Norwescon Hands-on Demo: Killing Men and Horses

Men, orcs, and weirder things have this in common: They all bleed when you stab them. Take up the weapons of a 16th-century soldier—the pike, the halberd, and the matchlock musket—as a recruit of Goode’s Company of Foot. You will learn to work in formation, using techniques derived from historical sources, to meet the forces of Evil (or Good, if the pay is right) with a forest of pikes and a volley of hot lead. As well as hands-on work in formation for attendees, there will be demonstrations of individual combat with weapons of the era by trained combatants. Attendees will not be asked to participate in actual combat or to handle black powder.