*** JUNK MAIL ***Re: re-[Rq-rules] Introduction

[Pete Nash]

>
> Sorta ignores fatigue, doesn't it?


I use multiple opponents as a method of training endurance for exactly that
reason. From an SCA perspective the best many-on-one odds I can normally
beat is 5 to 1. My foes are usually one high level fighter (almost white
belt level for those who understand), two competent but unimaginative mid
level fighters and two starting level fighters.

This is not a battlefield situation, but a training exercise held in a
sports hall (10m x 15m) to improve mobility. In general it is easy for me to
limit the number of opponents able to strike at me to either one or two at
any moment. Conversely, most of my time is spent maneuvering leaving only
brief moments to snipe an attack when I change either the direction or the
range between myself and my foes.

Of course, whilst I maneuver my opponents are trying to pin me against the
walls, or trap me in a corner.

When it comes to weapon ranges, it is actually easier to foul up opponent's
using great weapons than those using sword and shield. The shafts and hafts
of longer weapons are more difficult to move around allies standing to the
sides, or before the wielder.

As for combat tactics when heavily outnumbered, I either attack the best
fighter straight away - relying on the poorer maneuvering skills of the
rest to give me a brief opportunity to take him out... OR I handle the
lesser skilled opponents one by one, and try to out-endure the best opponent
by always interposing one of the others between us, forcing him to move more
than me in order to get a clean line of attack.

Whatever the tactics, you can only survive by constantly moving. By the end
of such a fight I am _completely_ exhausted!

Such fighting only works when the opponents are a rabble, or you can break
them into a rabble. In a battlefield situation, ordered formations are
effectively impervious to melee from outnumbered irregulars.

Please note however, that I am fighting in a large open area with no
obstacles and perfectly level footing. Two factors it is rare to find in the
real world! :)

Pete Nash
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