Belegarth

Just stumbled upon a whack of video from "the annual Finnish foam weapons war called Sotahuuto" a lot of not all is shot with a helmet cam, very good looking garb and what not. Looks like a lot of fun!

http://www.youtube.com/user/Tsurukiri#p/u

Clarification, good unit garb. Under that it looks like whatever goes.

Also, it takes a wile for them to actually get going in the videos, skip ahead if there is not action at first.

I can't quite tell what their weapons are made of, other than duct tape. Looks awesome though.

Weapons rules: http://www.sotahuuto.fi/sotahuuto2008/? ... nnot/aseet

Event site: http://www.sotahuuto.fi/

I want to go to finland!

Looks like their rules are relatively comparable to ours. No intense shield contact, all weapons must have a thrusting tip, bows are lighter, all hits from behind cause death, and they allow warmachines. I'm intrigued.

I am afraid due to cultural reasons there sport is incompatible with ours. Less than 1% of Belegarth fighters would be willing to walk that far. Other than that looks like a good time and I cannot tell if head shots are legal.

Head shots are legal according to the Combat rules they have listed... Brave souls. I do like the idea of having healers that are allowed to heal one small wound (an arm or leg wound) per warrior during the battle, also in the Combat rules. I don't know if I'd trust a cannon going off in my face though. But I'd probably at least try it once.

Hey Guys,

I'm new to forums, mostly signed here to find information about other "medival gatherings" and battles. I'm finnish, taken part for last two Sotahuutos, 2008 and 2009 and I'm currently running my own group of 25 people.

I'd like to answer few questions as well as I can and to tell about few rules we have in Finland.

Healing wounds is no longer in use. Also instant death from backstabbing is removed.

Bows: Limited power for 25lbs, head shots allowed, each arrow is tested for safety before any scenario

Weapons: All weapons have very strict minium standards for softness and safety, all weapons have to pass inspection to be used in Sotahuuto.

Warmachines: these are usually catapults/trebuchets that launch pure foam shape of a rock to avoid any damage. Also allowed cannons etc that use pressuse air, those also fire 100% foam shells.

Injuries are very rare, usually something with ancles when running in the woods and fall.

Shield bashing is forbidden also other physical contact or grabbing.

Its really a tons of fun! We have some foreigners from Estonia each year and last year some of us were in Canada to take part some of their foam fighting events.

I'll be glad to answer any questions you might have!

Hm...should a mod see this, I suggest a move to the Other Combat Games subforum.

Caleidah wrote:Hm...should a mod see this, I suggest a move to the Other Combat Games subforum.

Done.

There's some pretty awesome large events in europe.. Krigslive is another one. Very huge and very awesome.

BaGeal wrote:I am afraid due to cultural reasons there sport is incompatible with ours. Less than 1% of Belegarth fighters would be willing to walk that far.

That posts deserves an lol

Garb is decent to okish but well coordinated (with some kits that standout as being quite excellent), shield size is massive to the point of being utterly ridiculous, skill level doesn't appear to be particularly high, weapons tech is at least 15 years behind ours, and I like the emphasis on real-ish armour instead of the crap that dominates American foam fighting.

In general, looks like a good time and looks like you guys have a hell of a lot of fun, which is what it's all about after all, right? If I'm ever living in Finland (unlikely at best), I'll have to come check it out.

Oisin wrote:Garb is decent to okish but well coordinated (with some kits that standout as being quite excellent) .

By garb you mean clothing and so on ? I hope so, anyways, it really is not that big pat of the system, most keep it simple, cause usually one or two persons make it to whole team (10-40 people in one team). Most important thing of it is to make others to recognise the team.

Oisin wrote:shield size is massive to the point of being utterly ridiculous, skill level doesn't appear to be particularly high, weapons tech is at least 15 years behind ours, and I like the emphasis on real-ish armour instead of the crap that dominates American foam fighting..

Shield size is big, but definitely not ridiculous. Just look at medieval pavises, tower shields or other stuff like that. Usually big shields are carried only by those who are fighting in line instead of skirmish.

Skill level varies, theres about 1/3 that are good, no matter where compared. Around 30-40 of all participants have long history in swordfighting, medieval swords, SCA etc. It just doesn't show that well, when theres 300 vs 300 fighting in open field. And weapons are making lot of progress, thing is that everything thats new, has to be tested a lot before it gets accepted. Safety comes first.

Biggest difference between this and american / canadian events is: Our teams are more organised on battle field, they keep their place, train to fight as army, not individual. This means that shields will defend while spears do job, people can retreat and form another line fast. And so on. In states its pretty often a huge mess, people fighting as individuals, not as a team. Or at least it seems like it.

I'm going to post you guys some info about our finnish arrow tests, you might find it handy!!

http://www.snowlantern.com/mythbuster/index.php

Oisin wrote:In general, looks like a good time and looks like you guys have a hell of a lot of fun, which is what it's all about after all, right? If I'm ever living in Finland (unlikely at best), I'll have to come check it out.

And your most welcome, I'm sure we can help with accommodation and stuff if you ever happen to be here at the time of event.