THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF THE PENNSIC WARS
| Sunday, August 8 | ||
| 10:00 am | Opening Ceremonies | |
| Monday, August 9 | ||
| 9:00 am | Archery Champions Shoot | 1 War Point |
| 10:00 am | Break the Siege Battle | 3 War Points: victor gets 2 or 3, other side gets 1 or 0. Tie: 1 point each |
| 2:00 pm | Rapier Town Battle | 1 War Point |
| Tuesday, August 10 | ||
| 10 am - 6 pm | Populace Archery War Point #1 | |
| 10:00 am | Woods Battle | 2 War Points: victor gets 1 or 2, other side gets 1 or 0. Tie: 0 or 1 point each |
| 2:00 pm | Rapier "Jungle" Battle | 1 War Point |
| Wednesday, August 11 | ||
| 9:00 am | Rapier Champions | 1 War Point |
| 10 am - 6 pm | Populace Archery War Point #1 | 1 War Point (Tues & Wed shoots) |
| 10:00 am | Allied Champions | 1 War Point |
| followed by | Unbelted Champions | 1 War Point |
| followed by | Belted Champions | 1 War Point |
| Thursday, August 12 | ||
| 10 am - 6 pm | Populace Archery War Point #2 | |
| 10:00 am | Bridge Battle | 3 War Points: victor gets 2 or 3, other side gets 1 or 0. |
| 2:00 pm | Rapier Plateau Battle | 1 War Point |
| Friday, August 13 | ||
| 10 am - 4 pm | Populace Archery War Point #2 | 1 War Point (Thurs & Fri shoots) |
| 10:00 am | Field Battle | 3 War Points: victor gets 2 or 3, other side gets 1 or 0. |
| Following the War Point battles, there will be two friendship battles, sponsored by the Kings of the East & Midrealm; with combat archery, thrown weapons and siege engines allowed. Following these friendship battles, we may continue to fight until the armies exhaust themselves or the marshallate. | ||
The Battle will be fought twice with each side playing the part of the Garrison Army and the Besieging Army. The field in front of the castle will be divided into 4 zones:
The Rapier Town Battle is a resurrection battle lasting 60 minutes. Death from behind (DFB) is not permitted.
The field of battle will consist of a modified version battlefield used during the "Break the Siege" armored combat battle. The starting zone for each side will be 18 ft deep and extend across the entire eastern and western sides of the battlefield.
The resurrection point for each side will be outside boundary (i.e. the back line) of each starting zone.
The Midrealm and their respective allies will start on the eastern side of the battlefield. The East and their respective allies will start on the western side of the battlefield.
The Village Zone is bounded on the south by the Mountain Passes. The battlefield extends 48 ft beyond the Mountain Passes. A fixed banner will be placed 18 ft from the south boundary on the centerline of the battlefield.
The Village Zone is bounded on the north by the castle moat. On the centerline of the battlefield, a 36-ft wide x 45-ft long bridge extends from the village toward the castle. The bridge meets an 18 ft wide causeway that runs along the face of the castle and extends to the eastern and western boundaries. The only access points to this causeway are via the bridge and from the starting zones. The north side of the causeway is the north battlefield boundary (see map) – fighters are not permitted beyond the face of the castle by any means. A fixed banner will be placed on the center of the bridge.
The Village Zone has the following additional features:
At the end of the battle, a hold shall be called and the marshals shall excuse all fighters who are outside of the buildings, except for fighters within 9 feet away from a banner. The battle will resume (with no resurrections) until the banners are no longer contested. During the "end of the battle" period, fighters may leave and re-enter only the building that they occupied when the "end of the battle" period began, as long as that building remains contested; however, any building that is occupied by only one side shall be instantly closed by the marshal – fighters who left that building will not be allowed to re-enter. Fighters may not enter any other building. Fighters contesting for the mountain pass banner may not assist with the contesting of any other banner. Fighters contesting for the bridge banner may not assist with the contesting of any other banner. Fighters contesting for banners in any of the building may not assist with the contesting of any other banner. When all of the banners are no longer contested, possession points will be awarded.
There will be three banners: one (1) mobile banner and two (2) fixed banners. No unofficial banners will be allowed in this battle. A banner corridor 150 yards wide will bisect the woods equidistant from each of the resurrection points. The mobile banner will begin at the approximate center of the banner corridor. The fixed banners will be placed at a point that is between the center banner and the side edge of the battlefield (one on either side) and approximately 1/3 of the way from the banner corridor to the back edge of the battlefield. No banner shall be located within 200 feet of another banner or within 200 feet of a resurrection point. The side that won the “Break the Siege” battle shall have the choice of which side of the Wood to enter. This decision will be explicitly stated and known to the Kings of the East & Midrealm (or their designated representative), the marshal, and the battlefield set-up staff representative within 15 minutes of the conclusion of the “Break the Siege” battle on Monday.
The side that lost the “Break the Siege” battle will be allowed a runner to move the mobile banner 30 minutes before the start of the battle. At the marshal’s signal, the runner will have 30 seconds to relocate the mobile banner. The Kings of the East and Midrealm (and up to three representatives for each) will be allowed to see the new location of the mobile banner.
When the mobile banner is captured, the side capturing the banner will have 2 minutes to move and plant the banner in another location in the banner corridor. At the end of 2 minutes, the banner must be planted and cannot be moved unless the opposing side gains control of that banner. Banners may not be hidden or concealed in any way. All banners must be displayed proudly and boldly as the rallying symbols of the proud and noble Kingdoms and should be held with great honor and reverence. Natural obstacles (i.e. brush, fallen timber, marshals, etc.) may not be rearranged into a defensive position. The movement of obstacles is only permitted in order to lessen safety hazards and should be done under the advisement of a marshal.
Eye protection is strongly recommended. All holds will be local and time will not stop for holds at the banners except for the final 10 minutes of the battle. Combat archery and siege weapons will not be allowed.
Victory conditions:
At the 45 minute mark and the 90 minute mark, possession of each mobile banner will be recorded. An air
horn will be sounded to signal the time for recording possession of the banners. One (1) possession point will
be assigned to each banner for each of these time checks. The marshals assigned to each banner will be
charged with determining possession. Possession for the banners shall be based on the following: a planted
banner is possessed by the side that planted the banner, unless there are hands of the opposing side on the
banner pole. A banner in motion is possessed by the side which captured it from being planted, unless there
are hands of the opposing side on the banner pole. Contested banners shall score no possession points for
either side. At the final cannon (120 minutes), the mobile banner will be considered fixed and those fighters
within a 9 foot radius circle around each of the banners shall fight to the last man to determine possession.
One (1) possession point for each banner will be awarded to the side possessing each banner at the end of the
battle.
This battle counts 1 War Point for any side that earns at least 3 possession points. This battle counts 1 War Point for the side with the greater amount of possession points at the end of the battle.
There will be three (3) fixed banners. No unofficial banners will be allowed in this battle. A banner corridor 150 yards wide will bisect the woods equidistant from each of the resurrection points. The center banner will begin at the approximate center of the banner corridor. The remaining two (2) fixed banners will be placed at a point that is between the center banner and the side edge of the battlefield (one on either side) and approximately 1/3 of the way from the banner corridor to the back edge of the battlefield. No banner shall be located within 200 feet of another banner or within 200 feet of a resurrection point.
The side that won the Town battle shall have the choice of which side of the Wood to enter. This decision will be explicitly stated and known to the Kings of the East &Midrealm (or their designated representative), the marshal, and the battlefield set-up staff representative within 15 minutes of the conclusion of the "Break the Siege" battle on Monday.
The side that lost the Town battle will be allowed a runner to move the center banner 30 minutes before the start of the battle. At the marshal's signal, the runner will have 30 seconds to relocate the center banner. The Kings of the East and Midrealm (and up to three representatives for each) will be allowed to see the new location of the center banner.
Banners may not be hidden or concealed in any way. All banners must be displayed proudly and boldly as the rallying symbols of the proud and noble Kingdoms and should be held with great honor and reverence.
Natural obstacles (i.e. brush, fallen timber, marshals, etc.) may not be rearranged into a defensive position. The movement of obstacles is only permitted in order to lessen safety hazards and should be done under the advisement of a marshal.
Eye protection is strongly recommended. All holds will be local and time will not stop for holds at the banners except for the final 10 minutes of the battle. Combat archery and siege weapons will not be allowed.
Victory conditions:
At two (2) random intervals (within +-5 minutes of the 45 minute mark and within +-5 minutes of the 90 minute mark) during the battle, possession of each banner will be recorded. An air horn will be sounded to signal the time for recording possession of the banners. One (1) possession point will be assigned to each banner for each of these time checks. The marshals assigned to each banner will be charged with determining possession. Possession for the banners shall be based on the following: a banner is possessed by the side with a hand on the banner pole, unless there are hands of the opposing side on the banner pole. Contested banners shall score no possession points for either side. At the final cannon (120 minutes), those fighters within a 9 foot radius circle around each of the banners shall fight to the last man to determine possession. One (1) possession point for each banner will be awarded to the side possessing each banner at the end of the battle.
This battle counts 1 War Point for the side with the greater amount of possession points at the end of the battle.
There will be five (5) parallel bridges 90 feet long. The middle bridge will be 27 feet wide for its entire length. The side bridges will be 18 feet wide for their entire length. The distance between the bridges will be 25 feet. The bridges will be thought of as spanning a deep gorge that in un-traversable by any means other than the bridges provided. The opposing armies will start 50 feet from their respective ends of the bridges. In the third battle, siege weapons will be allowed to set up no closer than 75 feet from their respective ends of the bridges.
The Midrealm will start on the eastern side of the battlefield and the East will start on the western side of the battlefield.
At the conclusion of the previous days War Point activities, the difference in War Point totals will be calculated by the marshal and the Kings of the East & Midrealm (or their designated representative). The side that had earned the fewer number of total War Points will be allowed to move the centers of bridges toward their starting point. For each point of difference, 15 feet of movement of the center will be allowed on a single bridge. If there is more than one point of difference, each "15 feet" may be used on separate bridges or accumulated on a single bridge; however, no more than 30 feet of movement shall be allowed on any one bridge. From a practical perspective, if one side is behind by greater than 10 points, they can gain no greater advantage than the centers of all five bridges moved toward the losing side by 30 feet on each bridge.
The final position of the bridge centers will be explicitly stated and known to the Kings of the East & Midrealm (or their designated representative), the marshal, and the battlefield set-up staff representative before the 5pm the day before the battle (i.e. Wednesday).
At the conclusion of the first and second Bridge Battles, the losing side will allowed to move the center of one bridge toward their side by 15 feet. The decision regarding which bridge will be affected must be explicitly stated and known to the Kings of the East & Midrealm (or their designated representative), and the marshal.
The center of the each bridge is a line spanning the width of the bridge. The lines will be clearly marked by the marshals by a hay bale laid outside of the each side of the bridge and line of paint. The center area of each bridge (the space 9 feet on either side of the center line) will also be marked by the marshals.
Each battle will be 30 minutes long including holds. The clock will not stop for any hold lasting less than 2 minutes (at the 2 minute mark of the hold, the clock will stop – the clock will not be reset to regain the lost 2 minutes). All holds will be declared local until a breakout occurs. Once a breakout occurs, all holds will be general.
The second and third Bridge Battles will begin 15 minutes after the change to the bridge center is made by the marshals after the first and second Bridge Battles.
Fighting may take place over hay bales. No fighter may sit, stand, walk or run on the hay bales. A fighter may use the hay bales to regain balance or stop his fall. This means that a fighter touching a hay bale is not automatically "dead". If a fighter's hand, shield, weapon, feet or any weight-bearing item lands over (i.e. on the outside of) the hay bale that fighter shall be considered "dead" and must leave the battle. Merely brushing up against or using a hay bale as a steadying wall to deter falling is not sufficient to consider a fighter as "dead". "Dead" fighters may not remain in the marshal spaces between the bridges. Any Crowns & Heirs of the SCA who fought in the battle may remain as spectators.
The final cannon of each battle shall be treated as a general hold; however, fighters will not be required to kneel. All fighters outside of the center areas of the bridges will be excused. The remaining fighters will be allowed to fight on to the last man. These remaining fighters must remain on the bridge for which they are contesting – they may not move to another bridge. Any bridge with no fighters remaining in the center area after the final cannon of each battle shall not be counted for either side.
Eye protection is strongly recommended for the marshals during the third battle. Combat archers and siege crew members will be treated as any other armored combatant – they must be properly & safely engaged. A downed siege weapon will be flagged and cannot be re-used. Kills by a siege weapon are per the normal conventions of combat for siege weaponry which includes ballistae, trebuchets and catapults. Combat archers will use the current set of combat archery rules and can maintain their current ability to move freely about the field. Siege weapon missiles and arrows may not be gleaned during the battle.
Victory conditions:
Each battle counts 1 War Point to the side who possesses the majority of the bridges at the end of each battle, for a maximum of 3 War Points.
The Plateau Battle consists of one (1) non-resurrection battle with no time limit. The battle will be fought to the last man. Death from behind (DFB) will be permitted.
The field will measure 300 ft (east-west) x 400 ft (north-south). There will be two (2) 90 ft (east-west) x 43 ft (north-south) "boulders" (simulated with hay bales) in the middle of the battlefield with a gap of 113 ft (north/south) between them. Only marshals are allowed within the "boulders". "Dead" fighters may not remain within the "boulders". Any Crowns & Heirs of the SCA who fought in the battle may remain as spectators.
The Midrealm and their respective allies will start on the eastern side of the battlefield. The East and their respective allies will start on the western side of the battlefield. The respective sides may deploy in any way on their own side of the "boulders".
All holds will be general and kept to a minimum. If there is a serious injury, a bubble hold will be used to isolate the injury where possible to allow the battle to continue.
No fighting may occur over the "boulders". Fighters may lean on the "boulders". If a part of a fighter’s body crosses over a "Boulder" or if a fighter is pushed into or over the "boulders", the fighter will be allowed to regain their balance within the field of battle. (i.e. The hay bales simulating the "boulders" should be treated as solid walls.)
Victory conditions:
This battle counts 1 War Point to the victor of the battle.
There will be an inner and outer barrier on the field 10 ft apart. Only marshals and "dead" fighters are allowed between the barriers. The combat area will be within the inner barrier which will measure 600 ft (east-west) x 780 ft (north-south), inside the hay bales (Note: the north-south dimension may be reduced, as space allows, but will be no less than 800 ft). There will be a 100 foot wide "no man’s land" running north-south through the middle of the battlefield. Only marshals are allowed in the "no man’s land" prior to the start of any battle. Siege engines may never be closer than 125 from the "no man’s land" (i.e. never farther than 125 feet from the respective sides back barrier).
The Midrealm and their respective allies will start on the eastern side of the battlefield. The East and their respective allies will start on the western side of the battlefield. The respective sides may deploy in any way on their own side of the "no man’s land".
Once the starting cannons for each battle are fired, the field is closed until each battle ends. Spectators must remain outside of the outer barrier (no sitting on the hay bales).
A local hold will be called to allow fighters or units pushed into a barrier to be repositioned within the inner barrier.
All holds will be general (except as noted above) and kept to a minimum. If there is a serious injury, a bubble hold will be used to isolate the injury where possible to allow the battle to continue. There will be a 15 minute break after the first & second battles to allow the sides to regroup and reset for the next battle.
Eye protection is strongly recommended for the marshals during the third battle. Combat archers and siege crew members will be treated as any other armored combatant – they must be properly & safely engaged. A downed siege weapon will be flagged and cannot be re-used. Kills by a siege weapon are per the normal conventions of combat for siege weaponry which includes ballistae, trebuchets and catapults. Combat archers will use the current set of combat archery rules and can maintain their current ability to move freely about the field. Siege weapon missiles and arrows may not be gleaned during the battle.
Note: Both Crowns encourage the use of volley fire to add to the historical flavor of this field battle; and it's fun for the spectators!
Victory conditions:
Each battle counts 1 War Point to the victor of the battle, for a total of 3 War Points.
Following the War Point battles, there will be two friendship battles, sponsored by the Kings of the East & Midrealm; with combat archery, thrown weapons and siege engines allowed. Following these friendship battles, we may continue to fight until the armies exhaust themselves or the marshallate.
www.pennsicwar.org is not a Corporate Publication of the SCA, Inc., and does not delineate any SCA policies. This site is not intended to take the place of Official Kingdom Newsletters or Pennsic War On-Site publications. Every effort has been taken to provide current and accurate information, however, any discrepancies between the information on this site and in the above publications will be decided in favor of the printed version.