Re: (TFT) Re: TFT Digest V3 #169

["Neil Gilmore" <raito@raito.com>]

> Neil writes . . .
>
> >Well, in most of the samurai movies, the duel takes almost no
> >time...
> >
> >I find the movie example to be just plain wrong, because the point
> >in the movies is to follow the script, and build tension. Quick
> >duels may do so, but most directors prefer to draw them out. While
> >I hesitate to equate reality with roleplay, the movies are a wholly
> >different thing.
>
>    Perhaps this is true.  I think as far as fight time goes the movies are
> pretty close to reality.  Certainly a real fight between two real-life
> master fencers would take more time than a fight between two novices.
>    As for the samurai movies, you're right!  Sounds like many of the main
> characters went to the Suio swordfighting school, which places heavy
> emphasis on speed and offense (see "Lone Wolf and Cub").  Maybe it has to
do
> with Japanese attitude towards violence more than anything else.

Still gotta disagree. In the historical context, the unarmored duels seemed
to take 2 forms, either over in a heartbeat, or took forever, not because of
their masterful defense, but because neither would commit to an attack (then
over in a heartbeat), and even then, the chances of both participants dying
was pretty good. OTOH, armored combat really was closer to TFT, with each
smacking each other a lot, and fewer deaths that is usually commented on.
The armored knight was pretty well able to take on rabble, as long as he
could keep his feet. The same can not be said for the swashbucking fencer.

At least for modern fencing, I've seen that the average time to score a
point is longer for the novices, because they don't target as well.

For historical examples:

DiGrassi, who says, in effect, kill them now, because playing around gets
you dead.

That weird Spanish fencing, which says kill the third guy immediately,
because you can't defend against 3 or more.

The Flos Duelletorum, in which all the unarmored combat is pretty much
single-move, or move/counter. Either way, over pretty fast. By contrast, its
armored section says that the weapons are pretty useless against armor, so
use it as a crowbar.

La Jeu de la Hache, and its historical context, which views poleaxe fighting
in armor to be just vigorous excercise.

>From these and other references (read but references forgotten), it sure
would seem that armor is the way to go (until gunpowder). The raw TFT rules
support this notion.

But then, it's just a game.

> Pfc. Dave Seagraves   101st Airborne Division
> Texas Military Historical Society (WWII reenactors)
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Neil Gilmore
raito@raito.com


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