Fool's War XXXIII: Those Silly Landsknecht
The Shire of Tir Briste
Camp Benjamin Hawkins
Byron, GA
12-14 April 2024
In the mid afternoon of Friday, April 12th in the year Anno Societatis LVIII, being 2024 Gregorian, I once again made my trek southward from Cumbrian lands to the plains of Tir Briste for the event, Fool’s War XXXIII: Those Silly Landsknecht. The annual, melee oriented, event has been around a long time. It has gone through many changes over the years. I remember it started as a three kingdom war with Atlantia, Trimaris and Meridies all taking part. These days it is less of an interkingdom war and more of a scenario based melee for all comers, regardless of Kingdom.
I arrived late in the evening, having another uneventful trip through the populous Barony of South Downs. I found Camp Benjamin Hawkins easily off of the main highway, trolled in, and found a place to setup camp. This was my second event using my ‘quick camp’ solution with my truck camper. The setup was a little faster this time. Learning what you need and were it needs to be in the vehicle for use is an important part of the ‘quick camp’. Setting up in the dark again was a non-factor. The one thing that was new this time was that I failed to realize I had not parked on a level spot. This led to a slight lean in the bed of the truck. It wasn’t too bad, but I did feel the ‘sliding’ effect for the two nights I was there. Lesson learned.
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| Photo Credit Az Parris |
Friday Night fights were underway when I arrived. The raucous announcer DJ Duke Tim was at the microphone throwing down tunes and announcing the bouts. After setup, I garbed up and went over to hang out a little bit. A good sized crowd was gathered around in the colorful flashing lights of the eric. A bubble machine percolated its creations into the evening breeze. Music played. People danced. Fighters fought. Looked like a good time. I made rounds, greeting familiar faces in the crowd. I departed around midnight. The fun was still going. Not sure when it ended.
The next morning, I was up earlier than necessary. I sat and broke fast as the sun rose to a respectable height in the morning sky. The morning started chilly, but quickly grew comfortable. Appetite sated, I got into kit, loaded my wagon and headed to the fighting field. I found Sir Fiachna already on the field and working (as is usual for him). He was the MIC for the day and had designed several scenarios based on historical battles involving the Landsknecht. I had a few deliveries to make, so parked my cart and ran my errands.
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| Photo credit Me. |
When I got back to the field, the denizens of the camp had started arriving along with the day travelers visiting the site. I took some warmup passes with the newly dubbed Sir Owen Seis. Then took to hydration in preparation for the day. This time of year is deceptively tough for fighting. Cooler temps masks the sun’s warmth. It’s easy to overheat before you realize it.
As I referenced earlier, Sir Fiachna had designed several historical scenarios for the armored combatants to enjoy. Designing melee scenarios is an often overlooked skill. Basing an SCA melee on an actual historical battle is not an easy task. It takes reviewing the facts of a recorded of a battle and adapting the events of the fight to the rules and capabilities of SCA combat. It's really part art and part skill. For example, we don’t have cavalry. So, you have to adapt and apply dismounted combatants into those roles of a battle. Maybe, you give them more freedom of movement or some other gimmick, like the ability to cross water obstacles, in order to fill that need and keep to the original script of the battle. It takes a lot of thought and outside-the-box imagination to make it work. The end result can be a lot of fun and challenging. You often also find that a group of fighters will find a way to completely mess up your perfectly designed plan in an unexpected way. Melee design is a true art form that should get more attention. As a participant in the historical melee, I feel they are more rewarding than the basic things we do (open field fight, bridge battle, capture the flag, etc.). It gives us context, ties us to history, and sets objectives that we don’t normally encounter. We need more of this. It makes us think and breaks us out of habitual combat.
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| Sir Fiachna's scenarios. |
The fighting was a lot of fun. I ran sword and shield all day. I have to admit that I was not as enthusiastic about it as I usually am. In talking with Hagan, he called it ‘Casual Tourism’ (I think that was the phrase). I was there, but really just kind of walking through the exercises in an abstract kind of way. I don’t think I really ‘engaged’ until maybe the last melee of the day when I really dove into with a full effort. Some days are just like that.
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| Photo Credit Az Parris. |
In the mid afternoon, I had to go and administer an order meeting for the Legio Ursi. I was a substitute Prefect, since Bram could not be at Fool’s War. It was the first time I led an order meeting. It felt awkward to me. But, I did it. The Legion of the Bear (Order of the Legio Ursi) is a grant-level polling order. These orders are the highest, non-peerage orders. The meetings involve discussion unique to the order. In the Bear’s case, the discussion is about armored combat melee and melee activity in general. We are the sergeants of Meridies on the armored combat field. The meetings also involve discussion of candidates we are watching for induction. Each order has its own method of gauging worthiness. Once being added to a polling order, you become a gatekeeper for the order. You become a cog in the machine that determines who and who is not going to be added to the rolls. It’s an odd realization once you grasp it. Those methods for determining worthiness I mentioned change with every person added to the rolls. The only constant to this ‘standard’ is dedication to the thing the order values most. One thing that I do believe is that when you add someone to an order, especially the martial orders, it makes that person better at the thing. The need to ‘represent’ what the order is becomes a motivator to be better at the thing. Is just like that scene from Kingdom of Heaven. The bishop asks, ‘Who do you think you are? Will you alter the world? Does making a man a knight make him a better fighter?’. Balian replies, ‘Yes’. There is a metric butt-ton of truth in there.
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| Photo courtesy Me. |
After the meeting, I finally got to remove the rest of my kit and rest for a minute. Hydration, a snack, and almost dozed off. Realizing court had started, I threw on a tunic and walked over to watch. I was tired. That sneaky heat of the day got hold of me. I watched court from the back of the field. It was an open court held on the fighting field in the late afternoon sun. Once over, I went to take care of some necessary post-fight hygiene. Once cleaned up, I grabbed my ‘dinner stash’ and a chair. I headed over to the Glynn Rhe camp to sup with friends. It was a good meal shared with joviality. As dusk truly set in, I wandered a bit around the camp listening to laughter and music. Weariness took hold and I turned in early to my bed.
The next morning, I broke camp in predawn light and started my northward journey arriving home in good time.
Fool’s War XXXIII was a really good event. If you like melee combat, you should circle it on your calendar. We had gentles from Meridies and Trimaris in attendance (over 300 in attendance if I heard correctly). The camaraderie was excellent and made the trip worthwhile. Thanks to the Shire of Tir Briste for hosting.
Shire of Easaraigh
Kingdom of Meridies
