combat archery
Michael A. Chance
mchance at crl.com
Wed Mar 29 11:11:46 PST 1995
Lorraine DeerSlayer writes:
> At several other events the fighting activities were arranged poorly
> and arrows were exchanged with one of the teams close to the
> spectators. It was a miracle none of the spectators got hurt.
At the (in)famous Mustache War, I was marshalling during one of the
"pass" battles (the ones between the two clumps of bushes/trees).
There was an archer/crossbowman on the other side of the battle line
from where I was who was attempting to fire through a gap in the two
lines and hit folks in the back ranks. Problem was, the folks in the
back ranks _knew_ he was firing at them, and were side-stepping out
of the way as he fired. As a result, his shots were flying way past
the battle area, and back towards where the spectators were crowding in
along the back edge of the field, trying to get a better look. Seeing
that a number of his shots were landing _awfully_ close to the crowds,
I turned away from the battle momentarily and started to chase people
further back. However, just as I did, there was a great shout behind
me, from the direction of the battle. Thinking that the other side
had achieved a breakthough and that there could well be hordes of
fighters rushing headlong into the crowds nearer to where I was
marshalling, I turned back around again, only to see an arrow flying
straight towards me. It hit, square between my eyes, momentarily
stunning me and knocking on my backside. As I sat there trying to
clear the "sparklies" from my vision, I thought to myself, "I'd take
that!". Then I realized that I was marshalling, not fighting, and I
didn't have to take the shot, so I got back up and continued to
marshall. Got a small bruise from the Markland-style arrow, but
nothing serious. Range was maybe 30 yards. Such was my first
encounter with combat archery.
> There is still the problem with the marshalls. If we armour them they
> look like fighters and get hit more often. If we don't they are in
> danger of being seriously hurt in scenarios with combat archery.
At Pennsic, there has been a growing trend for several years of
marshalls wearing at least partial armor (gauntlets, knee/elbow pads or
cops), and several have taken to wearing WW I "doughboy" style
helmets. And Pennsic doesn't have combat archery yet (thogh it sounds
as if it may soon, though).
Mikjal Annarbjorn
--
Michael A. Chance St. Louis, Missouri, USA "At play in the fields
Work: mc307a at sw1stc.sbc.com of St. Vidicon"
Play: mchance at crl.com
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