Picking a nit

[Mike Baker]

Arrgh.

Sir Lyonel has _also_ called me to task over the distinction I made 
concerning "snowball melee tourneys".  Having already responded to Sir 
Gunthar, I'll try not to duplicate too much.

(Aside to Sir Lyonel, who I do not believe I have had the privilege of 
meeting in the flesh yet, and any others who might be confused: in the SCA, 
I am best known as Amra - hence the "s.k.a." portion of my .sig line. The 
Kihe portion I try to only include when I'm doing something related to my 
existence as a bard, which is mundane as well as within the Society.)

> <HUMOR:off>

This bit was intended to indicate that the preceding bit about semantics was 
mostly in jest.

> With all due respect, milord, saying "I like melees" does not repeat the
> sense of "I like snowball tourneys."  Even if you call it a "snowball 
melee
> tournament," a snowball tourney is decidedly distinct from the broader
> category "melee."  It is possible to like one and dislike the other.

A very important distinction. From the viewpoint of a former (hopefully 
future as well) fighter, field herald, marshal, and spectator, I can agree 
with this across a spectrum of positions. As noted circumstantially in my 
words to Gunthar, a "snowball" does not necessarily have to be a tournament 
either.

> While I enjoy melee combat, I find it far more enjoyable in well-trained,
> well-organized units than in the catch-as-catch can of a snowball.  Not 
that
> I don't find the occasional snow-ball tourney enjoyable.  Snowballs shake 
up
> the battlefield status quo and require rapid formulation of strategies.

Agreed. When last I fought actively, the melee itself was a rare thing 
outside of demos & wars. Since returning to the SCA a few years back, I find 
that I love watching a good *TEAM* work together on the battlefield, and 
that watching snowball units shake themselves together into a team can be 
educational as well.

> Held too often, however, I find snowball tourneys lose their charm.

Agreed as well. They make excellent training for war commanders, though, in 
that during the course of the catch-as-can a leader often accumulates a 
collection of those "well-trained, well-organized units" that have not 
worked in unitA & unitB combination before (or who have, and want to do some 
active training under unusual / unpredictable conditions more nearly like 
what will be encountered at an SCA war).

> Yours in Armoured and Semantic Service

And, Likewise, In Service to the many different voices that hold our Society 
together

al-Sayyid Amr ibn Majid al-Bakri al-Amra

Kihe Blackeagle (the Dreamsinger Bard)  s.k.a. Amr ibn Majid al-Bakri 
al-Amra
     currently residing in Barony of the Steppes, Kingdom of Ansteorra
Mike C. Baker                      mbaker at rapp.com
Any opinions expressed are obviously my own unless explicitly stated 
otherwise!