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Timothy Gulics
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 Posted: Fri 26 Mar, 2004 6:28 pm Post subject: Swords You'd Take Into Battle |
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Hello gentlemen (and ladies!).
This promises to be a fun topic... I'm hopeful it will get a lot of reads and replies. Here goes:
What sword would you take into battle?
Consider this scenario. The world as we know it is post-apocalypse. Perhaps a nuclear catastrophe has left the continents a burning wasteland ala Mad Max, or an unknown virus has reanimated the dead into killing machines along the lines of Night/Dawn/Day of the Dead. Whatever the case may be, you have suddenly been thrust into a cutthroat survival-of-the-fittest situation and you must travel the lands fending off brigands and thieves. Firearms reign, but only if you have ammunition. Edged weapons are necessary for survival. What sword would you pick?
Basically, this can be broken down into two questions:
1. What sword from any current maker would you want to have at your side? (you can also be generic and say "any blade from _______" and list the maker).
2. What one sword from your own collection would you trust your life to?
You can pick another edged weapon besides a sword, although my primary focus here is to see what everyone thinks is the best sword for actual full-on combat. This isn't tamagishiri - you're going against other sword-wielding and possibly armored individuals. A good cutter may not hold up... or it might kick butt. It's your opinion!
I'm eager to see your responses. 
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Gary Grzybek
Location: Stillwater N.J. Joined: 25 Aug 2003
Posts: 559
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| Posted: Fri 26 Mar, 2004 7:03 pm Post subject: |
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Not that I have it yet but, my Albion Next Gen Viceroy would be my first choice. I think it would be logical in a sense that if I have to deal with unknown defenses it would be best to have a weapon that could cut as well as thrust.
Two men enter, one man leaves 
Gary Grzybek
ARMA Northern N.J.
www.armastudy.org
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Douglas Peters
Location: Baton Rouge,LA Joined: 17 Nov 2003
Posts: 25
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| Posted: Fri 26 Mar, 2004 7:43 pm Post subject: |
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Aye I'd have to agree with Gary about about the Viceroy. It just seems like a great cutter, and yet it looks to be nice and rigid for the thrust. Maybe, just maybe I'd go with some kind of basket hilt broad/backsword. Course I don't have any of the above...yet. So out of my Paul Chen ppk and my Atrim Seneschal, I'd go with my Atrim.
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Patrick Kelly
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| Posted: Fri 26 Mar, 2004 8:22 pm Post subject: |
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Well, since I have plenty of firearms and ammunition I think I could have just about any sword I wanted.
"In valor there is hope.".................. Tacitus
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Joe Fults
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| Posted: Fri 26 Mar, 2004 8:32 pm Post subject: |
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I think it is important to go with what you kow and not take a wild guess that there is something better in this hypothetical scenario. So at least for now I will take my A&A GBS. I trust it not to fail, it will stand up to armor if armor is about, and is the only sword I have right now (at least for a few more days). 
"The goal shouldn’t be to avoid being evil; it should be to actively do good." - Danah Boyd
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Alexi Goranov
myArmoury Alumni
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| Posted: Fri 26 Mar, 2004 9:58 pm Post subject: |
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| Gary Gzubeck wrote: |
Not that I have it yet but, my Albion Next Gen Viceroy would be my first choice. I think it would be logical in a sense that if I have to deal with unknown defenses it would be best to have a weapon that could cut as well as thrust.
Two men enter, one man leaves |
Hmmmm, lets seee. Cut well...thrust..deal witl all kinds of armor. How abot a A&A pole axe? I know its not a sword but hey, got to compromize 
Alexi
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Brian M
Location: Austin, TX Joined: 01 Oct 2003
Posts: 500
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| Posted: Sat 27 Mar, 2004 12:18 am Post subject: |
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| Patrick Kelly wrote: | | Well, since I have plenty of firearms and ammunition I think I could have just about any sword I wanted. |
 You have answered the riddle correctly, Patrick. The answer is, "guns beat knives."
My personal choice is an M-14 with a few thousand rounds. The more the better.
Brian M
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Douglas Peters
Location: Baton Rouge,LA Joined: 17 Nov 2003
Posts: 25
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| Posted: Sat 27 Mar, 2004 1:03 am Post subject: |
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Yeah first thing I'd do is go find/loot myself a new gun and some ammo. I'm sure in a post apocolyptic world I'd be seriously underpowered with no more than a S&W .38 and Ruger 10/22. Course when I first saw this I started wondering if there would be any way to make more modern ammo with a limited power source or none, or would it revert back to maybe black-powder weapons?
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Brian M
Location: Austin, TX Joined: 01 Oct 2003
Posts: 500
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| Posted: Sat 27 Mar, 2004 1:20 am Post subject: |
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Well, in that case you could get yourself any firearm you wanted with a .22 and some patience.
About reverting to more primitive firearms, specifically blackpowder/lead ball.....
The oldest smokeless powder loads date back to the 1890s or so. These 115-year old (at most) cartridges can still be fired today. You might or might not get some misfires. I personally have fired 90-year old smokeless ammo without misfires. So, it might be a while before modern ammo goes "bad." Of course, if you didn't have a stockpile, you might have to revert to manufactuing black powder and molding lead bullets. Well, it is possible to make smokeless powder even with fairly primitive resources, if you know how.
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Markus Haider
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| Posted: Sat 27 Mar, 2004 2:46 am Post subject: |
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My first choice too would be of course a gun, a rifle and a lot of ammunition.
All of my swords I currently own are well enough to trust my life to them, but my Atrim would be the one I would choose first. A long single-hand sword, with enough room on the pommel to use it with two hands too, a cut and thrust XVIII-blade, light and easy to carry around. The second choice would be my Clontarf, only because it is "only" a cutting sword, and not as flexible because of this.
If I could choose one sword of any maker, it would come down to the Regent, the not-yet-shown XIX-Bastard sword by Albion and a Schiavona by Patrick Bartà.
Last edited by Markus Haider on Sat 27 Mar, 2004 2:48 am; edited 2 times in total
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Steve Fabert
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| Posted: Sat 27 Mar, 2004 2:47 am Post subject: |
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| Patrick Kelly wrote: | | Well, since I have plenty of firearms and ammunition I think I could have just about any sword I wanted. :D |
Agreed. Which is why my own interest in historical sword types ends with the arrival of firearms on the European battlefield. Swords only make sense when nobody brings a gun to the knife fight. Likewise for full body armor.
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Kenneth Enroth
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| Posted: Sat 27 Mar, 2004 3:17 am Post subject: |
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How long did it take for guns to become the primary weapon after they were invented? My understanding is that the first guns were quite ineffective. I remember seeing a pic of a suit of armor with a dent on the breastplate supposedly caused by a bullet.
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Gary Grzybek
Location: Stillwater N.J. Joined: 25 Aug 2003
Posts: 559
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| Posted: Sat 27 Mar, 2004 3:32 am Post subject: |
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| Patrick Kelly wrote: | | Well, since I have plenty of firearms and ammunition I think I could have just about any sword I wanted. |
Gee Patrick, your taking all the fun out of this thread.
Of course a gun would be more logical but the subject seems to be about edged weapons. 
Gary Grzybek
ARMA Northern N.J.
www.armastudy.org
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Gary Grzybek
Location: Stillwater N.J. Joined: 25 Aug 2003
Posts: 559
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| Posted: Sat 27 Mar, 2004 3:34 am Post subject: |
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| Alexi Goranov wrote: | | Gary Gzubeck wrote: |
Not that I have it yet but, my Albion Next Gen Viceroy would be my first choice. I think it would be logical in a sense that if I have to deal with unknown defenses it would be best to have a weapon that could cut as well as thrust.
Two men enter, one man leaves |
Hmmmm, lets seee. Cut well...thrust..deal witl all kinds of armor. How abot a A&A pole axe? I know its not a sword but hey, got to compromize
Alexi |
A good pole arm would be a wise choice too. Okay then, the Viceroy would be my back up
Gary Grzybek
ARMA Northern N.J.
www.armastudy.org
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Steve Fabert
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| Posted: Sat 27 Mar, 2004 4:25 am Post subject: |
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| Kenneth Enroth wrote: | | I remember seeing a pic of a suit of armor with a dent on the breastplate supposedly caused by a bullet. |
Once firearms became common armor was made thicker to resist bullets. It became standard practice to proof a breastplate by firing a shot into it, usually in a conspicuous location., to demonstrate its degree of resistance. So an armor breastplate from later years would be unacceptable without such a dent, created by the maker of the armor.
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Timothy Gulics
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| Posted: Sat 27 Mar, 2004 5:26 am Post subject: |
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Of course, if firearms weren't available, there are always crossbows 
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Brian M
Location: Austin, TX Joined: 01 Oct 2003
Posts: 500
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| Posted: Sat 27 Mar, 2004 8:19 am Post subject: |
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| Kenneth Enroth wrote: | | How long did it take for guns to become the primary weapon after they were invented? My understanding is that the first guns were quite ineffective. I remember seeing a pic of a suit of armor with a dent on the breastplate supposedly caused by a bullet. |
It took, arguably, until the 1600s (about 300 years of development) for firearms to really make hand-powered weapons and body armor completely obsolete. Well, I suppose body armor became obsolete in the 1600s, hand-powered wepons hung around longer.
The dented breastplates were the maker's "proof" of the piece, his guarantee that it had been tested. I think they sometimes "proofed" armor with a crossbow shot as well.
Brian M
edit--Doh! Someone beat me to it.
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Roger Hooper
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| Posted: Sat 27 Mar, 2004 8:53 am Post subject: |
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A couple of people have mentioned the A&A poll-axe. I'll go with that too, in combination with the Albion Sovereign for close in work.
 Attachment: 51.9 KB
Arms and Armor Poll-axe
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Chad Arnow
myArmoury Team
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| Posted: Sat 27 Mar, 2004 9:19 am Post subject: |
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If I were fighting on horseback against foot soldiers, then I'd use my ArmArt. If in close quarters or on foot, either my Albion Sovereign (when it arrives) with a shield or my Armour Class basket with a targe and my Vince Evans dirk.
ChadA
http://chadarnow.com/
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Joel Whitmore
Location: Simmesport, LA Joined: 25 Aug 2003
Posts: 342
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| Posted: Sat 27 Mar, 2004 5:25 pm Post subject: I know what I'd take... |
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My Cashen Anduril, A&A two-hander for those pesky horses (since I can't ride) and the Atrim 12th Century short sword ( Type XII). Also I'd bring a 4'x5' peice of 2" steel adn lotsa foul language so Patrick could run out of ammo shooting at me Then I'd do him in with my last bottle of Scotch and some crawfish etouffe'. Man's gotta use his head in those post-apocolyptic scenerios.
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This is a standard topic