The difficulty with being a crossover fighter

Some Brendokeners @ AWP 2014

 I am slowly starting to learn the difficulties in being a crossover fighter. I honestly have no idea how people do it. As a newer heavy fighter I always want to be on the heavy list But I am part of a rapier unit called the Brendoken Blades and I have an obligation to be there when they need me. In this process I usually miss some sort of fun somewhere. This past weekend at AWP was the biggest descison on where I need to go and where I want to be. It was not easy to pick and choose either.




This past weekend I was able to attend Aethaelmarec War Practice. Since i will not be going to Pennsic this year (Pennsic is a really big war that lasts 2 weeks.) I wanted to make sure i hit this one. I had a lot of fun with it last year on the rapier side with my friends and met some really cool people In the process. Last year was also my first woods battle in rapier as well and I had a ton of fun with that. The difference between this year and last year was that this year I'm a new heavy fighter.

you can see my purple cowboy boots behind the red and white shield

The day started out with me looking at the schedule. 10AM Rapier woods battle and noon was when the heavy stuff started. Ok I can do this I thought. SO I went up and did my thing with the rapier unit then they broke for lunch around 1 ish. So I went back to camp to get my heavy stuff together. In the time it took me to get all my armor on, get to the field and signed in and inspected I had missed the field battles which is what I have enjoyed thus far on the heavy side. At first I didnt see any midrealmers so i started to inwardly panic. Newer fighter fighting with people I don't know thats in a different kingdom did not please my mind at all. Sure it's a good way to get to know people but I dont think I would have fought the bridge battles if I was the only midrealmer. Then I saw the colors in my barony Green and Black with a yellow star. Needless to say that was a sigh of relief.

For most Bridge battles arent confusing. they just go in and do their thing and when they die they know how to do the certain thing to die and they are done. Being a crossover makes things a bit more confusing for me. The rapier bridge battle works the same as heavy but its different at the same time. when you die you try to step over the bales (smae as heavy) but when we have res battles shields immediately take Precedence and get to the front as fast as they can. In the heavy as a shield person you are told to give the spears room to work and as a new fighter I have no idea where im supposed to go so before too long I am shuffled to the back and really only there to support the people when there is a charge. For me it's far more complicated then it should be. That and I think I am a bit of an over analyzer. Also another thing that hinders me that I am going to have to fix soon is I dont have contacts or sports goggles so when I take my glasses off my vision is limited. I can see clearly for maybe 2 feet or so until everything becomes blurry so then I start relying on what people are yelling/saying etc.

This is all a great big learning curve for me and I am finding you cant really do bridge battle scenarios unless you have a large group of people So i am just going to have learn as I go and talk things over with the people who are teaching me. Overall it is fun being a crossover fighter but There are decisions that must be made and some of those decisions will be hard.

Understanding The Game

I have been fighting for Many years on the rapier side of the SCA and sometimes consider myself a decent fighter. Sure I'm not Awesome but I am better then most new people and am always working to up my game.

I have only been fighting heavy for roughly 5 months and authorized for 2 1/2 of those months. I have learned a lot But just like in Rapier it takes me a while to learn something. Occasionally I learn something really quick but others it takes a while.... like how to properly throw shots. That is taking me forever to learn.  Its a process and a long one But I am willing to accept this challenge head on and I have great teachers helping me along the way. Some I regularly practice with, and others I meet on the field.  All have their merits and I am always happy to learn from them But there is only so much info a person can take in before the brain becomes mush @.@. The rapier people are really good at doing this.

I had a crash course in melees last year on the rapier side and again this year on the heavy field. Melees are so much different and It has taken me over a year to understand why. Then it hit me after Mugmort which was a smaller event and gave me some time to think things through.

The biggest difference between melees ad singles are the amount of people and the mind set. In singles (for me most of the time is) How can I win this fight..... This is a BAD way to think for me..... why? because I get to focused on thinking how to set up the fight and before I know it I'm usually out of the fight. Thats mainly how I think on the rapier side. I am getting a little better at this. In heavy it's "ok im a newer fighter. I dont know these people so I don't yet know what they are going to do" Often times I end up dead.... Instantly. Again Its a work in progress.
In melees (and man has it taken me a while to learn this) I am not the only one on the field! There are team mates there to help you if you need it and you need to be there for when they need you. Rapier melees are a little less chaotic then heavy melees and thats because we stop at swords length. In heavy we go charging into the enemy and then its really hard to tell whos friend or foe. Yes they have tape on their helms but for blind people (like me) it can be hard to tell until you are all up in their face. I usually have a couple feet to tell but still it can be difficult...... And there is a reform word chosen at the beginning of the fight. Biggest downfall I have seen thus far is if your in a cluster of people and yell your reform..... well soon you have enemies figuring you out and it doenst always end well...... especially for me.  In the shield wall you are usually the first to be hit.... actually you WILL be hit first and the shield walls main job is to stay alive to protect the pole arms and spears and anyone else who is behind you.
In rapier....its a bit \more complicated but you have your shields and bucklers in the front the long weapons behind them, then everything else behind them. My favorite part about rapier melees are the bridge battles with res. Because one you die and res you get a free pass to the front line :D

Blackstone 2013 (brendoken Invasion)

Overall Everything I "should have" learned last year is slowly starting to make more sense this year as I get more familiar with the melee side of things and work on improving my mind set. I have a long term goal for heavy and I think I have a goal for rapier and I expect it will take me a while to get there but with hard work and dedication (and people to help me) I can accomplish anything!