RE: Cookies and Mercs

["Jeffrey C. Sussman" <JSussman@erols.com>]

Poster: "Jeffrey C. Sussman" <JSussman@erols.com>

Greetings from Richard!

I believe that the various armored dummies (or meats) tests are invalid.

The "Telling Blow" concept is not about cutting through an opponents armor.
It is about disabling an opponent.  Of course, cutting through the armor (as
with a spear) is a fine way of disabling an opponent.  But for most blows,
in particular head blows, a telling blow would not cut the head off but
rather stun or concuss the opponent and end the fight.

Recently one senior marshal suggested using pigs in armor to test this
effect.  Those of you from pig farms might be able to answer the question of
telling when a pig is stunned or concussed.  I'm a city boy, I'd have no
idea.

Just because a medieval sword won't normally cut a medieval full helm in
half doesn't make it an ineffective weapon.

Yours in Service to Atlantia,
Duke Richard Fitzgilbert
(Jeffrey Sussman)


"-----Original Message-----
"From: owner-atlantia@csc.ncsu.edu
"[mailto:owner-atlantia@csc.ncsu.edu]On
"Behalf Of Eli White
"Sent: Monday, February 08, 1999 10:53 AM
"To: Kevin of Thornbury; Merry Rose Tavern at Cheapside
"Subject: Re: Cookies and Mercs
"
"
"
"Poster: Eli White <eliwhite@home.com>
"
">Ever actually worn a hauberk over a gambeson, and had someone
"strike you
">with a sharp-edged steel sword?  I haven't.  How hard did that person
">have to hit you to mortally wound you?  Perhaps he could instruct us.
"[snip]
">You know, I own a hauberk and a gambeson and a steel sword.
"Perhaps we
">should dress an inanimate dummy and see what damage we can do.  Maybe
">Gwen's dress form?  :)  Maybe not.
"
"From being on the-armoury mailing list I do know that people
"have done this
"before.  By wrapping a leg of beef, or ribs in a gambeson and
"chain, and
"then whacking on it with a real sword ...
"
"Basically from what I remember, it took ALOT of force to
"actually break the
"bone (although ribs were easier than thigh as you would
"imagine), but that
"it didn't take 'too much' to do major damage to the meat
"itself ... to the
"point that the testers assumed that the person underneath the
"stuff would
"be 'uninclined to continue fighting'
"
"Thrusting was remarkable easy, even with riveted links, as a
"'decent' sword
"would shear or bend the links out of shape enough to allow it
"to pass at
"least a few inches through.
"
"Siegfried
"
"
"______________________________________________________________________
"Siegfried Sebastian Faust          Incipient Barony of Highland Foorde
"       Minister of Misinformation (Chronicler & Web Minister)
"             http://highland-foorde.atlantia.sca.org
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