Armored Combat:Conventions - Acknowledgement of blows

Conventions - Acknowledgement of blows

Defining the appropriate calibration level is not easy. With more than 50 years of cultural history and shared experience, this definition is more "learned" than explained.

When fighting new opponents or in a new area, practice strong communication, and check calibration levels.

Judging blows

1. Judging the effects of blows is left to the honor of the combatant being struck by the weapon, unless they relinquish this responsibility, with the exception of clear violations of the Rules of the Lists or the Conventions of Combat. The effectiveness of a blow may not be judged by the opposing combatant, the marshal on the field, or other observers.
   1. Information that is unavailable to you when you are struck can be supplied by the other fighter or the marshal, such as: the blow was not properly oriented, apparent force transmitted, or apparent location and angle of the blow's impact based upon the observer's angle of observations.
   2. If you are uncertain, you can ask for information from your opponent or the marshal, but the decision to accept the blow is yours.
   3. If you decide that a strike was not effective (eg. underpowered, or to an illegal target), you should inform your opponent.
   4. If you believe the blow is not suitable (eg. you know you struck them with the unmarked "flat" side of the weapon, or haft of your weapon, or a missile striking with anything other than the point), you should tell your opponent that the blow should not be taken.
2. When judging the effect of blows, everyone is presumed to be wearing the same type of armor and level of protection.
   1. It does not matter what armor you are actually wearing or not wearing - your personal kit does not negate or enhance what is considered an effective blow.
   2. Everyone is assumed to be wearing and have the same level of protection of a chain hauberk over a padded gambeson, with boiled leather arm and leg defenses, and an open-faced iron helm with a nasal.
   3. Under this standard, an acceptable cutting blow to the face is lighter than to other portions of the head or body, but more than a mere touch of a bladed weapon.
   4. The minimum effective thrusting blow to the face is a directed touch, and the maximum must be substantially lighter than to other parts of the body.
3. It is up to you to know whether any armor, clothing, or equipment you are wearing renders acknowledgement of blows in certain areas difficult, and make every effort to account for this deficit.
4. Special tournaments or scenario rules can change the effects of an effective blow to particular target areas (e.g. "armor as worn" tournaments), as long as everyone taking part is made aware of the special conditions before combat begins.
   1. The legal target areas are not allowed to be changed.
   2. The basic level of force required for an effective blow is not allowed to be increased.

Effects of blows

1. An effective blow (aka "a good blow") is defined as a blow or strike which was delivered with effective technique for the particular type of weapon used, with proper orientation of the striking surface (e.g. the marked edge of a bladed weapon), and with sufficient force.
2. A blow from a handheld weapon that strikes you with an effective technique, proper orientation, and sufficient force must be considered effective, regardless of what it hits prior to striking you.
3. The effect of the blow depends on where it strikes you. The effects of blows to various legal target areas of the body are as follows:
   1. An effective blow to your head, neck or torso is judged fatal or totally disabling, rendering you incapable of further combat. Don't forget that the area between the neck and point of the shoulder is considered part of your torso and blows to this area are fatal.
   2. An effective swung blow to your face is considered fatal and is lighter than you'd consider for other portions of your head or body.
   3. An effective thrust to your face is considered fatal. Thrusts to the face should be a directed touch, and should be substantially lighter than thrusts to other parts of the body.
   4. An effective swung blow from any two-handed weapon, or a mass weapon which lands on your hip between bottom of the hip socket and the iliac crest, or strikes your shoulder inside the shoulder socket, is judged fatal or totally disabling.
   5. An effective swung blow from any other weapon which lands on your hip above the hip socket, or strikes your shoulder inside the shoulder socket disables the limb.
   6. An effective thrust to your hip or shoulder is not considered fatal, only wounding, regardless of the type of weapon delivering the blow.
   7. An effective blow to your leg above the knee will disable that leg. You must then fight kneeling, sitting, or standing on the foot of your uninjured leg. Kingdoms are allowed to make rules that limit the mobility of "legged" fighters.
   8. Any effective blow to your arm above the wrist disables that arm, so that it is useless to you, and you cannot use it to attack or defend.
4. If you are struck outside a legal target area, it does not count as an effective blow, unless you intentionally placed a part of your body that is not a legal target area in the path of an incoming blow.
5. If you block an effective blow with a wounded limb, that blow is counted as though the limb were not there.
6. You are not required to stop a combination when your opponent is wounded. Thus, if a blow to the limb of a combatant is followed immediately by a killing blow to the same combatant, the killing blow is counted as good.
7. A killing blow occurs instantaneously, so no new offensive action can be started. Blows begun before the killing blow can be completed. A killing blow started before receiving a killing blow is good and is known as a double kill. A blow started after receiving a killing blow should not be counted.
8. Sometimes an effective blow occurs at almost the same moment as an event that would cause the fight to be stopped (a "Hold" being called, the killing of the fighter throwing the blow, etc.). If an effective blow was begun before the event that would cause the bout to be halted, it should be accepted as good. If the blow was begun after the event that would cause the bout to be halted, it should not be accepted.
9. If your opponent drops their weapon at the moment that it strikes you, it is not an effective blow.

Effects of missiles and thrown weapons

General

1. Due to safety limits placed on these weapons and the low mass of the ammunition, they are designed to typically strike with less force and need not strike with the same force as hand-held weapons to be considered a killing or a good blow.
   1. This does not transfer the responsibility of judging the effects of blows to the archer, as it is left to the honor of the combatant being struck by the weapon to judge the effects.
2. A missile or thrown weapon that strikes you on a legal target area and is properly oriented (i.e. with the point, blade or striking surface) is considered good.
3. Be aware that the effect of the blow depends on several factors, including target area, weapon strength and type of munition.
4. Be aware that weapons (bows and crossbows) that are under-powered may not deliver enough force for a fighter to notice a hit in battle.
5. Missiles (e.g. siege munitions, arrows and bolts, and thrown weapons) are considered spent when they strike their first target, the ground or a battlefield structure.

Siege-class missiles

1. Siege-class missiles that have struck you can be identified as siege-class missiles as they are primarily yellow. They include ballista bolts and simulated rocks (1 pound (450 g) foam or 4-tennis-ball clusters).
2. A blow from siege class missile to your shield is fatal or completely disabling, unless otherwise specified by scenario rules.
3. A strike by siege-class munitions from another siege engine destroys the struck siege engine.
4. Handheld weapons struck by siege-class missiles are considered destroyed and unusable.
5. Standing pavises are destroyed by a single hit from siege-class missiles.
   1. If you are behind a pavise that is struck by a siege-class missile, you are not killed, but the pavise must be immediately removed from the field or dropped flat.

Small-arms munitions

1. Small-arms munitions include single tennis balls and tubular-shafted combat archery arrows and bolts.
2. Small-arms munitions fired from siege engines have the same damage and effect as combat archery projectiles, and are effective against the legal target area they strike.

Combat archery arrows and bolts

1. Combat archery arrows and bolts are effective against the legal target area they strike.
2. Ranged combatants should be aware that missiles launched against especially heavy armor might not be noticed by your target. In which case, give your target the benefit of doubt.
3. If your missile strikes with anything other than the point, you should call, "No good!" or "Haft!" to your opponent.

Thrown weapons

1. Thrown weapons are effective against the legal target area they strike.