Thanks! I take a lot of inspiration from Dan Abnett and his “Malus Darkblade” series - his combat scenes are ugly, violent things where people get hurt and abused left, right and centre. Always felt more realistic to me than some of this ridiculous “combat ballets” where the protagonist fights 40 people for 40 hours and never takes a single hit…
I was in the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) for many years. In there you fight with weapons made of rattan (a sold flexible wood) using full force. You make and wear armor of leather and steel including shields full helmets and attenuated arms and legs. They have battles with hundreds on each side and I fought in many of them. It is the closest thing in this day and age to being there. You experience first hand fighting techniques that work and those that do not. Your descriptions are a valid representation of combat from what I experienced.
My own melee combat experience is limited at this point, but I did get to spend a week in Germany fighting in formation with a Roman reenactor group. Shield walls are great fun when you are in the middle with other shields around you - but decidedly less fun when you end up on the flank, and get swamped…
I also learnt that most fantasy portrayals of characters doing ninja combat skills with daggers and short swords = flat-out wrong. People with long weapons will beat your ass if you try to do elaborate tricks with your short weapons (and screw pikemen in particular - those guys all deserve to be shot).
If you mean the world-building from 20 years ago, then yes - it was the most elaborate universe I had ever constructed at that point in time, and it probably still holds that record for all my writing.
This particular story though, is not 20 years old. I knocked it out this afternoon before dinner!
Great description of melee combat.
Here is the link
https://open.substack.com/pub/stephenlrolston/p/weekend-warrior-a-true-tale?r=420jds&utm_medium=ios
Thanks! I take a lot of inspiration from Dan Abnett and his “Malus Darkblade” series - his combat scenes are ugly, violent things where people get hurt and abused left, right and centre. Always felt more realistic to me than some of this ridiculous “combat ballets” where the protagonist fights 40 people for 40 hours and never takes a single hit…
I was in the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) for many years. In there you fight with weapons made of rattan (a sold flexible wood) using full force. You make and wear armor of leather and steel including shields full helmets and attenuated arms and legs. They have battles with hundreds on each side and I fought in many of them. It is the closest thing in this day and age to being there. You experience first hand fighting techniques that work and those that do not. Your descriptions are a valid representation of combat from what I experienced.
My own melee combat experience is limited at this point, but I did get to spend a week in Germany fighting in formation with a Roman reenactor group. Shield walls are great fun when you are in the middle with other shields around you - but decidedly less fun when you end up on the flank, and get swamped…
I also learnt that most fantasy portrayals of characters doing ninja combat skills with daggers and short swords = flat-out wrong. People with long weapons will beat your ass if you try to do elaborate tricks with your short weapons (and screw pikemen in particular - those guys all deserve to be shot).
I will post an old story of mine called "Weekend Warrior". It describes one particular SCA battle. Told as a story but the events were true.
Ah this makes more sense and makes me feel less bad about my writing 20 years ago!
Fun to see how good you were even 20 years ago.
If you mean the world-building from 20 years ago, then yes - it was the most elaborate universe I had ever constructed at that point in time, and it probably still holds that record for all my writing.
This particular story though, is not 20 years old. I knocked it out this afternoon before dinner!