Games we play:

There are five general types of games we play when we fight. You will probably see at least one of each of the first three types every Sunday.

Sparring:

Sparring is fighting one on one, informally. Often when there is no other battle going on, two people will face off for a few rounds. It can be practice, teaching or just for fun. To spar, you can just ask someone if they want to spar.

Ditching:

A Ditch battle (sometimes called a Trench battle) is our most basic organized team battle, whose primary purpose is to practice combat skills. No magic, armor, projectiles or player class abilities are used. Any melee weapon or shields may be used, but Red Weapons do not destroy shields. Two teams are chosen and the goal is for everyone on this side of the "ditch" to kill everyone on that side. (There is no actual ditch - but there was one in Memorial Park in El Paso, Texas where this game was first invented, and that ditch gave this type of battle its name.)

When everyone on one team is dead, the other team is declared the winner of that round. The winning team determines which player on their team was killed first (their "first dead"), and that player crosses over to join the other team. New players start with the losing team. Rounds end quickly, and anyone can join in (or sit out) the next round. In time, the better side gets whittled down until they are much smaller and the tide turns.

Some variants include:

Single Sword limits all players to using only a single sword (other weapon restriction games limit players to other weapons or weapon combinations).
Wounds gives the losing side the first wounded player if no one is killed.
No-Leg where leg wounds are not counted.
Militia Rules which allow armor and projectiles.

Class Battle:

A Class battle is a battle between teams, using the player classes, armor, magic and projectiles (including arrows and throwing daggers). A class battle game may have any number of teams, and there are many possible objectives.

The most popular variants are:

Mutual Annihilation or Shatter Battle in which the game is played until the losing team has used up all its lives.
Map Quest where Fighting Companies battle peasant teams to win land and resources on a map.
Flag Battle in which the object is to capture an opposing team's flag and hold it for a certain amount of time.
Ring the Bell where each team has a base, and players try to tag the other team's base a certain number of times.

Round-Robin Battle:

These battles do not use player classes and typically do not use magic. Fighters pair off and acknowledge before attacking. The winner stays to fight another opponent.

Variants we play include:

Meat Grinder consists of a fairly large circle of players, surrounding two players selected by the reeve to fight. The players in the circle remain in their spots until called by the reeve, but they may strike the combatants if they come within reach. The winner remains in the circle, wounds are not regenerated, and the reeve calls another opponent. The loser returns to the circle. If the reeve calls "Meatgrinder", everyone runs in and fights.
Bear Pit in which all players form a ring around a single player in the center, called the Bear. The Bear squares off against each player in the circle, regenerating wounds after each successful round. Players who defeat the Bear become the Bear for the next fight. Bears who win remain in the center until they are defeated or they defeat all other players.
Kill Your Killer or Resurrection where, at the end of combat, the loser remains dead until the person who killed him gets killed, then he comes back to life. To win, a player must kill everyone in a row without dying, because as the player kills each person, each person that person killed comes back to life.

Role-playing Quests:

Occasionally, there will be quests. A quest is a special scenario that usually contains an object to be found or tasks to be achieved. It may involve any or all of the following: puzzles, riddles, relics, special quest monsters, a plot or pre-determined goals or directions.

More battle game rules and scenarios can be found online:

Lord Shadus' Battle Games
Lukrain's Guide to Boffers: Combat Games
Amtgard Essentials: Champion's Documents

Falcon Tor