Veteran VS Rooky recruits

[Marlboro]

Seems to me you have about the same chance to up your Swordfighting skill from actual combat (not just whetting your blade on militia) as you do from six hours with the Expert trainer. Combat usually lasts one hour. I don't know how you'd learn more in one hour watching a chaotic fight while trying to issue orders and keep your low-paid men from wandering off to play whatever they had in place of Nintendo back then (Knifey Spoony, I'd wager).

As far as RP goes, my main Warrior guy surrounds himself with infantry like ablative armor and fights whoever gets through. When he isn't such a reeking newbie and becomes a Hero, he will be at the front of every charge. The various codes of conduct forbid killing a nobleman in war in favor of capture and ransom (even in history, right up to the Revolutionary War where the Americans got the brilliant idea to shoot the colorful men on horses), but such protections would be tough to apply to a guy at the very front of an infantry wedge, the very first to meet enemy combatants.

[Chenier]

Seems to me you have about the same chance to up your Swordfighting skill from actual combat (not just whetting your blade on militia) as you do from six hours with the Expert trainer. Combat usually lasts one hour. I don't know how you'd learn more in one hour watching a chaotic fight while trying to issue orders and keep your low-paid men from wandering off to play whatever they had in place of Nintendo back then (Knifey Spoony, I'd wager).

As far as RP goes, my main Warrior guy surrounds himself with infantry like ablative armor and fights whoever gets through. When he isn't such a reeking newbie and becomes a Hero, he will be at the front of every charge. The various codes of conduct forbid killing a nobleman in war in favor of capture and ransom (even in history, right up to the Revolutionary War where the Americans got the brilliant idea to shoot the colorful men on horses), but such protections would be tough to apply to a guy at the very front of an infantry wedge, the very first to meet enemy combatants.

And !@#$ DOES happen. Who was that king who, victorious, strolled through the conquered city only to have a barely alive dude nick him with the point of an arrow and give him tetanus or something, of which he died?

Sometimes, it didn't take much. :P

[Marlboro]

And !@#$ DOES happen. Who was that king who, victorious, strolled through the conquered city only to have a barely alive dude nick him with the point of an arrow and give him tetanus or something, of which he died?

Sometimes, it didn't take much. :P

You're thinking of Nobunaga Oda, I believe, but that story's apocryphal at best.

[Chenier]

You're thinking of Nobunaga Oda, I believe, but that story's apocryphal at best.

According to wikipedia, that guy committed sepuku?

I was pretty sure I was thinking of some european leader, too. Perhaps not a king, though, but someone of great importance.

[Marlboro]

According to wikipedia, that guy committed sepuku?

I was pretty sure I was thinking of some european leader, too. Perhaps not a king, though, but someone of great importance.

Found mention of a soldier named Tychon described in a medical text, "Of the Epidemics", written by Hippocrates. Could be the guy? He got shot in the back with an arrow, but it was at an angle where it was easily removed so they yanked it out and didn't even think about it until the lockjaw set in.

[Chenier]

Found mention of a soldier named Tychon described in a medical text, "Of the Epidemics", written by Hippocrates. Could be the guy? He got shot in the back with an arrow, but it was at an angle where it was easily removed so they yanked it out and didn't even think about it until the lockjaw set in.

Doesn't sound like it.

Keep it mind I heard this from my college history teacher, who was known for stating as undeniable fact some of the most debated and dubious historical claims... A great guy, but lacking the ability to nuance. :P

[Shizzle]

Doesn't sound like it.

Keep it mind I heard this from my college history teacher, who was known for stating as undeniable fact some of the most debated and dubious historical claims... A great guy, but lacking the ability to nuance. :P

As do most historians, it seems. Or they keep coming with the 'but the truth is probably somewhere in the middle'-conclusion. :P

[Bedwyr]

And !@#$ DOES happen. Who was that king who, victorious, strolled through the conquered city only to have a barely alive dude nick him with the point of an arrow and give him tetanus or something, of which he died?

Sometimes, it didn't take much. :P

King Richard of England had something similar.  Some little siege of a random castle, got nicked by a crossbow bolt fired by some kid inside, which gave him something or other which killed him.

[Telrunya]

At least he didn't die from his horse stumbling over a mole hill.

[Chenier]

King Richard of England had something similar.  Some little siege of a random castle, got nicked by a crossbow bolt fired by some kid inside, which gave him something or other which killed him.

Must totally be what my teacher was talking about.

It has all the key elements: a king, a siege, an arrow/bolt, a superficial wound that leads to a disease, and an anticlimactic death. Sometimes, I think that history teacher just remembered the key elements, and gradually added random filler in between as he gave the lessons. :P

[fodder]

According to wikipedia, that guy committed sepuku?

I was pretty sure I was thinking of some european leader, too. Perhaps not a king, though, but someone of great importance.

Nobunaga Oda was the guy who at his prime (he essentially controlled kyoto - capital, imperial courts, etc, and most of central japan.. no doubt on his way to become shogun) ticked his vassal off so badly that the vassal rebelled and whacked him (and his retinue) where he was resting.

whether he chopped himself or not is not too relevant.. higher up people tend to chop themselves before someone else chop them back then too.