KRM Monthly Newsletters

May 2002

Greetings Rapier Combatants of the Middle Kingdom.

Firstly I'd like to congratulate Doctour Jock McKee, now to be addressed as
Warder Doctour Jock, the newest recipient of the Bronze Ring.

Now to business.  Due to increasing costs in producing The Pale, my letters
will only appear on even numbered months, if at all, and those letters that
do appear will be brief.  My primary means of communication will be this
monthly e-newsletter.

I will send these e-newsletters "Bcc" to everyone.  That will keep e-mail
addresses private and prevent "Reply Alls" from cluttering your in-boxes.

These newsletters will be posted in the rapier section of the MidRealm
website 



***** REMINDER - ALL MARSHALS REPORT ON JUNE FIRST *****

Please follow the Group Marshal Report format found in your handbook.  Send
your reports to your regional or principality marshal.  If you are part of a
barony, please send a copy to your baronial marshal.  Group Rapier Marshal's
in Training (GRMiTs) must report and I would highly recommend Rapier
Marshals in Training (RMiTs) to report also.

Please include in your report if you are a youth authorized rapier marshal.


For you group marshals, please include the number of youth rapier combatants
in your group.

I'm pretty sure e-mail is the preferred format for all reports, but check
with your Regional Marshal.  In fact, Northshield and Midlands both have
on-line marshal reports they would prefer you to use.

Northshield: 

Midlands: 

The Regional and Principality Marshal's must report to me by June 7th, so
please be on time.  What I ultimately report to Sir Randolph (the Kingdom
Earl Marshal) and Don Dylan (the Society Rapier Marshal) quarterly is:

Number of fencers / Number of youth fencers / Number of marshals / Details
of injuries / Unusual equipment failures / Status of experiments (if any) /
Rules changes / Sanctions / Plans for next quarter

Please be sure that your reports will help me make my reports as accurate as
possible.
Many of you are already aware that some changes have been made to the
MidRealm rapier rules (effective 5/1/02).  Several of the programs that had
been experimental (steel helms, big bucklers, grasping, etc.) are now legal.
I have attached an Adobe Acrobat file containing the change pages.  You can
also download the change pages from the MidRealm website (see link above).  

When adding these change pages, be careful if you have a handbook that has
double-sided pages.  For instance, don't remove page 1-5 when 1-6 is being
replaced.  Just cross off the old 1-6 and stick the new 1-6 in behind it.

I'll have double-sided change pages available at Baron Wars, and everywhere
else I go, which makes it all a lot easier.

Two things have come up since the rules changes were released; there is no
guidance on the manufacture of steel helms, and additional clarification is
needed on legal blade length.

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For steel helms, the Society standard is to be used (these will be added to
the MidRealm rules at the next update in 6 or so months).

PROTECTIVE GEAR
2. The following are the Society norms for protective gear.
A. HEAD AND NECK:

i. The front and top of the head must be covered by rigid material to below
the jaw line and behind the ears. Standard 12 kg fencing masks are known to
meet this standard. If built to this standard, fencing helms are also
acceptable.

ii. The face must be covered by either 12-kilogram mesh (e.g., a standard
fencing mask) or perforated metal. Such metal must not have holes larger
than 1/8" (3 mm) in diameter, with a minimum offset of 3/16" (5 mm) and
shall also meet the definition of rigid material.

Examples of rigid material are:
-- 22 gauge stainless steel (0.8 mm)
-- 20 gauge mild steel (1.0 mm)
-- 16 gauge aluminum, copper, or brass (1.6 mm)
-- one layer of heavy leather (8 ounce, 4 mm)

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Secondly, effective 5/10/02, please add the following sentence to Rule
2.2.2.B

"The hilt (everything excluding the blade) of any rapier or dagger will not
exceed 12 inches."

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This month's letter was mainly to remind everyone of the impending reports
and to get word out of the rules changes.  

My goal in future installments is to communicate more of what's going on in
the rest of the kingdom.

Dienst mit einem Laecheln,

Max.