What I learned at North/South War 2015 (and years previous) by Gerard "Gray" Chartier

Photo by Robyn Nielsen

1. Bring lots of water and snacks.

2. Also bring sunscreen and bug spray.

3. Bring a change of garb (or at least clothes for under the garb) for the night portion of the

event. You’ll be glad you did when you don’t have to do the nighttime stuff in clammy

smelly garb.

4. It’s a team effort. Everyone can contribute. Certain roles are obviously important – the

shield wall, the pikemen, backpack support casters, healers manning Circles of Healing,

blacksmiths in their mystic forges. Those are the rock stars of a lot of the battles –

particularly the battles contesting limited space (the unlimited bridge battle in particular),

but one doesn’t have to conform to one of those roles to be useful. Numbers count, and

even if you’re not rocking fighter weapons, fighters can’t afford to ignore you, especially in

the more open battles where there’s a significant risk of being rolled from behind. Plus,

there’s always a need for someone to bring dead characters to the Circle of Healing, or

collect arrows for the archers, or even just be a meatshield.

5. Archery is more effective when it’s coordinated. A person is a lot more likely to

dodge/block a single arrow than a volley of 3 or more. A group of archers all firing at the

same target at the same time are more effective than they would be individually firing on

separate targets.

6. If you’re an archer, invest in good arrows. Shameless plug: Mayerling arrows are the best

7. Protection from Missiles + Armored Cloak = virtual immunity to ranged attacks.

8. The limited­area battles are the ones to put down Circles of Healing. Open battles end too

fast to shuttle player to a circle and slow­raise them. Save the circles for the unlimited

bridge battle and for the ballista battle.

9. Site your Circle of Healing in the corner, not directly behind the bridge. It’s a little further

to go, but it’ll make it harder for archers to break the circle with a well­aimed shot.

10. Throw Circles of Protection around your flags in Capture the Flag battles and nighttime

Capture the Flag.

11. Bring a towel, and some weapons you don’t mind getting wet. The water is in play during

the beach fights.

12. Think it’s hard to tell your team from their team during the day? Try it at night. Have a

way to discern your team from their team before the nighttime Capture the Flag. Hint:

Passwords only work until a sneaky member of the other team hears a member of your

team use it.