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Old 11-13-2018, 02:58 PM   #11
RogerBW
 
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Default Re: Fencing Game Preferences

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Originally Posted by Fred Brackin View Post
However, 1710 is also a period when you have lots of reliable flintlocks and ahve had for 80 years or more.
In combat time (particularly if it's GURPS) they're basically one-shot weapons, and they're heavy. It makes it harder for the skilled swordsman to hold off a mob of guards, but it doesn't yet render the sword obsolete.
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Old 11-13-2018, 03:02 PM   #12
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Default Re: Fencing Game Preferences

1400's Italy.

I would want it when the cutting sword had not yet lost it's place in civilian usage, and when the HEMA contained interesting stuff like cloaks, bucklers, grasping gloves and daggers. A social venue with clans, secret societies, vendettas, and beautiful women is nice too.
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Old 11-13-2018, 05:45 PM   #13
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Default Re: Fencing Game Preferences

Those of you wanting a Three Musketeers type game just think what the name of the regiments means for their armament.
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Old 11-13-2018, 05:55 PM   #14
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Default Re: Fencing Game Preferences

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Those of you wanting a Three Musketeers type game just think what the name of the regiments means for their armament.
They're full of nougat?
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Old 11-13-2018, 06:33 PM   #15
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Default Re: Fencing Game Preferences

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I'm from Texas, so I naturally assumed late 19th century and we would be ranchers trying to keep the cattle drivers from cutting across our land.



What?
That crossed my mind, too, immediately after D'Artagnan and friends. :)

I like the Three Kingdoms Period, as a suggestion, though.
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Old 11-13-2018, 06:43 PM   #16
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Default Re: Fencing Game Preferences

Well if I were one of your players, and you said "historical" and "fencing" I would think to myself "I don't really know that history very well."

Pirate-themed would be my first thought* but beyond that I would shrug and say, "Three Musketeers"? I don't know a smallsword from a rapier, but the tale told by Dumas sounds like a fun story to be in.

*In this era of reboots and remakes, I can't think of anything I'd like to see a modern take on more than Captain Blood.
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Old 11-13-2018, 06:54 PM   #17
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Default Re: Fencing Game Preferences

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Those of you wanting a Three Musketeers type game just think what the name of the regiments means for their armament.
The title "Musketeers" is weird because you almost never see them with a musket, and they are good swordsmen and horsemen. And they don't seem to have the background for rank and file soldiers of the time. The more you think about it, the stranger it gets.

Turns out the King of France maintained an elite "Nobles only" unit of musketeers. They were not career soldiers, and almost all of them went on to do other things, most notably commanding other military units. It was as useful for networking as attending Harvard is today. So you had the cream of the french nobility in a tight space. They knew fencing and horsemanship not because their unit taught it, but because they were nobility, and generally ambitious nobility at that.

Almost all periods featuring fencing will involve guns as well. You can't really separate the two. You just need to remember that guns only have a single shot (or two if the gun is fancy), and that while they might not be horribly inaccurate, it was expensive to practice aiming, and single shot is often survivable. The sword was a much more reliable weapon, especially for self defense.
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Old 11-13-2018, 07:43 PM   #18
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Default Re: Fencing Game Preferences

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The title "Musketeers" is weird because you almost never see them with a musket, and they are good swordsmen and horsemen. And they don't seem to have the background for rank and file soldiers of the time. The more you think about it, the stranger it gets.

Turns out the King of France maintained an elite "Nobles only" unit of musketeers. They were not career soldiers, and almost all of them went on to do other things, most notably commanding other military units. It was as useful for networking as attending Harvard is today. So you had the cream of the french nobility in a tight space. They knew fencing and horsemanship not because their unit taught it, but because they were nobility, and generally ambitious nobility at that.

Almost all periods featuring fencing will involve guns as well. You can't really separate the two. You just need to remember that guns only have a single shot (or two if the gun is fancy), and that while they might not be horribly inaccurate, it was expensive to practice aiming, and single shot is often survivable. The sword was a much more reliable weapon, especially for self defense.
Not to mention that the large caliber, often subsonic, soft lead ammo had difficulty penetrating the breastplates of the era. In fact, a common test was a pistol shot to the (wearer's) upper left corner of the breastplate on a rested (not worn) piece. If it was dimpled, it was "proofed"; if holed, it was deemed a failure, and often sold on the cheap.

There was an archaeology paper I read about this in, but I don't recall when nor which journal.
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Old 11-13-2018, 08:01 PM   #19
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Default Re: Fencing Game Preferences

It's interesting that nobody's said anything about England. Nobody is fighting for the honor of Queen Elizabeth, or holding up coaches like Dick Turpin.

I certainly hadn't thought of the Warring States. But the jian is a fencing weapon for sure!
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Old 11-13-2018, 08:30 PM   #20
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I certainly hadn't thought of the Warring States. But the jian is a fencing weapon for sure!
I wrote up "Ten Feet of Blue" (the nickname of a Chinese woman who belonged to the 108 stars of destiny) for GURPS Adaptations. She was a lot of fun and probably my favorite character from Water Margin.
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