Battlefield video will never be the same...

[Athanaric]

This is from Great Western War that just ended a few days ago. This is the first battle, more to come.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoMMDrFg ... e=youtu.be

[Ceawlin Alreding]

Nice! Well done, you!

[Johann Lederer]

Nice!
What aerial platform did you use?
I am researching the purchase of a drone or other aerial camera and this video looks great!

[Athanaric]

Just to be clear I did not do this...I am but a lowly warrior on the battle field. My buddy that made this used a 4 rotor remote chopper with a stabilized go pro hero.

Edited: bad spelling is bad.

[Johann ColdIron]

Wow! I felt like I was playing Total War. Very cool and a lot easier to perceive the troop movement.

Tell your friend to keep it up, please.

[CTrumbore]

I think it's a great idea, but I'll say.. it's going to be "allowed" till the first time one of those goes down into a scrum and people realize what carbon fiber blades can do to you.. then it will be banned.

[Wat of Sarum]

That was badass.

[Effingham]

Hell yeah.

[Saritor]

Wow! I felt like I was playing Total War.

"No, no! Right click over there so the knights engage that shield wall! Keep the polearms behind them! Why does that siege engine move so slowly?!"

[Adriano]

Remarkable. (Spotted the 'copter's shadow!) I'd love to see a video like that of the main Field Battle at Pennsic, or the Ravine Battle at Gulf Wars.

[Sean Powell]

Fantastic... But you will get people complaining that RC choppers harsh their medieval mellow. Some people want something to complain about because it makes their own efforts seem more acceptable. I see more inaccuracies on the field rather then over so I don't care.

Nice video by the way. I'll have to watch it tonight from home.

Sean

[Eachann]

The same guy did some shots of An Tir/West War, pretty neat stuff.

[EnderPC]

It was pretty neat and I look forward to seeing more of the videos. The only thing that threw me was the drone sounded like a swarm of bees. I was thinking "oh shit! bees!"

[CiaranBlackrune]

I think it's a great idea, but I'll say.. it's going to be "allowed" till the first time one of those goes down into a scrum and people realize what carbon fiber blades can do to you.. then it will be banned.

That is my concern as well.

[robstout]

I'm waiting for real time video output and some command center in the back, especially for woods battle. Not that I want that, but part of me thinks it would be really cool...

[Morejello]

My buddy that made this used a 4 rotor remote chopper with a stabilized go pro hero.

You should have you buddy come on here and post what he used, or at least ask him. I'd be very interested in knowing his exact model and setup as well.

[Johann ColdIron]

I think it's a great idea, but I'll say.. it's going to be "allowed" till the first time one of those goes down into a scrum and people realize what carbon fiber blades can do to you.. then it will be banned.

Another good reason to wear real period armour.

[Johann Lederer]

I am interested because I am try to put together a proposal for a drone for work. I inspect infrastructure and there are many places that it is VERY dangerous to be when inspecting these. The cost factor for a commercial drone is well outside the budget I have to work with at present. The problem with most of the RC helicopters you see in the market is that the flight time is short or they won't work for what I would like to try using them for. After being badly injured 2 years ago at work I am looking for something safer for our crews. (I am supposed to get a "crew" in 2014)

[FrauHirsch1]

From a comment on the You Tube site:

It is a DJI F450, flying Naza V2, fatshark fpv goggles, 5.8ghz video transmitter, DJI H3-2D gimbal, GoPro Hero Black shooting 1080p 60fps with pro tune.

[Alec]

I fought at GWW and didn't think the copter was obtrusive at all. Sounded like the swarm of bees in a "Winnie the Poo" cartoon . . . And it allows some cool video!

[Micah Nelson]

I saw that quadrocopter flying on Saturday as well. The whole time I kept thinking, "I wish I could patch into that feed. It'd help with strategy for tomorrow to see how these battles go..." That was usually right about the time the lines came together, and I developed more immediate concerns.

[igelkott]

As the prices come down on this stuff, we're going to need air traffic control systems for these events to keep them from crashing into each other!

[Niall Mor]

My favorite line at the war regarding the quad: "Drone strikes aren't period."

[Aaryq]

Tell your friend, well done. That was beautiful.

[dragon's etchings]

I've wanted to do this for a year, but I did a helemt camera. Issue I had was that all I could get was a parrot drone. It only has a 15 minute battery and if it goes out of range, it is supposed to hover, but has a tendency to just fall out of the sky. And at a 200 ft range, that's not a good distance.

Other issue is that the first time somebody, ANYBODY sees it, every ballista and crossbow is gonna stop shooting whatever and target the drone. At $300, not really in my budget to replace constantly.

[Henrik Granlid]

Why would people target the drone?

[Effingham]

'Cause it's funny to do...?

[dragon's etchings]

If you've done CA or siege, you understand very quickly. We are naturally competitive. Taking out the guy way in the back covering everything but his face is a fun challenge. It would quickly be, "Hey, I can shoot that. I bet I can do it before you do."

[Aaryq]

So with that being said, do you think that certain groups focused on competition and winning and less on chivalry would use these UAVs' bird's eye view along with a radio receiver in his warband's ears to call out and command the warband to maximize weaknesses in the enemy's lines/formations?
Let the record show I've never participated in a battle with more than 2 on 2 (in rapier fighting) so this question may be stupid.

[dragon's etchings]

Well, that's what they started to do in the Civil War with balloons and notes.

It is at least a couple years away at least, and it won't last long because drones will be banned instantly, probably before battlefield scouting happens because microphone equipment is expensive, and as was previous stated, the moment one of them crashes and someone gets injured they'll be banned.

[Johann Lederer]

Why would people target the drone?

In 1992, I had the opportunity to participate in the filming of "Gettysburg". When they filmed the Picketts charge sequence,, they used a large RC helicopter to film the shots from the cannons. We filmed that sequence 5 times. It took hours. On the fifth try, I ordered the gun I was commanding to elevate the muzzle of the Napoleon (12 pdr light gun) to shoot at their drone.l It was a 1lb blank but enough to flip the dang thing over. When it is 90 degrees outside standing in the sun in wools, it got annoying...but it was neat to watch it flip over!

[Sean Powell]

So with that being said, do you think that certain groups focused on competition and winning and less on chivalry would use these UAVs' bird's eye view along with a radio receiver in his warband's ears to call out and command the warband to maximize weaknesses in the enemy's lines/formations?
Let the record show I've never participated in a battle with more than 2 on 2 (in rapier fighting) so this question may be stupid.

Answer a question with a question: Do you think that certain groups focused on competition and winning aren't already using cell-phones and ear-buds to coordinate scouts and troop movements in places a drone can't go?

Give me a teenage boy or sight weight woman in minimal armor who can stand on my shoulders and knows what to look for and it achieves almost the same thing. Bet I could plant 2 scutta in an inverted V with a strap on their handles to keep them from spreading and I wouldn't need to support his/her weight. Then he/she could call unit location and actions from outside archery range and runners could deliver messages. We do use mesenger runners but you dou don't see observation platforms because I don't think we are organized enough where it actually makes a difference. Someone might try using a drone for ariel recon but I don't think it will turn a battle. That does NOT mean I'm advocating it, just that I'm more concerned with people using steel pipes as weapons to turn the battle then with ariel recon.

Sean

[Johann ColdIron]

So with that being said, do you think that certain groups focused on competition and winning and less on chivalry would use these UAVs' bird's eye view along with a radio receiver in his warband's ears to call out and command the warband to maximize weaknesses in the enemy's lines/formations?
Let the record show I've never participated in a battle with more than 2 on 2 (in rapier fighting) so this question may be stupid.

Answer a question with a question: Do you think that certain groups focused on competition and winning aren't already using cell-phones and ear-buds to coordinate scouts and troop movements in places a drone can't go?

Give me a teenage boy or sight weight woman in minimal armor who can stand on my shoulders and knows what to look for and it achieves almost the same thing. Bet I could plant 2 scutta in an inverted V with a strap on their handles to keep them from spreading and I wouldn't need to support his/her weight. Then he/she could call unit location and actions from outside archery range and runners could deliver messages. We do use mesenger runners but you dou don't see observation platforms because I don't think we are organized enough where it actually makes a difference. Someone might try using a drone for ariel recon but I don't think it will turn a battle. That does NOT mean I'm advocating it, just that I'm more concerned with people using steel pipes as weapons to turn the battle then with ariel recon.

Sean

Standing on people has been done. Best I saw was Hanashi standing (in full armour) on two spears set on the shoulders of 4 of his men. He had a commanding view of the battlefield and was able to advise the King on troop movement in real time.

I hope there are not people who are using modern comms other than the marshals. That, to me would violate the spirit of what we are doing. I, personally, do not want modern time pieces to be used, either. If you want to know the elapsed time have someone count it out.

[Sean Powell]

I hope there are not people who are using modern comms other than the marshals. That, to me would violate the spirit of what we are doing. I, personally, do not want modern time pieces to be used, either. If you want to know the elapsed time have someone count it out.

From memory (always potentially faulty) there is a specific rule disallowing them in the Pennsic woods battle. It may also apply to other battles. They may have duplicated the rule for other wars or large melee events. If there is a rule then there is usually someone who caused the rule to be written. Hopefully it was a theoretical situation, not an actual.

I've buckled my watch to the handle of my shield for some battles, mostly so I know how late they are starting... but I have used it keep track of time in the woods. I think I'm going to agree with you and stop using it in timed battles. They can start when they start and I can leave the watch with my armor bag.

Sean

[Syrfinn]

Very cool, looking forward to seeing some more battle footage at some point.