Alley Brawl Competition
“Do you not know that a man is not dead while his name is still spoken?”
A great man unfortunately passed away in 2021, far too early. Ollie Harrison was one of the most genuinely kind and loving person you could ever hope to have had in your life. A competition as been created in honour of this great man, the Ollie/Alley Brawl.
Please find below the rules for the Alley Brawl competition run annually at the Society Training Weekend, and also on an ad-hoc basis at other events during the year. There is a trophy for the winning duo from the STW, this trophy is held by them for one year until the next STW, at which it will be up for grabs again.
Pre-Event Sign-Ups: All pairings who want to participate in the competition must sign-up prior to the event. This is done so that the rounds can pre-drawn at random to help streamline the competition. Entries into the competition are via EITHER commenting on the relevant post in "The Vikings (Longhouse)" Facebook page, or responding to announcement via VMAIL. If on the day of the competition there are last-minute drop-outs (due to unavailability etc) the spaces will either be filled on a first-come first-served basis, or the opponents scheduled will get a bye.
Knockout Stage Following the success of the Alley Brawl at the Society Training Weekend 2023, where we had a total of 26 teams sign-up to participate, we have introduced a preliminary knockouts round to take place before the round-robin. This as well is drawn completely at random ahead of the event so that we can maximise the time we have for combat. This stage will only be utilised where we have a substantial number of sign-ups.
Rounds: There will be pre-drawn rounds so we can hit the ground running on the day. Each round will consist of up-to three bouts run in a best of three format (the winning team will be the first to win two bouts in the round). The format for this will be: FOR EXAMPLE
9 teams sign-up. Round 1 will consist of: Team 1 v 3 , Team 2 v 6 , Team 4 v 5 , Team 9 v 7 , Team 8 gets a bye
Round 2 will then consist of: Team 1 v 6 , Team 2 v 7 , Team 3 v 5 , Team 8 v 9 , Team 4 gets a bye
This will all be drawn completely at random, which does mean if we get lots of sign-ups then you may not get to face an opponent you're hoping to if we run out of time, apologies.
Rules: The rules for the competition largely follow the combat rules for "The Vikings", however there are some additional rules for the Alley Brawl itself. These are:
- - Teams of 2 fight against one another in a narrow passage (passage will be made up of rope/tape laid down to create an "alleyway"). The size of the passage will be 5ft6 wide (1h spear) and 20ft long.
- - These teams of 2 can be EITHER members of the same group, or members of two different groups
- - You may use any weapon combination you want for the fight PROVIDED you have passed the relevant combat assessment for that weapon.
- - You are not tied to single weapon for this competition. However, you cannot choose to change your primary weapon between bouts. For example if team 1 starts with a sword/shield and a onehanded spear/shield they must start all bouts in that round with the same combination (secondary weapons can be drawn during the bout)
- - If you wish to swap weapons, swap between rounds but please try to not "game it" by seeing who you're drawn against and then swapping
- - This will run as a Best Of 3 format (first to win 2 bouts within a round)
- - The 2 hit rule is enforced
- - If you "push" your opponents to the end of the alleyway they are considered dead, or if you "step out" (step to the side over the barrier) you are dead
- - A headshot immediately ends the bout, with the offending team "losing" and the other team taking the point
A special trophy was commissioned for this competition. This trophy is a matching pair of seaxes. The blades are made by Andy Hall of Sverð Faðir, and the sheaths by Luke Holbrook of Merchant of Menace. The sheaths bear the name Ollie written in runes by the handle, and his shield design wrapping around the handle portion of the sheath.
Below is a table with each iteration of the Alley Brawl, who participated and how many wins they got. Also shown is the winning duo from each event.
Current duo holding the prize: Greg and Wavey
| Participants | Groups Represented | STW 2022 | Whitby Abbey 2022 | STW 2023 | Hever Castle 2023 | Ushaw 2023 | STW 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greg & Wavey | Manaraefan & Sveinshaven | 5 (Winners) | 7 | 10 | 14 (Winners) | |||
| Becca & Bear | Eikthynir | 2 | ||||||
| Gunnar & Russ | Valhalla | 4 | ||||||
| Damon & Mr T | Ormsheim | 0 | ||||||
| Kirsten & Idun (Team Dane) | Ulfhrafnar | 1 | 2 | Lost Knockout Stage | 4 | |||
| Dom & JJ | Ouskjarr & Provincial | 5 | 6 | |||||
| Naka & Andy | Midgardsomr | 4 | ||||||
| Jon & Boon | Hwicce | 6 | 9 (Winners) | 9 | ||||
| Eric & Sam | Vanaheim | 3 | Lost Knockout Stage | |||||
| Christina & Lisbut | Eikthynir | 1 | ||||||
| Alfie & Archie | Ordgar & Provincial | 0 | ||||||
| Duncan & Joel | Provincials | 2 | ||||||
| Andy & Jack | Y'ddraig | 1 | ||||||
| Tom & Druva | Manaraefan & Provincial | 5 | 6 | |||||
| Steff & Pete | Hrafnsdale & Danelaw | 3 | ||||||
| Jeppe & Matt | Ulfhrafnar | 4 | ||||||
| Druva & Sarah | Provincial & Nord Idan | 2 | 2 | 5 | ||||
| Dave & Lurch | Hwicce | 8 | 10 | 9 | ||||
| Aoife & Ben | Midgardsomr | 2 | Lost Knockout Stage | 3 | ||||
| Damon and Karl | Ormsheim | 0 | ||||||
| Eric and Peter | Vanaheim | 5 | ||||||
| Dave and Nick | Niflheim | Lost Knockout Stage | 12 (Winners) | |||||
| Niamh and Dom | Hwicce and Ouskjarr | 6 | ||||||
| Christina and Vicky | Eikthynir & Wrngwyrm | Lost Knockout Stage | ||||||
| Sarah and Kyle | Nord Idan & Hrafnsdale | 1 | ||||||
| Peter and Stefan | Ormsheim | 1 | ||||||
| Bear and Chris | Eikthynir | 5 | 2 | |||||
| Josh and Daniel | Hrafnsdale | Lost Knockout Stage | ||||||
| Jack and Josh | Y'ddraig | 3 | ||||||
| Josh and Jan | Hwicce | 2 | ||||||
| Haydn and Thomas | Herlid | Lost Knockout Stage | ||||||
| Gunnar and Cornelius | Valhalla & Niflheim | 11 (Winners) | ||||||
| Joe and Thomas | Ardenweard | Lost Knockout Stage | ||||||
| JJ and Rob | Provincial & Ydalir | 10 | ||||||
| Raf and Becca | Ulfheddin and Eikthynir | Lost Knockout Stage | ||||||
| Levi and Kieran | Hwicce | 3 | ||||||
| Daniel and Louis | Y'ddraig | Lost Knockout Stage | ||||||
| Gunnar and Paul | Valhalla | 11 | ||||||
| Ashley and Greg | Valhalla and Manaraefan | 9 | ||||||
| Becca and JJ | Eikthynir & Provincial | 8 | 9 | |||||
| Max and Alex | Spears of Andred | 7 | ||||||
| Ben and Suzie | Valhalla and Garm | 7 | ||||||
| Richard and Rufus | Spears of Andred | 5 | ||||||
| Raf and Connor | Ulfheddin | 5 | ||||||
| Andris and Frederick | Spears of Andred | 4 | ||||||
| Hazel and Nick | Spears of Andred | 3 | ||||||
| Chris and Christina | Eikthynir | 3 | ||||||
| Jack and Ben | Spears of Andred | 1 | ||||||
| Wavey and Dom | Sveinshavn and Ouskjarr | 6 (Winners) | ||||||
| Haydn and Sean | Herlid | 5 | ||||||
| Euan and Thanos | Glasgow Vikings and Hrafnsdale | 4 | ||||||
| Niamh and Laura | Hwicce | 3 | ||||||
| Gav and Jonny | Hrafnsdale | 1 | ||||||
| Toby and Dom | Ydalir | 0 | ||||||
| CJ and Sassie | Regan's Reivers | 2 | ||||||
| Jon and Niamh | Hwicce | 13 | ||||||
| Rory and Frederick | Ulfhrafnar | 4 | ||||||
| Levi and Naka | Hwicce and Midgardsomr | 11 | ||||||
| Dom and Alban | Ouskjarr | 6 | ||||||
| Josh and Tommy | Hrnafsdale | 6 | ||||||
| Andy and Euan | Y'ddraig and Glasgow Vike | 3 | ||||||
| Paul and Gunnar | Ousjkarr and Valhalla | 11 | ||||||
| Tom and Kieran | Hwicce | 5 | ||||||
| Example | Example Group | STW 2022 | Whitby Abbey 2022 | STW 2023 | Hever Castle 2023 | Ushaw 2023 | STW 2024 |