Melee for Beginners - Jobs

In a melee each person has a job that they are responsible for. The two most important things to know in a melee are the overall objective for your team and what you are responsible for. The size, objective, and field of the melee will affect how many of each type of unit there are.

Melee for Beginners - Objectives

This was originally published as part of the first part of the article. After a suggestion from Wistric, I have broken it off into its own section, and each section will now cover one topic. Coming next - Melee for Beginners - Roles in Combat


Common Objectives

The battle objective is the goal for each side in the melee. Some scenarios are fairly simple, others can be more complicated. Before the melee begins, the marshals will explain the objective and any other rules such as whether death from behind is allowed or how many resurrections each fighter has. Be sure to ask questions for clarification if anything is unclear. The most important thing to do in a melee is remembering the objective and working to meet it. 

Rapier Melee for Beginners - Introduction and Field Types

A rapier melee is any fight that has more than two fighters. This can be as simple as a two on one melee up to melees with over 100 fighters per side such as those that happen at Pennsic. While the fundamentals of single combat are important in a melee, there are a number of melee skills that are also very important to learn to be a successful melee fighter.

Before participating in a melee for the first time, fighters should make sure they are familiar with the additional rules that cover melees. Keep in mind that some things are legal in some areas, but not legal in others – when in doubt, ask a marshal or experienced fighter any questions. The purpose of this article is not to discuss the rules of melee or what is legal (or not legal), but to provide a new fencer a basic overview of SCA rapier combat.