[Hellsgate] (no subject)

K. Marsh maelgwyndda at yahoo.com
Thu Dec 19 08:28:58 PST 2013


Last night we had some discussion about doing some marching drill for armoured fighters (or soon-to-be-armoured fighters) in the park on Thursday. (Today!)  I will be running a program at the library until 7 PM.  (Library Christmas party...wassail and cookies and christmas songs...y'all come!)  I plan to be at Carl Levin park by 8 to run marching drills and formation maneuvers.  Even if your armour isn't ready yet, bring beg or borrow a shield and come learn to work as a war company!

Here is a little homework suggestion - read and learn these commands from Duke Kein's essay on melee tactics:


Plan Alpha:
   This is the standard formation that you will usually
see on the battlefield. It involves having the line shields in
front, standing shoulder to shoulder. Sheildmen might lock their
shields together  or leave a six inch gap between each shield, depending
on the preference of the commander. I prefer a six inch gap.
Spears and polearms stand behind the shields. Reserve shield(s)
is/are behind the spears and poles. The archer slides in where best
he can.
 
   In the open field, this formation is fairly good for
line units, not so good for cavalry units. Its weakness is the
flanks. It is good on a bridge or limited front. If it is used on a
bridge in a
   large battle, you should make sure that friendly
fighters do not crowd the back of your shield wall so that the spears
can't work. (There is a trick to this. All fighters are eager to
join the battle, so keeping them back is a constant struggle.
You must be polite, but insistent, and be ready to tell the same
fighters to move back several times.)
 
Plan Beta:
   I'd love to take credit for inventing this formation,
but the fact is, I stole it from Hrabia Jan. He and Bjornsburg used
it in the first Outlands war. I'm sure that Jan probably
researched it from some period text, and it might be as old as the Romans.
It's fairly radical on the SCA battlefield, though.
 
   This formation has half the line shields in front with
a sword's length between them. The spears and poles filter into
the gaps between the front line shields. The other half of the
line shields are behind the spears and poles, about 5 ' behind the
first rank of shields in line with the gaps. Reserve shields hang out
in the back until needed.
 
   In this formation, every fighter has a "sphere of
influence" which is the circle in which he can strike an opponent by
taking one large step. Any enemy within an individual's
"sphere of influence" should be engaged and killed. The strength of this
formation is that so many of the "spheres" intersect. Thus
when an enemy strikes the unit, the enemy finds many weapons turned against
him. Another strength of this formation is that an enemy flank
attack meets much the same resistance as a frontal attack. Plan Beta is
also useful for units that are light on shields. Great swords,
poles or two weapons can take the place of the second rank of shields.
 
   The are two problems with this formation. One problem
is that it requires most fighters in the unit to be of medium
ability or better. This problem is easily solved through practice.
The other problem is that is slightly more vulnerable than Plan
Alpha to a concentrated frontal assault. This problem is addressed
and solved in the next chapter on commands.
 
   I find this formation to be very useful in the open
field, whether for cavalry or for a line unit. It can be useful on a
bridge if the enemy has gone stationary, especially if they have
grounded their shields.

Form up
   Form up means, get into your positions quickly and
efficiently.
   

Dress the line
   Dress the line means get the shield wall in shape. If
you are a line shieldman, you should look right to see that you
have the proper spacing between you and the next fighter, then
look left to make sure your buddy is doing the same. If you are
behind the line, you should assist the line shieldmen in doing this in
whateverfashion seems appropriate (remember they are your
friends.) 
 
   You should dress the line after any maneuver, whether
told to or not.
 
Advance
   Advance means "Go." Walk forward in a normal
fashion. It is important to "dress your line" while advancing.
Do not stop until you are given the command "Stop". Walk over or around
obstacles while maintaining your speed. It is very important to maintain
your speed while approaching the enemy. Many units slow down when
they enter spear range. This is foolish. The enemy spears have more
time to do their work. You should quickly  get so close that the
enemy shieldmen are protecting you from the enemy spearmen. If line
shieldmen slow
down on approaching the enemy, it is usually very
inconvenient for the friendly spearmen because they have to step over the
corpses of their line shield companions to engage the enemy. If no order to
stop is given, after you engage the enemy, you should attempt to
continue at the same speed over your opponents.
 
Advance to engage
   Advance to engage means advance (as above) until your
shieldmen are engaged with the enemy shield to shield, then stop and
fight.
 
Advance by step
   Advance by step means to take one step forward. The
command should be given as follows. "Advance by step!".....
everyone waits...... "Step!" ..... everyone steps. Further
"Step" commands can be given without the preparation command.
 
Double time
   Double time means "advance" as above except
at a trot.
 
Triple time
   Triple time means "advance" as above except
at a jog.
 
Charge
   Same as triple time, but faster and meaner.
 
Retreat by step
   Same as "advance by step" except backwards.
 
Single file left 
   The commander calling this command should be on the
left flank of the shield wall. All fighters in the unit should pivot
90 degrees left where they stand . They should then follow the
person in front of them closely. The commander should lead the unit
where he wants them to be then stop. When the unit stops all fighters
should pivot 90 degrees back right.
 
Single file right
   Same as "Single file left", but to the right.
 
Slide left
   The formation moves to the left without turning or
breaking their formation.
 
Slide Right
   Same as "Slide Left" but right. Do I need to
tell you this?
 
Angle Left 
   Advance at an angle to the left. Make it a 45 degree
angle unless the commander tells you otherwise.  He should try not
to make it too complicated as few soldiers bring protractors onto
the field with them.
 
Angle Right
   Same as "Angle Left" but right. I am going to
assume that you know this now.
 
Refuse the Left
   This command is used when the wall is about to be
flanked. It must be executed quickly and accurately. When this command is
given, the shieldman on the right flank pivots slowly to his left.
The shieldman
on the left flank runs backward on a curve that is the
circumference of a circle that has a radius of the length of the shield
wall. Every other shieldman moves backward at an appropriate speed to
keep a line
formation between the two flank shields. Spears and poles
move backwards behind that line. Rese rve shields move to the
left flank and support. Continue this movement until the commander
says "Stop". I hope this explanation is clear and no one has to get out a
geometry textbook to figure it out.
 
Refuse the Right
   I leave this as an exercise for the student. 
Regroup
   This command is used after your unit has engaged the
enemy, when your unit has scattered into individual fights or smaller
units. Upon hearing this command a fighter should disengage from
whatever engagement he may be in and form up with his buddies in
Plan Alpha in front of whoever is calling the command. He/she should
also begin shouting "regroup". This command, quickly
followed, can win a battle for you. If your unit is a UNIT when the bad guys are a
scattered mob, you can take advantage of their conf usion and destroy
them.
 
Retreat (When in Plan Beta) 
   This command addresses the problem of an enemy charge
when your unit is in Plan Beta. The command should be given as
"Retreat one
   two". One the word "retreat" the spears
and poles in the front line
   have to take two steps back and to the right. On
"two" the shields
   in the front line take one step back while the shields
in the back
   line take one step forward. This puts your unit into
Plan Alpha one
   step back from where their original line was. This
takes practice.

Note that this text is from Duke Kein's essay on melee tactics and is strongly based on an earlier "Command Language" document that I and Sir Connor produced for the Bryn Gwlad war company in the late 1980s.  There are two more commands that I need to include:

Wheel Left
   This command is used to rotate a formation forward and to the left, just the opposite of a "refuse". It must be executed quickly and accurately. When this command is
given, the shieldman on the left flank pivots slowly to his left.
The shieldman on the right flank runs forward on a curve that is the
circumference
of a circle that has a radius of the length of the shield
wall. Every other shieldman moves forward at an appropriate speed to
keep a line formation between the two flank shields. Spears and poles
and reserve shields move forwards behind that line. Continue this movement until the commander
says "Stop".  
Wheel Right
   I leave this as an exercise for the student.

Maelgwyn - Commander of the Crucible


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