Pick #92: What does a real sword weigh?

Have you ever wondered what a real suit of plate weighs, and whether you can move around in it if you're not like Lou Ferigno? Or have you ever wondered whether two-handed swords were really as cumbersome and heavy as the older GM guide said in Dungeons & Dragons? Thirty pounds for a sword seems rather hefty to use - that's about the weight of a bicycle. Because, what's the use of a big weapon or powerful armour if it badly slows you down?

Well, here are a few writers who bust the myth. They just tried it on and did their historical research. Plate armour was really made to be easy to carry. Maybe it's not as comfortable as spandex tights for the X-men, but it's surely workable. And two-handers? The well-balanced ones were easy to wield, they say, if you know how to. The less balanced ones were probably never meant for fighting, and if these were used at all, they would only have been used at executions. And how much do they weigh? A few pounds.

Check out what I Clausewitz and J. Clements at ARMA have to say about it. You might also have a look at the extensive information by the Metropolitan Museum in NY or laugh about the Dragon Preservation Society take on this one. If you're not handling swords every day, they may give you a few eyeopeners. They did for me, when I first read them!

Drawing by Urs Graf, borrowed from Dragon Preservation Society, picturing what a true 30 pound sword would look like.

Real Flashing Blades Revisited

Looking for inspiration I flipped through some old posts about real fighting. And then I mean the flashing, fierce, furious kind, which we try to simulate in our role playing games.

Then I noticed one of my linked through videos about bucklers was gone (copyright reasons)... So I looked up a few other nice SCA and swordfighting ones. As food for thought.



Here they try to hit each other harder, with foam blades.



Guess that Armour Class, Hit Points and THACO don't really simulate this for me!

Or how about Pennsic, with a full scale battle? Notice how both parties don't seem to look forward to full contact for a while. Even if they carry foam blades.



And then there's this view of the 2011 Viking festival in Wolin, Poland... with more realistic weaponry.



How to get that kind of feeling in to your RPG? Would be nice eh?

OSR Experiments #27: More (Almost?) Real Shield Bashing

How does a real fight with shields look? I still wonder - SCA gives an idea. Here's another one. Skallagrim, one of the founders of the Skjaldborg - that's "Shield Wall" in old Norse has a load of videos of what they do with their viking group. They look pretty cool. Even if they are semi-choreographed. More food for thought!

Or like this (no he's not dead):



And what it looks like if you're in it:

OSR Experiments #26: Real Furious Shields

With all the talk about shields lately, I've started to wonder what a real shield fight looks like. If it's more than a stage or film fight. So I started to scour Youtube a bit, and found this one for example. Even if it's a left hander against a right hander it gives some idea.



Notice how the fighters use their shields to fix their opponent, and force them in a corner? With some luck you could push your foe off balance.
What that would have to mean in a game system, I don't know yet. But it sure makes me think once again.

Just saying you'll use your shield AND your weapon in attack seems a bit simple. Though that might do the trick.

Here's another SCA training, buckler vs shield. See how the buckler is at a real disadvantage. Be patient for the flurries or speed ahead.

OSR Experiments #22: Not all Weapons are Equal

Ok, I'm still watching the videos, but here's a few thoughts I'd like to share. TrentB alerted me to the ARMA medieval fencing masters, who study the real thing. Not the stats, the number crunching, the Great Shield debates, or the abstract hit point related simulation systems called chainmail or D&D. They do the real swordfighting, live.

And on this swordfighting lesson video the teacher (I'm not sure if it's John Clements, but could be) explains the difference between a longsword vs a side sword. The latter, he explains, is rather effective on the battlefield, but the former is much more effective in the street - vs. a single opponent.

That's because the reach of a longsword is greater, even if just a bit. And one hand is kept free, to parry with for example. So, the longsword is excellent to carry around "on the street", because you can quickly take down an opponent with the longer reach. But in the battlefield a side sword (broadsword?) is more useful, because you can create a swooshing barrier to keep enemies from all sides away from you.

I'm not too sure if the difference between a battlefield situation and a one to one situation is at all reflected in D&D (or other) game rules. I know of no example. But I figure it should be, or at least it would add to my enjoyment and feel for the game if that were the case.

Pick #55: Real Flashing Blades

A few posts ago I already introduced you to rather %$#&! impressive swordfighting in European style, twice. This time, I stumbled on another frantic fight video - of real medieval technique. I was actually showing my eight year old daughter what you can do with real swords, if you train well enough so that you don't hurt eachother. She kind of fancies a rather realistic stage fencing epee that lies around the house, so why not? So, I showed her the gladiatores - and then I also saw this one by the fencing guild of Trnava in the Czech Republic.

I first thought they sped the camera up. But they didn't. Have a look.

Pick #46: Swordplay Fechtbuch

If by any chance you were wondering from whence the Gladiatores get their fighting techniques... Many are from a Fechtbuch, or Fighting Book, written in the 15th century written by Peter von Danzig and students. A Fechtbuch is really a martial arts manual, often illuminated with pictures of the fighting maneuvers, meant as a teaching tool. A sort of spell book for fighters.

You might want to use the concept in your campaigns...
a fighter that finds one might reach a new skill level, class level, specialty, feat, proficiency, etc. Manuals with special techniques would be much sought after, especially if they contained secret winning techniques.

Or you might wonder a bit at a few translated  texts from (for example) the Von Danzig manual here. They are provided by Schielhau.org, or Mike Rasmusson, a self-described longsword addict from Toronto. Together with other addicts he made available an impressive set of resources on Fechtbucher.

Image is from the first folio of MS 1449 by Peter von Danzig, by grace of Wikipedia

Pick #45: Impressive Swordplay

I already mentioned them a few weeks ago, but Gladiatores are worth more than one look. They're a group of german enthousiasts who train with real swords, and try to recreate the dueling techniques of the middle ages and renaissance. And they're *%#&@* impressive.

If you ever thought only the Japanese had intricate fighting technique, look and think again. You might even want to role play a cavalier swordsmaster or swashbuckler after you've seen these.

News #12: Swordplay

While indexing some Spanish language sites, I stumbled on this fencing video. You might want to have a look too, it's impressive, stylish, and neat.  And if you regularly think Ork, then this gives a whole different idea of what western style swordfighting could look like.



Thanks to Luiz Miguez of Feldkirch, a Spanish Fudge RPG.