Gulf Wars Armored Combat Treaty

Overview

The purpose of this document is twofold

1. Clearly describe the scenarios for the armored combat battles for Gulf Wars XXI.  The descriptions should be thorough enough to allow a reasonably experienced marshal to set up and run the battles without much confusion on the marshal’s or the fighter’s part.
2. To provide a means of adjusting the battles for unforeseen circumstances at the event site

 

Battle Adjustment Procedure

If due to some reason (weather, time, safety) the conditions of these battles need to be changed, they can only be changed by the following procedure:

 

Safety Changes

It is the policy that if there is a clear and convincing safety reason (certain injury of combatants or spectators) for modifying the scenarios, that day’s Gulf Wars Marshal in Charge (DMiC) may make changes to the scenario without consultation of the Earl Marshals and Crowns of the primary combatant kingdoms.  If feasible within time constraints, the DMiC should still consult with the other Crowns and Earl Marshals before making the change.

 

Other Changes

It is the policy that for all other changes (weather, time, playability) that changes only be made upon the majority decision of the Earl Marshals and Crowns of the signing kingdoms.  If there can be no quorum (4 of the 6) at the time of the battle, then no change shall be made.

Shorthand Conventions

Thanks to Sir Marcus of Calontir for the following cheat sheet,  (I think he got it from a Sir Griffin).   Here's the cheats:

N = Only Limited Numbers will Play
T = Time Is a Factor
R = Resurrection
L = Last Man
J = Thrown Weapons (Javelins) Allowed
C = Combat Archery Allowed
S = Siege Weapons Allowed
FM = Flags Mobile
FS = Flags Stationary
F = Fizzbin (Funky Rules)

Town Battle

Shorthand Description : T R FS F

Physical Layout :

The town will be layed out in a 5 building configuration.  The middle building will be cross (or plus sign shaped) with doors on each end of the plus, and with 4 outer building that were layed out approximately as shown in the attached image.  The size of the outer buildings will be approximately 12 feet by 12 feet square, with openings about 5 feet wide.  The center building will be 36 feet wide by 36 feet tall, with a hay bale obstruction placed in the middle (not shown in the drawings).  An additional outer wall was constructed of hay bales approximately 6 feet from the edge of the out buildings, constricting the whole playing field to around 100 feet wide by 100 feet tall.  In the very center of the center building there will be a hay bale tower/obstacles construction governed by the DMiC’s whim. This obstacle *can* be fought over.  All outside walls are considered full walls and cannot be fought over nor can combatants be thrown over said walls.

 

Scenario Play:

Each side will start at one end of the town, at least 20 feet back from the nearest outbuilding.  At the start of the scenario, the two teams will enter into the town, and attempt to establish control of the 5 buildings.  Combatants who receiving killing blows must return to a resurrection point placed behind the starting line used at the beginning of the scenario before returning to combat.  

At the center of each building will be a flag which cannot move.  If only combatant(s) from one side has their hands on a flag, that flag is considered to be "uncontested", and controlled by the team.  If combatants from both sides have their hands on the flags, it is considered "contested".  The scenario will run for one hour.  At the half way mark (30 minutes), there will be a short hold to determine the state of each flag in each building, and for a quick water break for the combatants.  At the end of the one hour time period, the status of the flags will again be assessed.

 

Funky Rules:

It will be each team’s responsibility to have a person at resurrection point to count the number of resurrections of all combatants.

Victory Conditions:

 

Victory in the town battle will be accorded to the side which accrues the most points.  Points will be given in the following manner.  Whichever standard is in the up position at the time signal the point is award to that side.
Center Building Flag - 2 pts.
Each Outbuilding Flag - 1 pt.
Lowest Res Count - 1 pt.

For the above describe play mode, there will be a maximum of 13 points:
First Hold -> 6 (2 for Center Building, 4 for the outbuildings)
Second Hold -> 7 (2 for Center Building, 4 for the outbuildings, 1 for final resurrection count)

Castle Battle

Shorthand Description : T L J C S

Physical Layout:

There are 4 main entries to the castle.  The Main Gate is on the north face, and has doors made from wood that can be closed to simulate the effect of a drawbridge being up. On the west face is Alexandria’s breach, which has two openings approximately 3.5’ wide separated by around 6 feet.  On the east side is Black Widow’s breach and the new gate.  Black widow’s breach is similar in layout to Alexandria’s breach.  The ground around the outside walls is built up so that the height from the ground to the top of the wall is around 5-6 feet, and the distance from the ground to the top of the crenulation is only around 4’ feet.  While not permanent, there is usually an inner bailey that is constructed from hay bales, and fits around 50 people.   The inner bailey is impenetrable to all weapons and has a single entry in the back of the castle.  The entry shall be approximately 5 feet (or 2 hay bales) wide.  For this scenario the New Gate will be closed.  The split rail fence on the west side is considered impassible to weapons and combatants.

 

Scenario Play:

This scenario will be run twice, with each side playing both the role of the attackers or the defenders.  At the start of each run, the attackers will be arrayed outside the castle, with all attackers no closer to the walls than 50 feet away.  All defenders must start in the inside of the castle.  At the lay on, the attackers may commence with the seige.  Attackers may attempt to enter through any of the three allowed entry ways (Main, Alexandria, and Black Widow) or through the crenellations via the use of ramps.

 

Ramps are governed by the following rules:

1. 4 people to carry
2. 2 people to spot once the ramp is in place
3. Once in place the ramp cannot be moved
4. A ramp cannot be placed in the crenellation in a defensive fashion.
5. Combatants cannot be attacked while on the ramps
6. Archers *cannot* shoot from the ramps.
7. Armored combatants can *not* attack while on the ramps.
8. Ramps can only be in every other crenellation.
9. When jumping down from the ramps into the castle, an defender cannot attack a jumper until the jumper has both feet on the ground and is in a defensible position.
10. Don’t be obviously stupid.

 

The gates take one hit from large siege weapons to open, and a small siege engine takes three hits to open the gate.

Victory Conditions:

Victory in the castle battle will be accorded thusly:

1. In the case that both sides fall in the defense of the castle, the side that lasts the longest will be awarded victory
2. In the case that only one side falls in the defense of the castle, and the other side successfully repulses the attackers, the side that sucessfully repulse the attackers will be awarded victory.

 

Ravine Battle

Satellite Image Forthcoming

 

Shorthand Description: T R L J C FS

Physical Layout:

Generally the ravine has a long axis west to east (around 500 feet) and very short axis (around 100 feet) north and south.  A gully runs along the long axis with slopes to higher ground on the north and south sides.  There several stands of trees that are usually fought around, and often piles of debris down in the gully.  Archery can only aimed inwards, and is not supposed to be directed towards the spectators.

 

Scenario Play:

Initially, each side occupies one portion of the ravine, with Ansteorra occupying the west portion of the ravine, and Trimaris occupying the east portion of the ravine.   At the very back of each zone is a resurrection flag.  There are three flags along a line perpendicular to a line between the resurrection flags.  The middle flag will be placed in the bottom of the ravine, with the remaining two flags equidistant between the middle flag and the edge of the playing field.  The battle will be one hour long.  For each flag, there is a marshal who has two time-pieces, one for Ansteorra, and one for Trimaris.  When the marshal determines that a side has control of his flag, he starts their time-piece, and it begins counting up the time.  If control is lost, he stops that time piece.  If the other side then takes control of the flag, he starts the other side’s time-piece.

 

Victory Conditions:

At the end of 1 hour, each marshal in charge of the flag will compare the times on his timepieces.  The side that has held the flag longest, will be awarded 1 point for holding that flag. Whichever side gains 2 or more points, will win the War Point for this battle.

 

Bridge

 

Shorthand Description: T L FS J C

Physical Layout:

There will be three bridges.  The bridges will have parallel edges, and the center bridge will be 18 feet wide, while the side bridges will be 9 feet wide.  The bridges are representative of a low wall bridge and will be delineated by a line of hay bales one bale high.  There will be at 9 feet between the bridges.  The center point of the three bridges will be marked with spray paint on the hay bales and on the ground.  A start line will be marked 9 feet back from the end of each bridge.

 

Scenario Play:

This battle will be run 5 times. Both sides will start behind their respective start line. At lay on a timer will start and each battle will continue for 15 minutes.  Combatants can use the wall to regain their balance, but can only use one foot or one point of their body on the wall.  If a combatant purposely stands on the wall, they will be called dead.  If a combatant puts a weight bearing limb or weight weapon into the water area, they are dead. Archery and thrown weapons will be allowed in battles numbered 2 and 4.

Victory Conditions:

At the end of the 15 minute period, the side ruled to be in control of the center line of each bridge will be awarded one point.  If obvious decision can not be made regarding control of the center point, the bridge under contention will be fought to the last man standing with only the combatants who are within 9 feet of the center line will fight.

Open Field

 

Shorthand Description: L J C S

Physical Layout:

Runs long ways east to west, with the east end of the field being substantially higher than the west end.  The field is approximately 400 feet long and 200 feet wide.  There several stands of trees that are usually fought around.  Archery can only aimed inwards, and is not supposed to be directed towards the spectators.

 

Scenario Play:

This battle is run 3 times.  The first and third battles are run with the opposing armies lining up on the west and east end to start.  Archery is allowed in all three battles.  The side that is uphill in the first battle will be uphill in the third battle.  Bytor and Ulstead will have a drinking contest on Drunk Tuesday to determine who gets to go uphill on the first and third battle.

Victory Conditions:

Each battle is last man standing, and is worth 1 point.  Whichever side gets at least two points, wins the War Point.

Future Considerations:

1. Run the battle 3 out of 5 times, all east-west, but with no archery on the last two
2. Start on time

 

Banner Battle (exhibition)

 

Shorthand Description: N T R FM

 

Physical Layout:

 

Scenario Play:

Each team will be composed of 100 combatants.  Each team will be assigned a flag and a base.  The flags should be approximately 5’ long sticks of rattan with a colored flag on each one.  One flag will be red, the other blue.  Combatants may carry any legal weapon and/or throwing weapons.  No archery allowed.  Each team will start on the inside of the field on a line 9’ away from the center line of the field.  At lay-on, flags combatants can enter the field of combat through their entrance.  The combatants then attempt to gain entrance into the other team’s base, and bring the flag back to their own base.

 

Only a person wearing full gauntlets may pick up a flag.  A combatant in possession of the enemy’s flag is considered engaged with all enemy combatants upon taking possession of the enemy’s flag.  Flag carriers should be mindful of the courtesy of their opponents, and combatants engaging the flag carrier from an oblique angle should exercise courtesy in their striking of the flag carrier.  Flag carriers may use the flag staff to block with, but may not attack with the flag.

 

If a combatant is struck with a killing blow, they must exit the field and go to the back line of their side.  If the combatant is holding a flag, the flag must be immediately dropped.  Combatants struck with disabling blows (legs, arms) may continue to persist on the field with the normal loss of limbs, or they may alternatively declare themselves dead and head to the resurrection zone.  If they declare themselves dead they must also drop the flag immediately if they are holding one.  At 2 minute intervals, the combatants will resurrect and may re-enter the field only over their back line.

 

After a team has scored a point, each team resets to the outside of the playfield (as in the very beginning of the game) and lay-on is called again.

 

This scenario will have a duration of 30 minutes.  In the case of a tie, there will be a sudden death playoff where the next point decides the victory.  Resurrections will continue at the normal pace in sudden death.

 

Victory Conditions:

To score a point, teams must bring the opponents flag back to their base while simultaneously having their own flag in their possession in the base.  The team scoring the most points will win the battle.

Future Considerations:

TBD

Great Weapons Battle (exhibition)

 

Shorthand Description: N L F FB

 

Physical Layout:

Any open field.  No real borders are necessary.

Scenario Play:

There will be two teams composed of even number of fighters. The fighters will be equipped only with great weapons, i.e. Two-handed swords, polearms, and two-handed mass weapons.  No sword and shield and no spears will be allowed.   At lay-on the two sides will engage each other.

 

Funky Rules:

For this battle, we will be allowing the EXPERIMENTAL low profile thrusting tips on 2 handed weapons.

Victory Conditions:

Last man standing.

Future Considerations: