[MUD-Dev] Mud Games

[Matt Chatterley]

On Thu, 11 Sep 1997 clawrenc at cup.hp.com wrote:

> In <341c17c9.72728107 at relay.mnsinc.com>, on 09/08/97 
>    at 08:28 AM, caliban at darklock.com (Caliban Tiresias Darklock) said:
> 
> >This assumes a formal joust. In actual combat, killing or hobbling
> >the mount is the grim and efficient method of unhorsing your
> >opponent. It is still, however, met with some distaste by most.
> 
> The historical ledgers of peasantry being paid to go out and hamstring
> or gut the opponents horses during a battle would seem to contradict
> this, as would the heavy chest armours for chargers.

I think the key element here is perception. If a battle was 'visible' to
the public, and one cared what they thought of one, one would try to
behave 'honourably' to a certain extent. If it were not visible, or you
did not care, you wouldn't. I suppose it also varies with period and
setting, to a great extent.
 
> Against an agile opponent armed with a knife, a heavy armed and
> armoured knight on horseback has little chance.

I'd rephrase that as 'no chance'. In the context of medieval weaponry,
knives are still deceptively lethal, on two fronts: To the wielder if he
is clumsy or untrained, and to the victim if the wielder is neither clumsy
nor unskilled.

This remains true with many other forms of very close quarters combat.

Regards,
	-Matt Chatterley
	http://user.itl.net/~neddy/index.html
"In space, you never know when to expect danger.. except when an
Enterprise away team beams down on a routine mission." -Greg Proops