The Armour Archive

Gaston de Vieuxchamps

Even the largest combat legal treb could not through a 250 lb rock 80 yards, if it could the one pound foam ball would go way over 80 yards or would be in orbit around the moon! No, no, no. unless the counterweight is significantly less than optimum for throwing the 250lb rock 80 yards, the 1 pound...

Gaston de Vieuxchamps

I think it's kinda wierd that we judge what should be able to "kill" through a shield would have to "cause instant death". None of our other weapons would reliably do that. Obviously one-handed sword blows to a mail covered torso are not going to cause "instant death" unless you get really lucky. Yo...

Gaston de Vieuxchamps

So I really like the idea of building an engine that can actually do what we are claiming it represents. I'm not saying that should be a rule for all weapons, but if a weapon fulfills that requirement, do we really need to impose other requirements like footprint in order to maintain game balance? ...

Gaston de Vieuxchamps

While something like the existence of god is purely a faith issue, chi can be easily tested for. The problem is that in order to do that, you have to define it. Unfortunately the definition used for things like Randi's challenge is not a very widely held one. So if you define "chi" as a certain thi...

Gaston de Vieuxchamps

In Trimaris, sides, back, and top of the head are no good for any type of thrust, or by extension, arrows and bolts.

Gaston

Gaston de Vieuxchamps

My buddy Sir Jean Paul the Mace has used nothing but duct tape for almost 15 years. He forgot his jock one fighter practice and so he just used duct tape on his cup and then decided he liked that better. The myth is that he duct tapes the cup directly to his body. In reality, he wears a t-shirt and ...

Gaston de Vieuxchamps

The fork treb (what would you call it?) has a pivot point that is fixed in space but the length of the throwing and weight arm changes as it falls so that the weight falls mostly straight. This way the throwing end of the arm acually shortens as it fires, which would seem to shorten the arc of rota...

Gaston de Vieuxchamps

My 'umble proposal: Include a minimum mass requirement, say, 50 kilos for type B engines, and 75 kilos for type A engines. Reduce it by 10 or 15 kilos for traction and other human-powered devices. I'm not convinced a real engine would have to be that heavy for the kind of use we are puting it to. A...

Gaston de Vieuxchamps

Since below you say you are more interested in target shooting rather than combat siege, it would not be too unreasonable to allow an engine without the wrapping for target shooting... I was unclear. I would like to be able to take a "target engine" designed to hurl real ammo realistic distances an...

Gaston de Vieuxchamps

"You can take a boxer, give him a weekend of grappling training, and he'll clean the floor with a martial artist 99% of the time... if he can find one who will fight him." Hasn't the UFC pretty much proven than to be false? Go back and look at the first 6-8 episodes they did where boxers still thou...

Gaston de Vieuxchamps

I have some concern about this rope-wrapping rule. One the one hand I think it's cool that you are encouraging the period technique of glue soaked rope or cloth on a throwing arm. Cool, though I think the real reason for the rule is safety.... On the other hand, the way you describe it won't really ...

Gaston de Vieuxchamps

That does sound like it would work like the floating arm. The main reason I'm doing it this way is because I have pictures of medieval people doing it this way and I want to see if it's actually reasonable that the pictures might be accurate. I think most people dimiss these pictures as an artist no...

Gaston de Vieuxchamps

rob(in) wrote:for my Greek kit i'm going to a linen loincloth over a muay thai steel cup.

OK, could we PLEASE avoid mentioning "Greek" for a while. I've been scared enough by this thread.

Gaston

Gaston de Vieuxchamps

Gaston -- As I recall, you have your own web server, so I'm assuming you know how to upload photos to that server. Just put the pictures there, and then link them by writing the following in your post: [img m] Hey, that's a very reasonable and sound assumption. Unfortunately it's also completely wr...

Gaston de Vieuxchamps

cool site! The floating arm treb is cool and does sort of relate to what was going on in my head, but I don't think its the same physics. They have a pivot the moves back and forward to make the weight fall straight. The fork treb (what would you call it?) has a pivot point that is fixed in space bu...

Gaston de Vieuxchamps

Heairn wrote:That one-armed spearman was Sir Tristan of Aethelmearc.

Malcolm

Ehh, he's decent. Coming along anyway

Gaston
(taunting those that were there this year while he wasn't)

Gaston de Vieuxchamps

http://home.tiscali.nl/~t401243/mac/mac23vA.jpg looks like a traction treb. ROC I know they still had them in the middle ages. Only reason I can see why is because they wanted more portable (no weight). I had forgotten the guy holding on to the sling. I've read a lot of speculation on that but some...

Gaston de Vieuxchamps

This is what happens when I get left home alone too long. I was sitting here at my computer writing a reply to the thread on pole trebs and got to the bottom where I wrote about how I've been wanting to experiment to see if the things will work the way they are drawn im the book. Then comes the voic...

Gaston de Vieuxchamps

There are rules in place that specify the square-footage footprint of siege engines for SCA use. This is a game mechanic used to keep engines from being ridiculously unbalancing. Those engines apear to violate that rule and thus should not have been allowed in the battles at Pennsic. On the other ha...

Gaston de Vieuxchamps

I just walked outside and took some pictures of weapons I've been meaning to shoot for months. It might have been better if I had fixed them up first but then it would probably be a few more months before they got done I'm sick of being a student. So, can someone help me out with some instructions f...

Gaston de Vieuxchamps

Broadway wrote:I just found a site with a bazillion jockstrap/cup options.

http://www.internationaljock.com/

"Free Micheal Phelps poster" Yikes! Next you'll be sending us a link to International Male. I couldn't help but browse and found this which I might buy: http://www.internationaljock.com/zpage5-5517.html

IF I can get over being reminded of that picture every time I put it on!

Gaston de Vieuxchamps

I have enquired or several An Tirans about what seems to me a very bizarre convention. One told me that it's because they hit so much harder in An Tir and therefore arm blows are not safe. I then went to fight him and noticed no vambrace. All I could think was, "If you guys hit so hard, how come you...

Gaston de Vieuxchamps

Trimaris started as a kingdom with the rule "shoulder to shoulder and chin to crotch" or 28" round, or 28" Wankel. This rule remained for several years. Eventually "shoulder to shoulder and chin to crotch" was changed to 19" by 32" to be more standard and to keep smaller fighters from being disadvan...

Gaston de Vieuxchamps

True that there could be more respect and civility here but then again it's good to look at what "relative outsiders" think of the SCA. Some of what he says is true, some is debatable opinion. Of course knee fighitng looks stupid. Anyone not inured to it from SCA experience will tell you that. Of co...

Gaston de Vieuxchamps

I've read a lot of "my backup is my buttspike" but I have to say that since I've been trying to do the manuals more, my buttspike is more like a primary attack (at least for poleaxe) I use my roundel dagger point-down and ONLY thrust. Some people will make one stout enough to swing and use it like t...

Gaston de Vieuxchamps

Our Crown take various formats but a common one is a Sweet Sixteen Tourney. Basically the field is divided into 8 pits. In each, there will be 1-2 knights and maybe a Duke or Count, 3-4 squires, and 3-4 other guys. Each fighter fights a round robin within their pit and the 2 best records make it ou...

Gaston de Vieuxchamps

Chuck Davis wrote:Master Valerius and I have made and used hourglass and Wisby style finger gauntlets for the last 15 or so years. They have always passed inspection in the Middle Kingdom at least.

I need a pair of those very badly!

Gaston de Vieuxchamps

I'm a HUGE fan of the rondel dagger as backup. I tried a dagger over 10 years ago with no success for many of the same reasons people have listed here. Then, at Gulf Wars 9 I saw Aveloc use his boot knife to devastating affect. I thought to myself, "I could do that." I started with a knife on my leg...

Gaston de Vieuxchamps

This sort of depiction of archers mixed in amongst other troops is quite common in period art. Historians outside the SCA without a vested interest in "proving" archer was or was not used a certain way do often use them as evidence, though they obviously cannot be taken as perfect snapshots.

Gaston

Gaston de Vieuxchamps

We have the same number of guys that actually have a reasonable chance, plus about 6-8 others usually. An Tir just has more "others". Our culture is such that people only enter is the want to win and feel they could actually be crown is they won. It a smaller number. Are your crown lists weighted or...

Gaston de Vieuxchamps

Since you obviously missed it in a myriad of previous posts I will restate or mission once again with feeling: We are not trying to recreate something that *ACTUALLY HAPPENED* We are recreating an IDEAL of chivarous combat. Sorry, the SCA didn't start that way and it isn't that way now. There was j...

Gaston de Vieuxchamps

Trimarians usually go for a slap or punch in the face and it's usuallu done by the candidate's knight rather than the king. Baldar was serving in the Iraqi War when I got knighted so Duke Bytor (another of his ducal former squires) put on Baldar's glove and punched me in the mouth. We have a traditi...

Gaston de Vieuxchamps

Looking at your specs some more I would say right off the bat that a pressure treated 4x4 tapered to 1" at the end will probably not make a good throwing arm. I think the weight of your sling and ammo being accelerated wil snap it even if you throw fairly light ammo. Pressure-treated has a poor stre...

Gaston de Vieuxchamps

The Eldromeran (sp?) Knight was Count Aaron. I forget now what his percentage of wins and losses was but it was quite impresive. He's a lefty as well by the way. Well, if your near him let him know I thought his deed was way cool. The whole thing with the presentation and the intensity. All of it.

Gaston de Vieuxchamps

Well, if he's doing SCA combat then we hit that hard all the time. If we didn't, then we would not have a realistic idea of how fighting works and how to block and would be forced to rely on speculation rather than experience. Don't grip the shield too tight. Let it twist a bit in your hand and abso...

Re: Throwing a 10 lb rock

Gaston is a nut case

Re: Jockstrap/cup