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The Mystery of The katana
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<blockquote data-quote="Cor_Malek" data-source="post: 5342007" data-attributes="member: 91608"><p>Actually, they got banned mostly because they were a pre-gamebreaker <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite7" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue :p" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":p" /> Finishing off a knight was a really mean feat. You'd rather beat him silly and capture him, getting his stuff and a hefty ransom afterwards from his family.</p><p>Bows - well, bows were mean. Very hard to impossible (as armour form changed) to do something to the knight, but the horse would have it tough. But it was still cool, using a bow is quite hard. You'd need a lot of effort to train your infantry with it (hence the bow tournaments organized by medieval guilds) to a half decent level, and you'd need to build cultivating this skill into the very core of culture of a nation to use it to it's full potential (England actually managed to pull this one off).</p><p></p><p>Now a crossbow? You don't need <em>half</em> as much strength*, and only a percentile of time you'd have to spend on learning to fire a bow. And because you can make it more powerful, you really don't need as sophisticated ammunition.</p><p></p><p>*I've always found baffling the fact that most RPG's either ignore this or even flip it around. I've never fired a crossbow heavier than 4kg - and it had about 130 kg's of pull on it's bow, and <em>lot's</em> of ornaments. With kinda weak, 25-kg bow, you have to hold this strength in <em>your fingers.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p></p><p>As to what's better, katana or a longsword... Well, in the very unlikely event that a knight would face off a samurai - I'm not sure why they'd use their secondary weapons first (or is it tertiary for samurai?). It was largely a "braggin rights" weapon for both, so if it went to trashtalk it could play a role. But still, who'd win? Katanas have bigger mystique, what with cutting the leaf on water, but then again, longsword is not only longer - but also broader. Wait, scratch that - it's an anachronism, a knight would not crack double entendres.</p><p>I still like European swords better, especially the bastard, but maybe I'd feel different if I trained kendo, or something.</p><p></p><p>@ Dausuul: well, maybe not katanas, but other slashing weapons, sure. It's a well established standard to use some kind of slashing weapons when you're not facing heavily armoured opponent - see sabres, scimitars and such. A notable exception to this was a rapier, a exceptionally deadly weapon (which was why in rapier-wielding western Europe, duels were banned much sooner than in sabre-using eastern Europe). Sabre holds much more "stopping power", but with rapier - you can loose the duel, and have the opponent die nevertheless from a fatal internal injury you've dealt in one of the early blows. Not very reassuring when your goal is to live through, but still - it shows how different approach can sort of work.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Cor_Malek, post: 5342007, member: 91608"] Actually, they got banned mostly because they were a pre-gamebreaker :P Finishing off a knight was a really mean feat. You'd rather beat him silly and capture him, getting his stuff and a hefty ransom afterwards from his family. Bows - well, bows were mean. Very hard to impossible (as armour form changed) to do something to the knight, but the horse would have it tough. But it was still cool, using a bow is quite hard. You'd need a lot of effort to train your infantry with it (hence the bow tournaments organized by medieval guilds) to a half decent level, and you'd need to build cultivating this skill into the very core of culture of a nation to use it to it's full potential (England actually managed to pull this one off). Now a crossbow? You don't need [I]half[/I] as much strength*, and only a percentile of time you'd have to spend on learning to fire a bow. And because you can make it more powerful, you really don't need as sophisticated ammunition. *I've always found baffling the fact that most RPG's either ignore this or even flip it around. I've never fired a crossbow heavier than 4kg - and it had about 130 kg's of pull on it's bow, and [I]lot's[/I] of ornaments. With kinda weak, 25-kg bow, you have to hold this strength in [I]your fingers. [/I] As to what's better, katana or a longsword... Well, in the very unlikely event that a knight would face off a samurai - I'm not sure why they'd use their secondary weapons first (or is it tertiary for samurai?). It was largely a "braggin rights" weapon for both, so if it went to trashtalk it could play a role. But still, who'd win? Katanas have bigger mystique, what with cutting the leaf on water, but then again, longsword is not only longer - but also broader. Wait, scratch that - it's an anachronism, a knight would not crack double entendres. I still like European swords better, especially the bastard, but maybe I'd feel different if I trained kendo, or something. @ Dausuul: well, maybe not katanas, but other slashing weapons, sure. It's a well established standard to use some kind of slashing weapons when you're not facing heavily armoured opponent - see sabres, scimitars and such. A notable exception to this was a rapier, a exceptionally deadly weapon (which was why in rapier-wielding western Europe, duels were banned much sooner than in sabre-using eastern Europe). Sabre holds much more "stopping power", but with rapier - you can loose the duel, and have the opponent die nevertheless from a fatal internal injury you've dealt in one of the early blows. Not very reassuring when your goal is to live through, but still - it shows how different approach can sort of work. [/QUOTE]
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