5 weapon myths from the movies
- Thread starter ravells
- Start date
I know what that is like, I recently did some volunteer work for habitat for humanity, tried to pick up a bay window unit, heavy but nothing I couldn't have done easily when I was younger and my back said - er no you don't.
That is why we're playing Traveller I guess.
That is why we're playing Traveller I guess.
LOL....I have those same "yer gettin old" moments myself. When I was taking the A/C unit out of my bedroom window last month my back and shoulder rebelled. So I drop it two stories and it embeds itself a couple of inches in the dirt. One of my kids was in the kitchen directly under my bedroom and heard the thud and saw the shadow flash past the window.
There was a day not long ago that I would have pulled it out, carried down three flights of stairs to store in the garage and hardly be breathing hard. But I'm getting old so I can't seem to remember when that day was now...
There was a day not long ago that I would have pulled it out, carried down three flights of stairs to store in the garage and hardly be breathing hard. But I'm getting old so I can't seem to remember when that day was now...
And re: the playing Traveller part....I wish I was playing Traveller! RL has once again ground the current campaign to a halt. I was just talking today with one of the core players about trying to restart it, but we can't come up with a good solution given all the disparate schedules.
I have been seriously considering Skyping the thing as a virtual in-person game.
I have been seriously considering Skyping the thing as a virtual in-person game.
Fritz_Brown
Super Moderator
I've been in a Skype game for a long while now. It isn't face-to-face, but it does work. (You will step on each other more often than in face-to-face.)
I figured it would. And even the dice rolling wouldn't be a problem since I have several dice programs we can use online as we play to keep it honest (except for me, the humble ref).
It would even make some of the information distribution easier with maps and other graphics since the players would have their computer in front of them, not passing around a laptop or squinting at a drawing.
How many play in your game and how long are the sessions?
And since we all have cams it will be pretty face-to-face. Why isn't yours?
It would even make some of the information distribution easier with maps and other graphics since the players would have their computer in front of them, not passing around a laptop or squinting at a drawing.
How many play in your game and how long are the sessions?
And since we all have cams it will be pretty face-to-face. Why isn't yours?
Skype sounds fun, myself I don't have the time for that type of game, but if you could do it, I would. I have the pbp game in my sig (GM) and then one on the Mongoose forum (Player), they have to satisfy my trav playing hunger.
Maybe I'll get the chance for a face to face again.
Maybe I'll get the chance for a face to face again.
Rapier is, actually. It's not fenced in the same circles, but it's still sport fencing. (The opposite of sport being practical combat training.)
Epee is the heaviest of the Olympic fencing weapons.
Fritz_Brown
Super Moderator
We don't use dice-rolling programs - it's all trust. (Of course, we've known each other for over 20 years, so that's easier.)
That depends entirely on how much bandwidth they have and the quality of their connections. Multi-MB graphics files can take quite a while to download through Skype if someone has a poor connection. If everyone has decent machines and a good broadband connection, then it will work better. You can add Idroo to your Skype, too, to get a whiteboard function. It *really* adds to the power/memory/bandwidth suckage, but it can be very handy. (Idroo is especially handy for combat situational awareness.)
We usually have four of us, though we're adding another familiar face of late. We usually play for about three to four hours on a Saturday night. Then one of the guys has to go sleep. (Wuss!
) (We're just now getting back into Traveller, as we have been doing RollMaster for a while.)Cams just make the bandwidth issue worse. Plus, it would mean we had to look at each other's ugly mugs, instead of at a picture of the character.
I'm not sure how much it would solve the stepping-on-each-other issue, anyway, given the inherent slight delays.
All that was about what I expected in terms of bandwidth and horsepower - the main bottleneck being all their assorted laptops on wifi. I have a more than sufficient bandwidth and plenty of horsepower on my desktop to maintain several Skype calls with cams...but most of the laptops in question are IMO substandard and none of the players is what you would mistake for computer savvy.
At least their is only 4 of them, so your group seems a good example then. And maybe avatars would be the way to go. The dice roller thing is mainly just-in-case for one player, but I can absorb some minor suspicion if needs be when his rolls start getting a little too good to maybe be true.
We'll try it out this weekend and see what happens during a short test run. It will be kinda weird, though, to not seeing anyone's faces, but maybe that semi-isolation will encourage a couple of guys who tend to take a subordinate role in the game to be more assertive.
Thanks, I'll let you know what happens.
At least their is only 4 of them, so your group seems a good example then. And maybe avatars would be the way to go. The dice roller thing is mainly just-in-case for one player, but I can absorb some minor suspicion if needs be when his rolls start getting a little too good to maybe be true.
We'll try it out this weekend and see what happens during a short test run. It will be kinda weird, though, to not seeing anyone's faces, but maybe that semi-isolation will encourage a couple of guys who tend to take a subordinate role in the game to be more assertive.
Thanks, I'll let you know what happens.
saundby
SOC-14 1K
That's my experience, too, on both ends of the pike.
I carried a bottle mace on a wrist lanyard when wielding a pike. I would use the pike with the butt planted on the ground (preferably near my opponent's feet to control their movement) as a sort of shield, and use the mace right-handed as well (I'm naturally left handed with sword and shield). That gave me their shield for protection as well (particularly if I could close to put my shoulder into it and run it for them.)
I would also use a banner on the end of the pike to drape over their faceplate to either defer their advance or give me a chance to clobber them with the mace before they could see that I was changing weapons.
Mostly I ran away and hoped someone more appropriately armed for one on one combat would get them engaged so that I could go back to killing while hiding behind someone with a shield.
My favorite place to be positioned with a pike was near a flank, where we usually had some people hanging loose as a reserve that would get me out of trouble.
saundby
SOC-14 1K
When I used to shoot a 90lb traditional wooden longbow in competition regularly, a friend with a 150lb longbow he couldn't draw talked me into using it. I had to work out specifically to do so, and managed it while I did, but I preferred the control I had with a lighter bow of 90 to 120lbs even when I was up to stringing and shooting the 150lb'er. I was also a lot faster on the timed and hunting rounds with the lighter bows.
I had to give it up when other pressures on time meant that I couldn't spend as much time in the gym to keep up with it. But my buddy was glad that it got used.
Amber Chancer
SOC-12
Yeah - my suspicion, Saundby, is that the key lies in the fact that these bowstaves were brought up from a ship.
In sixteenth century naval warfare, the advantage of a teensy bit of extra range for your principal anti-personnel standoff weapon could be immeasurable. And whilst the additional range acquired for each additional pound of draw weight tails off quite spectacularly at these sort of weights because of the impliciations of the draw weight for the arrow used, there is nevertheless an increase in maximum range with each additional pound.
On land, you'd say "Sod it - I'll just take three steps closer to the enemy and use a bow with a 10lb lighter draw". At sea, you can't always do that without getting wet.
In sixteenth century naval warfare, the advantage of a teensy bit of extra range for your principal anti-personnel standoff weapon could be immeasurable. And whilst the additional range acquired for each additional pound of draw weight tails off quite spectacularly at these sort of weights because of the impliciations of the draw weight for the arrow used, there is nevertheless an increase in maximum range with each additional pound.
On land, you'd say "Sod it - I'll just take three steps closer to the enemy and use a bow with a 10lb lighter draw". At sea, you can't always do that without getting wet.
As I recall, the standard tactic for longbow infantry units wasn't for the individual to pick specific targets - which would make shields an issue - but for the unit to fire upward en masse so that the volley fell downward from above into a small area, essentially indirect artillery. Straight shots (or as straight as a bow can manage, at any rate) were reserved for when the enemy closed with the line, which is why the archers held the flanks. Under such an arrangement, precise accuracy at long range is less important than being able to get the best range out of the weapon.
I caught Skyfall yesterday and while I enjoyed it, there was one scene that really made me groan. In it Bond fires a vintage double barrelled .500 nitro extress elephant gun and it has as much recoil as a Daisy Air Gun. If there is one thing I would change in the movies it would be showing recoil when fireing a gun, esp. a big old elephant gun.
R
R
Amber Chancer
SOC-12
You never FIRE an arrow, Carlo - it is an anachronistic term in the context of a weapon which pre-dates gunpowder, and inappropriate in any event as there is no fire involved in its discharge.
You only ever SHOOT an arrow.
I saw it, too, and looked forward to seeing him blast a baddie with the thing - both barrels would make quit a mess. But like a lot in that movie they just didn't deliver. I thought for a moment he would use it to take down the Merlin - that would be kinda Bondian.
BTW: I have 15mm "Express" gauss rifles IMTU firing APHE rounds for really big game hunting. The rounds penetrate deep and then detonate. Double barrels with one shot each - the reloads contain the round and charge for the coils so if you miss a charging Cheshire Cat with both barrels you're in trouble unless your loyal native bearer has another rifle to hand you right quick.
It may seem eccentric but I love those old elephant guns like the H&H .577. They just reek of safari expeditions.
It may seem eccentric but I love those old elephant guns like the H&H .577. They just reek of safari expeditions.
A-Square makes special-purpose big game rifles in a variety of calibers but their .577 Tyrannosaur is their ultimate big game one-shot stopper. It is designed for that last second must-stop shot of a charging big game animal like an elephant or cape buffalo.
This is the link to the bullet section of their site where they show before/after shots of their three bullet types. The Monolithic and Lion loads are particularly interesting since they defy conventional wisdom (Hollywood and other). Penetration is emphasized for all three, not so much expansion - which it points out is often counter-productive.
http://a-squareco.com/Triad.html
These are of particular interest to a referee who wants to write up a safari adventure. These are the staple of a lot of old space operas - the Flandry story, Tiger By The Tail, has some good ideas on the subject. And one of the issues of JTAS has a safari hunt in it, but I can't find which it is.
The big game I come up with are usually because somebody wants to go hunting so I usually also come up with some monster elephant gun type weapon to hunt with. It impresses the players but it useless for much else - like today's elephant guns. But there is always somebody who wants a one-shot pistol or sawed-off version for hiding under their coat.
This is the link to the bullet section of their site where they show before/after shots of their three bullet types. The Monolithic and Lion loads are particularly interesting since they defy conventional wisdom (Hollywood and other). Penetration is emphasized for all three, not so much expansion - which it points out is often counter-productive.
http://a-squareco.com/Triad.html
These are of particular interest to a referee who wants to write up a safari adventure. These are the staple of a lot of old space operas - the Flandry story, Tiger By The Tail, has some good ideas on the subject. And one of the issues of JTAS has a safari hunt in it, but I can't find which it is.
The big game I come up with are usually because somebody wants to go hunting so I usually also come up with some monster elephant gun type weapon to hunt with. It impresses the players but it useless for much else - like today's elephant guns. But there is always somebody who wants a one-shot pistol or sawed-off version for hiding under their coat.
