This! is why I joined the SCA

[Brother Logan]

Funny that I stumbled across this on the interwebs. This is the first exposure I had to the SCA, I was i junior high school and I remember thinking ManI have got to do THAT!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZvbsIYr8mc

[FrauHirsch1]

Funny that I stumbled across this on the interwebs. This is the first exposure I had to the SCA, I was i junior high school and I remember thinking ManI have got to do THAT!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZvbsIYr8mc

1990 Estrella - I loved that site. The fighting was a dust bowl, but the terrain was awesome.

My husband was knighted by Ivan at 12th night that reign a month prior to Estrella.

I fought with the Abbey then, my husband with House Mead. Found me and the Abbey unit at about the 9 minute mark.

[Ilia_Caid]

That was the first Estrella I ever fought in. Man that was fun times.

My helm made a cameo in there a few times

[armorbug]

Hey, I'm in that video! That was a fun Estrella.

[Count Johnathan]

I fought in that. I remember we were all hunting Gaston (Chris Gilman) because he had a microphone in his helm and the cameras were tracking him. We were however grateful that he had helped to bring such exposure to our game. Good times.

One of the few times I fought alongside my father.

[FrauHirsch1]

Very cool Count Johnathan. I am hoping I will be able to fight alongside both my sons someday.

[Marshal]

"The dark forces of Atenveldt"?!

I never realized...

[Thomas MacFinn]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vljdsfphks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNrxmfEF ... re=related

[FrauHirsch1]

Thomas, I love the "Music in a Fighters Head". I know several people who fight with their own sound tracks, but they all hum or sing under their breath as they fight.

[Adriano]

I've always wanted to attend Estrella. (It's at a different site now, isn't it?)

Good video! Would have made me want to join. (If I hadn't already been in for ten years at that point.)

These videos always get me fired up. Wish I could go fight right now. Sorry I can't make Border Raids.

[Gunthar]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vljdsfphks

I was at this Gulf Wars and had blown out my knee a month before so I wasn't able
to fight. I was assigned to the cameraman to show him around and keep him safe.
We went up in the tower to film the castle battle and I kept trying to tell him it was
a bit dangerous to be unarmored up there. He just grinned, told me he had just
come back from six months in Beirut and he was used to dodging things a lot smaller
than arrows and ballista bolts.

[Tascius]

Wow thanks for that post as I'm in it. The camera panned me from head to toe. I missed my close up the first time around so seeing it 20 years later is cool. Really should not have worn my Roman sandals that day but they got me that shot!

[Adriano]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vljdsfphks

I was at this Gulf Wars and had blown out my knee a month before so I wasn't able
to fight. I was assigned to the cameraman to show him around and keep him safe.
We went up in the tower to film the castle battle and I kept trying to tell him it was
a bit dangerous to be unarmored up there. He just grinned, told me he had just
come back from six months in Beirut and he was used to dodging things a lot smaller
than arrows and ballista bolts.

They did a pretty good piece, didn't they?

That's our esteemed colleague Asbrand talking about rattan.

[Marshal]

I've always wanted to attend Estrella. (It's at a different site now, isn't it?)

It's on it's 4th or 5th now, I think. More if you count the Great Desert Wars as proto-Estrellas.

[Balin50]

My 1st Estrella.

[Vilhelm550]

WOW! I remember seeing this on ESPN late one night when I was also in junior high school.. This was also my very first glimpse into the SCA. Thanks for posting this!

[AEiric Orvender]

Yup I own a tape of that, that was my first year in the SCA and my first war experence!

[Morejello]

One of the few times I fought alongside my father.

I am hoping I will be able to fight alongside both my sons someday.

Even though there are plenty of days when I can't stand to be around the little shitbird, I'm proud to have taken the field with my son at my side.

[FrauHirsch1]

Morejello, so far my oldest (18) fights, but is not seriously into it at this point.

My youngest just turned 14 and shows no interest, but neither did my oldest at that age. So we'll see. I hope we can all fight together before I'm too broken.

[DukeAvery]

Those were legendary times, and best news is that they are not over.

Come to Estrella, where full speed charges, killing from behind, and pez-dispensing thrusts are the norm. I've got to say I think the two inch tips on glass spears has reinvigorated the spear game. Big thanks to whoever made that happen.



Regards

Avery

[Chris Gilman]

That ESPN video came about because I had a meeting in the same building as the amazing game production office. As I was walking by, I thought, they should do a segment on the SCA. So I stopped in and gave them a brief description. A few days later they called me and asked for more info and told me they wanted to do the segment with me. I pointed out I was not one of the top fighters and it would be better to if they did the show with Duke Armand (An assistant DA at the time) or the current King. They said they liked the contrast of my mundane job and my hobby and wanted me.

When Bob Chandler was at my shop, he asked me if we had many injuries in the sport, I said an occasional broken bone or a rung bell but that it was pretty safe given how brutal it looks. He told me of some of his injuries playing football (He was a wide receiver for the Raiders) His first game in Denver, on his way back to the huddle after a hard hit he told me he felt a little dizzy, he figured it was the altitude (Mile high). He said he got to the huddle and the next thing he remembers is waking up in the hospital. It turns out he had a ruptured spleen and lost nearly two thirds of his blood into his body cavity.

At Estrella, for the broken field battle I had built a cage for a camera that was supposed to be mounted on the side of my helmet. Unfortunately they cooked something on the camera electronics and it wasn’t working that morning. So we just had sound.
It amazes me that it had such an impact and people still remember it. Many years ago I had a king offer me a Pelican for service to the SCA because of this show. I don’t know if he was serous or not, but I turned it down.

[Vilhelm550]

Chris, that video sparked a fire in me that burned through junior high, high school, my beginning years of college, my time in the US Army, a divorce, a stint in treatment, and through my return to college and now I am a considered a senior member of the local shire, can say I love being a contributing memeber of this Society. And for that I humbly give you thanks, good sir.

[Laurie Wise]

The two Great Desert Wars were before Estrella. Prior to those, the wars were held at Burro Creek but the site had become too small for the amount of people. Camping was haphazard at best and the merchants were all over the place. The original intent of the Great Desert wars were to address previous shortcomings Burro Creek had.

The Great Desert War was specifically planned as SCA War site. There was an area for vehicles to park. Camping for the different representative kingdoms was laid out. There were specific camping spaces for households, warbands and larger groups if they wanted. They could build a semi permanent structure to mark their area. Plenty of spaces for individuals. There was a central area set aside for Merchants to set up and for any ceremonial gatherings.

A well was drilled and some water lines and faucets were laid out. More was done by GDW II. To run the well, the first year, a power plant was used but the following year a power pole was put in for APS to string the wire to. Showers were being planned for the third year. So much good was done and was in the planning..."sigh".

A lot of reasons why there a GDW III never appeared and I won't go into that. When Estrella Mountain Park was picked to host the next War after Great Desert II, the best ideas and concepts of GDW were used.

So, yes....the GDW were "proto Estrella".

[Marshal]

The Great Desert War was specifically planned as SCA War site. There was an area for vehicles to park. Camping for the different representative kingdoms was laid out. There were specific camping spaces for households, warbands and larger groups if they wanted. They could build a semi permanent structure to mark their area. Plenty of spaces for individuals. There was a central area set aside for Merchants to set up and for any ceremonial gatherings.

And it all blew eastward on the winds.

[Laurie Wise]

Well, yeah...the timing when the GDWs were held happened when we had high winds blowing the same period.

However, the wind/weather pattern changed the following year. If there had been a third GDW, there wouldn't have been any high winds. It remained calm during the whole period and for several years after. In any case, if you use Google map, you can still see the site and make out where the two forts were and the central merchants area was. The Dun Raven is still there and if you know where to look you can see the wood tower.

The site was sold a few years later. Then passed hands a couple more times after that. It's up for sale again.