[MUD-Dev] Source data on Crossbow

[clawrenc at cup.hp.com]

In <Pine.LNX.3.96.970718203046.242G-100000 at mpc.dyn.ml.org>, on
07/18/97 
   at 12:37 PM, Matt Chatterley <root at mpc.dyn.ml.org> said:

>On Fri, 18 Jul 1997 clawrenc at cup.hp.com wrote:

>> Read up on the old Roman gladiators.  Look out for the guys with net
>> and trident.  They were *quite* effective.

>The Roman gladiators were pretty darned effective in any case.. at
>least the good (read: surviving) ones. 

Many were more famous in their time than Michael Jordan is in the US. 
A couple even had stabs at becoming Roman consuls.  Several were
national heros.

>Weapons which
>immobilise the opponent temporarily are often overlooked in mud
>combat (perhaps because it doesnt fit the romantic
>one-on-one-with-swords-clashing notion?)

It might also be worth looking into the various sword and cloak
fighting techniques.  There's a whole area devoted to swordplay with a
cloak either wrapped about the off arm (a pseudo shield) or draped
from the off arm (an entanglement weapon).

Then there's (unsuccessfully searching the cranium for the correct
french term), the basic attack method of deiberately walking onto your
opponent's rapier (*ONLY* do this with non-edged weapons) and while
his weapon is immobilised in your body dispatching him at leisure. 
The trick of course was to ensure that he ran you thru at some
non-vital spot (just inside or outside of the kidneys was a popular
area, legs were also popular as being more fleshy than arms).  It was
a marvelously successful and popular technique in its time BTW for
leveling the playing field between duellists of significantly
different skill levels, and gained considerable notoriety and disdain
on that account.  (An admission of inadequacy at swordplay, but a bold
statement on physical fortitude)

>>   A band of Orcs runs at you screaming and waving their swords!
>>   Bubba throws a small stone at them.
>>   The stone turns into a small galleon with all sails set!
>>   Crash!  The galleon smashes into the ground!
>>   The Orcs are gone.

>LOL! I love that one. Makes my tales of paultry screaming stones,
>lightning arrows and explosive blow-darts pale in comparison. :)

It made for rather cluttered battlefield.  Several ships, boats,
castles, houses, horses, casks, etc scattered about willy-nilly.

--
J C Lawrence                           Internet: claw at null.net
(Contractor)                           Internet: coder at ibm.net
---------------(*)               Internet: clawrenc at cup.hp.com
...Honorary Member Clan McFUD -- Teamer's Avenging Monolith...