Combat Archery using bows and crossbows has been a part of Society combat since its early days, and currently is highly regulated for safety concerns. It is allowed only in war or melee scenarios. Strict rules are in place to limit the launch force of field weapons. Projectiles are specially built with large blunted tips and special backs to minimize the risk of true injury. Consistent with other SCA combat, arrow strikes to shields are considered blocked, while strikes to armored areas of the body are not. Judging the effects of blows is left to the honor of the combatant struck. Due to requirements of larger safety zones to protect spectators from ricochets and overshots, combat archery is usually limited to large melees.