Pennsic 46 - War Points and Tournaments

Tournaments!

I only managed to participate in two tournaments this year, but they were both good experiences. On Wednesday after the Woods Battle all of us folks who work from manuals trekked our way to the fencing field in order to fight in the By the Book tournament. Despite the wretched timing, I think there was a bigger turnout than last year, which was great! Because of the wretched timing, it ran up against the Edmund the Lame Memorial Tournament, and was changed from its normal round robin setup, which was less great.

There were three lists, each with about 10 people. We ended up fighting double elimination, just to get done in time for Eastern Court. I fought Rafael of the Thieves of Hearts first, and we had a close fight, but he eventually won. I followed that up by fighting Remy (a thing I definitely never do). This was particularly unfortunate since I don't think that my Fabris fighting is the best way for me to fight him (I don't have specific thoughts on the why of this, but I probably should develop some). I stuck by the point of the tournament and stayed within the realms of Fabris, and he did in fact defeat me.

I admit, I've never been more ok with getting out of a tournament quickly. A shower before court was calling my name.

It turned out sticking to Fabris as well as I could was definitely the right play. I ended up winning the prize for best showing the style I intended to! For this I (amusingly) acquired a new book on I33.

The other tournament I took part in was the Ladies' Tourney. 40 women came out to play for that one, which was amazing. Each list had 10 people - mine included both Rowan and Camille, but I got to fight 7 people who I didn't know, too. I had specifically decided to make it to this tournament so that I could be there for women fencers, and try to be a role model (it's still occasionally strange to think of myself as a role model, but I do realize it's true). So I made myself make conversation and be more gregarious than I might normally be in a tournament. It ended up being quite fun, and I had several good fights. I made it out of my pool into the single elimination, best two of three, final 8.

I fought Eirne from Eoldermere. I had never fought her before, and she was a unique combination of quite tall and very aggressive. She's also quite fast. I won the first pass, but she adjusted quickly to my own aggression and she daggered me the other two fights. I was particularly vulnerable to that style, since I was fighting buckler, and I applaud her quick learning in the fights.

She went on to fight in the finals against Isolde. They had some vicious (but courteous!) fights, and in the end Isolde won the day.

I was very glad to have fought in that tournament, and I'm likely to participate again.

War Points!

Tuesday, the longest day, and yet not as long as I was worried it would be. The weather I'm sure helped with that feeling. It was gorgeous.

There were four Field Battles, each worth a war point. The Handsome Boys were holding down the north side of the field. The intention was that we push through the other side, with the Thieves and the Calivers, and be the hammer to the anvil that was waiting on the other side of the field. When this was planned, there was a single caveat- that we probably wouldn't be able to do this if we ended up across from Atlantia. And of course, we did end up in that position, and we did not generally manage to break through. But we held out long enough for people to our south do turn into a hammer, and it was amazing. I know that the Southern Army was the hammer at times (and they were inducted into the Blue Tyger Legion for their efforts!), and Loch Levan was able to find an internal flank and open them like a can. We won all four runs, but we had to work for them. The army really came together for these fights.

The Ruins Battle was much the same as in previous years, although the flags seemed even more off centered than usual. The Handsome Boys spent the first two thirds of the battle smashing into the other side up by the castle. We tried to find holes all up and down their line, and down into the building, and while we had some good pushes we never managed to get through. We did keep them very busy, and so our compatriots to the south were able to take advantage and own the flags down there.

After we switched sides, taking and keeping the top two flags became much easier, thanks to the distance difference. I believe that I heard that we mostly retained the southern flags, too. So again, the army worked beautifully. 

Wednesday was the Woods Battle. Our job was flag three, which the enemy barely tried to touch. They had one push where they almost got to our flag, and then they never really tried again. We had skirmishers out in front of the line, and the other side didn't want to get past them. So our line did a great job, even if we did a lot of looking pretty. Sometimes it's exactly what a soldier needs to do.

The other two flags had much more pressure on them, but still came away successful. 

And last we had the Stronghold Battle on Friday. This first came into being last year, and was an interesting experiment, but ended up being a very small amount of fighting. Two changes this year made the entire war point much more fun - the defending team had an easier time rezzing, and we ran three times for each side. The times for the three runs were added, and the lower cumulative time won the war point.

The Purple side defended first. Handsome Boys were with the Thieves of Hearts on the right side. We would send some people forward to distract their line, and then stand for as long as we could. We had some issues with falling back with the rest of the army, and so we had to recover from a few gaps. But in the end we held them off for something like 6, 4, and 3 minutes (I don't have the specific times, unfortunately.) Good on them for adjusting and learning. This scenario really shows that sort of thing.

When we attacked, we were very aggressive. The flanks especially were told to push through and around, and each time one side or the other managed to do that. As our general, Remy carried a standard to whichever our closest rez point was so everyone could see how far we had gotten, and this was extremely useful.

I love this war point. I love the short, intense fighting, on both sides. I look forward to seeing it continue to morph and grow.

The Purple Army did a fantastic job all week, and it was an absolute pleasure to fight alongside you. Thank you also to the other side for for being skilled and courteous opponents. 

King's and Queen's Rapier Champs

Lupold, Caine, Remy, and Malocchio receive words from their Majesties before the Final Four

I am not going to have as many words as several of my friends do, but I think it's important for me to have some.

Remy and Thomas in the final 8. 

I went into this tournament with a lot of good feelings. I haven't been posting about practices, but I've been fighting well at them, and making a lot of good progress. I was optimistic that, for once, my brain would match my skill and I wouldn't think myself out of the tournament.
And it turns out, my optimism was correct!

Lupold and Remy in the final 4, in the longest legged battle.

Mind you, I also worked for that brain. I warmed up in a real way, not just some practice bouts. I ran around the parking lot a bit, did eastern martial arts forms (which will get my blood moving and calm my mind), stretched a lot, and made sure to keep all of that up right until the very last moment. And then once the pools started, I tried to never stop moving. I resisted the urge to watch my brother or my cadet, who were both in neighboring pools. I had a sort of soft focus going on, and managed to have adrenaline, but (mostly) not get the shaky come down parts it.
I ended up winning 7 of 11 matches in my pool, and none of the losses were easy ones. I felt like the others in my pool were worried about me as an opponent. And more importantly, I felt like they should be.
I learned a variety of things from my losses, and will work all of that into my game. And although I was not able to get out of my pool, I was very happy with my performance.

And that was just the beginning of an astoundingly good day. The sweet sixteen was filled with people I care about, all doing wonderful things with swords, all being great people. I watched my brother, Malocchio, climb the ranks, alongside two good friends. I watched them ferociously fight each other, and love every second of it.

Malocchio and Lupold were in the finals together, and I couldn't help thinking about the years it took to get to this place, and watching the newer generation really come into its own. And Lupold won. And then, Malocchio was chosen as Queen's Champion. I'm told, with enthusiasm.

Malocchio and Remy fight in the final 8

And all throughout watching Malocchio win fight after fight I knew that he was going to be receiving a writ for the Order of Defense at the end of the day. And he definitely showed how much he deserved that.

In addition to all the expected tournament and court related goodness, I watched several moving ceremonies in which fencers I respect took on dependents. I'm certain that all of those pairings are going to go great places, and I can't wait to see what those places are.

Lupold defeats Caine in the final 8

I'm already looking forward to next year. Thanks to the rapier community for being awesome.

Pennsic XLV

Pennsic was warm, and humid. But that didn't stop me from having a great time, and being very busy.

I went to command meetings with Countess Marguerite as the leaders of the Handsome Boys. These were generally fast and organized. And more often than not, the plans that were put in place by General Malocchio were very successful.

I moved a lot of hay bales, and so did many other people. Thank you to everyone who helped out with that - without you we would never have gotten to fight.

I went to a class on padded embroidery. The kit was fantastic, but the class was far too short to get to everything, and unfortunately the bits I'd hoped to see (detached button stitch around wire frames) were all at the end. Hopefully the kit will prove useful on its own.

I did some heralding, mostly behind the scenes, but I read a little.

I played music vaguely in public and it went ok, and want to see about starting to get involved playing music for dancing. Because who needs free time.

I fought my fellow Handsome Boys for our annual Handsomest Boy prize. I'm actually not terribly pleased with my fighting in that tournament, but the important part is that we continue to go together every year and celebrate the awesome people in our number. Congratulations to Urraka and Catalina!

I slogged through a long, late battle on Monday. I spent most of my time up at the castle with the Handsome Boy and Calivers, and generally speaking we had a delightful, friendly time. The flag traded hands in a way that we expected, but we were always able to get it back. We managed to not lose anyone to the heat - people took breaks, but no one was ever out for the battle.
I was occasionally sent further down the line the orchard, and helped with a good push, and stopped a break through in our line.
If not for the ridiculous holds and how late we started I would have come out of this battling feeling only good things about my performance and the performance of my unit.

I ran through Tuesday's battle. The speed certainly made up for Monday's pain. Six total minutes fighting, with not a single hold. It was fast, it was furious, and I really enjoyed it. Being the defenders first was a little disheartening - they did it so quickly! We never got to rez! But it turns out that's just how the battle works. We did amazing when we were on the offense, and tore through their lines. And we did it 46 seconds faster than they did!
I think this could be a really fun battle to run several times in row. It's faster even than the field battle, and that could make for some interesting adjustments in tactics as you went.

I was really looking forward to the woods on Thursday, and was sad about all of the weather problems. I'm kind of glad we didn't do the backup battle, partially because I was done with moving hay bales by then. Next year, hopefully, we can get our woods on again.

I was frustrated by Friday's field battle. Our first run had a lot of small mistakes that added up. We spread out too much on our end, and we paid the price. The second run went much better, but we still couldn't pull it out. On the third go, the troops were moved around. It was now the Handsome Boys job to push instead of hold, and once again they pushed gloriously.

I did pickups with a lot of great people - although not as many as I may have liked. That's been a common theme I've heard.

I fought in the Ansteorra tournament. I didn't do as well as I would have liked, but I had good opponents (all from Ansteorra!) and good feedback. Primarily - watch my distance, and make sure I turn my hand all the way to seconda or quarta when gaining the blade. Both of these mistakes got me killed. Both of them are fixable.

I fought in the By the Book Tournament for the very first time. I used Fabris, of course, and I was doing quite well. Unfortunately, the heat of the day and some visible lightning caused all battlefield activities to be canceled before we could finish the tournament. Next year I'll definitely be doing this one again.

Best of all, I watched people I love and respect be recognized in a variety of ways. Lupold and Sorcha were brought into the OGR. Dionisio and Doroga were made OSRs. The Handsome Boys were recognized by induction to the Blue Tyger Legion (which will have its own post when I figure out the words).

Fencing Catchup

I went down to the Southern Region Fencing Practice and much melee was had, as well as a qualifying tournament for champs.

In the tournament I was out in three, but my two losses were the first and second placers. I fought Antonio first, and didn't get as warmed up as I might have wanted to. I was using buckler, which may or may not have been a good choice. He got me under my right arm, which as we'll see is a pattern that I need to work on.
We fought again later (I kept buckler, because I wanted to experiment some) and things went ok.
I did other pickups that were also a lot of fun.
Melee was mostly me, Sorcha, and Urraka working together on the far edge. We did a couple of really good things, and a couple of times where we pushed too hard or not enough.

All in all, it was a great time and even though it was very far away, I'm glad we made the trip. Thanks for hosting, Southern Region!

I had a good practice the next Monday. I fought case with a dagger, which I usually try to avoid, and I actually did quite well. I always knew that buckler vs case was a crutch, I just wasn't too worried about getting rid of it. But I won't argue if I've managed to by accident.

Then Roses happened. I showed up very briefly (it was a busy weekend!) but I got to fight in the champs qualifier again, as well as the melee tryouts. This time I fought four fights before I was out, but both of my losses were again under my right arm - and only one of those was a lefty. I again fought the first and second place finishers. This time while I lost to the first place, I won against the second, and I am very excited about that. I had surprise on my side, but I made use of it.

Melees this time we were split up based on our units, so I was with Urraka and Katsu (for the event was very Handsome Boy light, and out Southern folks are going to fight with the South this year). The teams seemed pretty evenly matched - we would go back and forth on who won. We started near an end, and the other side steamrolled everyone during the first fight. They were extremely aggressive and we weren't remotely ready for it. After that we were in the middle, and had to make choices about whether to push or not. There was one time we should have pushed but instead did the stop and fence thing that is always awful, but we fixed that in future times. All in all, I was quite happy with how things went.

One thing that I noticed between the two tournaments was that my between fights time was very different. At the regional practice I tried to be all calm and not be distracted by anyone around me - which was helped by the fact that most of the people who might distract me were running the tournament. And by the third fight I was shaky and having adrenaline problems. At Roses there were a whole bunch of people that I was talking to and we would communally rest between the bouts. And even though it was ridiculously hot out, I didn't end up shaky or anything. Although I was definitely tired by the fourth fight.
I'm not entirely certain there's a causal relationship here. I also had much longer fights at the regional. But it's something I want to keep an eye on.

Yule and Practice Report

Bergental/BBM Yule happened! I went there instead of to the Northern Academy of Rapier because there were awards happening I wanted to be there to see.
It was a small group, but the average fencing level was quite high. My cadet, Liaden, was the MiC and ran two tournaments. The first one was the first rapier champion tournament that Bergental has had in years. She has been working on getting the position back since she joined us in fencing, and it was very good to watch. And congratulations to Urraka for being the champion!
The second tournament was a simple bear pit. I fought with my buckler, which I haven't really picked up since K&Q, and it showed.
I don't think my head got away from me in the tournament, was I was also not in kill them all mode. I was having fun and trying some things and that's ok.

I went into practice on Monday feeling like I wanted to Stab All The Things, which is good. It is not uncommon for Monday practice to have me dragging my feet until I get adrenaline going.

Fighting Lilias went way better for me than it usually does - and it was with single, which I generally expect her to trounce me on. I changed my game on her. It felt a little like I was playing *her* game - the patient distance game - but it worked a lot better than trying to get all up in her space like I generally. She's just too good at getting around my dagger when I do that.

I discovered when fighting Donovan and Kenrick that my current level of Fabris is not really prepared to fight more Fabris, or lefties. I realize that I just need to find different guards and in general expand what I know.
It also makes me think that if Caoilfhionn is planning on pursuing Fabris, I should figure out this "fighting lefties" problem so I can pass it on to her - since she is a lefty, and fighting righties is rather more common.

I was trying a lot of invitations and blade opposition, which got me killed more than I'd like. BUT I did get a plate perfect invitation based kill.

King's and Queen's Rapier Tournament

This past Saturday was The Rapier Tournament in the East.
The site was determined rather late in the game, at a place none of us had been before. I don't think I was the only one a little worried about what the day would bring and how the tournament would go.

But! It was an absolutely GORGEOUS day out, and the site was beautiful. We were right on the sea shore, by an old fort, with relatively flat ground (only slightly muddy).

63 fencers entered the tournament. There were eight pools, and the top two from each pool went on to a double elimination sweet 16. The finals were best three of five, matched, rotating forms.

Fencers were out in both quantity and quality, which was wonderful to see. I've heard almost entirely good things about the fighting - clean, courteous, etc. I am hoping that the exceptions are being taken care of appropriately - but they were not enough to mar the day.

My pool was definitely clean. Our marshal and MoL were wonderful, efficient, and active when needed.

There will eight people in the pool, and I lost three fights, tying for third with several people. I'm not HAPPY about that showing, although I'm not kicking myself about it either.

One loss was to an OGR who I practice with regularly. I nearly had him a couple times, which honestly is better than  most of our fights.  He has always had my number.
One loss was to an OSR from the south who uses curved swords, which I really to practice against more (which is hard, since no on in my area uses them). We had a messy exchange where there was a question about whether he daggered my head - we were in close enough, and there was enough stuff hitting my mask at weird angles (quillions and the like) that I couldn't tell. I appreciated that the marshal stepped in to tell us that he didn't think it was good. So we refought, and this time he got in my shorts and made a cut at my belly that succeeded. I feel like it could have gone the other way, but I'm not upset at how I did.
The last loss if the one that I am saddest about. I was fighting an OGR who I haven't fought much, besides him being in my pool at my second K&Q. I am certain that I should have won that fight, but I didn't commit to my Fabris guard - and additionally, he is a short guy. The combination mean that I was really in a "stab me in the belly please" guard, which he proceeded to do. He mentioned afterwards that my buckler had floated up too far. Which is he doesn't know what I'm intending is a reasonable assumption to make. But the buckler was fine - I just wasn't bent over near far enough. In hindsight, against someone that short, I really shouldn't have gone for that particular guard at all.
Also, I didn't properly warm up that guard. I was worried about getting tired too early, and didn't have a lot of time to get my blood flowing, so I didn't concentrate on it at all. I feel like I should have, to at least remind myself what it feels like.

My pick ups later on were fantastic and fun. I fought a northern OGR that I've never managed to pin down before, and he was a blast to fight. I fought another person who is into Fabris (way more into Fabris than I am, really) and he was super excited when I fell into that stance, and we talked about Fabris for awhile. I did pickups with some of the people from my pool.

BUT ENOUGH ABOUT ME.

People I care about did amazing things all day, and were recognized for things, and it was great.
Marguerite was inducted into the Order of the Silver Crescent for her many "bad" ideas.
Natalliia was given a writ to answer to the question of whether she would join the Order of Defense.
Jean Michele was inducted into the Order of the Golden Rapier.
The Carolingian Calivers were made the King's Calivers for the duration of the reign due to their prowess at Pennsic.
Malocchio was recognized for his great service as Rapier General this past Pennsic. I am beyond happy that someone did.
Scrooby and Marielle were given their AoAs.
Donovan won his third K&Q.
Llewellyn, who I have known for pretty much ever, had a great day in the lists and was chosen as Queen's Champion.
I heard innumerable good things about my cadet all day long - about her fighting and her attitude. I am very proud of how she came back from her injury a better fencer than she was before, and how she's finding her place in the SCA. Initially is was weird to have people come up to report to me about her, but then it was just awesome.

So yeah. It was a good day.

Rose Tourney Report

The tournament was an absolutely beautiful day. I was worried at the beginning because it seemed very disorganized, and that tends to screw with my brain space. But turns out that I could mostly just let things happen and fight whomever I was paired against, and that was that.

Presenting myself to my rose, Duchess Katherine Stanhope
Photo by Sitt al-Gharb ha-niqret Khazariyya

I won 5 of my 11 fights. I was not upset about any of them, though. I generally fought well and was able to stay focused. And I didn't get paired up against any slouches!
And one of my opponents tried to sing at me, and I didn't let it phase me. I still lost that one, but that was because he was a good fencer, not because I was distracted.

Other things that stuck out for the day:
   - JP had to do a lot of thinking about the new guard to figure out what to do with it. I was amused by this, and didn't take proper advantage at the time. I should never have let him think. Afterwards he suggested taking my sword in a little bit, because the only real hole in the guard is my belly below my left hand.
   - I had a glorious back and forth with Owen, and eventually killed him, but in doing so I thugged him. So I need to keep an eye on my calibration when things get really intense. It is rare for there to be as much constant motion as there was in this particular bout, and I think that amped me up more than I'm used to.
   - We need to be more careful in authorizations about making sure people understand that a bit down the arm or inside the leg is still a kill. There was a potential kerfuffle that occurred.
   - I need to fight LT more. He does weird things and new guard did not work at all in that fight.
  - Fighting Jean Xavier, I managed a beautiful kill right off the bat. And heard from a bystander "She was using Fabris, that's like cheating!". This amused me, and also made me happy that people were recognizing where the guard came from.

I don't know what place we ended up getting (although I would love to), but our team had a lot of good fights, and it was a pleasure to fight beside them.