If you want to read a(nother) gaming blog, check me out!

[shortymonster]

I've not been very active on here for a while, as the game I'm currently working on might not be that viable as a free to play game. True, it could exist in a print and play format, as long as the players have plenty of tokens to use, but the printing costs for the cards that would be required would make far from free.

Instead, what I've decided to do, is get together a bunch of blog posts along the same lines, and link them all here for anyone who fancies adding a touch of historical realism to their games.









And this week's blog, in which I 'take a stab' at the Roman short sword.

[Rubbermancer]

I'm eating this stuff up these days, dude. It's great info for my current project. Keep up the good work!

[shortymonster]

Trying my hand at something similar at the moment, but less combat involved.

[shortymonster]

For the past year I have sporadically posted on my blog about historical weapons and how to apply some real world stuff to your fantasy role playing games. These have been hugely popular posts, and whenever I've talked about them on various forums, they've all sparked some very interesting debates. Today I decided to put all of these posts , as well as putting them together in a much more that you can pick up through DriveThru RPG.

I'm not done yet though, and have a couple more things that I want to talk about in mind. When I write them up, I will update the blog page and the document on so that they're just as easy to find, and those who have picked up the booklet won't have to pay anything extra.

My question to you fine people though is which weapons would you be interested in reading more about? As a historian specialising in the medieval and Victorian periods, there's plenty for me to talk about already, but I don't mind moving out of that comfort zone, as I have done in the past when looking at classical weapons. So, ignoring time periods, which weapon would you be interested in hearing more about? Is it something that you love but that doesn't get enough attention? Something you're interested in, but don't have the time to research yourself? Or maybe just something really obscure that you fancy testing me with?

Whatever your criteria, just post below what your interested in and I'll make a list to get through. After that you just need to pop or keep an eye on the booklet to get the updates that you asked for.

[Onix]

For centuries, the spear was the weapon of choice. Most people think that the sword is the end all be all. They think a spear can't be used in close quarters. How could it be such an indispensable weapon if it's only use was first strike?

Having done boffer larps in the past, my experience is that a spear is very effective even in the hands of a relative novice. We got pretty good at sword fighting but hand a young kid a spear and, yeah you could beat them, but they really did pose a threat.

Still, in any discussion of a spear vs. sword, most people insist on sword. So why did they use them for so long even in one on one fights?

[Evil Scientist]

I really like your weapon articles, especially the one about crossbows and black powder weapons. It'd be interesting if you followed up on the topic proposed by Onyx! Or maybe some kind of a write-up on polearms (halberds etc).

Also, bayonets!

[Rubbermancer]

I'll 3rd that topic request!

[J.K.Mosher]

I'll quartet the Spear Topic request.