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My name is Joonas Laakso and I'm here to tell you how Audatia works.
The basic idea is that you're playing from a GUARD that you would use in a real swordfight,
or duel. From that guard you can play a number of moves
to ATTACK or PARRY your opponent's STRIKES. And how that works is that first you need
to lay down a so-called "POSTA" card, which is one of the basic guards. We have 12 of
those in the game. And you need to choose your Posta depending
on if you're going on the offensive or the defensive.
When the gameplay starts, you're going to figure out with your opponent which one is
going to be the CHALLENGER and which one is going to be challenged. That's going to determine
the initiative for the first round and so you know whether you're going to be offensive
or defensive to begin with. Based on that decision you're going to take
a look at your so-called "COLPE" cards, which are your basic attacks and parries.
You need to match your chosen Posta card to the Colpe card you're going to play. Those
are all realistic - you can only play the moves you could execute from that Posta.
When you play your Colpe cards, you need to figure out where your sword is actually going
to be. Depending on your Posta, you're going to be using your FOREHAND or your BACKHAND
to strike and parry. Your forehand side is called "MANDRITTO" and your backhand side is called "ROVERSO".
To understand the gameplay, you need to understand
how the cards are laid out on the table. This is your character card. It represents
how you're standing next to your opponent, in front of him. It has the Mandritto side,
which is your forehand - generally right side - and the Roverso, which is your backhand,
or the left side. There are 5 positions around your character
card, which correspond to where your sword is at any give moment. The Mandritto side,
the Roverso side, and the frontal position which we're using for the "PUNTA", or the
thrust. To play a strike or a parry, you first need
to look at your Posta card, your guard. Your guard delineates which moves you can execute
from that guard. So for instance with this card, all my moves are listed on the Mandritto
side (right), so all my possible moves are on that side. You can't necessarily use all
the Mandritto strikes, either, the Posta tells you which moves are possible. In this case
I can execute a Mandritto FENDENTE - a descending strike - a Mandritto SOTTANO - an ascending
strike - or a PUNTA, a thrust. If I wanted to play an opening of a Mandritto
Fendente, I would need to find one from my hand, I do have one, and then play it where
it should go, in this case up here. It's up here because that's the position your blow
is going to start from on the game table and your opponent then knows that he can only
block from down here, down here, or up here. You can't use the mirror image of this position
to block that strike. So let's say that the opponent plays a card
down here to parry it. Then we need to figure out where the swords are going to end up,
because that's then going to determine whether I can next play a Mandritto or a Roverso - that's
in line with where my sword actually ends up. If the opponent parries from the same
side, both of your blows are going to start from here - and go over to here. If your opponent
would block from the other side, what happens is both of your blows are going to start from
their respective sides, they're going to meet in the middle, and the opponent is going to
parry you back to where you came from. So you end up in the same side you started from
and your opponent is going to meet you on that side.
A Mandritto Fendente. I'm going to counter with a Mandritto Sottano.
Are you? Let's see. So we meet in the middle, and I'm going to
beat you back. Yes, you are. You have the initiative now.
I have the initiative and I'm going to follow up with a Roverso Fendente.
Oh, dear me. I believe that's it for you.
Right. I shall be using a strike from the Posta Di Donna Destra (a guard), a Mandritto
Fendente, to strike you. So I'm going to come in from the other side,
parrying with a Mandritto Sottano. Let's see - we're going to meet in the middle,
I beat you back. But! We can see that we're in "ZOGHO STRETTO", or close play.
Yes, indeed - the symbols are now aligned. I shall be doing a Zogho Stretto Remedy (close
play attack), do you want to do something about the bind card?
Yes. Since I'm STRONGER, I'm going to choose my side, and I'm going to go INSIDE (of the
bind). Which leaves OUTSIDE for me, for the Zogho
Stretto Remedy. I shall play the "8th Play Of The Master Of Coda Longa On Horseback"
to come at you. The so-called "pommel to the face"!
Yes, indeed, the very same. I'm going to counter with the exact right
technique, which is the "9th Play Of The Master Of Coda Longa On Horseback".
And there we go - thank you. You are dead.