ANST - A bit on weapons

[Kief av Kiersted]

Heilsa Dux and all our Good and True Ansteorran kin...

>A friend of mine just got his marshalling authorization, and has been 
>poring
>over the rules.  He found a couple of rather interesting ... glitches.

Glitches are in the eye of the beholder...

>1) If you construct a short axe (say, less than 3 feet long), it is just
>about impossible to keep it under the weight limit if you use a basket hilt
>on it.

On this issue, you have a point. Although, I will point out that 
traditionaly axes did not have basket hilts. As well, most all one handed 
fighting axes (not woodsman's axes or working axes) were under 3 pounds. I 
will probably put in a "lower weight limit" as to suppliment the "overall 
weight limit"... Stay tuned...

>Similarly, it is just about impossible to make it pass the balance
>test (head heavier than hilt) if a basket hilt is on the weapon.

I would guess that the hint here is don't use basket hilts on "crushing" or 
"combination" weapons... That and make the heads heavier.

>Even
>without a basket hilt, if the axe is shorter than 2 feet long, you will
>likely still be overweight....

Agreed. The idea of the "overall weight limit" is to prevent weapons from 
being too heavy. Would you agree that a two foot "axe - mace - hammer" that 
weighed 8 pounds was too heavy? (As an aside - I've actually held two "short 
swords" that were no longer than two feet...that actually weighed in at 8 
pounds......_each_!)

Has anyone seen any marshals using "fish scales" to weigh any weapons? The 
Marshalate will not do so unless it is obvious that a weapon hefted during 
inspection is far too heavy for its size or class.

>2) With axes and glaives, which kill if the head strikes even off-edge, why
>do we bother to mark a striking edge?

Axes and glaives _DO NOT_ "kill" if struck "off edge" The flat of a weapon 
is just that...the flat. The only case that I consider a "flat" to be a 
valid kill or disabling injury is a blow to the face. The blunt back of an 
axe is a "crushing weapon" and needs to be called as such. The back of a 
glaive is the same be it "edged" or "blunt". We also consider the "flat" of 
a great sword to kill or injure only if the facial area is struck. Same 
argument is valid for the "haft" of a crushing or combination weapon.

To repeat: _all_ striking edges need to be marked.

>3) If we are considered to be wearing open-faced helms, so that we should
>take any thrust to the face that would have touched the face, why do we 
>just
>shrug off incidents of our own shield bashing into our face hard enough to
>rock us?

The "assumed armor" helm standard in Ansteorra is:

"Fully Armored (1): Presumed protection for the purpose of acknowledging 
blows. A fully armored Combatant is presumed to be wearing a lightweight, 
mid-arm sleeved, mid-thigh length, riveted mail hauberk over a padded 
gambison, with boiled leather arm and leg defenses.  ***An open-faced iron 
Spangenhelm, with a nasal, covering the back and sides of the head is the 
standard in Ansteorra.  A light, riveted, mail drape is considered to be the 
only covering of the face from just below the eyes to just below the 
chin.***"

A thrust to the face is a point or sharp edge into the eyes/occular region. 
A hammer or mace blow to the face is obvious. However the flat of one's 
shield driven into the face is, within the context of SCA fighting 
conventions, not sufficent to disable or kill. The reasoning behind this is 
the same reasoning that does not allow us to grapple our opponents, kick 
them in the groin, strike them as they lay "helpless" on the ground, et 
cetera. Besides, we do not allow "shield edge strikes or punches" to be 
valid blows because of safety reasons... I do not want to see folks start 
shield punching into their opponents shields nor "body checking" their 
opponents shields hard enough to cause said shield to impact the head/body 
hard enough to injure.

>Anyway, just some things to think on....

Thanks are give to you Dux for bringing up these issues and to your sharp 
eyed kinsman for finding them.

Although, good my neighbor(s), these issues had already been "hashed out" by 
the formulators of the Rules and Standards...*grin*

>Dux (with more time on my hands right now than is good for me)


Wæs Þu Hæl kinfolk...!
Kief - EM Ansteorra
"Better the Hammer than the nail..."

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