Pennsic and House Bloodgaurd

[SyrTheo]

I just wanted to take a moment to thank Duke Icefalcon and all of Bloodgaurd for switching sides for the last 2 bridge battles on Thursday at P40!! I asked Ice what he thought about the numbers, and he agreed the Midrealm needed forces, and said he would be happy to switch if his King would allow.

A big thanks to King Lucan for his agreement and allowance to have Bloodgaurd switch sides. Well done Majesty!!

Pennsic 40 was a hard fought, excellent Pennsic. The weather was great, the battles fierce, and the commradery awesome. [From both sides.] Finally, a big round of appluase to Hugo of Bloodgaurd. You stumbled into our camp and made alot of new friends, just like in the old days. Hoobah!

Prince EikBrandr of the Midrealm

[Vitus von Atzinger]

Something changed at this war.

[accdntprone]

Had a bit of a set to with part of the bloodguard at the end of the first bridge battle. Great fun . Thanks guys.

[Duke Icefalcon]

Nothing changed with us. We have been saying that we do not like numbers that are far off for a while now. This time we had the numbers. I had no issue with coming over. It was the right thing to do. It was fun and I go to fight with my friends in the Mid and Northshield. Let's never forget we are all in the same family.

Great War!

[Duke Icefalcon]

PS- Theo, You are a good man!

[Vitus von Atzinger]

I mean in general.

[Noe]

I mean in general.

Like what? For the better, or for the worse?

[InsaneIrish]

I mean in general.

Do you ever NOT post in veiled terms Yoda?

[Kari]

Hugo!

[Sigismund von Helfenstein]

Something changed at this war.

War never changes...

[Wulf]

Yes the idea of BG comming over was nice but I think they should have stayed with the east. I for one would would rather take my ass whooping when we are out numbered. Life is not fair neither is war.

***Next statement is not at anyone in particular, if you take it to heart thats your fault.***


If your side is out numbered at Pennsic there are a few things that can fix it. The royalty from said kingdom can get better friends and allies, hire mercs(my favorite), or the royalty should stop being a douche nozzle so kingdoms are willing to fight with them.

[Oscad]

Except none of those things are really an option once the war has begun. The point of playing in the SCA (for most folks anyway) is to have fun. I don't mind being outnumbered, but to be badly outnumbered means it is no longer fun, same as when we badly outnumber them, still no fun. I would rather have fun, I would rather my 'enemies' are having fun. IME both of those are much harder if there is a large discrepancy in the balance of the sides.

[Wulf]

If your on the side that has the numbers, the odds are you are going to win and you can be more flexible with your battle plans. Bein outnumbered however gives you a chance for glory. They both have their places at Pennsic.

[Halvgrimr]

Right on Wulf
I dont care about numbers, I prefer to be on the short end of things, it makes for some damned good NSTWW stories:)

6-8 of us 'accidentally' stopped a full on Bloodgaurd charge in one of the battles ....admittedly it was mostly due to a oddly timed hold but it went from "Oh this is gonna suck" moment to a "Can you F'n believe we just did that?" moment:)

It was a pleasure to tangle with Ice and his househould

[Gregoire de Lyon]

...to be badly outnumbered means it is no longer fun...

I expected to feel this way this past year, particularly in the woods. Fact of the matter is that the woods at Pennsic XL is the most fun I have ever had in a Pennsic War Point. When there is no longer any realistic hope of winning, you really can just go and have fun.

There is no plan, there is no strategy, there are no commanders telling you to get back in line.

You go, you throw your shots, you die and then res for some more.

If the scenario hadn't been such a complete and total blow out, it would have been possible to walk away wondering if an extra ten percent effort, an extra one percent carelessness for footing, 1 minute less in res getting water, would have made a difference. This past year, none of those things would have made a lick of difference and as such we walked away laughing about the target rich environment, grabbed our DELICIOUS Sour Apple Icee pops and headed home after a brief stop at the sandwich bar on top of the hill.

In short, I had fun.

[MJBlazek]

House Bloodgaurd is one of the most gracious houses in the East.
GNE War 24 last year (2010) I had a new fighter in the field battle. He had just authorized that morning.
I rmember asking him halfway through how he was doing. He said "well, actually, I'm kind of bored, I stand at the back and wait for us to break the line then they tell me to run forward. But once I get there, there is no one alive to fight!"

So I went to his grace Duke Konrad, the Rittmeister of Bloodguard and said "Pardon me your grace, but I have a new fighter, authorized today, who wishes greater glory in battle. Please use him as you see fit."
To which Konrad responded, "Dude, Awesome, get him up here."
So I went to the new guy, said.. see that man? (he noded) You call him your Grace, and do whatever he tells you too" And pushed him wide eyed to Konrad.
Who then put him directly in the front lines for the remainder of the battle.

It was one of the coolest things I have ever seen, or done in the SCA. Bloodgaurd took him in, and put them in thier lines amongst thier best and brightest. He died a lot, but each res he was put right back in the front line.

It totally made his war.

[Aaron]

MJBlazek, that rocked. I've only met Duke Konrad a couple of times but he always came across as a surfer dude who ended up being a duke. I mean that in a good way. He never complains that the wave rhinohides, he just rides the wave and then catches the next wave, if you get the analogy.

-Aaron

[Louis de Leon]

I dont care about numbers, I prefer to be on the short end of things, it makes for some damned good NSTWW stories:)

Yup. Very nice that his grace evened the sides, but being outnumbered also has its advantages. One advantage is that it's never boring!

Monday we were outnumbered like crazy but we still managed midway through the battle to push back our foes and reclaim the center banner right around the 45 min mark. We held it only for a minute or two before we were beaten back.

But the fact that we were able to push and regain it, even for a few minutes? Wow. I'll never forget it. I still have no idea how we managed it.

[Wulf]

The thing is numbers help but they are not always telling. Does anyone seriously think for a moment that some of these kings/queens and war leaders would trade of the experiance Atlantian army (lots of fun scraping with you guys) for a brand new household full of newly authorized fighters even if they did outnumber the Atlantian army 3:2 or even 2:1. Skill and heart and expericance DO mean something on the battlefield. Hell just being able to recognize the people in your own unit and sticking with them can be difficult for some people, thats nothing to say of combat awarness. Realizing that the enemy is going to charge before they are on you, able to in a split second see a unsuported shield wall and go hit it with your pole arm, see that the 4-5 spearmen have snuck out a little to far to get back to the shield wall in safety. All of those things come to you after fighting for a while. So numbers do not tell the whole story.

[InsaneIrish]

The thing is numbers help but they are not always telling. Does anyone seriously think for a moment that some of these kings/queens and war leaders would trade of the experiance Atlantian army (lots of fun scraping with you guys) for a brand new household full of newly authorized fighters even if they did outnumber the Atlantian army 3:2 or even 2:1. Skill and heart and expericance DO mean something on the battlefield. Hell just being able to recognize the people in your own unit and sticking with them can be difficult for some people, thats nothing to say of combat awarness. Realizing that the enemy is going to charge before they are on you, able to in a split second see a unsuported shield wall and go hit it with your pole arm, see that the 4-5 spearmen have snuck out a little to far to get back to the shield wall in safety. All of those things come to you after fighting for a while. So numbers do not tell the whole story.

Numbers are not the only thing, true. But, in our SCA fighting Numbers are a HUGE thing. Without the true fear of dieing or loss of morale for a rout, the side with decidedly more people has a much bigger chance of winning. Even if they are less skilled than the smaller force.

[Duke Icefalcon]

Right on Wulf
I dont care about numbers, I prefer to be on the short end of things, it makes for some damned good NSTWW stories:)

6-8 of us 'accidentally' stopped a full on Bloodgaurd charge in one of the battles ....admittedly it was mostly due to a oddly timed hold but it went from "Oh this is gonna suck" moment to a "Can you F'n believe we just did that?" moment:)

It was a pleasure to tangle with Ice and his househould

Hehehe. Thank heavens for holds, eh? We had a blast with the honorable fighters of the Midrealm and Her Allies during that battle. Lots of good hard fighting and smiling!

[Morgan]

I don't like extreme numbers for one reason... there are lots of folks on the side with MORE bodies that won't get to swing a stick. Everyone spent a BUNCH of time and money to get there. Who wants to NOT fight? I don't care if it's 60/40 or so. But still there are folks on the 60 side who won't get to fight. Which sucks for them. I'd rather LOSE every battle than not swing a stick because we're winning so convincingly.

Of course if it's a REAL battle, I'm all for my side having overwhelming numbers.

[Oscad]

fighting is still fun... but I would much rather be outnumbered but have it be close enough that it can be overcome with effort and skill. When the numbers are completely lopsided, then it doesn't matter what I do, or how well I do it, I will get clubbed like a baby seal. Sure, I can rez and come back, but even if I kill a person or two, I will just get mauled again.

Now, this can be fun in a 'lets just go beserk and have some fun' kind of way, but it really seems to lose its luster after a few res's. The valley battle was outnumbered, but seemed close enough that it was still fun for everyone involved. The woods was so one-sided that many on the East never got to fight, and many on the Mid were just walking into a wood chipper. That can be fun (see Gregoire) but I think it also loses quite a lot of what can make the battles exciting.

[Md02geist]

I like how we got oodles and oodles of pouring rain...but NEVER during any of the biggest major battles. Thumbs up.

[Oscad]

Yeah, I am not sure who was the Deputy-Mayor of Weather... but they sure got it right this year.

[Tally]

I felt sorry for the midrealm, being so out numbered, but everyone I mentioned it to brought up how they were getting to fight more than we were, and fighting is fun. I really enjoyed the battles, especially the last day's field battle, which let my unit really work on some movement and tactics. Even the woods battle, which I always fight in, but which I think is often not worth the walk up and back, was fun this year.

[Hugo Von Guetenbach]

Hugo!

Ha, thank you. That will be one Pennsic I will never forget. Your hospitality is unmatched and I must admit, you guys and gals know how to have some fun.

Again, thank you your Highness. It was just as fun singing and laughing by your side as it was to fight by your side. Maybe I will get lost looking for a camp and stumble into yours again next year.

[LiamStLiam]

House Bloodgaurd is one of the most gracious houses in the East.
GNE War 24 last year (2010) I had a new fighter in the field battle. He had just authorized that morning.
I rmember asking him halfway through how he was doing. He said "well, actually, I'm kind of bored, I stand at the back and wait for us to break the line then they tell me to run forward. But once I get there, there is no one alive to fight!"

So I went to his grace Duke Konrad, the Rittmeister of Bloodguard and said "Pardon me your grace, but I have a new fighter, authorized today, who wishes greater glory in battle. Please use him as you see fit."
To which Konrad responded, "Dude, Awesome, get him up here."

I can so hear Konrad saying that.