Combat Archery

Combat Archery

Combat archers are expected to know and understand all of the rules for combat archery, heavy weapons, and siege weapons in order to compete on the field. Please review all sections to make sure you are familiar with any rules that may be particular Gulf Wars. All missile combatants must comply with the Gulf Wars rules:

  • We will follow Society standards regarding clear the bow minimum shooting distance.
  • Each kingdom shall supply marshals in proportion to the number of archers present at Gulf Wars.
  • It is up to each archer to know the rules of their Kingdom and what is within the scope of their Kingdom authorization. No authorizations will be performed at war. If it is discovered that an archer is using equipment not covered by their authorization, then that archer will be sent to Marshal’s Court.
  • All participants (fighters, engineers, archers, scouts, etc.) must be armored to the Society minimum standard for full-contact armored combat excepting that archers may have two archer’s gauntlets as hand protection as per Society rules.
  • All bows, crossbows, bolts and arrows shall meet Society standards for construction.
  • All armor and weapons must be inspected before participation in any of the battles, tournaments, or any other fighting activities at Gulf Wars.
  • Inspection stickers must be worn prominently on the right side of the helmet.
  • There is no limit to how many arrows or bolts an archer may carry onto the field (excepting as a specific scenario or battle rule might otherwise apply), but no one may leave the field once fighting has started to obtain more arrows. Spare or extra bolts and arrows must be located on the field.
  • All missile ammunition must be labeled with the owner’s name and Kingdom in English on the shaft.
  • All missile weapons need to be labeled with the owner’s name in English.
  • NOTE: If a group owns arrows or weapons, they may use the group’s name and Kingdom. An email address is not an acceptable alternative to name and Kingdom. If you are borrowing arrows, you must indicate it at inspection point so they are properly recorded. Anyone caught firing unlabeled arrows or bolts will be sent to Marshal’s Court.
  • All combatants may be hit by missile fire no matter what their positional orientation to combat archers and siege engines. In other words, combatants are always engaged by missile and siege weapons so archers and siege engineers do not need “eye contact” with their opponents to shoot them, shots in the back are considered good.
  • Archery shots to illegal target areas, such as the hands or below the knees, the sides and back of helms are not considered good to any combatant.
  • ONLY Silo-flex arrows and bolts may be gleaned from the battlefield and reused. All other ammunition, including Fellwalker bolts, must be inspected prior to reuse. Ammunition approved for reuse will be placed in rows on the field after the battle. Ammunition that failed inspection can be retrieved from Marshals’ Point.
  • Arrow and bolt heads must be appropriate to the shaft and one of the following. Any other form of arrow or bolt head must be approved by Society AND the Gulf Wars Combat Archery Marshal:
    • Light Shaft: UHMW, Baldar Blunt (legacy two-piece style or the new CUBB – aka the Fathead)
    • Heavy Shaft: Tennis ball, Omarad/rubber stopper, or Fellwalker Heavy UHMW.
  • Everyone on the field during battles involving missile weapons must wear eye protection, such as helms with legal openings, fencing masks, racket sport glasses/goggles, etc. Regular prescription or sunglasses with “Safety Lenses” are not acceptable substitutes for the above.
  • Combatants dead or alive, must keep their helms on until completely off the field.
  • Marshals or any other noncombatant allowed on the field during fighting must wear suitable eye protection.
  • Pavises are permitted in scenarios with Combat Archery. They must be constructed and used according to Society standards. Pavises may be used in the archers’ only battle but must be free standing. They may not be held by a fighter.
  • Archers may not shoot from stairs or ramps on the fort.

 

CALIBRATION REMINDER: Since arrow shots are designed for someone in minimum Society Armor, fighters wearing plate armor need to calibrate themselves for missile weapons. Fighters should be aware that an effective blow from an arrow or bolt will feel lighter the greater the distance from the weapon discharging it (i.e., an arrow striking a fighter from 30 yards away will always have a substantially lighter impact than the same arrow striking from 10 feet away). Arrows or bolts must strike point first and non-glancing on a valid target to be considered good. There is no minimum impact requirement. If the fighter is aware of the shot striking him (even if he does not feel the blow, but only saw or heard the arrow impact on him) it must be accepted. All fighters (including archers) are discouraged from calling arrow shots for others; it is presumed that all those on the field are honorable.

FIBERGLASS ARROWS AND BOLTS

  • Hand bows using fiberglass arrows may only have a 35 lb. maximum draw at 28in.
  • Crossbows using fiberglass bolts, including Fellwalker, may only have a 600 inch-pound maximum rating.

Note: Any bow that is allowed for fiberglass arrows may also use any tubular arrows allowed at the War if permitted by the archer’s home kingdom’s rules.

Shaft

  • All arrows & bolts must meet the Society minimums.
  • All fiberglass shafted arrows and bolts must be equipped with anti-penetration devices (APD).
  • Only APDs approved on the Society level will be allowed at Gulf Wars.
  • Fiberglass shafted arrows and bolts must be wrapped in fiberglass filament or electrical tape.
  • Fellwalker bolts must meet the Society minimums for such bolts.

Blunts:

  • Fiberglass arrows may only have fiberglass Baldar blunts (legacy two piece style or the new CUBB – aka the Fathead- Fathead 2 or STAR) or UHMW heads with a minimum of 1/2 in. padding.
  • Fiberglass crossbow bolts may only have fiberglass Baldar blunts (legacy two piece style or the new CUBB – aka the Fathead- Fathead 2 or STAR), UHMW heads with a minimum of 1/2 in. padding or Fellwalker heavy UHMW heads (on Fellwalker bolts).
  • Baldar blunts must meet your Kingdom’s requirement for taping over the head and onto the shaft of either one or two strips of tape. Legacy two piece style or the new CUBB – aka the Fathead, Fathead 2, STAR or Baldar Blunts are accepted.
  • All required padding on blunts must compress at least 1/2 of its thickness, consist of closed cell foam and must completely cover the striking surface of the blunt.
  • All UHMW heads must include side-wraps in accordance with Society minimum standard.

NOTE: Fellwalker bolts are allowed and must be constructed in accordance with Society rules for such bolts.

SILO-FLEX ARROWS AND BOLTS

  • Hand bows using Silo-flex arrows may only have a 50 lb. maximum draw at 28in.
  • Crossbows using Silo-flex bolts may only have a 1000 inch-pound maximum rating with a 110 lb. maximum draw.
  • All hand bows over 30 lbs. or crossbows over 600 inch-pounds must be marked with a 4-inch wide band of RED tape. This tape must be on the upper limb of the bow or the right-hand side of the prod of a crossbow. ONLY 100 PSI Silo-flex arrows or bolts may be fired from these bows/crossbows.

IMPORTANT: Anyone using fiberglass shafted ammunition, including Fellwalker bolts, in these bows or crossbows will be sent to Marshal’s Court and banned from all fighting activities for the rest of the event.

Shaft:

All arrows & bolts must meet the Society minimums.

Silo-flex arrows and bolts may only be made from 100 PSI Silo-flex tubing.

Blunts:

  • Siloflex Arrows may NOT use yellow as the color of their combat head nor as striping down the shaft of the arrow.
  • Silo-flex arrows and bolts may have Omarad heads, Baldar Blunt heads (classic Baldars), or tennis ball heads. All Omarad style and Baldar Blunt heads must have a minimum of 1/2” of padding that will compress at least 1/2 of its thickness.
  • Omarad heads must include side-wraps in accordance with Society minimum standards.

COMBAT ARCHERY INSPECTIONS

All combat archery inspections will take place at Marshal’s Point adjacent to Hastings Field or at the satellite inspection point set up near the Ravine.  Inspections will be open at the Ravine Inspection station from 9am until 12 noon on Sunday, Monday and Thursday and from 9am until the end of the battles on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Please see the schedule for the daily location of inspections. There will be limited combat archery inspections done outside of Marshal’s Point and the satellite point at the Ravine. Please contact the Gulf Wars CA MiC or your Kingdom CA MiC for more details. There will be a reduction in staff 15 minutes before the beginning of each battle to ensure field marshals are prepped on scenarios and in place. This may lead to longer wait times and early inspection is encouraged.

To speed up inspections please read the following rules and recommendations prior to arriving at Marshal’s Point:

  • Archers must bring their site medallion, authorization card, and a form of mundane picture identification to be inspected. This is required for both the armor and archery inspections.
  • Before going to inspection, please check for:
  • Damaged tape, shafts, heads, nocks, APD’s, labels, etc.
  • Special attention should be paid to hardening of Baldar blunts and loss of compressibility of padding on homemade blunts.
  • Any legacy Baldar blunt that has ANY separation it shall fail inspection.
  • The “fingernail rule” for APDs shall be used: if a fingernail can penetrate a crack in an APD, it shall fail inspection.

Ammo will be marked with spray paint after initial inspection (not after each battle). Archers may c