The cohesion of spear-armed troops is also much easier to maintain, because the spear does not require each individual soldier to flail about with it like a club. While sword-, mace- or axe-armed troops may have an advantage once formations are broken, while order and good discipline holds the spearmen *will* rule the field. As someone else pointed out, the fear with which a combatant greets the wall of sharp, pointy objects thrust his way in a *real* battle is not present in SCA combat. As a person who has more than once faced the business ends of several sharp, pointy objects thrust my way in real life and who has engaged in his share of mock battles, I can personally attest to the veracity of that comment.
Nothing against SCA as an organization, but I find the claims by some of its membership to greater insight in matters of medieval military to be, in a word, ludicrous, and not unlike the claims made by paintball enthusiasts regarding the conduct of modern combat operations. This thread *has* been interesting, but more for the dissemination of accurate information about ancient-medieval military tactics than discussion of the merit of this or that weapon in mock combat. Lay on, gentlepersons...
End of The Glorantha Digest V8 #230
Powered by hypermail