My first event was E4 there in September, went out on a skirmish at about 3 on the Saturday, came back through with one hit and got dragged into the hospital and was put quite on the spot trying to explain IC that i just need a quick heal-up, i’m not actually injured. Until one of them just whipered in my ear “have you got a card or are you just low”. Felt so awkward
When on the field I will ask if you are Injured or mearly in need of a lie down? (I like doing triage)
Also my 3 things to suggest are:
1: Take water, maybe even a snack. Keep your fluid high will keep you going all day.
2: Stick together. Doesn’t matter if its the same people you walked on the field with. A lone warrior is either a runner for the generals (light weight, barely armed and therefore running to company) or dead.
3: Don’t retreat!!! Bear with me on this. If you are being pressed and taking a lot of hits, call back and swap out. Dont just retreat.
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I am going to be honest there is never an end to learning about battles and skirmishes but my three.
- BE PREPARED - You could be in a hot field in hot armour or costume, fighting for your life, (Your characters life) You need to be able to fight with a clear mind to be effective, water, chocolate even if your diabetic just in case those sugars go low with a small carb snack for after. any chance for water take it. A spare weapon in case your primary breaks or is warped. Don’t rely on your mates to be prepped for you.
2.DON’T GO OFF ALONE. - Your group, your nation and your empire are your lifeline. If you and your groups get dragged out you give the monsters the advantage of coming through your lines and leaving you on the floor dead. You want to live stay as a unit, work as a unit and always keep your eyes peeled for any flanking attack. - DON’T GET DISHEARTENED - So this year just gone I lost my favourite character of all time faelan. It hurt me a lot and I was fortunate enough to have friends who helped pick me up and get on with things and enjoy the events even though I miss playing Faelan. But don’t get disheartened if your character dies, go and talk to people specially the PD crew they will have had experiences like you guys and its easy to get disheartened when your first character dies. but there is so much more to do and enjoy in empire. Carry on and enjoy them. But don’t give up. If you come out of skirmish or battle alive, count it as a blessing and go out and have fun celebrate another small victory and enjoy the time and meemories you can make with your character.
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Conversely, going off alone can give your allies a real tactical advantage. I have, on multiple occasions, charged into a situation where there were Imperials cornered by enemies, distracted the enemies enough for our people to break and run, and gotten away safely myself. So, going off of that… you wanna be a hero in battle? Here’s my advice.
1: Cardio. If you want to be a full time fighter, or at least be someone lugging around a lot of armour or running a lot, you want to be fit enough to not collapse. I’ve fallen victim to this a few times- managed to nearly pass out in another system by sprinting around in plate armour in 30+ degrees, so if you want to be able to do your best, you want to be as able to run as you can. Even if you don’t have endurance, being able to put a burst of speed on will really help you sometimes.
2: Tools for the job. Try to have a few different sets of gear depending on what you’re doing. I’ve got a slim-fitting (and light) chain shirt with a few bits of plate for when I want to be fast and when it’s real hot, and a full size hauberk with helmet and legguards when I’m expecting less running, or the weather is wintery. I’ve also got a crossbow for skirmishing, when I’ll be able to pick off easy targets, and a nice simple sword for hitting when I’m going up against tougher things. I don’t normally use the sword, since I’ll be spending more time healing, but having variety of kit (while not something everyone can afford) is a real boon sometimes.
3: Be a hero. Your friend is on the other side of the enemy line. What can you do? You could leave them to their fate, or… rally people, push forward, charge if you have to. Being able to fight is one thing, being able to be a hero is another. If nothing else, going out of your way and putting yourself in danger to recover others will make others want to do the same for you. I play one of the Freeborn kohan, and we have a reputation for charging off after lone foes and cutting them down, which is definitely not the safe way to play things. But you know what? It’s heroic, it breaks down enemy morale, and every nation needs its champions. You can listen to your commander if you want, and if you don’t there might be ramifications, but sometimes you just need to do things.
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Train hard, fight easy is a rather famous mantra of many real soldiers. I’d say it applies in a very broad way to Empire.
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Get the basics right. Empire happens in a field in the midlands, that experiences all the fun of English weather, so dress with that in mind. It’s no good having the best armour on the field if your soft kit is terrible as it’s the tunics/shirts/trousers/skirts/socks etc that keep you warm, cool and happy. In a similar line ensure you have the essentials to actually make it to the field. Good boots, dry socks, food, and spare kit if it rains/post battle are wayyyy more important than fancy armour. You can work up to the glorious armour of shininess building on your epic soft kit you already have. You’d struggle to enjoy the hobby however if you break your ankle whilst wearing your amazing armour for lack of a decent set of boots.
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Make sure your kit fits, is comfortable and works. Great if your kit looks amazing, but if you plan on fighting it needs to be comfortable and crucially allow you mobility. Does your armour fit properly? What layers do you have to ensure you can fight what ever the weather? Can you run in it? Don’t worry about building the perfect fighting kit, or having the best most expensive weapons at the start – focus instead on having comfortable soft kit, and tryout different weapons/armour etc to find the best for you.
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Practice, Practice, Practice. Fighting is a skill like any other, and the more you can practice it the better you will be. A lot of places in the UK have local larp groups you could try out to practice your fighting, try new weapons and armour, and work on battlefield awareness. If you live abroad or can’t find anything local you can still work on your fitness, movement, getting your kit right for the big day.
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If you need training or just practice go to Dawn, the glory square has a few people in or around who are generally willing to help or spar with people.
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Nice idea, I’m deff going to try and give as many detailed descriptions about wounds as possible.
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This always makes great game for physiks and any one else on that side of the game. Mages casting heal using the description as part of the incantation. Physiks rotating shoulders to set a dislocated (Read:Cleaved) Arm ect. If your just beaten to a pulp try showing your exhaustion, drag your self back to a dr and be a walking wounded. Even use that phrase.