[Ansteorra-archery] [Mm] How to increase TA, TW, and CA

[Susan McMahill]

Milord,
 
There have been efforts made to move archery closer to other parts of the events,  but that has sometimes resulted in near disasterous incidents. Most sites simply aren't archery friendly unless there is an area that is roughly 100 yards square available. Yep, folks, that's roughly the amount of space required for a target archery competition if you will be using targets up to 40 yards away from the firing line, such as a Royal Round. Ideally this area will not have obstructions such as trees or anything else that can't be seen around or rises that could hide someone behind them. Walking is period and most people in period walked a lot farther to watch archery contests or the like. Most of us (and I include myself,) could stand to walk a little bit more. Look at it as our contribution to an event where most people spend a long time in the car getting there, then eating too much or drinking too much. Archery is a healthy part of the event for everyone because it encourages exercise for all!
 
We usually do have pavilions set up. Most shoots that I have participated in or run have had the event pavilion at least and usually pavilions set up by archers or spectators....usually, as you mentioned, people connected with the participants. We have tried banners and flags at Warlord with somewhat mixed results. They get expensive to make and lots of event budgets simply won't allow for them. As far as food and snacks...the water bearers table has the same thing for everyone. The budget is again a big issue. If you want to come to an archery event and bring food...we will be happy to have you. Most archers provide their own or for their households or family, but would be glad to share.
 
I cannot find a place in the Complete Participant's handbook where a marshal for every thrown weapons participant on the line is specified, but there is a place where each person participating must be assessed by the marshal. Having watched TW several times and seen that a large number of the participants are first timers, I can see where this could be handy to have multiple marshals. Unfortunately there are actually very few TW marshals in Kingdom, period. Thrown weapons targets are bulky, heavy, and expensive. Most groups don't have them, let alone TW marshals, so it is unlikely that you will see more than one or two throw at a time, ever. If HL Blackmoon says he would like a marshal per participant at events that he is marshalling at, he is entitled to require it.
 
Thrown weapons doesn't always take a lot of time. Archery can take a very long time depending on the number of participants. When you have 20-30 archers competing, you can't make everything as short and sweet as a typical 21st-century attention span would like. You can bet on at least 4 rounds of shoots and probably more with a boring interval of target changing and set up between each round. It's not a good spectator sport under any circumstance. Heck, at my first event in An Tir, I tried to watch archery and was bored to tears. Yet when I came to Ansteorra, one of the first questions I asked in Steppes was, "Where and when is Archery practice?"
 
There are also safety considerations at melee events where there is combat archery. There are required safety buffer zones now, much to the chagrin of spectators. That means that folks will be kept farther away from the action. Bring your binoculars, folks. I am glad for the changes, however because the last two melee events that I went to where combat archery was allowed, there were issues with marshals and safety glasses on the field, and people crossing the safety lines to get closer to watch, heedless of their danger. Amazingly enough, the marshals did very little to stop them because they were intent on what was going on in front of them rather than behind, where all the violators were. Gotta get that picture, you know, regardless of what the rules are.
 
At Warlord, we typically have Thrown Weapons and Target Archery adjacent. Lots of archers throw and vice versa. It keeps it convenient, even if we are a long way from everyone else. We are safe, and as an archery marshal, I would rather have a safe event than one attended by a whole slew of folks. We love to have ya, but safety first!
 
Lady Lyneya de Grey
Central Regional Missile Marshal
Well-behaved women Seldom make history - Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
 
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