Things to keep in mind when ditching with Amt

[Aelin Greenbough]

Well, as our local realm's attendance slid down to zero - an abundance of relocations, followed by a wake of apathy - I've been ditching a bunch with the Amtguard folks 'round here.

So, as above - I'm looking for opinions from those of you who cross-game aplenty. In the land of ultralights and no shield contact, what should I be working on to keep myself primed (and improve) for Bel? I know much of my more aggresive shieldwork is going to atrophy, but what elements of the game would be best suited to focus on in the Amt environment? Right now, I'm mainly SnB, but am dabbling in Red, Florentine, and arching... and I'm sticking with my heavy-ass Edhellen gear for now.

I know it's a vague, broad inquiry - but your insights are appreciated.

[Big King Jimmy]

Speed. I know this sounds silly, but try picking up their equipment and fighting with it. What happens is you train your brain to think at that speed of combat, which is much faster, and when you come back out to Bel it'll seem slow by comparison. Also, when you're used to moving that fast, changing the weight of the weapon really doesn't do much.

[Arrakis]

Seconded: Work on your mental game and work on your technical defense. If you can prevent yourself from getting hit square enough for it to count in Amtgard, your blocks will be in great shape for Bel, so long as you don't neglect to do some Bel ditching every so often to remember how to receive and block a hard shot. Work on feints. The Amtgard game is so fast that it becomes very heavily about messing with their perceptions and creating openings you can exploit.

And hit just as **** hard as ever the whole time, too.

[Dane]

The amt game is so fast, you'll absolutely have to learn how to control the range to win without taking damage.

You can wrist whip those Amt weapons; don't. The best Amt fighters don't, and you'll only hurt your development in the long run if you do.

[Remdawg Killionaire]

Yeah, their speed is gonna kill you a lot, so you might be better off ditching those Edhellen sluggers and picking up some amt-sticks to put you on more equal ground. Keep your feet moving, and remember when your ditching that they probably frown a lot on back-stabbing and such, so maybe reign in your tactical kill-streaks and focus on more 1v1, 2v1 to get you up to speed. Hit hard, and if they start talking trash about it, take it with a grain of salt and hit them harder.

[Arrakis]

Don't use 5 oz noodle sticks. Build some ~12 oz-ers that balance well (or at least "okay"). You'll stick your blocks better and be able to hit as hard as you're used to doing without striping somebody (true story) and you'll be in an almost or just barely Bel-legal weight regime, but you'll still have that increase in hand-speed limit that'll let you play with the speed demons.

The top Amtgard fighters I know use ~10-15oz sticks most of the time (lights for certain training exercises and some tourneys).

And if you'd rather hang down in the 5 oz region, do pad your sticks a little more adequately than the noodle they use or you will stripe some people (if you keep your mechanics on lock) and they'll be unhappy with you.

[Remdawg Killionaire]

I use 32" broads that weigh in at 12 oz, they were built by Bhakdar to be cross-game compatible, and they work awesome for me in both games.

[Aelin Greenbough]

You folks are awesome helpful - Really considering dropping my stick weight a little bit now; previously I had a bad case of tunnel vision in regards to learning ta fight faster people, as opposed to simply taking the opp to learn to fight faster. Thanks for flipping the switch on that, Jimmy.

It's a field of about 20 or so people (still small), and most of them I can literally power through (light sticks, weaksauce arms - which is something, coming from me), and then a handful of vets that completely school me. Strangely, there isn't much in the way of 1v1's on their field days, likely due to the nutty skill disparity - but battlegames aplenty. At the very least, this is giving me good field awareness & a knack for small-unit fighting. And, thanks to it being -14 degrees most days, many of the bathrobe wizards are staying the **** home.

Anyways, due to the heavy snow, footing is poor - I've actually moved up to a 32", 16 oz blade from a 28", 15 oz - and have indeed been abusing range & tempo... but the time is fast approaching where I'll have to take you up on your suggestions of lighter sticks, and work on my offence. Right now, it's pretty much all about spatial control and (developing) ironclad defense.

As for the Bel ditching, many of the Amt kids seem eager to try their hand at a more physical game - it's only a matter of time.

[Arrakis]

Dude, a LOT of the jockier Amt dudes LOVE Bel ditching anytime they get the chance.

I saw two sticks noodle sticks broken on other fighters in the first 5 minutes of the Bel-style ditch at Fury of the Northlands.

[Isk]

I know some Amt guys *cough*Loptr*cough* will suddenly announce, "bel rules!" as they shield bash someone who cross-games at an Amt practice, just because they really wanted to.

[Aelin Greenbough]

I know some Amt guys *cough*Loptr*cough* will suddenly announce, "bel rules!" as they shield bash someone who cross-games at an Amt practice, just because they really wanted to.

Wish I could do that on this field... One month in, and fighting legged shieldmen in Amt is ridiculous.

[Slagar]

Embrace it, dude. The fact that you can't just push people over when they're legged kinda sucks at first glance, but it means that people quit leg-diving like idiots, and learn to actually square off and exchange with each other. Also, look at it as a chance to practice exploiting range and footwork. It's the only advantage against a legged Amtgarder, so work on it.

[Arrakis]

Double pump fake, step in hard right, lower shield into their weapon (rubbin' is racin') and wraaaaaaaaap 'em up.

Lulz.

[Forkbeard]

Rubbin shields is ok at the Amtgard stuff around here. As long as you don't HIT them with your sheild.
I would fight single sword more, especialy if there are ample lesser skilled people. Fight 2 or 3 or them at a time with no shield. That **** is exersize.
Also, now is your chance to learn to fight with a spear. Not an amt-glaive. They are for girls. Make a low profile bel spear and really try to LEARN to use it in different situations.
With lots if idiots and a few vets to practice on, you can become a great spear fighter in a season or 2.
FB

[Loptr]

I know some Amt guys *cough*Loptr*cough* will suddenly announce, "bel rules!" as they shield bash someone who cross-games at an Amt practice, just because they really wanted to.

I only bash, check, and knock over the gimps with a select few whom I know this is kosher with.

I agree with Fork on the single blue work.
Work on your defence, mobility and shot placement.
Keep you fundament body mechanics in play so you dont get slopy and hurt yourself.
Spend time fighting with some 28" swords that will really force you to block and get in close.


In the back of your head be processing when it would be an ideal time for a bach/check etc. This will keep your combat computer looking for and processing the various options too.

RIGHT! Work on your fight recall. If you can replay the fight in your head you can learn from it and thereby improve from it.

Loptr

[Cedric]

building on loptrs fight recall, keep a fight journal. write down everything you remember from the fight and the outcome. stance, defense, what shots you each through, shield position, everything!!! After a series of fights, take a break and write it all down and review it regularly. You will start to see your pattern, what is working, and what is not working, which stances you are winning with, and what positions you are getting beat with. Every fighter should do this. use a video camera and film your sparring sessions so you can review it in detail later. If you play sports, think of it like reviewing tape. I guarantee this will up your skill in every game, alot of our fighters out here have done this and it works great!