The Armour Archive

Howdy,

Has anyone done a "Counted Blows" Grand Melee?

We're going to try one for Valantine's Day, but here in Japan our group is pretty open minded and eclectic.

Just curious.

-Aaron

Not really a counted blow, but we did a Battle of the 30 at an event when I was in the West.

The oject was once you recieved a killing blow you would leave the field and return with a limb wound (arm or leg). Once you recieved a killing blow the second time you left the field and came back with the another wound. You could not take two leg wounds. So at the end everyone was fighting on their knees and fighting with only one arm. It was rather enjoyable but wore you out.

Vebrand

Aaron,

It depends on the kind of counted blows that you mean? First to a set number? Until a certain number of blows have been thrown by both parties? You'll get to try a version of the former at Black Hole here in January.

We did them, and do them at Pas's. (tho they are against our marhsall policies for melles..)

We did them at the Hundredth Crapaud here in the West.
No problems.

-D

we've done them at practices.

a lot of us think that the SCA should adopt -three good blows- as the kill standard and give up on one shots and limbing.

time to evolve....

This weekend we did a "Battle fo the Thirty" style grand melee with counted blows.

If you were struck 3 times in an engagement by any member of the opposing team, you were considered "stunned" and could be led off the field by a member of the opposing team. The one leading you off could be intercepted and himself struck three blows and you were then freed. Those leaving the field did not return. The cool part though was that it was 3 blows per engagement. Thus if you got to 2, you could disengage if you were able, count to three, and then have all previous blows erased. This led to good judgement on when to engage and the use of teamwork to overtake those who strayed too far from their lines.

Read more about it :

http://www.legiodraconis.com/modules.ph ... 2889&40376

fiona

This weekend we did a "Battle fo the Thirty" style grand melee with counted blows.

If you were struck 3 times in an engagement by any member of the opposing team, you were considered "stunned" and could be led off the field by a member of the opposing team. The one leading you off could be intercepted and himself struck three blows and you were then freed. Those leaving the field did not return. The cool part though was that it was 3 blows per engagement. Thus if you got to 2, you could disengage if you were able, count to three, and then have all previous blows erased. This led to good judgement on when to engage and the use of teamwork to overtake those who strayed too far from their lines.

Read more about it :

http://www.legiodraconis.com/modules.ph ... 2889&40376

fiona

BdeB wrote:We did them, and do them at Pas's. (tho they are against our marhsall policies for melles..)

I ran a William the Marshal tourney this way. It worked ok for the most part. *certain* people seemed to loose track on the count. More typically people seemed to forget to count legs and arms as points. Some automatically fell to their knees when struck in the leg.

Overall it didn't work too badly and with a bit more practice it would have been fine. The people who lost count were always people who had trouble even calling them out loud at all.

For example: Flurry of blows ending with headstrike, "One!" flurry of blows, leg strike, leg strike, body strike "One!" (Marshal - no thats two!" - inside voice "thats four...")

and so on..

Juliana

I think Lord Noe set something like that up before, Aaron. Seems to me it was done "armor as worn" with full plate getting 4 blows, and it trickling down from there. The confusing part was trying to keep count, cause we are fighters after all and it's hard to see your fingers in gauntlets!

All in all though, it was great fun, and that's what it's all about anyway, right?

You can always count on Noe to come up with some interesting battle scenarios!

Cadogan

It works better with people within a region. Crossing over Kingdoms causes problems.

There are two interpretations for implementing counted blows as well.

1) As, Juliana described, fight non-stop until the number of blows is landed. This makes for a fast combat but tracking the number of blows can be difficult. Also, the fighter being hit dies not get a chance to recenter their body or mind.

2) After a good blow is struck and called, the fighters quickly reset, salute and start fighting again. This makes for a more ettiquite filled fight and allows the recipient the opportunity to recenter themselves to better defend.

2 is very similar to the traditional 3-bout finals in a toruney but quicker.

In both cases ANY good blow adds to the count. Legs, arms, head or body.

there was the much loved and hailed Combat of the 30 at Pensic last.

Asbjorn has done them

St Mikes did one a while back

We did one when i had a Co.

It workd great and no stupid kneed fighting.

There are two interpretations for implementing counted blows as well.

1) As, Juliana described, fight non-stop until the number of blows is landed. This makes for a fast combat but tracking the number of blows can be difficult. Also, the fighter being hit dies not get a chance to recenter their body or mind.

2) After a good blow is struck and called, the fighters quickly reset, salute and start fighting again. This makes for a more ettiquite filled fight and allows the recipient the opportunity to recenter themselves to better defend.

We've always been in favor of 1) over here. Although the lack of a precise count can be tricky -- even without the excitement, many fighters have trouble getting past "three" -- the lack of a chance to "recenter" is seen as a plus point. It is a test of your prowess: you must take and keep the initiative, or, if you have lost it, you must retake it. I feel that coolness under fire is a positive trait, and this system lets the fighter practice it.

Besides, every time the fight pauses, the fighters always seem to want to have a conversation. Dull, dull, dull.

Sloppy blow counting is an acceptable trade off. Besides, when the fight really gets going, the audience gets to watch the armour fly.