Chief of Artillery

Winter is retreating like a wounded foe and the friendly days of summer are approaching. The siege season is upon us and it’s time to tune up the engines and fix the ammo. Let’s make this year an epic adventure and a safe year for siege activities.

I’d like to start with some rules that all fighters need to know about siege warfare in the SCA. Know thou that all siege missiles are colored yellow. These consist primarily of ballista bolts and trebuchet rocks. Any legal target area is a killing hit from a siege engine. This does not include hands, feet, and other non-target areas. Siege missiles kill through shields. If a weapon gets hit by a siege missile, then that weapon is destroyed. Do not try to intentionally block siege missiles with your weapon because this is not period and you may be sanctioned by the marshals. If a siege missile is deflected by a wall, the ground, or another fighter, then it is not good anymore. Only the first person hit by a siege missile is dead.

Tennis ball tips are no longer allowed on ballista bolts. They have been banned on the society level and will not be allowed at Pennsic this year. If you need help rebuilding your ammo, please contact me. The Midrealm rules are being rewritten to refer to the Society rules and they will be coming out shortly.

Don’t forget that every event in the Midrealm that has siege engines shooting at it needs to send a report to the Chief of Artillery within two weeks. The siege marshal in charge should send this report. Such a report should include the number and types of siege engines, siege engineers who participated, authorizations attempted and completed, and problems and difficulties encountered. Any siege related injury reports should be sent immediately to the Chief of Artillery and the Earl Marshal.

For those interested in building siege engines, you can join the SCA Siege list by sending an email to SCA-Siege-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. To join the Midrealm siege list, send to DragonsFireSiege-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. If you’re a siege marshal, you can join scasiegemarshals-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. For more information on siege, see my website at www.siegetheday.info.

Join the Midrealm siege corps! We have plenty of siege engines at Pennsic, but not enough engineers. To authorize as a siege engineer try the following events: Baron Wars, Northern Oaken War Maneuvers, Baronial Border Wars, Siege of Talonvale, Simple Day, or any other event with siege engines and siege marshals. Read the Midrealm and Society siege rules before the authorization. Siege Engineer can be an initial authorization according to the policies regarding initial authorizations. To become a siege marshal, please contact me.

Nothing dismays the enemy more than the sight of a dozen siege engines setting up on the other side of the battlefield. Let’s bring the yellow rain down on the enemies of the Midrealm and brighten the sky with our ammunition.

Roderick McKraken