[Ansteorra-archery] Is there a rift?

Timothy Rayburn timothy at elfsea.net
Fri Apr 19 08:30:38 PDT 2002


>Greetings to the List from Sir Guy,

Greetings to you, Sir Guy, and to all those who you may choose to pass my words along to.  I am Lord Timothy of Glastinbury.  I have been a combat archer, I may again.  I am a marshall and a herald, and as such a somewhat practiced observer of what goes on around and during battles and tournaments.

>I could be wrong but I get the feeling as a whole that you all feel
>unappreciated as a whole.  Is this a wrong perception on my part?

I believe that, watching from the outside, this community certainly feels under appreciated.  I suspect that Gulf War conventions that have stood to long are to blame for this in no small part.  Here are some likely hot points that if rectified could help 'mend' this problem.

1) Every archer is required to be 'touch-kill' at Gulf Wars.

Reasons Given : I've heard this justified mostly in saying that in the heat of combat fighters cannot always tell if someone is indeed touch-kill or a 'white diamond'.

Counter Argument : Every fighter does manage to tell the difference between their enemy and their friends by a small strip of tape of either yellow or blue.  Large white diamonds should be easier.  If it is a matter of marking them at the War, I will personally volunteer enough white diamond stickers with either a blackstar or triskel in the center to mark all four sides of every archers helm at the next Gulf Wars who wants them.  I have both the means and the way to construct these without problem.

Counter Arguement 2 : If you don't want a rift between archers and the rest of the heavy community then break down the walls that make the different.

2) Arrows (and other thrusting weapons) to the face-mask only.  Not to the side of the helm or to the top.

Reasons Given : Other than tradition, I've got no idea.

Counter argument : Flatly arrows, and spears, would have been able to penetrate a helm.  I realize this is not an archers-only issue, but it is another way that combat archery is treated differently.

3) War Practices/Melee Practices without Archery

Problem : While I can understand the need for shieldwall drills, or drills for any other specific type of unit (including combat archery), there needs to be a serious attempt to hold War Practices and Melee Practices at locations where realistic practices can be held, and this means combat archery is allowed.  I /full/ well realize that this can be a pain, as most parks don't like people shooting archery, my barony just had this run around.

4) Bad communication and command decisions.

Problem : I've yet to see a Gulf Wars go by that did not have a stupid decision made either by the marshalette or by our own commanders in at least one battle.  A couple of years ago in a field battle the archers were called together on one side of the field by our commanders to be bait for the opposing side.  But they were not told they were going to be bait and were not ready for such.  This last year a change of rules regarding touch-kill was effectively announced by marshalls DURING the battle.  When things like this happen, it can make whoever it happens to feel that they are not important enough for their commanders or king to make a stand against the ruling.  Justified or not.

I'm sure other people will come up with other items.  But basiclly I'd sum up the above as follows : If you wish the archers to feel like 'any other heavy fighter' then get rid of rules that don't treat them like 'any other heavy fighter' and stand up for them like 'any other heavy fighter' when bad decisions are made.

These are my two cents,

Lord Timothy of Glastinbury
Occasional Archer




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