To the Knights and most Puissant Nobles of this Realm, Gather at York upon the last day of February To celebrate the Frozen Feathers And the most Noble Feast of his Lordship The Archbishop, Geoffrey of York. The snow on the Frozen Feathers Range. The Frozen Feathers Tournament York, February (5 Prestige Points Entrance Fee Per Knight) The Frozen Feathers Tournament  was created to show off a Knights skills with a bow & blade in harsh February conditions.  The Archbishop is keen on arrows, and awards a golden arrow to the winner of the Archery. The Archbishop has waived the usual prestige point entry fee since this is the first "Frozen Feathers."  In response all sorts of riff-raff seem to have entered. Type of Contest Day 1: One on One Combat on Foot Competition Day 2: Archery Competition Day 3: Banquet, and the lute playing of the Minstrel Ronald James Dio. The Champions The Sieur de Quincy, Champion of the Grange Villas Alan of The Dale...

The Frozen Feathers Tournament York, February (5 Prestige Points Entrance Fee Per Knight) The Frozen Feathers Tournament is the first special event of the year.  With the air still crisp and the ground covered in snow this tournament was created to show off ones skills with a bow & blade in harsh conditions. Building the Archery Butts On reading the rules for Steel and Steed one of the strangest types of match, it seemed to me, was the archery.   I'm not sure of the provenance of this at all.  Perhaps it's my own misconception.  The English associate archery with the common folk, Robin Hood, the yeoman archers of the Hundred Years War etc... It occurs to me however that the Bayeux Tapestry depicts an armoured man among the archers, and that the Knightly virtues may well have run to shooting arrows in the hunt.  After all William II was killed by an arrow in a hunting "accident." The Rules represent shooting arrows as a dice game, but reco...

The Earl has presided over the foot Combats with a certain tolerance.  It is after all the Joust that holds the most prestige. Fans of the sport may care to peruse Uriah of Gelderland's Guide to Good Jousting , a page of this blog. In the foot Combats Sir Elliot the Bastard of Alnwick twice over pushed his opponent down, and proceeded to beat them severely.  Lord Farthingdale is still suffering a -1 Str as a result of his injuries. Winning the Joust however is a matter of artistry and accuracy.  Sir Elliot may struggle here, not least against the Champion Sire du Quincy and the veteran Sir Micheal.  Even poor Farthingdale has proven himself to be focussed on his jousting.  This could go to any of them... The Joust Lord Farthingdale of Waldridge Vs The Sire de Quincy, Lord of the Grange Villas. Sir Micheal of Shraner Castle Vs Elliot, the Bastard of Alnwick. In the first round  of Jousting Sir Roger Quilp, Lord of Belmont was unhorsed and seve...

Earl Percy of Northumberland has enjoyed watching the Tourney at Lumley.   The event has two parts, a one on one Foot combat in the Ring, and a Jousting event at the river Meadows below the castle.  Both first rounds are over, and four Knights have been eliminated from each. The Second rounds look like this: Foot Combat : Conrad the Chaste of the Bishop's Men Vs Elliot, Bastard of Alnwick And Lord Farthingdale of Waldridge, Vs The Savage McGurk, of Sacriston and the Isles The Joust Lord Farthingdale Vs The Sire de Quincy Sir Micheal of Shraner Castle Vs Elliot, the Bastard of Alnwick. In the Joust Sir Roger Quilp, Lord of Belmont was severely injured, but since he had already been eliminated from the foot combats after a vicious beating by The McGurk, there is no need to give a pass to any opponent in this round. Note that almost all of my foot figures are from my Norman army and are therefore sword armed.  By the time of the next Tourney I will hav...

When I was building my group of Knights for Steel and Steed my plan for my own character,  Lord Farthingdale, was to focus on his Jousting skills.  He invested his initial skills points in additional accuracy in the joust.  He also went for a palfrey, as a trade off for speed and stability against power, and a standard weight lance.  His initial joust would be in the Lumley Tourney against Roger Quilp, Lord of Belmont.  Learning to joust was an interesting experience  Having played Sons of Mars I had very little issue with the first round of foot combats earlier in the tournaments.  Well the best way to learn was to get the lances out and the horses on the tiltway.   We will rock you time I think... . Well it's not a packed crowd, and nobody seems to be sitting on a cushion except me.  Well at my age... Initiative for the first pass.  Quilp adds his AGL and gets off the grid like a silver arrow. I used index ca...