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 either step over the rope/tape sideways, or steps backwards out of the end of the alley you are considered dead
- - A headshot immediately ends the bout, with the offending team "losing" and the other team taking the point
All bouts will have a judge watching the alley. Their say is final on any disputes that arise during the fight.
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
To view the full table of results at each Alley Brawl competition that has been run, please click the below link:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1qy2bj4E488JiGRaEYZFb4I_XJul0HIR9_2m3ZcywjNE/edit?usp=sharing