> > > Barbara Baj said: > > > >A greatsword versus a rapier would be thing to see, in my opinion, > though > > > it might be > > > >a very short fight. :) > > > My money's on the person with the rapier. > > Matthew Hunter: > > It's never that simple. >Sean Penney wrote: > How do you figure? David Rodemaker wrote: >Because a fight is much more of an organic process than simply >hack-slash-stab-bleed-die... >You then can get into all sorts of qualifiers: Equal skill, equal size and >physical attributes, etc, etc, etc. But the world is rarely *that* perfect. >One advantage the greatsword has is reach for example, and if even if it >doesn't have a point getting poked by a x-lb piece if metal never feels >good. If the 'greatsworder' (ugh- That's awkward) is decent he might just >use the sword as a staff and that changes the entire tempo of the fight. >The other thing is that Greatsword vs.Rapier is a streetfight not a duel, so >then you have all the environmental factors that come into play, dirt in the >eyes, the odd kick, punch, or elbow, etc. >Mind you, assuming to fighters of decent to good skill, I would tend to bet >on the Rapier also... But Matthew is right- >It's never that simple. Well, of course. I wasn't after a review of hand-to-hand 101, but thanks anyway. It's easy to speculate and imagine scenarios where one fighter or another may be the victor. But let's look at the weapons themselves. If the 30"+ smallsword replaced the 40"+ rapier because guys wielding smallswords were schooling the guys with rapiers, well, a weapon that entered the field in the middle ages against a weapon that incorporates all the refinements of the next couple hundred years would be like bringing a knife to a gun-fight. The greatsword was an infantry weapon of the 15th and 16th centuries, not a duelling weapon. So let's speculate. Your average wielder of a greatsword would be a soldier of the line, trained to fight in a line. So I would speculate that the soldier would opt to not use his greatsword in a duel, prefering a faster, lighter blade. But let's say he's foolish enough to go greatsword vs rapier. On reach, well, the rapier fighter doesn't have a problem with that, given his speed advantage, and the fact that he can fight both in close, and has the lunge, which gives him equal, if not more, reach. He just has to be careful not to step into any of the soldier's swings to parry. Avoidance would be easiest and the best way to conserve energy while the soldier is expending it at a tremendous rate. The rapier fighter can go defensive and wait until greatsword-boy tires, or simply wait for a bit too much backswing and pow, 4 inches of slim sword blade enters the fellow's head. And if greatswod-boy starts to use it as a thrusting weapon he's doomed, because now the rapier fighter can engage him blade to blade, pass-step and use his dagger. No future in it =)