Practices

Remember the old Kingdom Crusades event between Atlantia and the East Kingdom in Northern Maryland in the 1990s and 2000s?  That was such a fun event bringing the 2 armies together for a weekend of friendly combat.

When my friend and fellow Anglesey Kinsman, Bari, got knighted in 2022 (now Sir Bari), I started thinking "what if we could host a practice where Atlantian fighters and EK fighters could meet up"?  Olam Yrsa of Atlantia had found a big open field in Glen Bernie, Maryland (Barony of Lochmere, Atlantia) that we tested out with a mini melee practice earlier in the year.  When I saw how accessible the site was near Baltimore, I knew that I could take it and turn it into something more.

The first official Joint Kingdom Melee Practice was on October 22, 2022.  Sir Bari and a bunch of other fighters from the East Kingdom and Aethelmarc came and we had a great day of melee practice.

Scenarios:

1.Single death broken field battle ran multiple times.

2. 90 second unlimited resurrection control-the-point broken field battle ran multiple times.

3. 3 lives broken field battle run multiple times.

For a deeper analysis, visit Sir Bari's The Tactical Fighter blog.

The practice was such a success we did it again on April 8, 2023.  Video footage of the practice can be found on Master Bumi's site here.

So what does it take to run a good melee practice?

1. Simple scenarios.  It's always easy to start out with some open field, single death warm-ups and then switch to simple resurrections.  Keep props simple, like ropes and cones (no moving hay bales here!).

2.  Keep things moving.  This means reading "the room" (aka the fighters) and knowing when to time breaks without losing fighter momentum.

3.  Make it easy.  An easy-to-drive to, accessible site with lots of parking and amenities (portos).  We rent a porto for under $200 and ask for donations to go towards that.  Everybody always chips in more than enough.

4. More fighting, less talking.  Talking is good after the scenario to go over what worked, what didn't, and help fighters learn strategy, but not for very long.  The best teaching method is more opportunities to correct tactics through fighting, not more blah-blahing!

5.  Have a couple of people on hand to serve as marshals.  Although for a small practice, one can get away with no marshals, for a practice this size, having 1 or 2 marshals to corral fighters and serve as time keepers for timed scenarios does help. 

6. Build camaraderie.  Afterwards, we all go get post-fighting food at a local restaurant.  This helps fighters get to know each other better.

7. Advertise!  Push out the practice and make start times, instructions, and information clear.  Find "new markets" to advertise to bring into the fold.  For this one, I created a "promo" video which you can find by clicking here.

Scenarios:

1. "Join a side" single death warm-up.

2. 5 single death field battles - 2 teams.

3. 3 Lives/2 deaths broken field resurrection battle run twice.

4. Kill the king battle.

5.  90-second control-the-point resurrection bridge battle.

6.  Round robin 10-man style single death field battles.

7. Warlord battle.

8. Pick-ups.

For a deeper analysis, visit Sir Bari's The Tactical Fighter blog.

In my capacity as Northern Regional Commander for Atlantia's armored fighters, I hosted a melee practice on October 1, 2023.  Video footage of the practice can be found on Sir Bumi's site here.

The goal was to practice single death field battles only.   

Why single deaths?

As I discuss in Chapter 8 of my The Art of SCA Melee"  manual, everyone remembers the big single death field battles.  It's the most akin to historical fighting we can get.  "The single death field battle is where the wheat is separated from the chaff.  An army’s reputation rides or dies based on its performance in this scenario."

Plus, selfishly, single death field battles are super easy to organize and involve no props or complicated instructions.

Teams were given strategies to implement, such as flanking, designating a boomerang, dividing into subunits, working with uneven numbers, bookends, etc., tactics I talk about in my manual .  We ran 11 single death bouts.  Sir Bumi has breakdown and analysis on his youtube channel, here.

At the end, participants received favors I commissioned from Duchess Mary Grace.   The favors are a token of appreciation for making the time to come to the practice.  They are also meant to serve as identifiers for the army.  With 70+ armored fighters in Atlantia, can a new fighter from Baltimore, MD recognize a new fighter from Myrtle Beach. SC?  Probably not :-)

We went back to the Lochmere site on October 28, 2023.  This time, we had a lot of newer fighters so we kept scenarios simple and repetitive to give fighters opportunities to improve.


1. Join a side single death field battle warm-ups.

2. First set of 4 single death field battles in a square enclosure.

3. Second set of 4 single death field battles in a bigger square enclosure.

4. 3 lives, 2 resurrections in enclosure with pond obstacles ran 4 times. 

5. 3 lives, 2 resurrections bridge battle ran 2 times. 

6.  Pick-ups.


Video footage available on Sir Bumi's site.


News flash, Northern Atlantia gets cold in the winter!  Luckily we were able to find an indoor, heated site to hold a practice on January 20, 2024.  Unfortunately, snow and road conditions kept some people away, but we had critical mass to conduct some great scenarios:

1.Join a side single death warm-ups. 

2. Single deaths in a limited (square) area, ran 6-7 times. 

3. Bridge battle, 3 rezes/2 lives - This was run in a narrow path that could accommodate around 2-3 shields and 1-2 spears working together. Spears learned how to coordinate their shots.

4. Bridge battle, unlimited rezes. Sides needed to control the center at time checks. There were 3 time checks over a 5 minute period. This was the most intense fighting of the day where there was lots of aggression to control the center.

5. Zig zag, 3 rezes/2 lives. This was run twice where, due to the markings on the floor of the building, we were able to fight in a zig zag-shaped area. Spears could shoot over "lava". This allowed for more of a longer front line and corners to press and push.

6. Pick-ups and training. After the planned scenarios, spear lessons and 1-on-1 fighting.

The promo video for this practice is here.


We held a cute little mini melee practice on March 16, 2024 while people were returning from Gulf Wars.  Since there were only 6 of us, we ran a bunch of 3v3s which gave sides an opportunity to adjust and learn.  We got some valuble tuteledge from 2 members of my Anglesey household, Sir Arunedoor and Swordbrother Maltree. 

On Sunday May 19, 2024 we had the mother of all practices.   Sir Richard of House Gilchrest invited us to invade his property for a truly epic practice.  He has an armoring shop, tons of field space, a wooded area and then a tavern in the basement of his home.  We took advantage of the natural terrain and ran the following scenarios:

1. Single death, open field warm-ups. We ran this 5 times with some rebalancing of sides as fighters got armored up and joined in.

2. Allied Champions-style capture the flag resurrection battle. Teams were divided into either red (pink) or blue. First side to get to 3 flags won. Teams had to resurrect in groups of 3 or more to mimic the timed resurrections during the actual Allied Champs battle at Pennsic. Sides were each at 2 flags at the 10-minute mark so we called no more rezes and fought it out. Each side utilized strategies for capturing the opposing team's flag and defending their own flag.

3.  15-Minute Resurrection Woods Battle. We mimicked the Pennsic woods battle by having to control a center flag at +/- 5-minute intervals (3 time checks). The woods had a natural "high" road and "low" road that sides utilized. Attrition was a factor towards the end of the time period, just like at Pennsic!

4.  Town/Cathedral Resurrection Battle. We mimicked the town/cathedral scenario that will be at Pennsic LI. A flag was placed in an 18x 18 sq. ft. enclosure made of hay bales. There was a "baton" in the middle of the enclosure with red and blue end. The enclosure had 2 doors. Sides had to control the baton by holding it up (time keepers kept track of time of possession for each side). Afterwards, we discussed the main strategies fighting outside the enclosure, breaching the enclosure and then fighting inside the enclosure to protect the baton holder.

5.  Pick-ups and authorizations.


Videos of the scenarios are on Sir Bumi's site here and across.

On Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 we where back where it all started in Lochmere.  This was a pretty rough weekend for the Kingdom and I wasn't sure how many fighters would show up as rains from the hurricanes that hit the Southern region of the Kingdom affected us heavily in the North.  The Kingdom had also lost 3 prominent members that week which weighed on people heavily.

We still managed to have 13 in armor - 4 Knights (and a 5th Knight marshalling), 8 unbelts, and 1 combat archer. Teams were split into Team Storvick (no tape) and Team Everyone Else (pink tape) with the archer switching between the 2 teams. Teams were evenly matched. Scenarios:

1. Join a side single death warm ups - run 7-8 times as people were still armoring up.

2. 3 lives/2 resurrections limited front "pond" battle - We fought in an enclosed field space with a pond in the middle. Spears and arrows could shoot over the pond. We ran this 3 times with the archer switching sides for battles 1 and 2 and sitting out the 3rd. 

3. Breach the door battle for time - A defending team was inside a building with a doorway with no resurrections. The attacking team started outside with 3 lives/2 resurrections. Then the teams switched. The attacking team to breach the building and kill everyone inside the fastest won. We ran this so teams defended and attacked 2 times each, with the archer defending for 2 and then attacking for 2. 

4. Control the point bridge battle - A 3-minute unlimited resurrection battle. Teams had to control the center of the bridge at 3 time checks (1 minute each, +/- 10 seconds or so). 

5. Pick-ups.

6. Post-fight Italian lunch.


Video footage on Leone d'Amore's site here.