Bridge War

I'd like to get some discussion going about who is planning on attending, tactics, and so on.

But first...I need someone to post the rules! I looked for them but had no luck.
Apparently I'm bad at the internet.

The rules are on the RW list. Looks like 15 players, militia plus healer with mend / heals. Limit of 2 poles / red weapons. Thats my current understanding but I do think it's bounced around.

I plan on attending as I'm sure Chase will too.

I heard someone talking about Shamus having some potential players to suppliment SI. I think Ramius and Vigus and Athisdain. That would put us pretty close to full roster. We'll still need a few more though. I'm sure Bob the barbarian would be game if we need him.

Will

Regardless of my job situation (I'll know something definite by week's end), I WILL BE at Bridge Wars...given that, here are my views on a couple things.

ARMOR...any slot that can wear it (all but healer) simply must. 4pts would be nice, it'll negate one shot from a bow, or two shots from a red, and of course 4 from blue. Teth has agreed to help me get some made, honestly, I cant think of a single soul on the planet that I'd rather have help me there LOL. Gonna be nice studded leather stuff, and if the rule change is in effect, I can wear a gambeson too for the extra point.

EXTRA PPL...Ramius shouod be there, Ogre is planning too. Both are solid players. Teth's company will be there. Upside to that is they are all veteran players and bring a lot to the table. Two downsides: ONE: Azmandius is petitioning them and they may want him to field with them in whatever they do...really if there is a slower, more inept melee fighter than me, it's Azmandius, plus, the dude gives me the creeps. Also, if The Disciples bring 6 strong (possible and likely) they will want all of their players to play, so we may be cramped for space depending on exact numbers. FYI...Disciples=Vigus, Teth, Mithralicus (sp), Athisdaine, prolly Ki (I know, I tried to pick him up, but he's leaning that way) and some others from down south. As far as ppl, I am trying to convince Vlad to not reeve, clean shit up, help feast...and actually PLAY Amtgard, could be difficult though. Also Kay said she'd field with us, too, if we needed her...which brings me to my next topic.

HEALER...Im sick of it. I am a big target (no shit, right?). and this time around, healers get absolutely NO means of protection...not even a frikkin dagger...SO, who else can heal. I know Kay is a capable healer, but my not have her wits about her in a crunch.

ARCHERS...If Teth is with us...then duh. Is Crosser coming? That leaves the other slot open...I like Shamus LOL. Darn good shot even if I do say so myself, and I have all the necessary equipment. Other possibilities...??

POLES...Who is taking the RED duty? Are we going to try and supplement with non-red poles? I guess that depends on final rule clarifications.

PARATROOPERS...yeah, that's right, they never said we couldnt drop someone from a helicopter to land behind their team

BoB...idunno, he's been kinda outta control lately...even for him. Could be sketchy.


I guess thats about all I had to say...for now

Shamus

TuSocks and Harkael have final say on the who fields with us/where issue, but for my .02...

If Azmandius fields with SI, I'm out. You can quote me to him on that. It's totally a deal breaker and I'll Reeve. Actually, strike that, if he fields with SI, I'll drop and join the Saracens.

Shamus as Archer... I think thats fine. Kaeonee would be a good Healer too. He's a good caster and has a mind for slinging spells better than most I think. Whats this shit about no weapons? Not even a dagger? I guess I need to see the full rules as well.

I don't imagine Crosser will be there this event as the babies are going to be just about ready to pull from the oven (or close enough that they are sitting out some events and doing mainly local stuff).

Will

I KNEW it! He's a baby eater...

Going to try and avoid slotting people until we have a better idea of who will definitely be there. As far as fielding with other companies my number one choice is to hook up with whoever makes it from BH. Barring any Azmandius shenanigans I'm open to co-field with 'most' other companies provided that 1: No baddies 2: We don't have to bench anyone who wants to play from SI (which I hope is everyone).

If you're not already good with a pole or a bow then just start practicing sword and board, especially your traces.

For equipment armor is obviously a must, especially arms and legs. For shields we should bring max size punch towers. These can be easily and cheaply made from several layers of cardboard glued together covered in a layer of campfoam.
Polearms are a little more difficult to figure out. If we bring longer poles the poleman is safer and will generally hit harder for more effective shoulder chops. The down side being a more unwieldy weapon in close quarters, and much easier to anticipate, sword block, and tangle as well. A shorter pole will be able to destroy shields much-much faster, and would be more effective in that role due to it's maneuverability and speed, of course at the possible sacrifice of our polemans lives.
Given the nature of the rules, there are two main goals to defeating any team that we can't outright destroy in melee. 1: Neutralize their healer or run him out of mends quickly 2: Destroy all equipment. Once they are out of mends breaking a shield with red, or destroying a pole with an arrow is about as good as killing the player. That being said I believe we should favor short reds over longs.

One of the reasons I wanted to see the rules specifically (I can't find them on the list after a half hour of looking) is to determine what they are specifically limiting. If there is only a limit on 'red' weapons then we are going to make their poles cry. Whether we're using greatswords, or staffs, or (ideally) non-red poles we can more or less neutralize red hits to our shields through proper positioning. Johann and I were talking about it and we could crisscross two long thingers across the shields and prevent solid contact from poles. We could also have a tallish person with a staff held up and horizontal to protect the upper vector of attack. Actively blocking and tangling enemy poles would also be very effective, though would be limited by the ability and strength of the wielders.

Will was talking about using milkcrates for the archers to stand on and sneak shots. We should definitely do this as well.

That's all I've got for now, thoughts?

Edit: And I almost forgot, healer is a super important position in this fight. There is only ever one of them, and they are forced to cast quickly, manage a limited resource, and assess the greater need in a very short period of time, all the while managing not to be killed. We absolutely have to have someone experienced who can keep their cool and handle the roughness that comes from being public enemy #1.

"BRIDGE WARS RULES

Bracketed Tournament.
Reeves will make decision on Single or Double Elim based on the
number of teams. This is kind of an all day thing, so Double Elim
should be doable, and in my opinion is preferable.

15 Man Teams

10 Militia (max 2 Poles – Red requirements in effect)
2 Archers per team maximum
1 Healer – Can carry no equipment. Unlimited heals. 10 mends per
life. Healer MUST call out the number of remaining mends they have
every time they finish casting one!
2 Alternates - An alternate can be substituted in at any time. They
enter the battle with the same number of lives as the person they
replace. Once a person is alternated out, they may not re-enter the
battle.

5 lives per round.

Shields and weapons are destroyable.
Max 6pts armor

Zero Death count
Must tag in at base and call alive. Failure to call alive before
re-entering the battle will result in the loss of an additional life
at the Reeves discretion.

We will have new 2-foot wide walkways built down each side of the
bridge for Reeves to stand on by the time the event rolls around.
The plan is to also have the sides netted with something similar to
paintball netting. Easy to see through for spectators, keeps the
fighting to a corridor style. The top will be open so Polearms will
have freedom to get the full angle they need to break shields."

Or so I hear...

Doesn't seem to say anything about having loads of spare equipment available. So extra swords/shields are possible. In addition the wording seems to imply that there is a maximum of 2 polemen as positions, not so much 2 poles max. Hopefully there will be a clarification on this, if there hasn't been already. = /
I didn't realize the healer mends were per life, so repairing armor is a little more feasible. I hope they aren't going with netting ><

Yeah, the netting thing sucks. Can you make some kind of CoS plea or something here?

Will

nWo wrote:TuSocks and Harkael have final say on the who fields with us/where issue, but for my .02...

If Azmandius fields with SI, I'm out. You can quote me to him on that. It's totally a deal breaker and I'll Reeve. Actually, strike that, if he fields with SI, I'll drop and join the Saracens.

Shamus as Archer... I think thats fine. Kaeonee would be a good Healer too. He's a good caster and has a mind for slinging spells better than most I think. Whats this shit about no weapons? Not even a dagger? I guess I need to see the full rules as well.

I don't imagine Crosser will be there this event as the babies are going to be just about ready to pull from the oven (or close enough that they are sitting out some events and doing mainly local stuff).

Will

Actually...he might go to the event without this here oven...lol. We really won't know until right before..all depends on if I am still mobile and doing well.

But we had hoped he'd at least get to day trip it by himself.

BTw...we are having a very informal...baby shower sunday at Battle Cry..so we'll be there for sure:)

AWESOME!!!

Will

Yeah, stand by on that whole "attending" thing. If Niki's up to it, I'll solo a day trip out to the event for the fighting and the suck fest that is the knight's meeting.

If I do show, I'll bring polearm and heavy armor, and see if I can't get the spring replaced on my crossbow.

The Crossbow is SUCH an advantage that our company has that we should capitalize on. That thing is EVIL. In fact, I suggest that it be given a name as it has certainly been the source of more than one story that is told around campfires. How does "Frogs Tongue" or something strike you?

Also, Crosser, good to see you on the list. I actually have your tunic with me in Georgia. I assumed Big Head had left it with Socks in her escape but I found it behind my seat in my truck. I washed it and we can do a hostage exchange of the computer for the tunic at battlecry or something! LOL.

Will