our purple/black friends survive the encounter a little better.  At the point pictured above, we see that gap still lingering around unopposed.  We also see our purple/black friends keep a solid line in the face of that giant mess of spears (highlighted in red).  The problem here is that holding their ground actually costs them a lot of casualties as we'll see when the copter makes another pass later.  The black lines here are what might have helped them get through this mess with a few more fighters intact.  Rather than standing strong against the concentrated spears, the line should have spread out (towards the right flank) while forming a kill pocket (the curve back marked here). 

By shifting forces to the right of the main enemy strength, it reinforces the group that should have already been pushing that gap.  By spreading out and backing away, it forces the enemy formation to spread their offense in different directions, preventing a whole group of fighters from being lost quickly.  Those directly opposed to the spears need to fight purely defensive and let the enemy advance.  Their whole goal is to buy time for flankers flooding through the gap to win the day.

When we see the camera come back to this section, we see that the group along the right flank that was engaged with the enemy black/yellow group joined with a few of the friendly corner group to push the gap (finally), but by time this happens our black/purple friends have been cut to shreds.  This makes the clean up much more difficult later.

The moral of the story: engaging a spear formation head on is rarely the best course of action. Making use of defensive maneuvering can both save lives and set up your enemy for being flanked.  Keeping an eye out for gaps early in the fight can give you some idea of where they will be later.  This particular case shows that they often form between two groups of fighters that are good at maintaining their own coherency. Because groups/units don't usually share leadership, you'll find groups can often lose track of their support unless their own anchors are doing a great job of keeping the whole line together. Creating/attacking/exploiting these gaps can be crucial to killing enemy formations and skilled groups.

In my next post, I'll take a look at some strategies for taking down spear formations.  It's a lot to cover, so I didn't want to include it all here. 

Do's and Don'ts of Events

I had a longer post written, but somehow lost a good chunk somewhere.  Hopefully most of what was lost is still covered.

After arriving at the site, your first stop should be "troll".  This is where you'll sign in and pay for the event. Information and a map are also usually found here, as are any rules specific to the site. It is a good idea to know what rules the event is using ahead of time (Belegarth, Dagorhir, or some Realm's specific rules), and read up on any differences between your home practice and the event.  When in doubt, ask when you arrive.

After checking in, drop off your gear at weapons check (if it is open). If you haven't already marked your gear in a way you can identify it, do so before dropping it off.  Also, make sure they are marked according the rules (like green tape on the pommel for a stabbing sword).

The biggest events are a series of day events strung together with entertainment, feasts, nightlife, and camping.  After you are all checked in and waiting for weapons to be checked, it is a good time to set up camp (and change into garb). Most realms/groups camp together.  The map at troll often has these campsites marked to help you find where to set up with your group.

Before weapons check closes, there will usually be a variety of sparring, classes, and pick up battles.  This is a good chance to fight a few veterans from other realms.  If you aren't sure who to talk to, ask a vet from your realm to introduce you to a few people.

After a long day of fighting, there will usually be a Feast provided by the event, followed by any nightlife at the various group camps.  To really get a feel for each of the units and realms camping out, you need to go visit their camps.  It is best to travel around with a vet that knows the various groups well.  Just be sure to say "Hail Camp" as you approach so they know someone is coming to visit.  Introduce yourself and hang out for a while.

Sometimes, units will have ceremonies, promotions, and the like.  Most of the time, outsiders aren't welcome for them.  If they ask you to leave, do so, but don't feel bad about it.  They are probably just about to have a meeting or other unit business that doesn't involve you.

A few do's and don'ts of events:

1) DO: Take your hits!  I'm required to say that first.  Do your best to take them accurately and portray them quickly.  If you get confused, just take death.

2) DON'T: Call your hits on other people. It is on their honor to take them (see number 1).  If you have problems with an individual, ask a herald.

3) DO: Hit hard.  More adrenaline, more armor, and long days of fighting seem to increase people's hit tolerance at events. Shots that might get taken at a local practice may not be hard enough for someone to feel through armor and in the heat of the moment.

4) DON'T: Hit too hard.  There is no reason to go at 100% full force on your swings.  You want to strike a balance between power and control. Safety is key.

5) DO: Seek advice, training, and sparring during breaks.  If you see someone fight well in a style you want to learn, ask them to spar or for some tips.  Most veterans are happy to share their experience.

6) DO: Swing!! A lot of fighters find event fighting intimidating.  Just go for it.  You'll probably die one way or another during a battle, it might as well be while taking someone else out with you.

7) DON'T: Dive headfirst into the enemy. Aggression is good, but carelessly throwing your life away isn't helping your team.  Wait for a good opportunity.

8) DON'T: Walk through the weapons check area!  You will be yelled at, I promise.  Always walk around.  We don't want someone getting hit with a backswing because they walked through.

9) DO: Have fun, on and off the field. Even if you aren't winning fights, have a good time trying something fun.  Take in the opportunity to socialize with long time veterans and various units.

10) DON'T: Overdo it. Many events are at dry parks, but where alcohol is permitted, be responsible. The last thing you want is to be carried back to your tent or make a terrible impression. Besides, too much consumption will likely ruin your next day of fighting.

11) DO: Be respectful of other camps. This is their home for the week, so respect the rough boundaries around camps and their property.  "Hail Camp" before entering their area.

12) DO: Volunteer to help.  Events are a ton of work.  If you are qualified to help in some way, don't hesitate to volunteer.  Even if they don't need help, you can always make sure to clean up your campsite and trash.

13) DON'T: Argue with heralds.  Take the hits they call.  If you disagree, ask them after the fight.

14) DO: Know the rules. Even vets should reread the rules on occasion. Any rules that deviate from the national rules are likely to be posted at the event.  See this post: Unwritten Rules.

15) DO: Sign up for classes ahead of time.  All sorts of classes are made available at big events, both for fighting and crafting. This is a great chance to learn from veterans and skilled craftsmen.

16) DO: Arrive early.  Try to be at the event as/before weapons check opens.

17) DO: Hydrate! It is easy to forget to take a break and grab some water. I pack a mix of water and sports drinks, along with a few easy snacks.

18) DO: Check your gear ahead of time.  Even if you aren't sure how to check weapons, have a vet check your gear a few weeks before the event.  This gives you time to make repairs and break in new blades.

Supply Lines

Many of the notable works about military strategy (Art of War, The Prince, etc) talk at length about supply lines. Sword fighters often disregard those chapters because it rarely comes into play. While much of the more large scale, strategic applications will rarely be simulated by Belegarth, it did occur to me that sometimes we see a smaller scale of supply lines: respawns.

At WAR this weekend, it became paramount to control the flow of respawns, much as one might cut off supplies before a siege, etc. Those paths that connected the respawn point to an objective could be compared to a main supply route. By raiding or blockading such areas, a team could reduce the enemy's ability to reinforce or control objectives.




I may have swapped my colors around.  This is what it looked like during the first round (actual headband colors are opposite).  Not to scale, of course, but the path for the red respawn is more direct to the action, and is very difficult to cut off from its own castle.

Red team used this idea to come back from a large deficit in the second half. Rather than simply attack and hold the objectives, the team pushed past them to control the supply lines, leaving only a small reserve to secure the objective. Of course, this strategy was much stronger from the higher, more open ground which red team started with in the second round.

From the forest side, this strategy is much harder, largely because the open field allows the hill side free access to two objectives from their respawn point. That makes it only really possible for a strong forest team to choke off three points from the enemy supply route. The hill side can, with less people, choke off all five objectives from the supply route. Previous years saw some of this, but the forest side castle and respawn point were in slightly better positions to counteract blockades.  Due to the location this year, the blue respawn point doesn't force the enemy to fight on two fronts to siege the castle.



Correct team coloring this time.  Red team had all five points controlled early by blocking off the two main supply routes out of the blue team respawn.  Thanks to a sneaky group (and Liz, all her fault), they were able to deploy a small force behind red lines.

You can see in the above picture, that a small force of red team was able to tie up a much larger force, using the natural choke points and limiting the blue team's ability to attack anywhere other than a prepared front.  Because blue team needs to get out of this choke point in order to gain any ground, they have to be very aggressive in attacking.  This makes kill pockets and solid defense with support weapons extremely effective for the red team.

Valkyries (mobile respawn points) could act as forward bases, opening new supply lines for their team.  While often they end up being more of a tool for getting troops to the front faster, this role as a sort of supply base also allowed a team to break blockades with a small number of troops.  By taking a longer, more difficult path around the enemy, the Valkyrie and a small group could end up behind enemy lines.

It was thanks to this raid on the backfield that allows blue team some room to breathe and finally push out of the choke points.  Even though the group in the backfield was small, the additional casualties weakens the front line and runs through Valkyrie respawns quickly.  It also forces red team to take a wider front to try to block off the advance.

The backfield raiding, though, wasn't quite enough to stifle the damage already done by red team holding all five objectives for an extended period, but it did prevent them from gaining a decisive lead.  The final score was only separated by a single point (equivalent to 1 minute of holding your own castle).

TL;DR: The path to the respawn point acts as a supply route in traditional military strategy.  Take the supply route and you can control the area much more effectively.

Lands, Units, and Gear

I've had several people ask me a few good questions lately, so I thought it was probably a good idea to do another post.

I saw a thing on forgedfoam.com, can I get it delivered to practice?

The short answer is probably. Sirs Galin and Piper run the shop and frequent our practices. If they aren't too busy, they will usually accommodate such requests. Just send an email to orders@forgedfoam.com and ask before, instead of doing any orders. Makes sure to let them know you are a new fighter in Numenor.

Can I make my own gear?

Yes. A few recommendations here though. Get a vet to help you with your first attempts. Forged Foam does sell materials, and the foam they have is far better than using what you will find at Walmart. When in doubt, talk to some of us vets and we'll steer you in the right direction.

What is this lands thing I keep hearing about?

In the feudal system, a lord might give his knights lands to live on. Each knight would then have civilians living on their lands. Something like that anyway.

We are trying to emulate that within the local group by having knights take a few new people under their wing (living on their lands). Squires and retainers help the knights tend to their lands, mostly by helping train new fighters.

As they can, Knights and their subordinates will help get new fighters trained and into basic garb, with a goal of ensuring them some success at Oktoberfest. We might do a few lands battles or divvy up teams by lands on occasion, so knights get a chance to fight along side those living on their lands.

Fair warning, this is an old system that is being used for the first time in many years.

How do lands and units interact?

They don't. You can be part of any unit, regardless of whose land you are on. 

What exactly is a unit, anyway?

From a few friends that all want to wear the same style of garb, to extensive groups spread across the country, units are usually groups that work together on the field and enjoy hanging out off the field. At events like Oktoberfest, they'll almost always camp together.

Different units usually have different goals when fighting. Dark Guard likes to flank, Uruk-hai is usually armored up line fighters, and Dunedain teaches everyone archery. Talk to different people and ask about their unit, if you are interested. If you go to Oktoberfesr, ask a vet to show you around so you can meet units that don't have a local following.

Theory Thursday: City Fighting

I mentioned city fighting a little bit when I talked about choke points. I feel like it is a good time to take a closer look, especially with Okfest in the not too distant future. I'll highlight a few specific obstacles I've seen over the years.

Of course, city is a pretty loose term here. Most cities we see at events are more like a series of fences or a maze. However, these obstacles still serve to breakup the fighting field into corridors that at least give some sense of that style of combat.

While each section of the line engages in small scale fights over each choke point, the strategic plan must involve maintaining control over area. To do this, sections need enough coordination to block of access to the "safe zone" in their backfield via control of individual corridors. Even the smallest approach being left undefended could end in disaster for the team, especially if sections no longer have a view of their allies.

The maneuver phase of battle takes on a slightly different role. Rather than simply approaching the enemy and redressing the ranks, it becomes far more of a race to capture territory quickly. Even without any knowledge of the layout, having more territory gives you space to fall back on and better chances of controlling advantageous areas. With prior experience, pushing in quickly might give your team a chance to take key sections or corridors that lead directly to the enemy's backfield.

As the layout becomes more maze-like, or entrances more spaced apart, it is easier for a team to lose coherency of command and communication. This is where reserves can prove vital to success. By staying off the frontlines, they not only provide some security against enemies making it through, they also can gain a better view of the big picture. Reserves may find an area that allows them to maintain visual contact with more than one section, letting them balance out reinforcements against spikes of attrition or faltering lines.

Strong points often reside around junctions and along uneven corridors. These can often allow a team to control how many fighters can be on the front, increasing your own frontage on attack or reducing the enemy's on defense. For example, a corridor that narrows at one end forces the front to shrink in order to fight on that end. This funnel shape allows a smaller force to control the corridor.

Junctions of several corridors (T-junctions, etc) will often force one side to fight through what is essentially a kill pocket in order to get through. Even if the enemy doesn't fall into the trap, it will deter them from pushing that area. In this case, the stalemate might allow a few to sneak off to bolster other sections. However, having a large force controlling the area left in a stalemate might be a disadvantage, allowing the enemy to hold up a lot of fighters with a small force.

Hairpins offer a few unique opportunities.  The first and most obvious is to fight on the defensive, slowly falling back while trying to pick off a few enemies, keeping a large force engaged in a protracted fight.  These are often used as outer defenses for towns or castle layouts for that very purpose.  One very successful strategy is to station archers and spears just around the bend, catching the first batch of enemies off guard with the extra range and extra strong line as they round the corner.  Fair warning, those close to the inside of the bend are very likely to be within swinging distance quickly.  Even though blind swings around corners are usually forbidden for safety reasons, that won't stop a few "nearly blind" swings from peeking around the corner.

Complex junctions might even span a large portion of the town, connected by the main corridors through it.  In the case above, red team's position is pretty rough.  To engage with the full force up top, they'll have to fight on a very wide front in two directions.  Depending on the scale, vision gaps might make it very easy for blue team to take advantage.  Meanwhile, blue team just needs to fend off the small side corridor to maintain a fairly strong defensive position across the whole city section.  Even though they don't control the large area in the middle, they are preventing the red team from establishing a foothold on their side of the gap.

Double tapers aren't something seen at most events, but I like the idea.  I may just have to get one set up at Okfest this year.  Holding the middle isn't any different than a single taper, but for either side to take it and then push out is more difficult.  It ends up being easier to teams to hold ground as they move towards the middle.  This also means that it may be more difficult for them to maintain a fighting withdrawal.

Theory Thursday: Strategies of WAR (the event)

Today we are going to take a look at a large scale battle as a case study. War is a great event near Indy, you should check it out if you get a chance. For the entire day, two teams battle it out to control 5 objectives in two rounds of regen battles. Holding the objectives gives you points based on time held that vary by the type of objective, the enemy castle being worth the most points and your own being worth the least. Each team has a mobile respawn point, or two, called Valkyries. They have a limited supply of revives before they have to return to base to recharge.

The basic layout of WAR.  Not quite to scale.  Note that neither team starts with
an objective.  The castles are just marked for clarity.

Given the terrain and objectives, the fighting is a long series of fights over choke points. Support weapons and good leadership are essential for winning this type of fighting. Of course, thanks to the scale of the engagement, communication between areas is spotty, at best. Objectives may fall with little notice.

The path near the lake is usually a hotspot of fighting, given that it is nearly the midpoint between both respawn points. The junction between this path and the dry riverbed, in particular, is often highly contested. Usually, whichever team has managed to take the side path has a slight advantage, allowing them to attack from an extra wide front and push the enemy back. For the forest side, losing here can be disastrous, allowing the enemy to block off the main route out of their base.

Typical engagement.  Both teams fight over the main choke points.  Blue team
started on the plains, giving them a little easier access to the lake and riverbed objectives.

There are, of course, other paths the forest team can take, one of which will put a force directly behind the fight at the junction, and another that leads out to an objective. This really highlights the importance of leadership and battlefield awareness. Seeing the enemy coming and responding quickly prevents them from gaining too much extra advantage. The flanking route can be shut down by a small force, and the other objective can be held with a few reinforcements. If the forest side pushes too heavily through the woods, rather than the path, the main attack has a good chance of getting to their castle.

If the lake path battle shifts in favor of the forest team, the dry river bed and lake objectives become new choke points. The plains team ends up having to split their forces and can't easily shift reinforcements from one to the other. However, if they break the enemy on one path, they have an easy shot at the other path's flank.

Red team pushes out of the junction, hoping to make ground on the river
bed and lake objectives.  they go pure defensive on the woods objective.

If the red team fails to hold out on both flanks,
they are in danger of losing the fight all together.

Should either team reach the enemy castle, they are often going to be forced to fight on two fronts, the castle entrance and the nearby respawn point. This is especially dangerous of the enemy has a Valkyrie stationed in the castle as well. If the attack can't push into the castle quickly, it will eventually be overrun by respawns as its own numbers dwindle.

Blue team made it to the enemy castle, but now has to deal with all those
respawns.  Looks like they'll have to play it safe and hope to get reinforced.

Winning the castle fight is rough and time consuming.  If the rear of the force (supply line, essentially) is secure, Valkyries and reinforcements can make from the respawn point it to help keep the fight going.  It seems that fighting cautiously and using the few respawns carefully is a key to success.  Should then enemy Valkyrie nearby run out of respawns, that is the moment to put pressure on the castle and hope to take it.

Once inside the enemy castle, holding it is a matter of holding a single choke point for as long as you can keep respawns flowing.  If you are extremely lucky, and have taken their castle while holding the path to their respawn point, you can more easily reinforce the area and keep them at bay.  Just be sure to monitor other points for forces funneling around the lake through the woods.

In our example, blue team's castle is a little harder to attack.  It is very difficult to cut off its reinforcements from their starting point because the open area allows them to easily flank a group.  This means that red team would need to spread out and bring many more people to act as a rearguard for their attack.  If your group isn't good at maintaining a strong, spaced out line, you will have a hard time here.  That's why the teams switching sides between the two rounds can be extremely important.

If you aren't sure what to do, make sure you are fighting over a point or keeping the enemy away from them.  There is no sense fighting over a piece of woods near their base if they hold all the other points.  Try to avoid getting stuck in one area.  If you get bogged down, look for alternative routes and easier targets.  Sometimes, changing where you attack will draw a larger force than the enemy can afford to send.  For example, this post talks about a pair of people attacking a base by themselves, but managing to draw a sizeable force to deal with them.

The Battle of Fort Frost

The following is based on a true story. Names and locations have been altered or omitted out of respect for the dead. Due to the graphic nature of this story, reader discretion is advised.

Fort Frost, named after one of its chief architects, rested along the Suydam river where it could protect the only passable ford for miles.  Channeled around the front of the fort, a branch of the river served as a moat against frontal assaults, with only a drawbridge and small footbridge allowing anyone to enter the fort proper.  Traders and travelers could make use of the shallow fords to cross both branches, but the road passed directly under the watchful eye of one wall of the fort's defenses and a small redoubt tower.

War would find the fort, its position too valuable to be squandered easily or ignored.  The summer heat still lingered during the early parts of fall that year, prompting an attack near the beginning of October.   Fortunate, for the defenders, the harvest feast had drawn in a great deal of local soldiers and knights from their campaigns elsewhere.  They would be well prepared.

Word had spread about the army marching towards the fort, giving them time to prepare a few defenses along the ford.  The drawbridge, like much of the fort, had fallen into disrepair and could not be shut.  They would have to fight hard from the beginning in order to hold out.  Without the gate, they decided to position their forces to each crossing, hoping to be able to defend the bottlenecks from whatever the enemy had in store for them.  The outer defenses that had been placed across the moat would have to be abandoned, as there would not be enough men to hold them and secure the fort.

It was after midday when the enemy approached.  Cloudless skies and the sunny morning had left the humid air at a sweltering temperature across the barren plain to the West.  The enemy approached en masse, carrying no siege equipment and without cavalry; they would find no need of either.  They pushed up into the hail of arrows coming from the fort under cover of a shield formation until they reached the outer defenses.  What had once been planned as the first layer of defense was quickly repurposed by the attackers to protect themselves from arrows and to station archers of their own.



Defenders of the fort try to hold ground near the ford.
Photo by: Ellie Apland

Soon the battle raged across all three crossings.  The attackers found the two bridges to be well guarded.  A central redan tower jutted out into the moat, allowing the defenders to rain arrows down from the sides of both bridges as well as from the main wall.  Palisades had a similar effect in guarding the flanks of the ford, making any attempt to cross a dangerous affair.

The ford was the first to fall. The outer palisades had given them cover from the bulk of the fort's arrow fire, allowing them to mass troops there unopposed. A great blood price had been paid for the crossing, but the attackers had pushed back the defenders to the side gate of the fort. A small band of them skirted past the fort and looked for another way in. They would find the rear sally port lightly defended, only a few guards and one older knight.

Fort Frost at the height of the battle.

With the attacks at the bridges and side gate, this small battle would prove decisive, the victor having free reign to attack the enemy rearguard. The attackers formed up and advanced on the back gate. They expected to easily push through and swarm the fort.

The attackers were unprepared for the ferocity the knight had on the defense. He strode out, by himself, leaving his men to guard the gate. Outnumbered, he fought more as a predator than cornered animal. He strafed back and forth across their line, herding them more than fighting. Anyone who strayed from the line was cut down with a growl. He knew, from his many years of experience, that he only needed to buy time for his allies to crush the rest of the attack.

Even with his skill and determination, it was inevitable that the attackers would land a blow here and there.  The first hit him squarely on the left greave.  It would have been enough to break a man's leg, but it barely slowed him down, his armor absorbing the hit without much complaint.  He returned the strike in kind, cutting into his attacker's arm with a quick slash.  That man would never be able to hold a sword in his right hand again.

The Knight strafed the line, back and forth, keeping the enemy at bay.

He strafed the opposite direction, trading blows with a man towards the middle of the formation.  His bracer was left dented and nearly falling off from the damage, but he managed to land a solid strike to the armpit in return, just above the armor.  The blood flowed easily, covering the victim as he dropped out of formation.

Another swing clanged off of his right greave as one of them rushed in to try to stop his maneuvering.  Undaunted by the charge, he planted his foot squarely in the middle of his attacker's shield.  The sudden impact sent the man reeling, and easy prey for the knight.

As the din of battle subsided around the front and side of the fort, reinforcements arrived to bolster the rear gate's defenses.  They found the knight, still holding his ground against the remnants of the attackers.  The pile of dead surrounding the knight was a testament to his fury.  He took little notice of his allies and continued to press the attack until each and every one of this enemies was either dead or fleeing.

The immense effort finally catching up with him as the adrenaline faded, the knight sunk to the ground, fighting to fill his lungs with breath.  Cheers of victory reached his ears from men who would never know of his role in saving their lives.  Those that witnessed it would drink in his honor that night.

Choke Points

If you've been to a few major events, there is no doubt you have seen a bridge, city, or castle fight. All three have one theme: choke points. Anywhere that forces people to fight across a small opening without any way to flank it fights about the same. These are the most intense, and dangerous, battles we usually see.

What separates this type of fighting from most others is the difficulty of causing decisive action. Unlike field battles, where there are gaps and flank routes, choke points are usually decided by attrition, to a degree. The stalemate phase ends up being the majority of the fight, until numbers dwindle on one side or the other to the point that gaps can form.



Xemeo's face shows just how intense fighting over a castle can be.
Photo by: Ellie Apland

Obviously, this type of fighting favors long range, heavy armor, and large shields. Support weapons do a great majority of the work. Spears and glaives focus their efforts on killing the front lines, while archers and javelins focus on taking down the enemy support and targets of opportunity. This can leave most shieldmen on the defensive, blocking arrows and spears while protecting their support.

However, the role of the sword and board user isn't to be underestimated. Individually, they are extremely vulnerable, especially if they were to push forward. As a coordinated group, they can push forward, one step at a time, to apply pressure on the enemy. This can force the enemy line to engage and open up their defenses to swing, giving your side an opportunity to dish out some damage in counter. Experienced groups often move together well, pushing up to the call of "step" nearly in unison.

Choke points are one if the times when using a kill pocket formation can give your side a great advantage. Defending a bridge is usually better accomplished from the friendly side of it, forming a kill pocket just outside of the crossing. The edges should just be in swinging distance of the bridge as the main force is in a semicircle between them. The goal is to end up with more fighters on the front than the enemy can possibly achieve as they cross the bridge. It also opens up angles for archers and support weapons to abuse. Note that you may need some reserves to act as archer guards and block arrows for the edges of the pocket.

Casualties will happen, of course. Anyone legged is in a pretty dangerous position on the frontline. Headshots happen most often in this situation, many times from shots directed at other people. If you are uncomfortable here, back away and let fresh fighters fill in the front rank. The dead need to clear the area as soon as they get a safe moment to do so. Lingering around the middle ground during such intense fighting is just asking for injury. As the front lines fall, shields need to step up and protect the support. Anyone capable should pick up fallen support weapons and get them into action immediately.

Individual action can sometimes help force a decisive action. The full armored charge of an individual can distract and reposition targets so that the line can push forward and inflict heavy casualties. On a rare occasion, the fully armored rusher might squeeze through intact, albeit with his armor mostly gone. This minor breakthrough is only likely to result in a few support weapons or archers being taken out of the fight, but that is usually a good trade for one person.

Once the numbers begin to thin and one side is reduced to only a single line of defense without reserves, the other side will often push one side of the choke point in force, using their superior numbers to force a major breakthrough. Attrition had already decided the battle, but this charge can reduce casualties and hurry the situation along. Because choke point battles are often part of a larger fight, finishing them quickly can help apply pressure in other battles across the field.

When battles are fought across several choke points, sometimes it is best to fight defensive on most of them, applying extra forces as they are needed to either boost defense or flood a gap. Situations with three bridges, for example, might see a large reserve force wait behind the middle bridge. Fighting defensively across all three, the commander waits to see a battle begin to turn in his favor and dispatches reserves accordingly. Archers, in particular, are often switched between bridges to apply extra force quickly.

 

City battles are similar to the three bridge example, in that once one section has fallen, flankers have free run to back stab other sections of the line. City fights are just a complex series of choke point battles. Unlike the bridge scenario, the array of corners and paths opens up flanking attempts and gaps in the enemy line. Vision gaps are somewhat more common in complex city layouts. Any section that pushes up too fast may be exposing their flank by moving past a side corridor that connects to the enemy backfield.  Teams that have a better awareness of the city's layout are at an advantage, being able to quickly get to the most advantageous positions in the maneuver phase of the battle.

Regardless of what type of choke point you encounter, your goal is to maintain a strong line and win the battle of attrition.  Cautious fighting can pay off, but you still need to inflict casualties to the enemy.  At some point, you may be forced to have your line be aggressive and push up into the fight, accepting that you may lose some fighters.  As long as your team works together and keeps in a tight formation, you should be able to keep the pressure on and start winning the fight.  Just be mindful of safety, of yourself and anyone else that is legged or dead in the middle.

Post Mortem: Armageddon 2014

Yet another oppressively hot, humid year at Geddon. I had a great time and am officially exhausted. Always a good sign. Since I just got back into town, I thought I'd write down a few thoughts about how the event went. Remember, none of this is meant as a jab at anyone. These are just observations to keep in mind for the next year.

Organization. This year seemed less organized than normal, not sure why. Troll was good, seemed to run smoothly, and as far as I could tell, it was all scheduled and taken care of. There seemed to be some confusion here or there about who was head herald and weapons checker. This happens. We really need to advertise these things (at troll perhaps) so people know who to talk to about their concerns. The disorganized feeling may have just been from not having personally been involved with the planning and execution of the event.

Weapons check. Same problems as always at check. Any inconsistencies cause people to grumble. Changes in checkers or head checker can alter the standard from one day to the next. This is something that the National Marshal Certification should help alleviate much of this problem, long term anyway. Roping off the area was a great idea and worked way better than cones. Overall, it seemed to run smoother than at Spring Wars.

Heralding. Seemed kind of light on heralds, but the field wasn't too large for them to handle, except maybe for unit or realm battles. I didn't personally see too many problems, only a few complaints about archer calls (which heralds were on top of). One note for the site, if used next year, need something to delineate hard edges of the world. Hay bales or marking paint would do just fine. Heralds had to spend a disproportionately large amount of time trying to enforce boundaries that weren't obvious.

Scheduling. Two endurance trials and several kingdoms battles all squeezed into Saturday. Of course, two of my friends were getting knighted, congratulations. It was just unfortunate there wasn't an easy way to work then in better. I suggested they raced through the trials, but no one seemed to go for it. They were, however, scheduled more off of peak fighting timed. On the bright side, with so many different things pulling fighters from the main field, most people seemed to find something to do. Weapons check was probably opened longer than necessary, didn't give people a reason to hurry to check.

Feast. I didn't stick around for Saturday's feast, so I can't speak on how it went or the timing. I do know it didn't interrupt fighting, which is good. I didn't eat Friday's feast, just wasn't something I wanted. I didn't hear any complaints, so it must have went relatively smooth. I don't remember if anyone actually announced it was being served. I may have just missed it.