ANST - Combat archers

[Keith Hood]

>
>Everyone is hitting all around the target, but not quit.  Let's apply a 
real
>world defensive tactic which is simular to what the Romans would do in 
close
>combat; in fact, his Grace Keen teaches the tactic to heavy fighters.  
Don't
>shoot at the guy in front of you, shoot the guy to the side.
>

>>
>>We (at Middleford) have tried two three and four archers shooting at 
one
>>"fighter" who was watching us and have found it hard to score hits on 
one
>>fighter (no shield) if they are looking at the group.
>>


If the target man is watching for shots, and has room to maneuver, it 
can be hard to hit him with these slow combat arrows.  But men in a 
fighting formation are more likely to be hit because they can't spend 
all their time looking out for arrows; they're busy doding maces and 
thinking about who they're going to hit next.  The best man to shoot at 
is the guy closing to contact with a friendly fighter; his attention is 
so focused he's very vulnerable to long-range attack.

It is better to shoot at angles to the line rather than directly to the 
front.  The victim is less likely to see it coming, even if he's not 
engaged.

Target designation may be easier than people think; use arrows like 
tracer bullets.  The group leader yells "Mark target" and the other 
group members stop what they're doing for a couple of seconds, and watch 
where he shoots.  It would be a good idea to also call the target aloud, 
just to reinforce the designation in people's minds, but watching which 
way the arrow flies makes it easier to locate the target than just by 
looking for someone who matches a description.


    Tomonaga


-- 
A long bow and a strong bow,
And let the sky grow dark.
The nock to the cord, the shaft to the ear,
And a foreign king for a mark!

        -- Stolen from "The Song of the Bosonian Archers" --
               By Robert E. Howard, who should be
                 the patron saint of Ansteorra


______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
============================================================================
Go to http://lists.ansteorra.org/lists.html to perform mailing list tasks.