The Free Company Tavern & "OOC" Thread for Book VII

unmerged(119031)

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• #501

Well just posted a short update, could've been longer but I don't want to do all the Rangers' part without letting the rest post their opinions and such.

Oh, coz, something a little off topic, I just saw a really old movie, Twins (Starring Danny DeVito and Arnold Schwarzenegger) and I "identified" Nigel as DeVito and Ox as Schwarzenegger

 

Amric

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• #502

It's not THAT old of a movie...Sheesh! You'll make people like Coz, LD, and myself feel old!

 

coz1

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• Feb 2, 2009

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• #503

Athe said:

Well just posted a short update, could've been longer but I don't want to do all the Rangers' part without letting the rest post their opinions and such.

Oh, coz, something a little off topic, I just saw a really old movie, Twins (Starring Danny DeVito and Arnold Schwarzenegger) and I "identified" Nigel as DeVito and Ox as Schwarzenegger

Click to expand...

:rofl: I agree with Amric, it ain't that old. But now that you mention it, there is a similarity. Except Nigel isn't so roly poly.

 

unmerged(119031)

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• #504

Hell it's older than me, and I'm not that young.

 

The Swert

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• Feb 2, 2009

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• #505

Athe said:

Hell it's older than me, and I'm not that young.

Click to expand...

Well clearly now that's up for debate. Actually at first I thought that you meant the movie Junior, that's six years younger and has the same actors.

 

Valdemar

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• #506

Hi Guys,

Sorry for my lack of posts... been busy as hell at work and other places and I leave for a well deserved skiing vacation on saturday.

So, I'm not gone, but I'll try hard to fill in stuff....

V

 

Alfred Packer

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• Feb 2, 2009

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• #507

Hey guys - I had to work through the weekend and I've got couple of projects that need to be finished this week (enough that I probably can't keep up with the reading), so I won't be able to contribute much for the next few days...do with Gunther what you need to!

 

Lord Durham

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• #508

I've moved ahead a bit, to the early afternoon.

With so many people 'busy', now's a good time for others to catch up.

The FC has always been a victim of its own success. When so many writers come on board, the flurry of posting turns off the casual reader and, in a lot of cases, the writers themselves. Still, I don't like the idea of making this a 'by-invite' project only, to limit the authors. Never had, never will.

Still, given the low view count, it's a shame that so many members are missing out on a great story, and something that's unique to AARland and the internet.

 

unmerged(116410)

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• #509

Low view count?

 

Lord Durham

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• Feb 3, 2009

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• #510

balkanite said:

Low view count?

Click to expand...

Versus number of posts.

 

comagoosie

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• Feb 3, 2009

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• #511

Lord Durham said:

Versus number of posts.

Click to expand...

I would advertise it, but alas, I am out of characters for my sig o

Ok I got 2 hours to spare, let's see if I can't catch up and post something.

 

von Streusser

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• #512

Redwolf: am I correct in my assumption that Lim's assignment makes Bogdan and Co.'s patrol the group of horsemen Harvey saw?

 

Lord Durham

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• Feb 3, 2009

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• #513

von Streusser said:

Redwolf: am I correct in my assumption that Lim's assignment makes Bogdan and Co.'s patrol the group of horsemen Harvey saw?

Click to expand...

Not meaning to interfere with Redwolf, but if waiting for his answer is holding you up (he's on the other side of the world), then I say yes.

 

Lord Durham

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• Feb 3, 2009

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• #514

FYI, a little background information that works in tandem with Baer's 'idea' of mixing pikes and halberds.

It's not really an idea, it was actually used around that time period. Before the Swiss became famous for their pike formations, they used the halberd. They slowly began to abandon that weapon in the early to mid-1400s. At the Battle of Arbedo in Milan their infantry was a mix of one-third pikes to two-thirds halberds. By the mid-late 1400's they were almost exclusively pike.

Interesting note, the English didn't utilise the pike until the reign of Henry VIII.

The halberd that Baer would be using is something like this one, with the long pointy end:

And not this one:

This is not meant to take away from Merrick's post. Just this type of argument was probably used as the pike slowly displaced the halberd as weapon of choice.

Note: The FC has always been a predominantly pike-based force, thanks to their years in Italy, so in a way, attempting to integrate halberds for special circumstances may seem old-school for some, but revolutionary for others, depending where you are from.

 

merrick

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• #515

Lord Durham said:

The halberd that Baer would be using is something like this one, with the long pointy end:

Click to expand...

However the halberd Gaston carries is something like this one (note lack of a pointy end):

Gaston's experience is of the "English" style of fighting, with looser formations and the bill/halberd used primarily as a slashing weapon. It's not surprising he finds the "Italian" style of the Company veterans a little strange.

One thing, though, while the pike did win out over the halberd in the 1400s, due to its superior anti-cavalry qualities and the devastating impact of a pike charge (as Oskar points out, a disciplined force of close-order pikemen will simply steamroller a looser opposing formation - and if the enemy's weapons are shorter than the pikes, they can't even hit back), every mixed formation that I have heard of put the halberdiers on the flanks or rear of the pikemen (where they could cover the vulnerable flanks of the pike block), rather than in front, where the halberd is reduced to just a short pike. Of course, I don't think any of the formations I've heard of were intended for fighting in forests...

 

Lord Durham

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• Feb 3, 2009

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• #516

merrick said:

Of course, I don't think any of the formations I've heard of were intended for fighting in forests...

Click to expand...

Which is why I mentioned 'special circumstances'. It's also possible the halberds were used much like the Zweihanders of Landsknecht fame, mainly to deflect and break pike shafts, cause disorder, or unhorse knights who got too close. I wouldn't be surprised if they were used in the front ranks for that purpose--at least for a time as the two weapons were integrated (the account I have on the Battle of Arbedo certainly suggests that) Without being there, it's hard to say for sure (no jokes please ), but I could see imaginative commanders adapting to the 'lay of the land', so to speak.

 

von Streusser

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• #517

Lord Durham said:

Not meaning to interfere with Redwolf, but if waiting for his answer is holding you up (he's on the other side of the world), then I say yes.

Click to expand...

Oh, that wasn't holding me up nearly so much as re-stocking all the boxes in our shop was.

 

The Swert

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• Feb 4, 2009

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• #518

Lord Durham said:

FYI, a little background information that works in tandem with Baer's 'idea' of mixing pikes and halberds...

Click to expand...

What happened to people using swords?

 

Lord Durham

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• Feb 4, 2009

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• #519

The Swert said:

What happened to people using swords?

Click to expand...

All infantry carry a sword, some as a secondary weapon. Infantry with a sword as their primary weapon guard the flank and rear of a formation, and exploit breakthroughs.

 

The_Hawk

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• Feb 4, 2009

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• #520

I am, regrettably, amongst those poor unfortunates who are being overwhelmed by real life at the moment. I've been mulling a Rhys post for a couple of days now, but... maybe some night where I roll in the door before 10 p.m.

Good stuff, everyone!