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Re: Cookies and Mercs




Poster: Julien de Montfort <julien@spiaggia.org>

On 2/8/99, Eli White spoke thusly:
> >Hence a blow that would be considered Good in Trimaris, when judged
> >against the relatively lighter armor that is the probably norm down
> >there, would be considred Light (or at least lighter) by a fighter
>from
> >a more northward Kingdom.  Conversely, a northern fighter's blow that
> >is Good might well be considered Heavy by a southern fighter.
>
> However, there is a problem in that statement.  Which is the fact
>that we
> are all supposed to be calibrating to the same standard ... that of
>wearing:

<Marshall's Handbook description of calibration clipped for bandwidth>

That is entirely correct, and I agree with you that theoretically, all
calibrations across the Knowne World *should* be the same, but the fact
of the matter is that no objective reference point, that I am aware of,
is known across the SCA.  In other words, when someone is taught how to
fight, they are going to be told by whoever is teaching them "okay,
this <whack> is what is a good hit, as it would have done X amount of
damage if you were wearing the Society Covention of armor."

What constitutes a good hit, without an objective measures (such as the
bowling ball test you describe later) is completely subjective, and as
such, there are going to be variations from Kingdom to Kingdom, and
even from Barony to Barony, all dependent on who and how the people
there have been trained.  After a while, the median strike force used
in any region is going to change and alter, due to other factors (such
as prevailing actual armor, etc.).

The 'bowling ball' technique you mention, however, is a nifty idea.  I
hadn't heard of it before, actually.  If you remember, could you
elaborate a bit more on it?

Julien

>
> "All "fully armoured" fighters are presumed to be wearing hauberk
>over a
> padded gambeson, with boiled leather arm and leg defenses and an
>open-faced
> iron helm with a nasal. The helm may be presumed by Kingdom
>convention to
> include a very light chain mail drape, permitting vision and
>resisting cuts
> by the mere touch of a bladed weapon."
>
> Add to this:
>
> "Blows must be delivered with effective technique for the particular
>type
> of weapon used, and must strike properly oriented and with sufficient
> force, to be considered an effective, or good, blow.  . . .  All
>fighters
> are expected to take into account the nature of the weapon being used
>by
> their opponent and the location of the point of impact of that weapon
>when
> judging the outcome of a blow delivered. Fighters are also expected
>to take
> into account the timing of the blow and the collision of the weapon
>with
> any other object other than the fighter's presumed armour."
>
>
> We are told the presumed armor that we are supposed to be wearing,
>and are
> supposed to take into account this presumed armor, plus the weapon's
>use
> against it.
>
> Therefore all calibration 'should' be the same across the SCA.  It
> shouldn't matter how much armor that area of the SCA happens to wear.
> Unfortuneatly as we see, it does appear to, but it shouldn't be doing
>this
> ... and this is where alot of the calibration problems at pennsic &
>other
> interkingdom events happen from ...
>
> I liked the idea I saw once of a calibration meter, that being the
>bowling
> ball on a stick that you were supposed to knock a certain distance
>... it
> would be nice if it were used more often at events ... perhaps just
>before
> the fighting begins, having all fighters line up and whack it until
>they
> hit it probably twice in a row to get the feel down, and thus have
>recent
> memory of this during the fighting.
>
> Siegfried

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Seigneur Julien de Montfort                  De sable, seme d'hermines
"Solum Dice Nullus Sunt Suficio"          d'or, un chef emanche argent
Seneschal, Web Minister, pursuivant@large
Canton de Spiaggia Levantina                   http://www.spiaggia.org
Bright Hills, Atlantia                             julien@spiaggia.org
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