Real-world testing?

Orkin

Mongoose
How many of you (players/developers) actually test some of these techniques/situations etc in the "real world"? For instance, the practicality of carrying a lot of wargear over rought terrain, and whether given sword techniques will work? :?:
 
Live roleplay, medieval re-enactment, that kinda thing.

I do medieval re-enactment in 15th century kit: arming doublet, long mail hauberk with full sleeves, visored sallet helmet, Milanese plate gauntlets, bevoir. I'm building up to a suit of full plate -- picking up my plate leg harness next month, with a bit of luck. I use authentic-weight steel sword, spear, buckler and/or dagger with this.

Live roleplay is foam weapons, so that's pretty unrealistic, but I'm a lot more likely to be running round in armour all day long over rough terrain at an LRP event!

I have tried sleeping in mail once, too, just to see what it was like, and it was dashed uncomfortable and cold. :)
 
I too do medieval reenactment, though my harness isn't precisely synchronized with the period. I have a sleeveless maille hauberk, leather-and-plate gorget, articulated plate arms and plate 3/4 legs, clamshell gauntlets and round-top bascinet helm. I generally use a war spear or German-style longsword (war sword per the Conan rules), or a combination of arming sword and axe or arming sword and cutlass. I abhor shields; I just can't seem to use them for anything but obstructing my own vision.

Ian: I fought all day in my hauberk before I took the sleeves off (about 16 hours' worth), slept in it on a picnic bench, then fought 10 more hours the next day. I was pretty much wiped out by that; I kept falling asleep at the wheel on the 3-hour drive home. I can only imagine if I had the rest of my harness on :shock: That was only LARP'ing, not the full-scale reenactment I normally do.

As to combat techniques, I think a lot of Howard's descriptions are pretty good. He often describes poorly-trained warriors reaching back for a powerful blow, only to find Conan's point in their throats. The same applies in reenactment combat. Speed is everything! The fastest way to get the most power is with a thrusting weapon, so spears and thrusting swords are ideal for armored combat. Slashing weapons are not so useful if your opponent's wearing harness, because the time it takes to get such a weapon up to speed can lead to your death. There's a reason why the Germans focused on the spear, lance, dagger and longsword as their primary weapons.

Oh, if you can't tell, I'm a big fan of the Liechtenauer/Ringeck school of fence. :wink:
 
I do SCA, primary sword and board sheildman in the army of Calontir and I have to agree with the earlier comment. It's all about the speed. Well, that and polearms.

As for the carrying of gear, in real life, I'm a Cavalry Scout and often hump lots of gear over some serious terrain. Just came back from a one year tour in Korea this past week in fact. So I'd say I have some serious experience in this department. What is it about it your wanting to know?

Wisp
 
Orkin said:
How many of you (players/developers) actually test some of these techniques/situations etc in the "real world"? For instance, the practicality of carrying a lot of wargear over rought terrain, and whether given sword techniques will work? :?:

My knowledge of sword techniques is purely observational & theoretical, but I have a bit of experience in humping wargear over rough terrain from the TA. AIR with a bit of training & acclimitisation a typical not-that-fit type like me can move fast (hustle to run in D&D terms) with around 50lb weight over moderately rough terrain for several hours, more than I'd have expected was possible from my usual sedentary life, and be ready to go again after a few minutes' rest. It seems like actual super-fit types can carry 100lb+ quite easily. In the Falklands War British soldiers yomped across the Falklands carrying around their own body weight in kit (ca 180-200lb). The D&D/d20 weight limits seem fairly reasonable although the given weights for equipment tend to be very high, presumably adding in a 'cumbersome' factor, and the fatigue penalties for hustling etc kick in rather early.
 
Orkin said:
How many of you (players/developers) actually test some of these techniques/situations etc in the "real world"? For instance, the practicality of carrying a lot of wargear over rought terrain, and whether given sword techniques will work? :?:

I practice Iaido, and I have been for about 10 years.
I'm a national championship medalist in Iaido. And I got a pretty decent rating in the Eropean Championship as well. (note: Competition is divided into classes, so even if I win my class there could still be a 100 guys better than me)

So basically, if you want to know stuff about japanese-unarmoured-single-sword-techniques... I'm your man.

/wolf
 
I rode as a Norman knight at the Battle of Hastings refight a couple of years ago. Having been used to Napoleonic re-enacting, I nearly got spinal damage from putting a coif on. Damn, but chainmail is heavy. No doubt one would get used to the weight, wearing it every day, but it's still something you'd take off every opportunity you get.

I also found out why knights need squires. it took 4 other people to get me up and mounted - horseholder, two guys with weapons and the bloke giving me a leg up... :oops:
 
I've been knocking around with various kinds of swordplay, medieval reenactment and woodcraft for many snows indeed. I've also done a fair bit of D&D (Chainmail for oldtimers). I find it refreshing that most of the judgements on this list are (or at least try to be) based on real-world realities of what worked and didn't work in ancient warfare.
BTW I'm studying longsword in the style of Fiore dei Liberi. Also some Silver, which I think is closest to Conan's style: know the distance and the time, and strike first... :)
 
Orkin said:
I've been knocking around with various kinds of swordplay, medieval reenactment and woodcraft for many snows indeed. I've also done a fair bit of D&D (Chainmail for oldtimers). I find it refreshing that most of the judgements on this list are (or at least try to be) based on real-world realities of what worked and didn't work in ancient warfare.
BTW I'm studying longsword in the style of Fiore dei Liberi. Also some Silver, which I think is closest to Conan's style: know the distance and the time, and strike first... :)

In a Napoleonic 'duel' once , seeing I was up against somebody who totally outclassed me, I started by throwing my sabre up in the air. Then, while the guy (he was a Czech, IIRC) was looking up at it in bewilderment, i leapt on him and inflicted a degree of punishment before I was hauled off and informed that i had lost due to 'bad form'. :oops: :shock: :twisted:
 
I once won a 'duel' by punching my opponent in the faceplate and knocking him semi-conscious. It's amazing what you can do when the chinstrap on someone's barrel helm comes undone ;)
 
I am a three time NHB world champion with over 27 years experience in the martial arts. I have also studied advance sword and knife fighting. One thing is for certain. Two weapon fighting is deadly. Particularly when trying to land a blow on someone that is wielding two weapons.
 
Mongoose Old Bear said:
In a Napoleonic 'duel' once , seeing I was up against somebody who totally outclassed me, I started by throwing my sabre up in the air. Then, while the guy (he was a Czech, IIRC) was looking up at it in bewilderment, i leapt on him and inflicted a degree of punishment before I was hauled off and informed that i had lost due to 'bad form'. :oops: :shock: :twisted:

Sounds like a perfect Feint, followed by a Sneak Attack. My guess is that you have the Improved Feint Feat, and weren't playing Conan the RPG. :wink:

Sorry Old Bear, I just had to. :lol:

TTFN,

Yokiboy
 
I used to play in a larp where "Shatter" and "Warp Wood" spells were easily available to spellcasters. Mend spells were also available, but who has time to mend a weapon in the middle of a fight?

Thus, backup weapons were a must.

Even though they were lightweight LARP gear, not the real thing, the sheer logistics of carrying 2 longswords, 2 shortswords, a flail, a mace, two daggers, and a shield, in such a way as to make sure that you could easily draw any of them, took some thinking about.

There was also the need to carry a bag of bandages - and be able to find the big bandages (for body wounds) or small bandages (limbs) fast enough to stop the casualty from bleeding to death.

Ditto for any potions you wanted to carry. You know how hard it is to carry a selection of different potions whilst not breaking them every time you hit the ground? Whilst still making sure that they were easy to access should you need them in a hurry?

And holy water too - the undead in this game could quite often not be stopped without it, which meant making sure you had plenty of it - again, carried in such a way as to be able to get to it and use it quickly - often with one hand. (And since we, in the real world, had to worry about litter too, you also had to have somewhere you could quickly stuff your empties in the heat of battle)

*****

If there is anything LARP taught me, it was that the idea of the adventurer with the big backpack full of all his useful gear is a very impractical one. You need lots of small, easy to open pouches, or bandoliers, perhaps, in which to carry your gear, preferable colour coded.

That, and that all adventurers should carry a small dose of healing potion on a cord around their neck, so that if they hit the deck and are bleeding to death, the first person to get to them, even if it isn't the cleric, knows exactly where to find a healing potion and thus can save their life. (of course, this doesnt work in Conan)
 
A question for the Guest who is a 3 time world NHB champion. What organization is that in? I have 9 MMA fights and follow the sport very closely though I have only fought 2 professional fights I keep up with the major organizations and a few of the minor ones. I Assume when you say NHB you mean MMA (mixed martial arts) and as far as I know there are only 3 organizations which have "world" status, Pride, UFC and possible Shooto, with the King of the Cage being a notable entry. There are also a couple of Eastern European organizations, and at a stretch would be world organizations. My curiosity is maxed on this, what organization are you a three time champion in?
 
I played tuba in a marching band. I had to carry it everywhere for a couple of years. It was kind of heavy. Does that count for anything?

No? Oh. Ok. Nevermind.
 
wyerdo said:
I played tuba in a marching band. I had to carry it everywhere for a couple of years. It was kind of heavy. Does that count for anything?

No? Oh. Ok. Nevermind.

LOL! :lol:

Man I'm tired... off to bed I go, thanks for the laugh wyerdo.

TTFN,

Yokiboy
 
wyerdo said:
I played tuba in a marching band. I had to carry it everywhere for a couple of years. It was kind of heavy. Does that count for anything?

No? Oh. Ok. Nevermind.

Hey, I had to do that too. I didn't even get to use one of the plastic-horned suzaphone (sp?) marching-tubas, either. I had to lug around a concert tuba when I marched. This is why I quit the band and took up football when I reached high school. At least with football, all the physical exertion had the upside of getting to hit people :)
 
Back
Top