The Armour Archive

brewer

Consider the Split Curl hinges sold, also. PM sent!

brewer

If I've got this right, you ... consider CA discourteous. No, I see it as unknightly. DeCalmont tried to extract courtesy and use it as a strawman to make "dickishness" a discussion of virtue. I reject that notion; It is knightly to be courteous in an SCA martial context. It is discourteo...

brewer

Courtesy, though, is a virtue, and chivalry is a context in which the virtue is practiced. To many heavy fighters, it is discourteous to strike a man in a time and manner where he can not present a credible offense. Add to that the belief that, while we seek to exploit an earned advantage, we do no...

brewer

Well, the 'different' blazon: Argent four pallets sable and on a chief gules a lion passant argent doesn't violate the RoT, the field being Argent and the chief being Gules. This should be clear from: Argent, a blackletter initial 'B' between two birch leaves sable, on a chief gules a lion passant g...

brewer

Two reasons that come to mind; a.) cutting the string b.) unable to grab the arrow/bolt There are others for certain. I don't think I would just casually be insulting people claiming they are "gaming" the system if you don't know the specifics. There's nothing casual about it, nor need yo...

brewer

should NOT be your name as a pictogram (ie: I don't use a gryphon on any of my registered devices or badges) should be something personal and meaningful to yourself Of course, as stated, those are my own opinions. Your mileage may vary. I'm going to take issue with the former, because I approve who...

brewer

"Watch this thread" post. Nothing to see here.

brewer

A problem we have avoided (that Syr Alfred's plan fixes), is that it will never be safe to strike a CA while they wear demi-gauntlets. Unless and until they get their demi-gauntleted hand in a basket, yeah. I would presume a crossbowman would be wearing full gauntlets. There is no imaginable reason...

brewer

A reenactment is a reenactment of a specific historic event. a Tactical , is a skirmish that anyone can win or lose. Reenactments are usually open to the public, as shows, to entertain and educate. Tacticals are for the participants, and are competative. Tacticals happen usually at reenactment even...

brewer

Reenactment archery in battle is a little different I am guessing since it is not for "sport" and it does not end the enjoyment of a reenactors experience. As I understand it it is simply there as reenactment of what was actually going on in the battles or time period you are there to ree...

brewer

I'm going to tread that slippery slope of interpreting someone else' words. I may be wrong, but I read his statement as having a loose enough interpretation of the word human, that it could even apply to a landsknecht. Not slippery at all. It does apply to Landsknechten. Even the French! [ducks] Bo...

brewer

ON average, the length of campaigns in Northern Europe wouldn't allow for a lot of thinning out of people. The entire Agincourt War, is completely different than the previous stage of the 100 years war, in that Henry specifically set out to recover Normandy, and Conquer as much of France as he coul...

brewer

People that ARE out of place at a WWII, or Civil War reenactment, are right at home in a Medieval reenactment. For that matter, they are at home in an 18th century army, or earlier. I'll give you age, but excessive girth is objectionable. First, even though there are examples, they are a relative p...

brewer

It's weird, but you just don't see a whole lot of 18-year-old guys in WWII reenacting - or any military reenacting, for that matter. You see a lot of guys seriously older and "girthier" than their historical counterparts. Why? Easy. This shit's bloody expensive . You can drop $3500 in a da...

brewer

Gentlemen, I apologize. A bloke who was only halfway beyond n00b when he stopped fighting five years ago shouldn't make sweeping pronouncements. I was wrong, as your testimony hath shewn. Let me rephrase: The last time a I leapt across the spear-duel no-man's-land in order to gack a spear, I was a d...

brewer

Clever, Bob -- but I'm not going to let you get away with restating my position, either . Party pooper. However remote it might be, even a shieldman has a -shot- at the nine-foot spearman. He may be out of effective range, but so long as he is not out of physical range, there is an element of risk....

brewer

Would it bring you the same satisfaction to fire only at the opposing archers being that you know how effective thay are against your sides melee troops? Would it help or hinder your ideals of personal honor or chivalry to willingly NOT use the weapon against those that you know do not have the sam...

brewer

It's not about the numbers (therein lies renown), its about the risk. The archer is unthreatened by his target. This is an interesting nit to pick. I'd like to worry it in a respectful manner. I submit there is always risk no matter where you are on the battlefield. It is a matter of degrees. The a...

brewer

weren't spearmen and pikemen also commoners? Generally speaking, yes. In medieval armies, the vast sea of warriors weren't even gentle, much less noble. And if you're on foot, well... Of course, those are generalizations. But the principle holds. Well, in melee you can have 4 people beating you dow...

brewer

a hold was called and i moved a few steps forward and leaned over the wall and yelled out to his then majesty ie falcon that our troops had the front and his right side. i suggested he might head to his left (we had about 100 to his personal guard of around 15). anyway, thought it might help him la...

brewer

Thank you. I would like to add that not all of the folks who are bothered by it are concerned only about fairness. Some are bothered by the historical or non-historical way it is used, some by the fairness of the individual contest aspect, some by the perceived lack of safety concerns but all of th...

brewer

Note: The following are philosophical thoughts. No offense is intended. There have been a lot of comments on how CA unbalances the game. Sir Richard, as always I found your comments very illuminating. Yes, it does unbalance the game of SCA warfighting. So did missile weapons have that effect in hist...

brewer

None of us wish to step away from the game nor do we wish to exclude anyone from participation which is why we stay and thus far CA'rs are currently allowed however I would say it is a fair estimate that about 90% of all the heavy fighters I have ever spoken too do not enjoy combat archery and feel...

brewer

I am not opposed to battle. I am opposed to the arms race that has so deeply entrenched missile weapons in our game. Let's hope the mechanics of how battle is conducted can reach a compromise that permits both visions, and let's work toward it! Missile weaponry ended the age of chivalry that we in ...

brewer

brewer, I believe we can. The problem is that right now we aren't. The current application of CA is not balanced in the context of everythign else on the field. I'm willing to accept "take anything that touches me" from CA. I'm only asking it be limited to my face. I see very little accep...

brewer

Yes well that sounds simple enough but what would pennsic, estrella or any other large melee event look like with only 30 fighters on the field? If we did all walk away the events would perish. Do you really think that would happen? Do you really think that large of a percentage of SCA armoured com...

brewer

Respectfully, our point is that they are not exclusive. In method of individual action on the field they are one in the same. The only difference in fighting method from tourney to melee is that in melee you have teamwork but honor, chivalry and a fair contest is still the basis of our fighting in ...

brewer

Edited to add: Thanks, Steve, for pointing that out! The two communities will never be equal because our mindset is different, our ideals are different, and we clearly don't care about the same things. For some reason personal honor, the ideals of chivalry, and a fair and enjoyable contest for all ...

brewer

"I think it's disingenuous to say that archers are gaming the system." In the real world, bringing a gun to a knife fight is prudent. In the context of SCA stickfighting, you're gaming the system. In the context of coming to an SCA war no I'm not. And there is a shining example of the dis...

brewer

Even though you'd "win", who in their right mind would respect that? For my part, it's a matter of definitions. Here, you presume that large gangs of armoured SCAdians roaming fields are a behourd or large-scale tournament in the King Rene style, where warrior seeks out warrior to further...

brewer

chef de chambre wrote:So, chivalry and courtesy is only a mask, to be put on at events, and taken off later?

Apparently.

brewer

Hear, hear, DelCalmont.

Trying to talk to Balin50 is like trying to teach a pig to dance.

Can we get back to NOT falling for the troll-bait now?

brewer

I think I've told everyone I know about you guys already. Thanks for the props, Chris! Always welcome. One of these years, we're actually going to have to come to Bristol. This year just didn't pan out. We like you guys, and hate that we only see you once per year. Damn, I have to make some new fri...

brewer

Well, you could have created accounts and posted updates on both Twitter and Facebook in the time it took to make the original post here. Strewth. But to be effective, I'd have to use them regularly, like daily , in order to have it impact my SEO plan. I don't have time for that, unfortunately. If ...

brewer

Thanks, Alail! See you at Pennsic.

Thanks to you other fellows, too! We've got very little time and zero manpower to devote to stuff like Twitter. LJ is covered. Facebook is a bullshit magnet that generates too much PITA (sorry, FB devotees!). But thanks for the suggestions!

Bob

Re: Researching heraldic device,