ANST - Combat archers

[Keith Ewing]

Greetings.

It seems that a lot of recent posts have been about combat archery. I 
thought I'd post a chapter from an essay I wrote a couple of years ago 
on melee tactics. If anyone wants to read the whole thing you can find 
it in Stefan's files at 
http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/rialto/melee-tactics-art.html

ARCHERS:
Archers are becoming more and more important on the Ansteorran 
battlefield. Archers should integrate themselves into a
unit, moving among and behind the spears or to the flanks, looking for 
targets. It is important that you stay alive, but your
buddies will be busy, so if you find yourself in danger, RUN! The best 
place to run is into the back of your own shield wall.
Imagine your attackers dismay, when instead of running down a helpless 
archer, he finds himself engaged with two reserve
shieldmen and a nervous polearm man. You should warn your buddies that 
you are bringing enemies into the backfield.
Screaming bloody murder is usually quite effective. 

You can sometimes stop a charging enemy by pointing your weapon at him 
in a threatening manner, even if it is not loaded.
This sometimes allows you that extra second you need to run and scream 
like a banshee. 

You should attempt to make every quarrel or arrow count. Get as close 
to the enemy as you can before firing (remember the
minimum distance rule). You will sometimes be ignored until you reach a 
certain range. A good archer can find that range
and stand just past it getting good shots, until he or she is noticed. 
If an enemy is looking at you, he is very hard to hit. SCA
missiles do not move as fast as the sword blows that all fighters are 
used to blocking or dodging. Look for fighters who are
not focused on you. Look for targets on the angles. The enemies 
directly in front of you are probably aware of you and
defending against you. Be inconspicuous. If you don't have good 
targets, MOVE! 

An archer should keep a mixed quiver of both thistle and Markland 
heads. Use the Marklands for long range and the thistles
for short range or for when your target is engaged in combat. If a 
fighter is in actual physical contact with the enemy, he is
unlikely to feel the impact of a Markland arrow, so thump him with a 
thistle. The new Baldar blunts seem to be a good
compromise between the accuracy of a Markland and the punch of a 
thistle.
[As I said this was written a couple of years ago. There are many new 
options for heads. Experiment and use what works for you. -Kein]

Archers can team up. Archer pairs or groups of three can be very 
effective. One archer can move in one direction being
very visible about it while his partner stays put and remains 
inconspicuous. The enemies will have a tendency to move their
defenses to bear on the visible archer, giving the other archer good 
shots at flanks. If the enemy sends out a runner to kill the
visible archer, the runners flank is open to the inconspicuous one. 
(The visible archer should still run.) Archers in groups of
four or more become very juicy targets for flankers, so avoid "archer 
clumping". (I invented that term.) 

Beware enemy archers. Hiding behind a pavise or a shield wall is one 
way of keeping them from shooting you, but it is
difficult to be effective while hiding. Moving is almost as good and 
allows you to shoot some of the bad guys. A moving
target is difficult to hit. If you are in the open, don't stop to 
reload! Either reload while you are moving, or find someplace to
hide. Shooting them first is also a good way of keeping enemy archers 
from shooting you. 

I am hesitant to put instructions here about choosing targets, because, 
in general, I say that if you have a choice between two
targets, take the easier target and get the kill. I say that as an 
archer. As a commander, I say that it would really be handy if
you killed off the enemy commanders first. So, here is my list of 
priorities, in order, of who to choose to kill first: Skilled
commanders, Skilled flankers, Skilled archers, Skilled spears, 
Unskilled commanders, Unskilled spears, Line shieldmen,
Unskilled archers, Everyone else. Other commanders will probably have a 
different list. Let this list influence your shot
selection slightly. Mostly, take the sure shot and get the kill. I 
would rather have a low priority enemy dead than a high
priority enemy missed and alive. 

Many people, when they think of archers, they think of massed units of 
archers who darken the sky with flights of deadly
cloth yard shafts. While romantic, it has been my experience that 
putting all your archers in a single unit is a mistake on the
SCA battlefield. Why? Because, they are very vulnerable to flankers. It 
has also been my experience that volley fire is a
waste of time and missiles. Volley fire supposes that if you get enough 
missiles in the air, some of them are bound to strike
home. While it is sound in theory, in practice I have found that we 
seldom have enough missiles. Basically, volley fire orders
archers to shoot all at once at a certain time, whether they have a 
target or not. Believe me, it is difficult enough to hit an
enemy when you have a target. There is no reason to waste missiles when 
you don't. 


Kein MacEwan
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