SPEARS AND POLEARMS
     The vast majority of the fighting that decides war points is melee fighting, with large formations which usually wind up tightly bunched. In such fighting, shieldmen are the glue that hold everything together--it is the shields that define the area occupied by a fighting unit, that protect everyone, and make the hard crust that must be broken in order to rout the opponents. BUT, it is the long weapons that are the main killing tools. At the last war, spears probably scored more kills than all other weapons put together. That was true in both the field battles and the fort battles--spears are really important at the fort because of the crowding.
     If you aren't authorized for fiberglass, get authorized. A 9-foot fiberglass spear is less flexible and droops a lot less than a rattan spear of similar length (and because of the flex, most rattan spears are only 7 or 8 feet). This means a man familiar with fiberglass has better point control, and can outreach most rattan spears by a foot or two.

FACE SHOTS
     The rule at the last war was that any touch of a weapon point or edge to a face was supposed to be considered a kill This year the requirement is not quite that stringent, but they are encouraging fighters to use light strikes to the face, to prevent the chance of injuries. At the war, you should always call lighter than usual on face shots.

FATIGUE
     This may be the most exhausting thing you can do in the SCA. The Battle of Hastings recreation takes place on Wednesday, so if you take part in ALL the heavy fighting activities, you will spend four consecutive days stomping around in your armor, in addition to the actual fighting. There's a world of difference in the way you feel after a fighting in a tournament melee, and the way you feel after doing it for four times as long. If you're an overweight old $!#@$ like me, make sure you use good knee and ankle braces. And whatever shape you're in, make sure you do good warmups and have the aspirin and liniment handy.

COMBAT ARCHERY
     Heavy fighters who don't like archers, take heart. Although as an archer I hate to have to admit it, combat archery was not really a major factor in the field battles. At Gulf War VII there were not enough archers to do actual mass firing. And because the formations can shift so rapidly, archers spend most of their time moving, either to find shots or to get away from oncoming enemies. The main danger from archers comes when your line has an exposed flank with no shield men to ward off incoming arrows. Archery is much more important in the fort battles, when the targets are more static and more densely packed. Then it can significantly reduce an army's strength before they come to close quarters. For more information about archery, follow this link.