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Caladin, I think the basic answers to those questions are the same for
Combat Archers as any other armored combatant.<br>
<br>
I think what Combat Archers and most other fighters want in melees are:<br>
<br>
<blockquote>1. Lots of good fighting.<br>
2. Fights where they can feel they have done some good and made a
difference.<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
Obviously if the battlefields and scenarios are setup in such a way
that archery is excluded, severely or unreasonably limited, or simply a
scenario where archers can not be really effective then they aren't
going to be much fun for the archers.<br>
<br>
As we have said before when there are battles where reasonably static
areas of engagement occur, when archers can be used to help take
specific areas of ground or help deny specific areas of ground then
archers can really shine.<br>
<br>
<hr size="2" width="100%"><br>
Castle/Fort Battles where archers can defend from relatively static
defensive positions or can attach specific objectives to soften up and
remove the defenders. For Castle/Fort Battles I like both attacking
and defending as they are often have very different dynamics.
Attacking you have little cover in the way of fortifications and may be
relatively exposed to the defending archers. When you are defending
have great fortification cover but that cover often gets in your way
and limits your field fire. Lets face it if you in a tower with a
arrow slot or crenelation you can very easily be limited to just what
you can shoot at through that crenelation and if the main push and
fighting is elsewhere you shot opportunities may be low. Yet even if
your shot opportunities are low you often can not afford to abandon
that location and leave it completely undefended. <br>
<br>
I love when we run the Castle scenarios at Bordermarch where the
defenders get no resurrection (or very limited) and the attackers get
unlimited resurrections (or many) . And run the scenario twice so that
I get to both attack and defend. I love it. I have been in those
battles where it actually felt like a siege. Exhausted... running out
of ammo... wondering when it would end... Wondering how much longer we
could hold out.... Wondering if we could hold out long enough for it
to count as a victory... <br>
<br>
<hr size="2" width="100%"><br>
Bridge Battles and with bridge battles I'll throw in the types of
battles that occur with narrow confines such as Castle Gates. In areas
like this where there are specific small patches of ground being fought
over the archers can really shine as long as comrades work with them to
allow them to bring their arms to bear against the enemy. Obviously
if all you can see in these narrow situations is the backs of your own
fighters then you cant do much. <br>
<br>
<hr size="2" width="100%"><br>
Resurrection battles. Obviously res battles give lots of opportunities
for fighting. Fight as much as ya can during either your time limit or
resurrection limit. Good all the way around. Nobody has to worry about
getting killed in the first few seconds/minutes of the battle and gets
to have nearly as much fun as they can handle. Archers probably like
these better than most fighters. While some fighters might get tired
of the walk back to resurrection point, as an archer depending on the
scenario I am likely going to have to make that trek a number of times
anyway during any battle to refill my quiver.<br>
<hr size="2" width="100%"><br>
<blockquote>As a segway to the above and refilling quivers... I don't
mind when there are limits to how many pieces of ammo an archer can
carry as long was they are realistic limits and not done just because
someone wants to limit the effectiveness of archery across the board or
for one side. In period when archers mustered they would bring with
them two or three sheafs of arrows (12 arrows per sheaf so 24 or 36
arrows total) and as they needed more they would be resupplied from the
supply train of the army. <br>
<br>
An archer who carried with him less than 24 arrows or a Lord who
allowed the archers he brought with him come bearing fewer 2 sheafs of
arrows each would typically be considered under equipped and ill
prepared for war and in fact perhaps be in violation of the terms of
his contract, feu duty, or other feudal obligation. . When scenarios
limit how many arrows an archer can carry to some unrealistically small
number of arrows (say 15 such as last years GW) it's simply an attempt
to limit the effectiveness of archery and I believe that archers who
actually come well prepared with sufficient ammo to make it through a
fight are insulted. The archers (an by extension the army) that came
prepared for battle, with sufficient supply, is being dragged down to
the level of the ones that did not.<br>
<br>
back closer to topic...<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
<hr size="2" width="100%"><br>
The Ravine battle at Gulf War is probably the best of everything for
archers. It is a resurrection battle and a battle where fairly static
lines of combat form and with static objectives (take and hold the
flags). Since those static lines form in a relatively open terrain
where there aren't any walls or other large barriers to limit the
field of fire it becomes a target rich environment. Since the
engagement is often a spear length apart and we have a shield wall on
our side to provide cover and protection we can be about as effective
as archers possibly can be if we are on our game. I can give examples
of where I believe the archers were used effectively in the ravine
battle and when they were not but that would be a separate discussion.<br>
<br>
<hr size="2" width="100%"><br>
<br>
How about boat battles. Can be fun or not at all depending on how the
scenario/boat is setup. If it is setup where the boat has dedicated
oarsmen and then dedicated fighters withing the boat then it is great.
The archers simply are in the ship and not required to be oarsmen and
are free to shoot. Ideally you shoot the oppositions archers first and
oarsmen second so that the other ship has no ranged attack and is dead
in the water once you get them down below their minimum level of
oarsmen to maneuver. Once the other ship can not maneuver and if
they don't have ranged attacks then you just sit off at a distance and
kill them or leave them there stranded and move onto another ship (in
multi-ship battles). Lots of other strategies and possibility. But
where I see the ship battles as the most fun is when they are 8 or 10
person ships and where there are 4 oarsmen required (two per side) for
the ship to maneuver. You can swap people in and out of the oarsman
position as needed, you can choose stop maneuvering and have all the
oarsmen take up arms. The key is to make it so that it is not simply
about ramming your ship into theirs and turning it into a a big hand to
hand tussle. If you where going to do that just forget about the boats
and have some small melee team tussles.<br>
<br>
<hr size="2" width="100%"><br>
<br>
There have been a few battles a Pennsic over the year with archery that
I really liked. Namely a River Crossing battle and a Great Wall
battle. But again the key there was that there were static areas and
objectives that were setup and the archers could be used effectively to
work at range to either help take those objectives or deny them.<br>
<br>
<br>
OK, enough for now.<br>
<br>
-EA<br>
<br>
<br>
Eric Brown wrote:
<blockquote cite="mid:4AAD5075.2010607@io.com" type="cite"><br>
Okay this begs a couple good questions.
<br>
<br>
What are CA Archers favorite scenarios and
<br>
in a rough way, why?
<br>
<br>
If you could make up an scenario, JUST to be extra fun for archers,
what would it be?
<br>
<br>
What do you guys think of Boat battles (We have not done them In my
memory since North sea raids.)
<br>
<br>
When I first heard of boat battles I though they were the stupidest
thing I'd even seen, I even thought about
<br>
boycotting them because I thought they were so stupid (and this was at
Pennsic)
<br>
<br>
But after doing them I decided they were the best thing ever... and
they seem like a natural for archery IF you can have enough folks in
<br>
the boat to allow archers to have both hands free.
<br>
<br>
What else?
<br>
<br>
Caladin-
<br>
<br>
</blockquote>
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