03-15-2019, 02:24 PM | #261 |
Night Watchman
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Cambridge, UK
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Re: bending stereotypes
I was rather amused by a gunfight in an airship cabin in a GURPS Crimson Skies game. Three six-shot revolvers emptied for zero hits.
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The Path of Cunning. Indexes: DFRPG Characters, Advantage of the Week, Disadvantage of the Week, Skill of the Week, Techniques. |
03-15-2019, 02:41 PM | #262 |
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Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Southeast NC
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Re: bending stereotypes
I think the phrase you are looking for is: "Look, good against remotes is one thing. Good against the living, that's something else."
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RyanW - Actually one normal sized guy in three tiny trenchcoats. |
03-15-2019, 05:59 PM | #263 |
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Alsea, OR
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Re: bending stereotypes
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03-16-2019, 09:01 AM | #264 | ||
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Iceland*
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Re: bending stereotypes
Quote:
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Training often assumes the worst case scenario, i.e. that the suspect with a knife is someone who'd be able to use it effectively, either due to luck or being an incredibly scary man with no nerves or fear, perfect hand-eye coordination and no hesitation to kill. Frankly, though, the vast majority of suspects with knives aren't any of these things. In fact, I have personally read the case files or talked to officers from dozens of cases where a suspect had a knife, but Less-Than-Lethal use of force was sufficient to subdue and/or disarm him. Not one officer in these cases died. In fact, not one officer in Iceland has been killed by a suspect with a knife. This is despite hundreds of cases where someone tried to attack an officer using a knife (and several where they were wounded). Just like most shots in gunfights actually miss, most people cannot reliably inflict a lethal wound with a knife in one try. Certainly very few can reliably inflict a wound that stops someone from pulling a trigger. The difference between shooting or cutting targets on one hand and real people trying to kill you on the other works both ways, with psychological factors often preventing people from performing what would be simple tasks absent adrenaline, confusion and panic. But while it might be a cool head and a hard heart that kill, more than the weapon, the gun is a lot more effective weapon than a knife if the wielder actually withstands the psychological stress and performs effectively. I'm not saying knives are not dangerous. They are and we should absolutely train people for that. Just that it's easy to forget that just because something is dangerous, it doesn't necessarily make it reliable instant death. Pretty much no hand weapon is. But given the choice, I'd rather face a knife than a semi-automatic pistol with 15+ 9x19mm rounds.
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Za uspiekh nashevo beznadiozhnovo diela! Last edited by Icelander; 03-16-2019 at 09:27 AM. |
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03-16-2019, 12:41 PM | #265 | |
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Alsea, OR
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Re: bending stereotypes
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Also, I say this as someone who stabs others on a weekly basis and who has been targeted by muggers multiple ties - the adrenaline rush of fencing is very close to the one I had when mugged. I've never been successfully mugged, having broken attackers' morale in various ways, not limited to: drawing a firearm, using a fencepost as an improvised melee weapon (and breaking the wrist of the attacker), dislocating the attacker's wrist, drawing a sword. A friend has used superglue, stabbing with a pencil, and spraying hot sauce as means of ending muggings. Competence is not correlated to willingness to mug someone. I've returned fire in self defense more than once as a civilian. I was (until sent home) one of the top five shooters in my BT company. Actually shooting in a life or death was, unlike fencing, completely unlike training on ranges, or even the miles gear training. As far as I know, no people were hit in any of the firefights I've been involved in. (Bad neighborhood, early 1990s, lack of police presence. Guys I was with included a former USMC sniper, and a former US Army infantry NCO.) On the other hand, I have injured muggers, in some cases, significantly enough for them to require medical care. I've fended off home invaders multiple times, as well - always with a sword or knife. At/under 20', given the choice, yes, I'd rather have a knife. Even if they have a knife. Even getting firearms drawn is different in a self-defense situation than fast draw training - there's a correlation, but it's not great. It boils down to this: melee training is inherently more risky than firearms training, and thus inherently more similar to the real conflict situation, and therefore more applicable to the actual fight. |
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03-17-2019, 08:00 AM | #266 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Shoreline, WA (north of Seattle)
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Re: bending stereotypes
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03-18-2019, 01:38 PM | #267 |
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Portland, Oregon
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Re: bending stereotypes
A Vulcan who is all about Fewlings, makes poems about nature and romance, and thinks magic is a real thing. Though that may be more a heretic than a stereotype.
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"The navy could probably win a war without coffee but would prefer not to try"-Samuel Eliot Morrison |
03-19-2019, 03:05 AM | #268 |
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Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Southeast NC
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Re: bending stereotypes
How about a Vulcan who openly embraces and admires (and perhaps even envies) the remarkable self-control of his human colleagues that allow them to be all about feelings without going mad.
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RyanW - Actually one normal sized guy in three tiny trenchcoats. |
03-20-2019, 04:00 AM | #269 |
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Alsea, OR
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Re: bending stereotypes
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03-20-2019, 04:02 AM | #270 | |
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Meifumado
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Re: bending stereotypes
Quote:
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