Recent content by DMThaane

Strange, thought I tested that. Thanks for cleaning it up. Australia, actually, so importing anything can be a pain. There are local options if I wanted something cheaper and without hassle but I'd need a license anyway so if I did go through the effort it would be to go big. Besides, even...

I don't own any swords partially due to cost and partially due to weapon restrictions where I live but I'm definitely a sword fan and know a few people in reenactment and the SCA. I've seen a lot of positive talk about Albion and a lot of people think they're the best production line swords...

Zoroastrianism was the primary faith of the Persian Empires, so it was the chief faith of some of early history's biggest hitters, but it seems to have lacked a strong proselytising element so it never gained much of a foothold outside of that cultural sphere. After the epic war of mega...

Always nice to know I've got company! I'd thank your post but it would seem to undermine the argument.

I'm probably the only one who'll have a problem with this but I'm not a fan of the thanks (given) showing up on my profile. I avoid all thank, like, up vote, and similar systems as a way of encouraging myself to consider everything in detail and form independent opinions on things. It also...

As loathe as I am to defend Christianity it was the dominant faith in Europe for a thousand years before the witch hunts really got going. In fact for much of the church's history it was discouraged or even deemed heresy to believe that witches were real. Which isn't to say Christianity was good...

I've experienced 'flow' while writing but it tends to pretty rare and I need to really know the characters I'm writing, the direction of the scene, and be playing the right music in the background (though once I enter a state of 'flow' I usually just play the one track on repeat). Usually it...

I'd be curious what's it's like for you when you write a story entirely for yourself. I tend to be a perfectionist and suffer from incredibly severe anxiety but for me its entirely socially related. This means that posting a story challenge entry will usually rob me of decent sleep for the next...

I can't help with the main question (although I don't think I've ever heard of fire being applied during a siege to break down a wall my siege warfare is hardly perfect and the use of magic changes the rules) but I do know of a brick fort, Fort Zverev, that actually experienced some melting as a...

Ask and ye shall receive! (images spoilered to avoid clogging thread) A link to the page for more images and some technical details. Combination Flintlock/Dagger/Gun /Axe, 1750  - HLEBOOKS.com Combination weapons are a curiosity of mine so I've built up a decent image collection of...

Off the top of my head there's the Indian urumi, a sort of steel whip-sword, the pata, a long blade extending straight out from a gauntlet, and katar, a type of really large push dagger. The Abyssinian shotel, which is kind of like a cross between a scimitar and a sickle. A number of...

I enjoyed my time with Winds but these kinds of projects tend to come and go, at least in my experience. It was fun writing Loke and there are certainly a few idea I had that I'll carry off with me to other things. Thanks to Nimue for running it and thanks to everyone who participated.

The most obvious problems I see with this are logistics and training. Bows take a fair amount of training and if these smaller bows have weak draw weights they may struggle for distance and armour penetration. If they have heavy draws then being small won't take away from the need to build...

Ultimately there's no reason either side couldn't win, with tactics and generalship being the most important factor. Both sides could field roughly comparable numbers and while the Europeans would have a slight edge in armour the Japanese would field better archers. Japanese military strength...

As a moderate transhumanist, I find many people who use the label utterly weird. They're one step away from buying a book about indigo children and running off to dance naked under some fluorescent lights but they think if they can dress it up in enough intellectualism it becomes somehow...