Mission

House Manticore is first and foremost an Arts & Sciences organization that wishes to further individual and group knowledge in regarding the realm of the Medieval. House Manticore also recognizes the monetary costs involved in such pursuits and seeks also to aid in the realm of 'merchanting' to facilitate the cycle of learning.

Officers and Contacts

House Manticore

Master of House Manticore: Simon Blackfell

Mistress of Services: Bean Si

Mistress of Merchants: Shiloe

Chaplain, Guardsman and Webmaster: Mephiston

Legion of House Manticore

Captain Commander: Itch

Field Sergeant & Guardsman: Johnnathan Baker

Varangian Guard

What We Do

Live Action Role-Play, Medieval Reenactment… these are a couple of terms that describe a litte of what we do. Essentially, Legion and House Manticore participates in a wide variety of organizations from the full fantasy of Amtgard, to the Tolkien based Dagorhir and some of our membership participate in the SCA and other groups.

Basically, we pick up medieval styled weaponry, made of foam and pvc pipe and beat on each other! Check our Weapon Construction Guides for more information on this topic. If you would like more information on any of the aforementioned groups, take a look at our extensive links section and check out the different Medieval genre Live Action Role-Play groups.

Legion of House Manticore

The Legion is the fighting group (company/unit) of House Manticore. We try to stylize ourselves after ancient roman warfare tactics. This mindset if viable in the Medieval Reenactment world as for a majority of the groups do not allow for horses. Since the armoured Knight is not the end-all-be-all of the modern medieval battlefield, why not use the tactics that carried an empire for hundreds of years! Warfare on the Medieval Reenactment Field is an article that better explains why we fight the way we do.

Varangian Guard

The Varangian Guard is a democratic unit (all members a equal, none have title or rank). Primarily this unit fights with Spear and works generally in conjunction with the Legion Shield Wall.

Historically: "The Varangian Guards were Viking mercenaries who operated far beyond their native shores as an elite force within the Byzantine Armies. Descendants from a legendary line of warriors, the Varangian Guard was formed after a group of Viking mercenaries made a major contribution to the Byzantine Emperor Basil II’s victory over rebel forces in 988 AD. These 5,000 men were then retained as Basil’s personal guard and would provide loyal service to many successive occupants of the imperial throne. Commonly referred to as ‘foreigners’ (Etaireia), they were nonetheless absorbed into a new Palatine regiment under command of an officer termed the Akolouthos, who was either a Norsemen or a Rus (Norsemen colonisers of Russia). The Varangians wore mixtures of their native clothing and armour together with a splendid formal Byzantine uniform. But most famously, they always wielded their own traditional battle-axes and in fact this became a sign that the emperor was on the battlefield in person. This is an insightful look of one of the legendary guard units of the medieval world." (1)