General Battle Guides

Weapon instructions below - The Order will provide all players lawful armaments from the royal armory.

All self-made weapons and shields must be constructed based on given guidelines.
Don’t invent the wheel with new materials or theories!

If you wish to use a purchased armament visit Epic Armoury -
Note! Select "stronghold" weapons filter, avoid latex coated weapons as these are not durable enough for our games and battle situations.

Editors Notes:

  • Information regarding mages leaving mana circles is incorrect. Once a mage leaves the mana circle they created it will break immediately and it starts the 15min cooldown.
  • Slideshow below:

Combat & Weapons

Rules: https://www.ancalagon.ee/index.php/reeglid

Combat safety 

  • Excessively brutal strikes and/or strikes made deliberately to injure another player (in real life) are forbidden. 
  • •Heavy physical contact (like punches, kicks, twists, locks, bashing without a shield, throws, etc.) with any body part, are forbidden. 
  • It is forbidden to deliberately rush or push other players in combat (except Shield Bashing rules). 
  • Invalid targets are the neck, head and crotch – strikes to those body parts are forbidden and do not remove hit points or armor points. (except bows and arrows and big stones for which there are no invalid targets). 
  • It is absolutely forbidden to grab the weapon or shield of the opponent even with the use of your weapon or shield. NO GRABBING WEAPONS!

Combat Rules:

  • Combat is defined as: A situation when one side or both sides hold a weapon imitation, with the intent to attack the other or defend himself. According to this a combat cannot be started between two weaponless participants or participants armed with only shields.
  • Every player is obligated to constantly verify that the weapon imitation they use conforms to the regulations and is safe. If in doubt the player must always immediately stop using the imitation.

Weapon Strike:

A weapon strike is considered valid if it has at least one of those three characteristics:
  • there has been at least a meter-long swing before the strike
  • the strike lands audibly on the target
  • the strike has been executed with enough force for the target to feel it
A weapon strike is considered invalid if it has at least one of those two characteristics:
  • has been performed ignoring one or several combat safety rule(s)
  • has struck inaccurately as a glancing or scratching blow
Whether the weapon strike was valid or not is ALWAYS AND ONLY decided by the one who was hit – it’s a gentleman’s game.

Weapons

  • Only specially made weapon imitations can be used as weapons. 
  • The imitations must conform to constructional rules
  • The weapons are divided to four categories, based on length:
  • * An exception is a short spear or javelin where the categories are: 50-100cm one handed and 100-160cm one-and-half handed.
  • Weapon length is measured as a total (handles and decorations included).
  • If a weapon has moving details, they are pulled straight for measuring to obtain the maximum possible length.
  • Two one handed weapons can be used at the same time (one in each hand).
  • A one-and-a-half handed weapon and a one-handed weapon can be used at the same time (provided the combined length of those weapons does not exceed the height of the wielder).
  • The appearance of the weapon is free, if it conforms with safety standards and retains general characteristics of its type.

Weapon Construction

Requirements on materials: use the recommended materials

All weapon imitations must be constructed, using the materials given below. Using other materials in a respective category is forbidden. (It is allowed to use other materials in constructing a handle or other part of the imitation that can in no way come in contact with opponents when used).

Weapon Core:
PVC tube — maximum width of 30mm
Bamboo — maximum width of 20mm - RECOMMENDED!
Fiberglass — maximum width of 10mm
Cloth or leather — in small weapons

Padding:
Tubular insulation materials 
Sleeping or gymnastic mattresses (polyethylene- or polyurethane foam)

Covering material:
Waterproof duct tape (or “gaffer” tape) - RECOMMENDED!
Latex - not recommended, it's expensive and won't last through the game
Cloth - not recommended, it soaks and gets too heavy

Requirements on padding:

  • There must be at least 10mm of padding on the striking surface of the weapon — from the weapon core
  • There must be at least 50mm of padding on the thrusting surface of the weapon (the tip or the blade edge) — from the weapon core
  • When using hollow tubular cores (PVC, bamboo), there has to be a stopper to ensure that the core cannot penetrate the padding.
  • The tip of the weapon must be padded enough so that the core inside and its edge cannot easily be identified or felt.
  • It is not allowed to add weights to the weapons (for example for balancing purposes), even if the weapon would fit inside the allowed weight category.

Requirements on shields:

  • The edge of the shield has to be covered with padding so it won’t damage opponent’s weapons
  • The face of the shield may have no sharp or protruding details
  • It is recommended to make the shields from as thin and light plywood as possible
  • Using metal as the base material for shields is not allowed

Armor Guides

Hit Points

  • Every character has 2 hit points if their chosen class, or the game masters have not said otherwise
  • Every valid weapon strike removes one hit point
  • If hit points have been reduced to zero a character loses consciousness
  • Unconscious character cannot move or interact with others in any way
  • If a character has armor points, a strike with a melee weapon to the armor, means the armor points are lost before hit points
  • A strike from an arrow or bolt will remove hit points regardless of armor
  • A strike from the Big Stone removes all hit points, regardless of armor
  • A shield will defend against weapon strikes and strikes from a big stone. In the latter case, the character struck will lose consciousness for 5 minutes
  • A character can regain hit points at a speed of one hit point per 20 minutes, if their wounds have been bound
  •  Unconscious character (no hit point) who is not yet dead, can be brought back to consciousness by binding their wounds

Awarding armor points:

Armor points are awarded for wearing a real armor as a costume. First, the armor must be safe for user and other players. Also, it must increase safety by providing real protection to the wearer. The armor is divided into two parts: Armor worn on the body & Helmet

Armor worn on the body:

Body armor (hands and feet included) gives armor points only there where it is 
E.G. only strikes in the armor are counted off from armor points and not the hit points. Body armor points are universal and not given to areas or to different armor types (when worn together) differently.
Body armor must be made from at least 2mm thick leather or 1mm thick metal.

Helmet:

  • A helmet gives armor points to the whole body and helmet armor points are depleted last. Right before hit points.
  • A helmet must be made from at least 5mm thick leather or 1mm thick metal.
  • A character can never have over 5 armor points (even with all armor and helmet combined).
  • By mixed armor the armor points are calculated as an arithmetic average (rounded up) of all possible armor points (except the helmet – helmet gives full points).
  • For characters who participate in a contest the armor points will be automatically restored at the start and finish of the contest. In contests with re-spawn, armor points will be restored at each re-spawn
  • Outside the contests, armor points are restored when exiting Manala
  • In any other case only Blacksmiths can restore armor, for limited amount of times and using Silver ore

Leather Body Armor

Chain Body Armor

Classic European 4-1 knit is meant. The thickness of the wire must be over 1mm

Plate Body Armor

Gambeson & Imitations

For costumes that imitate armor but are not in fact made from required materials the armor
All imitations must be clearly and visibly armors. Just cloth or pieces of clothing will never qualify as armor.