| Trying to describe frat fighting is difficult. One must first understand that frat is a game, a sport if you will, in which the participants attempt to 'kill' one another by striking vital areas of the other person. Although ostensibly set in the medieval period there is a great range in the appearance of the fighters. There are rules regarding what are legal target areas and what are not. There are also minimum armor requirements and minimum standards for the construction of padded weapons. The primary goal is to have fun. |
| De Condotta participates in the frat practices at the University of Maryland fyrdmoot every Tuesday evening. These occur from Spring into the Fall - weather permitting. Fighters from a number of other groups also attend (Galacia, Kinderfodder, Head Clan, etc..) as well as a few freeswords. The practices are an opportunity to get new people exposed to frat as well as hone our own skills. These skills are then put into use at frat wars. |
| A typical war will be a weekend affair. Most of the fighting will occur on Saturday. However, it is becoming more commonplace for additional fighting to occur on Sunday - something that had nearly ceased for some years. The term 'war' refers to the entire event. Each day will see many melees with the reeves (the referees for the fighting) setting up different scenarios to keep things varied and interesting. |
| The majority of frat 'armies' are made up of Heavy Infantry. In addition there will usually be Light Archers and occasionally Heavy Archers. Although rare, one can sometimes encounter a Light Infantry troop as well. Over the last few years additional experimental troop types have developed. Namely the Artillerist and the Handgunner. |
| Weapons are generally made of rattan (a type of solid core bamboo) and padded with foam (usually some form of pipe insulation or sealed cell foam) and wrapped with duct tape. The rules for padding weapons are somewhat complex and vary with the style of weapon (pole, hand, throwing, flails, spears and so on). These rules are located within the Markland Frat Rules. |
| Major frat events are called wars. Most wars do not
have an underlying theme but occasionally there will be a "reason" for
the war. Over the last few years there have been a number of
"crown wars." The crown wars are fought to determine who shall be
king (or queen) of Markland. The crown itself holds no meaning -
it's really nothing more than an excuse to get together and fight!
There are three "annual" wars that occur almost every year. These are Easy Living War (or Spring War), Dungeon War, and Fall War. There may be additional wars each year, but these three occur fairly regularly. Since most wars do not have such a theme the armies are usually determined on the spot. The reeves will select which groups will fight on either side. They then announce the scenario and let the fighters go at it. The reeves attempt to make the best use of available terrain. Two examples of the interesting terrain that we have access to are the Page's Farm and Fort Howard Park. Fall War is commonly held at the Page's Farm in Port Deposit. The Page's have constructed a wooden castle which they graciously let us fight over. Dungeon War, which is sponsered by Caer Edgemere, is held at Ft. Howard Park near Baltimore. We are able to fight over the old WWII artillery batteries and even delve into the magazine (hence the name Dungeon War) on occasion. |
| Since Markland has not yet seen fit to include it on their
web page, I have endeavored to type in and make available the Markland Rules for Fratricidal Combat.
Please note that these are not completely up-to-date.
I have also included some brief definitions as well as descriptions of the various fighter classes which are located here. There are some pictures too, but if you want more return to the de Condotta page and check the picture links. |
This page last updated September 10, 2003