Sunday July 6th 2014  Top Band Multi-Tx  DF 

Organiser  Tim P
Times  1:30 - 4:00 pm
Location -  SW Colchester  Map 168    NGR 967222
Pub -  The White Hart, 342 London Road, Stanway, Colchester, CO3 8LT
Transcription of Tim's scroll in Times New Roman font follows

CAMOLODUNUM MULTI DF 
The Battle Plan
Round up as many new and experienced gladiators as possible.
Select battle ground.
Direct new gladiators to sites A,B,F,G,I,J.
Expect expert gladiators to rise to the challenges of sites R,S,Y,Z.
To permeate a Roman theme throughout the event (within reason). 
Battle Preparation
A good cross-section of gladiators volunteered for the event.
The arena chosen was Needles Eye/Charity/Chest wood. This had a Roman river running through it. The terrain would subject gladiators to mixed woodland, open space, water meadow, low brambles, tall nettles and water hazards. A,B,F,G,H,I were placed fairly close together but would allow the new gladiators to experience dfing over a good mixture of terrain. The triffids for these Txs were placed so as to be easy to spot. R and S would be more difficult because of access, Y and Z would be more difficult due to being hidden more carefully.
Gosbecks Archaeological site provided a convenient chariot park; the Roman theatre provided a good open area away from power lines to assemble the cohort and start the event. This would mean that gladiators would have to travel about ½ km to get to the main arena after the first transmission, hopefully spreading them out linearly, and laterally with some heading for R and S first. New gladiators could take it slowly and focus on practicing taking bearings on A.

The site was first surveyed the week before, in the rain, again the day before, in the rain, and set up on the event morning, in the pouring rain.
Cleopatra’s asp was spotted scampering through the wet grass near J. (Now he tells us!)

Carpe Diem

At 1.25 pm no gladiators were visible at the start (don’t panic!) At least the Sun God had triumphed over the Rain God by now. By 1.27 a motley troupe had assembled in the right place after leaving their chariots in the chariot park. Some had not heeded the warning to wear suitable armour! Tx A  produced its war cry as hoped at 1.30; and shortly after the assembled multitude dispersed at irregular intervals to do a little Rome-ing.

Your scribe stayed with newcomers  Andy, Rosie and Bob all afternoon to explain the use of the double edged receiver and provide advice on how to hunt down  a Triffidus Minimus. 
Tim's ancient Tx locator is shown left.

More from him later, meanwhile those of rapidly approaching centurion status new little of his historic plans and were working from much larger maps.  

With Joker J yours truly was heading SE, from the larger map below it was clear that this would involve following the path to the S then E down road and branch left by Oliver's.  Consulting my trusty mobile phone for my location it said " no map", could it be that electronic OS mapping didn't exist in Roman Times? Despite the normal whacking and  jumping on said device nothing changed and I was forced to revert to a screwed up papyrus substitute.



Some competitors waste time constructing excuses
 The map on the left showed paths but not all of them! Purple and blue have been added to illustrate this ancient tale of woe.  Steve  and  I  both turned left on a path too far N.  Getting to the road I was expecting to head down the road to pick up the next path but there was one straight across the road.  By now Steve was well ahead and kept diving into to tracks trying to get S but there was only barbed wire. Steve carried on eventually getting to the Txs via the road  I turned back trying to locate the path at the back of the buildings (now obviously 500m to the S).

Two apparent paths two set of houses.
After many attempts and with over 20 minutes wasted I found a track but no path signs going S.  Another 500 m and  I and J were getting strong, obviously close. I searched my Latin phrase book for 'man with no known father'  as I encountered nettles that were more than head height. Then 'oh joy' I fell in a stream completely obscured by said overgrowth. Hacking through never ending  nettles I eventually got to 'J' and then hacked on through more towards 'I' eventually spotting that I (that is me) was only about 10 metres from a 'wonderful glorious, nettle free path'!  

 The only 'good' to come from this was that my exploits apparently encouraged others to try off roading on their way to 'I'.  

So ......   only eight more Txs to go .......

Meanwhile some were way ahead point grabbing!


Philip and Bob had nearly completed their tasks
Why is everybody so cheerful, I didn't  get where I am today by .............

Could you find the path?    I blame Timbearus Jokonus.

 Philip's path, somewhat more efficient than mine and  Steve's. If you follow this link and drag along the green line you can see his actual run/stroll.
4.00 pm gladiators had assembled at the Standard to notch up their kills and to exchange stories of heroism, folly and lack of fitness.
I was pleased not to have to utter “Et tu Brute” as a result of dissatisfaction in the way Rome had been governed.
Position Competitor Handicap Joker A B F G I J R S Y Z Total Percent
1 Philip C 40 R 26 23 32 32 15 13 80 32 32 26 271 100
2 Colin M 0 Z 8 40 20 20 17 23 0 17 40 80 265 97
3 Gary P 65 Y 32 32 40 40 26 15 0 15 52 32 219 80
4 Rosie M 0 F 9 9 52 26 23 20 32 40 0 0 211 77
5 Steve S 75 S 40 26 11 11 40 26 26 52 0 23 180 66
6 Roy E 43 J 11 11 8 9 32 80 20 23 0 0 151 55
7 Richard S 0 G 23 8 23 46 20 17 0 0 0 0 137 50
8 Rosie P 0 * 34 17 15 17 13 11 0 0 0 0 107 39
9 Bob S 0 * 40 13 13 15 9 8 0 0 0 0 98 36
10 Andy P 0 * 15 15 34 13 11 9 0 0 0 0 97 35
11 Colin F 30 I 13 20 9 8 0 32 23 20 0 0 95 35

Over to Philip

‘R’ Claudius beats the Catuvellauni at Camulodunum.

This time pulled a decent Joker ‘R’ (usually its Y or Z)
On the long run down from Gosbecks it became clear that R & S were off to the west, so set off on across the meadows only to encounter problems getting across the first stream and through a thick field of new saplings. Emerged into Olivers Lane close to S. R came back on but by the time I reached the stream it went off with no sign of being close – so took a run at S back across the lane – close, but nothing obvious in the logged trees. So back to R, then back to S by which time Rosy appeared just as I was narrowing the search area down. Rosy found the Triffid but was persuaded to pass out the 32 points giving me time to get a head start to run at R yet again. This was much further in, by the stream still with 40 points, so returned the favour and handed out the 32 points to Rosy. Getting back to the main footpath proved tricky with the rest of the stations some way off, which may explain why S&R remained untouched by the rest of the troops.

Found the rest of the pack circling round the A station, backpack was located, transmitter spotted, the triffid elusive under the rhododendron until Steve sneaked off with the 40, Gary the 32 & Richard the 23.
So off in the wrong direction for B, then very surprised to find 32 points still at F & G.  Decided then Y & Z had to be tackled and were close by, further south.
Approaching Y it became clear that someone else (Colin M) had already done a good job of knocking down the cover – but it did not lead direct to the triffid. Gary eventually turned up and we converged where I managed at last to find Y with 32 points. Gary had already done Z, but had wanted Y as it was his joker (unlucky pick).
Took several transmissions to find Y then struggled out to the main footpath past some grumpy local dogs.

Some where along the way the tracker had dropped out and I had managed to slice a cut through one finger which was bleeding fairly well. But plenty of time for I & J at the other end of the wood, passing Tim and novices, plus Colin Merry and Gary, with little points to make the trip worth while.
Ten stations in the bag by 3.24 pm.
Met up with Rosy back at the main station and made the mistake of volunteering to get Y&Z. So another long walk, before turning for home, bumping into the new Rosie & Andy with Richard, who had just taken a tumble and needed some attention whilst looking to retrieve F.  Then the long, long drag back to the car park at Gosbecks, which seemed the hardest slog of the day.
Surprised to find nobody else had bagged all ten stations and to discover it was a winning score.
No idea how I won the Multi Hero as it is numerically well beyond me!



Yes a definite likeness  


Very well done Philip, not only did he win the Multi-Star but also pinched the Multi-Hero off Steve.    See the Hero League link at the bottom  for more detail.
As a Roman warrior Philip's difficulties with Multi-Math are predictable. Not only had the Romans not invented electronic mapping they also struggled with Zero so the nearest we can get to is HP calculation is:
XL plusimus L minimus Z aproximatous XC    or for the older generations of  Romans:  XXXX  aggrematus L  lessthoumus FA  is (within gnat's whiskermus)  LXXXX

IDEA!!!!
From now on each event will start with a 30 minute Multi-Entrance-Exam, this will require participants to demonstrate a sound knowledge of calculus and nettle crushing.

Colin says  “Secundus! Maximum Gratias”
Congratulations to Colin who came 2nd this time after three 3rd places this year.

Others began their fitness regime ready for the next event on Aug 10th.





So back to Noli illegitimi carborundum for his summary

Post Mortem
Armour was exchanged for togas and a grand feast was had (with many other cohorts) at the White Hart carvery. Opinions were exchanged at the forum.At 4.00 pm gladiators had assembled at the Standard to notch up their kills and to exchange stories of heroism, folly and lack of fitness. I was pleased not to have to utter “Et tu Brute” as a result of dissatisfaction in the way Rome had been governed.

Nota bene
Steve – this was meant to be an off-woad event.
Phil – well done – you got to Sieze R first
Roy – you should have heeded Tx I of marsh. A ditch is a common means of defence; the nettles were a bonus.
Gary – get Agrippa and don’t beat about the bush.
Rosie M – a Christmas tree looks bare without a bauble on it.
Romans created straight roads from one place to another – they trusted their bearings !

Veni Vidi Vici
Congratulations to Phillipus on winning the event. Not only did he become July’s Caesar, crowned with a laurel garland, but also the new Super Nero. Colin M was thus promoted to chief supporting gladiator and presented with a magnificent bronze multi purpose trophy.

Thank you to all who supported the event; well done to Andy, Rosie and Bob for finding 6 transmitters and mastering the weaponry; we can look forward to Rosie P’s recordings of what went on !
Anyone for Greek ?
Timbo       

Oh no, marathon(s) next!      Now where's m'  rumex obtusifolius?
List of all Multi-Winners The Hero League (Handicaps) Dates Multi-Main Page