After playing SCA light weapons for several years, my friends and I gradually became frustrated and bored with the usual tournament scenarios. After all, once you’ve done one double elimination, you’ve done them all. This led to an increased interest in melees. After all, a melee represents the ultimate in combat — multiple fighters, multiple weapons, terrain, goals, tactics, and strategy. This is not to say that a formal duel over a matter of honor cannot be exciting and fun.
However, in comparison to running through a mock village with five of your friends looking for bags of treasure and fending off city guards, the duel is somewhat lacking.
This manual is meant to be extend the melee within SCA light weapons above and beyond the usual open field battle. Within this handbook are the basic tools for creating units and scenarios for light weapons melees. In addition, the manual extends the basic melee to include missile weapons, an aspect of combat usually not seen in light weapons. This manual is not meant to be the final word in melee tactics and strategy — instead, the manual is meant to explore some of the possibilities inherent to light weapons melee combat.