[NR] A Question For The Chivalric Fighters....

Lori Campbell lcampbell at oltn.odl.state.ok.us
Thu Jul 29 07:17:51 PDT 2004


1) The only tournament I believe in keeping to one field at a time is 
Crown.  Anything else can have as many fields as it takes to get the 
preliminary rounds done in a reasonable time frame.  In elimination 
tournaments I think once you get down to 8 pairings or less it is nice 
to revert to one field.  Those guys worked hard to make it that far and 
IMO, they deserve a degree of pageantry and their own moment in the 
spotlight.  When using multiple fields, the most helpful thing for me as 
a fighter is to be able to stay on whichever field I was first assigned 
to.  It makes things MUCH easier to know where you need to listen for 
the field herald.

2)  The main thing the list mistress can do is keep things moving.  I 
realize that isn't always easy in a sizeable list because sometimes you 
can't make pairings until you know the outcome of the previous rounds.  
Mainly just to focus on trying to get the parings done as quickly as 
possible.  I don't know how others feel about this, but I'm willing to 
wait a little longer if it means I get to fight someone I don't always 
get to fight.  I'm not a stickler for the random draw format.  Too many 
times I've driven 6 hours or more only to draw the guy I fight with at 
local practices.  I really appreciate it when the list mistress makes a 
point of not pairing folks from the same geographical area (or squire 
brothers, etc.) until the latter rounds.

Supplies for list mistressing depend on your method.  I've always used 
HE Gitana's list mistress kit which contains lots of 3x5 cards and a 
slide-in photo album (especially cool if disguised to be more medieval 
looking) to keep the pairings straight for the herald.  That ads a few 
minutes to the prep time (maybe one or two, not much), but I think it 
ads ambience to the field and prevents disasters like dropping the cards. 

3)  Cold weather tournaments are my idea of heaven.  I don't do warm 
beverages, but I can see where some fighters would appreciate them.  
Barn, for example, likes coffee no matter the time of day or night.  For 
me, tap temperature plain water is best.  I can't say that I've ever had 
a fire available by the list field, but it might be nice.  To be honest, 
I've never had a problem being cold (even on very cold days) once the 
tournament was underway.

4)  I love small list fields (I consider 20 x 20 small), but if the 
format is open to all weapon styles I think the field needs to be at 
least 30 x 30.  Polearm and spear duelling can be beautiful if the 
fighters have enough room to maneuver without worrying about a Hold 
being called every few minutes when they move too close to the edge.

5)  I don't think I would use the weapon racks or benches, but I don't 
see any problem with them being there for fighters who do like them.

Good questions! :-)

Cts. Kat, sometimes fighter-type person



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