Results 301 to 330 of 1485
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2012-11-18, 03:36 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Feb 2006
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- Kanagawa, Japan
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Re: Got a Real World Weapons or Armour Question? Mk XI
It is a joyful thing indeed to hold intimate converse with a man after one’s own heart, chatting without reserve about things of interest or the fleeting topics of the world; but such, alas, are few and far between.
– Yoshida Kenko (1283-1350), Tsurezure-Gusa (1340)
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2012-11-18, 03:40 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Nov 2012
Re: Got a Real World Weapons or Armour Question? Mk XI
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2012-11-18, 10:34 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Nov 2007
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- Cippa's River Meadow
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Re: Got a Real World Weapons or Armour Question? Mk XI
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2012-11-18, 11:33 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Oct 2009
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Re: Got a Real World Weapons or Armour Question? Mk XI
For a more 'traditional' (and also darkly funny) take on the Vampire, you might like this recent Romanian film
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1117636/
G
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2012-11-20, 09:09 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Nov 2008
Re: Got a Real World Weapons or Armour Question? Mk XI
Two questions
1. The Wikipedia article on Agincourt refers to the English moving back a step to "wrong-foot" the French charge. Could anybody explain what this means?
2. Does anybody have any idea how fast the Viking longships where? More specifically, how long did it take them to get back to sea from Paris (down the Seine)?
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2012-11-20, 10:25 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Feb 2006
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- Das Kapital
Re: Got a Real World Weapons or Armour Question? Mk XI
I would assume the idea is that at the last moment the English lines stepped back so that the French, who would have been planning on striking springing off their dominant foot, would be forced to take another step and attack springing off their non-dominant foot.
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2012-11-21, 01:04 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2005
Re: Got a Real World Weapons or Armour Question? Mk XI
Well, the Havhingsten fra Glendalough can, according to what's I've been able to find online, do 15kts under sail and about 4 or 5kts under oars. Of course that's with a crew of modern volunteers rather than Vikings who has spent their entire life rowing, so they might have been a bit faster.
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2012-11-21, 01:21 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Jul 2012
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- *Redacted*
Re: Got a Real World Weapons or Armour Question? Mk XI
Please take everything I say with a grain of salt. Unless we're arguing about alignment. In which case, you're wrong.
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2012-11-21, 08:15 AM (ISO 8601)
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- May 2009
Re: Got a Real World Weapons or Armour Question? Mk XI
Two possibilities spring to mind, assuming we're talking about infantry combat.
One is more or less what Gwyn said: When striking, you will normally take a step to gain reach and momentum. Depending on weapons and technique, one foot is usually better than the other. Stepping back messes up your opponent's attack. This is a common defensive move, but not realistically applicable on large scale.
Another (more likely) possibility is that the front ranks of the English line performed a controlled, short-distance fall-back. This would be risky, but could really mess up the enemy formation as some would pursue, some would keep the pace and some would hesitate. The charge would hit home out of formation and be vulnerable.
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2012-11-21, 03:47 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2009
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Re: Got a Real World Weapons or Armour Question? Mk XI
So, in The Princess Bride, Inigo Montoya and the Man in Black duel. Throughout, they refer to various fencing techniques and the works of various fencing masters. Has anyone ever reshot that scene with swordplay that matches the dialogue? Would such a thing be possible?
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But flies an eagle flight, bold, and forth on,
Leaving no track behind.
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2012-11-21, 08:29 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Sep 2008
Re: Got a Real World Weapons or Armour Question? Mk XI
Floating down a river, however, I doubt it will be averaging 15 knots. In fact, I doubt they averaged 15 knots in general. A potential place to look for travel times might be the GURPS Vikings book (I don't have that one, but they tend to be full of little details like that).
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2012-11-21, 11:37 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2010
- Location
- right behind you
Re: Got a Real World Weapons or Armour Question? Mk XI
"Interdum feror cupidine partium magnarum Europae vincendarum"
Translation: "Sometimes I get this urge to conquer large parts of Europe."
"If you don't get those cameras out of my face, I'm gonna go 8.6 on the Richter scale with gastric emissions that'll clear this room."
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2012-11-22, 06:50 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Nov 2006
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- The Edge of the World
Re: Got a Real World Weapons or Armour Question? Mk XI
How fast you go will depend a lot on the skill and experience of the crew and how much their route allows them to use the wind. It might give you a good aproximation if you look at the routes, and see if there's a historical analog that might give you an indication of rough travel time.
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And I'll dance to Tom Payne's bones,
Dance to Tom Payne's bones,
Dance in the oldest boots I own,
to the rhythm of Tom Payne's bones.
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2012-11-22, 07:27 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Nov 2007
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- Cippa's River Meadow
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Re: Got a Real World Weapons or Armour Question? Mk XI
Yup, real techniques: link.
As Kalaska'Agathas said, they're not actually using the techniques they name in the dialogue.
From the article (not sure what Bonetti's defence is), it seems that Wesley is expecting Inigo to attack with Capo Ferro or strong lunges (ie straight linear attacks), which he expects his study of Thibault (logic and geometery based sword defence) to simply get out of the way in an advantagous position.
However Inigo has studied Agrippa (closing distances and short sword/short swording techniques), which will help him in getting close to Wesley and win the ensuing close ranged tussle.Last edited by Brother Oni; 2012-11-22 at 07:29 AM.
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2012-11-22, 09:45 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2005
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- Laughing with the sinners
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Re: Got a Real World Weapons or Armour Question? Mk XI
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2012-11-22, 10:21 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2012
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2012-11-22, 01:43 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2010
- Location
- right behind you
Re: Got a Real World Weapons or Armour Question? Mk XI
"Interdum feror cupidine partium magnarum Europae vincendarum"
Translation: "Sometimes I get this urge to conquer large parts of Europe."
"If you don't get those cameras out of my face, I'm gonna go 8.6 on the Richter scale with gastric emissions that'll clear this room."
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2012-11-22, 05:35 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2005
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- Laughing with the sinners
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Re: Got a Real World Weapons or Armour Question? Mk XI
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2012-11-22, 05:49 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Nov 2012
Re: Got a Real World Weapons or Armour Question? Mk XI
Another question.
Old hand guns, like their bigger cousins, were loaded by charging the barrel, tamping that stuff down, and dropping the ball in, right?
Exactly how much at risk was the ball of falling out? Could a man in difficult conditions keep his pistol loaded even if it was upside down, or would the ball just up and slip out?
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2012-11-22, 06:04 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2011
Re: Got a Real World Weapons or Armour Question? Mk XI
They would put in what they called wadding into the barrel after the ball specifically to avoid this problem. It grips the walls of the gun just enough to stop gravity from letting the ball fall out, but not enough to significantly obstruct it when it fires. They used pre-made paper packets of gunpowder (called a "cartridge") with a ball included to load their guns quickly and would just stuff the leftover paper into the barrel to serve as wadding.
As for how secure the ball would be in there if you for some reason didn't use wadding, I dunno, though I imagine rifled barrels would be significantly safer: Before the invention of breechloading you had to actually hammer the ball in with a mallet, just a simple ramrod wasn't enough. This is why rifling didn't catch on until several centuries after its discovery.
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2012-11-22, 06:24 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Sep 2006
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- Germany
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Re: Got a Real World Weapons or Armour Question? Mk XI
I have a speculative question about sword design:
While hardly seen in later historical examples (I think there are Bronze/Iron Age shortswords) fantasy weapons often show a design usually referred to as "leafblade", i.e. a symmetrical blade which is thinner at the middle and broader towards the tip before converging in a point again.
I'd be interested to know what implications for the handling of a weapon this design would have if applied to a long sword (bastard sword if you will), if one disregards the obvious consequence of becoming more top-heavy (lets imagine this being compounded by a heavier pommel or something similar and ignore the increased weight for the purpose of this excercise).
What I could imagine happening is the weapon inflicting deeper wounds because of the curvature but having less penetrating power in thrusts, since the point will be broader. Does that make sense?
Maybe the stability of the blade would be compromised, since the parrying area is less broad? Could one increase the thickness to compensate?
What would be the influence on halfswording and winding?
In short: What happens if one adds curvature to the long sword's blade without taking away its symmetry (for false edge cuts) and balance?
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2012-11-22, 08:27 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Nov 2007
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- Cippa's River Meadow
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Re: Got a Real World Weapons or Armour Question? Mk XI
How about a fan re-shoot, like that fan remake of Raiders of the Lost Ark, or the internet splice togethers of the first two Star Wars movies?
Probably above that, but below the land war in Asia.
I believe before the introduction of pre-measured paper cartridges, they just took care not to let the barrel droop and hence the ball rolling out (you can guess how well that went).
I'm not sure how accurate it was, but I remember an episode of Sharpe where they were drilling new recruits in the firing drill and the sergeant at arms was shouting out the commands, along with various 'reminders' about not what to do (like forgetting to remove the ramrod before firing).
Depends on the size of the ball. For ease and speed of loading, undersized balls were popular but they could possibly roll out of the barrel if you weren't careful (the use of which also contributed to the notoriously poor accuracy that smoothbores have).
I would think a properly fitting ball that required a ramrod to get in, would be pretty much safe from falling out without deliberate effort to get it out and probably wouldn't need wadding to stay in place (the gunpowder is a different issue).Last edited by Brother Oni; 2012-11-22 at 08:43 PM.
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2012-11-23, 12:40 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2009
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Re: Got a Real World Weapons or Armour Question? Mk XI
That's basically what I was thinking - not a reshoot with the intent to replace the scene, as that would certainly be one of the classic blunders, but rather showing what such a duel would look like. It could serve as a companion to the original, meant as an educational piece.
No levelled malice
Infects one comma in the course I hold;
But flies an eagle flight, bold, and forth on,
Leaving no track behind.
Andrew Eldritch Avatar by Lord Fullbladder, Master of Goblins
Psionic Tricks Handbook (WIP!)
Brainstorming thread for a Basic FAQ (WIP!)
Oh, and you can just call me KA.
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2012-11-23, 01:21 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2006
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- Kanagawa, Japan
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Re: Got a Real World Weapons or Armour Question? Mk XI
It is a joyful thing indeed to hold intimate converse with a man after one’s own heart, chatting without reserve about things of interest or the fleeting topics of the world; but such, alas, are few and far between.
– Yoshida Kenko (1283-1350), Tsurezure-Gusa (1340)
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2012-11-23, 08:24 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2012
Re: Got a Real World Weapons or Armour Question? Mk XI
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2012-11-23, 08:39 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Sep 2006
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- Germany
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Re: Got a Real World Weapons or Armour Question? Mk XI
True, but I'm not asking for D&D purposes (D&D actually has a weapon somewhat like that, the Jovar in the Planar Handbook). I wanted to know about the actual handling of weapons which is why I came to this thread where some people post who are more knowledgeable and trained than I am.
(Another detail question: would this affect the ability to draw cut?)
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2012-11-23, 08:59 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Jun 2006
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- Poland
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Re: Got a Real World Weapons or Armour Question? Mk XI
Wounds inflicted by cutting could be deeper, but mainly due to more width at striking area, don't think that this slight curvature would change all that much in impact mechanics.
Overall characteristics depend on 'details' very much, so it's really hard to answer - there is 'leaf' shape, but then there's also overall crossection - thickness at different parts, angles of cross-section and so on.
So it doesn't really have to become "top heavy" either, if broadened part is also proportionally thinner, for example.Last edited by Spiryt; 2012-11-23 at 09:01 AM.
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2012-11-23, 04:05 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Sep 2008
Re: Got a Real World Weapons or Armour Question? Mk XI
If the paper cartridge contained both ball and powder, then the paper would serve as wadding to hold the ball in place.
I've read of instances of troops sometimes shoving grass down the barrels to serve as wadding to hold bullets in place (I think in the context of the English Civil War). Others carried bits of paper, or tow, etc., to serve as wadding. If defending high-ground, it may be necessary to depress the barrel and you don't want the bullet simply rolling out.
Until the introduction of paper cartridges, this seems to have been generally true. The use of a tight fitting ball wouldn't require the use of wadding to hold it in place. Ideally, loose fitting balls would be used when rapidity of fire was desirable (the ramrod not even being employed), at which point fear of the bullet dropping out during transport was irrelevant.
As for a pistol: these weapons were loaded before combat and usually used once during a battle. So reloading them on the battlefield under stressful conditions wasn't necessary. They were also carried muzzle down, so the use of a tight ball and wadding was not only a good idea, it was also easy to do.
Using a mallet to ram down a rifle ball was not too common. It did occur, and the tige (?) breech design I think required it, but for the most part the ramrod itself sufficed for loading tight fitting bullets.
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2012-11-23, 05:31 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Got a Real World Weapons or Armour Question? Mk XI
I agree with Spiryt. Historically we have falchions of near hand-and-a-half size which are shaped similarly, somewhat narrow at the forte and broad at the business end, from relatively subtle examples like this
... to really exaggerated examples like this
Now if you imagine this as having double edges you are pretty close to what you are positing. We used to think falchions were big and heavy and crude (which is kind of how they look) but have since learned, from examining antiques, that the blades are very thin toward that business end.
The width does contribute to better percussive cutting (as opposed to draw cutting). This is the same principle as a meat cleaver. The curve might also contribute to better slicing or draw-cutting.
So in terms of pure mass, the blade on a leaf-blade may not be actually very heavy. I've seen some real (Bronze) ones recently at the Higgins armoury and they were quite small and thin overall.
But I do think that the general design of these was designed specifically for use with a shield and / or to cut from horseback, not as much for 'fencing' as a decisive cut.
It's also probably not really necessary - blades which taper seem in some cases to cut very well. Albions famous Brescia Spadona, a millimeter by millimeter copy of a 15th Century original in Italy, is one of the best cutting sword replicas around of any type. This again, was a surprise to a lot of historians and fencing enthusiasts; the conventional wisdom as recently as 10 years ago was that the 'pointy' swords were basically for thrusting. Test cutting shows us that a blade like the Brescia could easily dismantle a person in very short order indeed.
So there may simply never have been a reason to make the blade flare out like that on a two-handed sword. The actual reason to have a tapering or strait rather than 'leaf shaped' blade may have in fact been more to do with how the sword performs in terms of fencing, i.e. parrying, countering, binding and so on, than how it cuts.
That said, I think there are some iron / steel examples of leaf blade shaped swords, some of the Spartan Xiphos swords were made in iron, and also some much later Medieval swords in Lithuania and Estonia which were somewhat 'leaf' shaped, though they are single-handed swords probably meant to be used with a shield. Some also had 'antenna' hilts too which is interesting. You can see a few here though I'm not sure if you can see any with the leaf blade shape
http://www.myarmoury.com/talk/viewto...r=asc&start=20
GLast edited by Galloglaich; 2012-11-23 at 05:35 PM.
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2012-11-24, 07:23 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Nov 2007
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- Cippa's River Meadow
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Re: Got a Real World Weapons or Armour Question? Mk XI
I believe most balls were lead, so would deform quite easily to get into the barrel. Would you know if any other metals were trialled or used, or was lead the default go to?
Looking up some videos, (link), it seems to indicate that the entire cartridge would have been rammed down the barrel, with the ball enclosed inside the paper, rather than the gunpowder, wadding and ball being put in separately.
Judging from older depictions of loading muskets using a powder horn with separate wadding and ball, I can see why this innovation was such a landmark.
I do remember that even with the paper cartridges, rifled barrels made loading tight fitting balls slower - during the Napoleonic era, the standard ROF by line infantry using the Brown Bess musket was ~4 shots/minute, while the Baker rifle usually only managed 1 or 2 (and not just because they took the effort to aim).Last edited by Brother Oni; 2012-11-24 at 07:26 AM.