Helisto Sparring Rules ( 1st edition )

Equipment carried: Glaudius and Shield. Combatants begin 4 paces apart

Posts are simultaneous and will consist of Movement / Type of Attack / Shield Defense

Movement can be:

1 or 2 paces forward, stand in place or retire 1 pace

For the first move combatants cannot retire a pace.

Combatants can end the turn in the same space:

eg. From 4 paces apart both take 2 paces forward

If the movements take them past each other then both turn and face

Eg. Before movement they are 2 paces apart, one moves +2 and the other +1

They spin past each other and are now 1 pace apart.

Type of Attack can be:

A shield blow: Effective if combatants end the move in same space

A sword stab: Effective if combatants end the move 1 pace apart

A sword lunge: Effective if combatants end the move 2 paces apart

Use of Shield as defense:

It must be stated whether the shield position is defending against a shield blow, a sword stab or a sword lunge.

So a typical order might be, at the start of combat when combatants are 4 paces apart:

A: Goes forward two paces and makes a sword stab, holding the shield to protect from a shield blow.

This works if the enemy moves 1 pace forward (making the range 1). The position of the shield is defending against the possibility that the enemy may also move 2 forward and try a shield blow.

Worse case here is that the enemy stands their ground (making the range 2), and makes a sword lunge. You are out of range to make your stab and your shield defense is not against a lunge so he hits you!

B: Stands his ground and makes a sword lunge, holding the shield to protect from a similar attack.

The anticipation here was that the adversary would rush forward two strides and close the range. By holding his ground B knows the range will be 2 strides and only a sword lunge will be effective so he attacks with and defends against a sword lunge.

B scores a hit on A – A was out of range for his ‘sword stab’ and his defence was against a ‘shield blow’ - this could be a ‘first blood’ to end a friendly spar or a ‘kill’ or a wound in a contest where 2 or 3 wounds end the contest.

At the end of round one A and B are two strides apart with B having taken a hit.

These rules are not designed to replace the 1-2-1 sparring system, which has stood the test of time, but to offer a quick and simple combat resolution mode that still requires some skill yet doesn’t need the intervention of qualified judges to resolve.

Comments would be appreciated.