Bacchus Wood - Archery

Bacchus Wood Archery

The Shire of Bacchus Wood has competed strongly in Archery. This includes both SCA Target and SCA Combat archery.
Scores for Bacchus Wood IKAC and Royal Round Archery are HERE

Combat Archers within the SCA are commonly refered to as "Light Fighters", "Plumed Combattants", or "Lights". This is because they wear lighter armour than the swordsmen or "Heavies". All armour standards are the same but Combat Archers are not to be struck and therefore can have less body armour. The term Lights also refers to those people manning Siege engines as well.

When looking for information or clarity on a rule or someone experienced in SCA Archery, look for someone wearing the symbol shown at left. It designates an SCA ARCHERY MARSHALL.

The differences between the two types of archery?

Target Archery

Like traditional archery, this involves shooting at standard targets used by any archery group, scoring each round. The targets differ a little, and some rounds may be timed in our rules. The bows may differ as well, as the SCA rules do not permit us to use any stabilisers or sights on the bows or to use compound bows. For a full description including what is allowed/not allowed, please download the rule book below. Target archers do not need to wear any armour.

The arrows used are wooden shafts, feathered fletching with metal target tips. We call these 'sharps' or 'Live' arrows.

Our target shoots may be simple friendly competitions for prizes on a given day, and they may be included as part of the IKAC (Inter Kingdom Archery Competition). This is a world wide competition.

Combat Archery

With Combat archery, our targets are usually other people. This can be within competition, or in a battle. Combat archers, both plumed and heavy, need a minimum amount of armour, as stated in the rules. Within a battle, combat archers should coordinate with the Heavy fighters for the good of your side. Plumed archers DO NOT get hit by heavies except rarely by accident however they do get shot at by opposing archers, hence the armour. Heavy archers may be struck by heavies however their weapon, if it is a bow, should not be struck. Safety always comes first.

Combat Archers can also have 'friendly' or competition shoots. The targets used by combat archers can include all manner of stationary and moving targets, often devised by the Group Captain of Archers. Sometimes they will also shoot at each other on a war field.

IKCAC (Inter Kingdom Combat Archery Competition) shoots use a man shaped target, which scores differently depending on where you hit it. (See photo). See the rules below for full scoring and competition rules.

The arrows used in combat are made by the combat archers. They consist of a wooden shaft covered in fibreglass tape, feathered or duravane fletching (3 or 4 per arrow), and a rubber like blunt tip. We call these arrows 'Blunts'.

All combat shoots take place in approved armour.

The equipment used within the SCA in Lochac, (Australia & New Zealand) is not much different to any other archery with only a few minor differences for safety reasons.

To see the rules regarding what types of bows/crossbows you may use within the SCA please click on the picture at left. Please note that various places within Lochac have laws relating to crossbows. In some of them, they are unlawful to own or you must have a permit or license.

Last Updated
28/04/2006 - Reworded. Removed excessive html coding.
03/06/2006 - Images changed.
18/12/2007 - Minor changes and changed background.