Armoured Combat:Target Areas and Acknowledgement of Blows

Judging blows

1. Judging the effects of blows is left to the honour of the combatant being struck by the weapon, unless they relinquish this responsibility, with the exception of clear violations of the Rules of the Lists or the Conventions of Combat.
2. Effectiveness of a blow may not be judged by the opposing combatant, the marshal, or other observers. Information unavailable to the combatant being struck may be supplied by the opposing combatant or the marshal, including blade orientation upon impact, apparent force transmitted, or apparent location and angle of the blow's impact based upon the observer's angle of observation.

Target areas

1. The following target areas apply to all SCA armoured combat:

   Torso

   All of the body (excluding the head and arms) above the points of the hips, the groin, shoulder blades and the area between the neck and the shoulders will be considered part of the torso.

   Face

   The area between the chin and the middle of the forehead and between the ear openings.

   Head

   The whole head and neck except the face as defined above.

   Thighs

   The leg from 25.4mm (1 inch) above the top of the knee to a line even with the bottom of the hip socket.

   Hips

   Area between the bottom of the hip socket to the point of the hip (iliac crest).

   Shoulder

   From the point of the shoulder down to a line even with the top of the underarm.

   Arms

   From the shoulder to 25.4mm (1 inch) above the wrist joint.

2. Blows that land outside the legal target area don't count unless an illegal target area has been intentionally placed in the path of an impending blow.
3. Combatants may not intentionally strike areas outside the legal target areas. Understand that missiles may inadvertently strike outside target areas because of the nature of the weapon used.

Presumed armour

1. When judging the effect of blows, all combatants are presumed to be fully armoured. Subject to the conditions set out in section 6.6, special tournaments or combat may be held that redefine which areas of the body are armoured, and to what extent, so long as all the participants are made aware of the special conditions prior to the start of combat.
2. All "fully armoured" combatants are presumed to be wearing a hauberk over a padded gambeson, with boiled leather arm and leg defences, and an open-faced iron helm with a nasal. The helm is presumed to include a very light chain mail drape, permitting vision and resisting cuts by the mere touch of a bladed weapon.
3. Areas that are not legal to attack (the wrists from 25.4mm (1 inch) above the hands, and the legs below 25.4mm (1 inch) above the knees) are considered safe from all attack.
4. Count a good blow from a missile as though it punctures all presumed armour.

Effects of blows

Figure 6.1: Kill and Wound Zones for Different Weapon Types

Key	Kill:	Wound:	Illegal Target:
(a) Single-handed sword kill and wound zones	(b) Single-handed mass weapon kill and wound zones	(c) Two-handed weapon kill and wound zones	(d) Siege weapon kill and wound zones

1. Blows must be delivered with effective technique for the particular type of weapon used, and must strike properly oriented and with sufficient force, to be considered an effective, or good, blow.
2. The effect of a blow depends on how it strikes a combatant. The effects of blows to various areas of the body are as follows:
   1. Any effective blow to your head, neck or torso is judged fatal or totally disabling, rendering you incapable of further combat. Don't forget that the area between the neck and point of the shoulder is considered part of your torso and blows to this area are fatal.
   2. An effective swung blow to your face is considered fatal and is lighter than you'd consider for other portions of your head or body.
   3. An effective thrust to your face is considered fatal. Thrusts to the face should be a directed touch, and should be substantially lighter than thrusts to other parts of the body.
   4. An effective swung blow from an axe, mace, polearm, great sword or other mass weapon which lands on your hip above the hip socket, or strikes your shoulder inside the shoulder socket, is judged fatal or totally disabling.
   5. An effective swung blow from any other weapon which lands on your hip above the hip socket, or strikes your shoulder inside the shoulder socket disables the limb.
   6. An effective thrust to your hip or shoulder is not considered fatal, only wounding, regardless of the type of weapon delivering the blow.
   7. Any effective blow to your thigh disables the leg.
   8. Any effective blow to your arm above the wrist disables the arm.
   9. A blow from a siege missile to any legal target area, including your limbs, is fatal.
3. If you block an effective blow with a wounded limb, that blow is counted as though the limb were not there.
4. You are not required to stop a combination when your opponent is wounded. Thus, if a blow to the limb of a combatant is followed immediately by a killing blow to the same combatant, the killing blow is counted as good.
5. A killing blow occurs instantaneously, so no new offensive action can be started. Blows begun before the killing blow may be completed. A killing blow started before receiving a killing blow is good and is known as a double kill. A blow started after receiving a killing blow should not be counted.

Table 6.1: Effects of weapons on target areas

Target area	Single handed	Thrust	Missile	Two handed	Mass weapon	Siege missile
Face	Kill	Kill	Kill	Kill	Kill	Kill
Head	Kill	Kill	Kill	Kill	Kill	Kill
Torso	Kill	Kill	Kill	Kill	Kill	Kill
Shoulder	Wound	Wound	Wound	Kill	Kill	Kill
Hip	Wound	Wound	Wound	Kill	Kill	Kill
Arm	Wound	Wound	Wound	Wound	Wound	Kill
Thigh	Wound	Wound	Wound	Wound	Wound	Kill
Shield	No effect	No effect	No effect	No effect	No effect	Kill
Hand	No effect	No effect	No effect	No effect	No effect	No effect
Lower leg	No effect	No effect	No effect	No effect	No effect	No effect
Weapon / Shield	No effect	No effect	No effect	No effect	No effect	Destroyed

Effects of missile weapons

1. A shield or pavise provides protection against all missile weapons except siege missiles such as rocks or cannon shot.
2. A siege missile that strikes you or the shield sheltering you is considered to have killed you.
3. If a siege missile strikes a pavise, the pavise is considered destroyed. Combatants behind the pavise are not killed. The pavise must be removed from the field or dropped flat immediately.
4. Hand-held weapons struck by siege-class missiles are considered destroyed.
5. Small-arms munitions fired from siege engines are treated as combat archery projectiles.
6. Siege missiles are considered spent upon striking a target, the ground, or a battlefield structure.
7. Pre-scenario rules may stipulate any changes to the effects of missile weapons provided those changes do not contravene the rules or materially compromise the safety of the participants.

Acknowledgement of blows

1. Changes to blow acknowledgement standards may be made on a per-combat, per-scenario, or per-tournament basis, but will revert to these standards unless otherwise specified.
2. Alternate acknowledgement standards may not alter the allowed target areas, nor increase the basic force level for a good blow. All combatants must be informed of any changes to standard blow acknowledgement before they participate in the combat.
3. In a tournament, you must fall down or otherwise unambiguously indicate your defeat when killed.
4. In war scenarios, armoured combatants will fall to the ground immediately upon being killed, and remain prone, provided it is safe to do so. If it is not safe to fall to the ground, loudly call out "good" or "dead" to make opponents aware, and then leave the field.
5. In war scenarios, plumed participants will loudly call out "good" or "dead", and then immediately leave the field.
6. All "dead" archers should immediately leave the field to minimise the risk to archery equipment.
7. When leaving the field, you must hold your weapons or banners over your head in a non-threatening posture.
8. All "dead" combatants will behave as such and not give tactical information to "live" combatants.
9. You must remain fully armoured until completely clear of the combat area.
10. If you have a disabled leg, you must fight kneeling, sitting, or standing on the remaining uninjured leg. If fighting from your knees, you may still rise up and may still move, however a second blow to the disabled leg renders the leg useless and you may no longer rise up on your knees. If you have two disabled legs, you may move, but only without rising up onto your knees, i.e. "waddling" where your bottom must remain on your heels.
11. A disabled arm is considered useless to you, and may not be used for either offence or defence.
12. Arm substitution is not permitted, if your arm is struck you may not choose to lose the use of the other arm and continue using the arm which was struck. However, you may continue to fight with your remaining uninjured arm.

Other considerations

1. You are expected to take into account the nature of the weapon being used by your opponent and the location of impact of that weapon when judging the outcome of a blow. A blow that strikes with sufficient force and proper orientation is considered effective, regardless of what it hits before striking you.
2. A blow which lands after a "hold" is called does not need to be counted.
3. A blow that includes the dropping of the weapon at the moment of impact does not need to be counted unless the force of the blow itself causes the weapon to be dropped and the blow is of sufficient force to be counted "good".