If you are one of those brave and slightly mad souls who routinely spends weekends putting on reasonable facsimiles of medieval armour and sallying forth to hit (and be hit by) large sticks wielded by your best friends, then this is one of those “must have” books.
Brian Pfeifer and his alter-ego Baron Sylvanus Perrin have put together a collection of valuable material for anyone who participates in heavy armoured combat in the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA). Tips include how to pass your authorization, lesson plans for teaching new fighters, a step-by-step compendium of swordblows, and tactics and drills for melee combat. Other sections offer ideas on basic armour repair and fitting. Fighters at all levels of ability will find plenty to ponder.
Those responsible for teaching new fighters or leading small units will find this book invaluable. The overall attitude of the text is that new fighters are a resource to be nurtured and encouraged. The book includes a full script for the first three lessons a new fighter should learn. Each lesson both builds the fighter’s confidence, and breaks complicated motions down into simple, repeatable steps.
But the best thing about this book is its philosophy: We all get better at something when we teach it. Even if you don’t teach heavy fighting, The Dogsoldier Codex will put you in the mindset of a teacher.