Lucy Easton

It’s time to book Skirmish 2020! This event will take place on the 6th and 7th of June in Ripley, Surrey.

Your booking will include two days of classes, activities and camping on site if required, all for £75.

Please note that your place will not be secure until you have made payment.

The Fightcamp Melee Tournament is a team competition.

Each team must have exactly three members. You cannot fight for more than one team.

Melee Equipment

Any number of fighters with either:

• Longsword
• Arming Sword and Buckler
• Arming Sword

All weapons must be of the HEMA shop brand and provided by the participants themselves.

Booking Melee Places

Places are booked in this tournament at FightCamp Skirmish itself, to enable players to find themselves a team.

Bookings will be taken by the Marshals at Reception.

Fill in your Team Name and the full name of each of your members onto the official form.

FightCamp Melee Rules

In the FightCamp Melee Tournament fighters will declare hits on themselves, so honourable conduct is essential.

The tournament is intended to be fair, as well as fun.

If people do not declare hits then the tournament will not work. Repeated failure to declare will be punished with disqualification.

Teams of three fighters will use an assortment of medieval weapon simulators.

The weapon selection puts the fight in a medieval context and represents the sort of weapons that an unarmored group of skirmishers or rioters might have had in the 14th to 16th centuries.

Weapons

Any number of fighters with either:

• Longsword
• Arming Sword and Buckler
• Arming Sword

Fighters must provide their own HEMA shop nylon weapons and protective clothing.

Fighting In the Melee

Fighters may not exchange weapons between team members during a fight.

When someone is killed they must take their weapons with them.

• Each match between two teams will consist of a series of bouts.
• Each bout lasts until all the fighters on one team are out.
• Points are denoted by the number of fighters left in play at the end of the bout.
• The first team to score 4 points in total wins the match.

The competition is run by direct elimination. If you lose a match then you are out of the competition.

The following rules apply during the Melee:

• No wrestling or strikes apart from with the weapon count.
• All cuts and thrusts count with swords.
• Pommel/hilt strikes are not counted unless confirmed by a judge
• No weapons may be thrown.
• No striking with the buckler edge is allowed.
• A fighter receiving a hit and being out will exit the marked arena immediately by the shortest route possible, whilst holding their weapons and hands above their head.
• If a fighter drops their weapon they are deemed out.
• Fighters must use restraint when hitting in the back or when an opponent has fallen.
• Fighters must use restraint when outnumbering/outnumbered.
• One weapon hit anywhere on the body including extremities knocks a fighter out.
• Double hits result in both fighters going out. Afterblows count if given with one step.
• If the competitor’s feet leave the rectangular marked arena then they are dead.
• If the judges call halt, all fighters must freeze exactly where they are.

Melee Judging

It is important that there is minimal interruption to a team fight. The following judging pointers will be applied:

• Fighters call their own hits.
• Fighters repeatedly not declaring their hits will be removed from the match. Video footage may be consulted.
• A number of line judges will be used in addition to one main referee.
• Line judges can tap a fighter on the head with their long stick to say that they are out, if they feel the fighter has not taken a hit
• Line judges or the referee can call halt to freeze a fight
• The referee’s decision is final.