It's been a while since I last played this classic old GW game, and with a campaign looming on the horizon I'm really getting in the mood for some gang-on-gang action. It will certainly make a nice change of pace from the 2k 40k games I've played a lot of lately, especially as my gang will likely be no larger than one of the standard 40k units!
Last night saw me rooting around the house trying to dig out all the old Necromunda stuff I could find, and the result was a mixture of some disappointment and some joy. I was a bit let down that I couldn't find my old box of Necromunda bits anywhere. There's no doubt it still exits, but it's likely buried away under god only knows what! I was pretty chuffed that I found a few other bits though, including some old weapon sprues, and a Delaque Lascannon Heavy (Especially good seeing as I don't think he's particularly easy to get hold of these days).
Some more rooting around resulted in me digging out the first two issues of Necromunda Magazine too, so I've got the rules of Treacherous Conditions and a few other gems to hand, as well as the original two Necromunda rulebooks, the card rules summaries (Useful with the newbies we'll be teaching) and of course my box of old terrain!
So, looks like there will be some fun had round mine this weekend! With any luck, thanks to the relative speed of Necromunda games, we may even squeeze several into a single day.
Awesome
Thursday, 29 January 2009
Tuesday, 27 January 2009
Bish, Bash, Bosh
Well, what a night! Backsword practice was short tonight, but for good reason. The lesson was cut into by quite a bit as filming was being done. I did get some quality sparing in though, the most enjoyable of which was with my instructor. A lot of fun, and it finished with some enjoyable grappling. I nearly managed to land a close-range thrust to his face, but I foolishly paused, and was rightly floored!
...my mortuary has a few nasty dents in it though as a result, and the knuckle bar has a distinct kink in it! Still, at least it wasn't my fingers!
...my mortuary has a few nasty dents in it though as a result, and the knuckle bar has a distinct kink in it! Still, at least it wasn't my fingers!
Tuesday, 13 January 2009
Local Zombies for Local People
Local Zombies for Local People
I love zombie movies. My brother loves zombie movies. My friends love zombie movies. So watching the Zombie Diaries, which is set in and around very near to where I live was quite an intriguing proposition. The idea is pretty sound, take your standard zombie stuff and have it filmed in a Blair Witch fashion so that you feel more in the action. It didn't quite work for me though. Credit goes to the folks who did a lot of good with what I can only guess was a small budget, but the film just falls a bit flat. The acting in some places is good, but is really forced and unnatural in others. The zombie also never really feel like a threat in this film, which is wierd seeing as some of the cast are killed by them. Anyone who dies to a zombie in this film just seems like so much more of an idiot than in other zombie films I've seen. Another problem is the characters, I didn't really give a monkeys about any of them. None of them apealed to me on any level, which didn't really help me bond with the film sadly.
The really offputting though has to be the setting. At first glance having the zombie film set locally opens it up to the posibility of exploring all the "what if" scenarios zombie movie fans run through their heads. Sadly though, this didn't work for me thanks to them ignoring what I KNEW was local. At one point the cast stop off at a picnic site (Windmill Hill) so that they can overlook a nearby town before heading into it. Problem is that I know for a fact that there is another town mere metres behind them (It's the town they film in later on), and a pub only just out of shot. It's annoying as it had me yelling at the screen for them to be sensible. The same can be said for the small food store they go to, just down the road is are a Morrisons, an Iceland, Argos, all sorts of useful places! And just out of town a little way you've got a Halfords, a Sainsburys and a little further a Tesco!
It's a shame, as the idea of a local zombie film is a pretty interesting one, and could be a lot of fun for local zombie fans to watch, but the way the film ignors the local layout just ruined things for me.
I love zombie movies. My brother loves zombie movies. My friends love zombie movies. So watching the Zombie Diaries, which is set in and around very near to where I live was quite an intriguing proposition. The idea is pretty sound, take your standard zombie stuff and have it filmed in a Blair Witch fashion so that you feel more in the action. It didn't quite work for me though. Credit goes to the folks who did a lot of good with what I can only guess was a small budget, but the film just falls a bit flat. The acting in some places is good, but is really forced and unnatural in others. The zombie also never really feel like a threat in this film, which is wierd seeing as some of the cast are killed by them. Anyone who dies to a zombie in this film just seems like so much more of an idiot than in other zombie films I've seen. Another problem is the characters, I didn't really give a monkeys about any of them. None of them apealed to me on any level, which didn't really help me bond with the film sadly.
The really offputting though has to be the setting. At first glance having the zombie film set locally opens it up to the posibility of exploring all the "what if" scenarios zombie movie fans run through their heads. Sadly though, this didn't work for me thanks to them ignoring what I KNEW was local. At one point the cast stop off at a picnic site (Windmill Hill) so that they can overlook a nearby town before heading into it. Problem is that I know for a fact that there is another town mere metres behind them (It's the town they film in later on), and a pub only just out of shot. It's annoying as it had me yelling at the screen for them to be sensible. The same can be said for the small food store they go to, just down the road is are a Morrisons, an Iceland, Argos, all sorts of useful places! And just out of town a little way you've got a Halfords, a Sainsburys and a little further a Tesco!
It's a shame, as the idea of a local zombie film is a pretty interesting one, and could be a lot of fun for local zombie fans to watch, but the way the film ignors the local layout just ruined things for me.
Monday, 12 January 2009
More Downright Blows
After a bit more research, I've found some easily referenced text for Silver's works, and I've done a search for "down right" and "downright". Here they are:
Paradoxes of Defence:
"Surely, I think a down right fellow, that never came in school, using such skill as nature yielded out of his courage, strength, and agility, with good downright blows and thrust among, as shall best frame in his hands, should put one of these imperfect scholars greatly to his shifts."
"Whereby it grew to a common speech among the countrymen "Bring me to a fencer, I will bring him out of his fence tricks with down right blows. I will make him forget his fence tricks, I will warrant him."
Brief Instructions:
"In this forehand ward keep your distance, & take heed that he deceives you not with the downright blow at your head out of his open fight, for being within distance the swift motion of the hand may deceive your eye, because you know not by which side of your sword his blow will come."
Now, obviously that stuffs my theory of the editor changing the text as there is only one mention of a "downright" blow in Brief Instructions, and no mention of a "down right blow", whilst Paradoxes has both and in rather strange places.
I think the best evidence for the two versions of downright being the same though is the one my instructor gave to me: the first mention of "down right" that Silver makes.
"a down right fellow"
Now presumably Silver wasn't talking about a man that is down and from the right.....unless he meant someone who is depressed and right-wing?
Thank you, and goodnight.
Paradoxes of Defence:
"Surely, I think a down right fellow, that never came in school, using such skill as nature yielded out of his courage, strength, and agility, with good downright blows and thrust among, as shall best frame in his hands, should put one of these imperfect scholars greatly to his shifts."
"Whereby it grew to a common speech among the countrymen "Bring me to a fencer, I will bring him out of his fence tricks with down right blows. I will make him forget his fence tricks, I will warrant him."
Brief Instructions:
"In this forehand ward keep your distance, & take heed that he deceives you not with the downright blow at your head out of his open fight, for being within distance the swift motion of the hand may deceive your eye, because you know not by which side of your sword his blow will come."
Now, obviously that stuffs my theory of the editor changing the text as there is only one mention of a "downright" blow in Brief Instructions, and no mention of a "down right blow", whilst Paradoxes has both and in rather strange places.
I think the best evidence for the two versions of downright being the same though is the one my instructor gave to me: the first mention of "down right" that Silver makes.
"a down right fellow"
Now presumably Silver wasn't talking about a man that is down and from the right.....unless he meant someone who is depressed and right-wing?
Thank you, and goodnight.
New Mortuary Hilt
Maker: Armour ClassPrice: £150
Blade Length: 34"
Total Length: 41"
BOP: 4"
This is my lovely new Mortuary hilted backsword. It's a semi-custom piece from Armour Class in Scotland. So far it's only seen some light use with some very casual loose play, but has held up well with only the smallest amount of damage to the blade, especially when it's compared to the initial damage my cheaper Kasto bastard sword took on it's first use. The weight is just about perfect, although the balance I'm not sure on. It's further up the blade than my other swords, and you can feel the extra weight in the tip, this feels quite nice when swinging the sword though as it aids the swords momentum when swinging. The blueing on the basket, although not constant still has a very nice look to it.
All things considered I'm very happy with the sword, and look forward to really putting it through it's paces in the near future, especially through loose play, but also some drilling for some real impact to see how the blade stands up to it.
Downright Blows
As part of my learning backsword, I've been reading George Silver's work for myself, which is a bit tricky seeing as it's written in what looks like very old English shorthand at a time before the dictionary was invented! It's interesting though, and it's given me a great new respect for my backsword teacher, and helped me understand his reasons for teaching things the way he does.
Something I've seen interpreted differently by other people who have studied Silver's works has been the "down right blow". Some people interpret this as a blow from Open Fight that comes down and from the right. I've even seen evedence for it presented in the form of another source that was translated from another language. In this source a description for a blow coming down and from the right was translated into English as "down right blow". Now my teacher interprets a down right blow, to be a "downright blow", so soemthing that is strong and forcefull. I've agreed with him because it makes sense to me, but I personally always attach a level of doubt to something until I've prooved it for myself.
Well last night I did. I was reading through Silver's Brief Instructions, and came across a section where he mentions facing Open Fight with Variable Fight. In that section he says to be wary when facing Open Fight as you don't know which side of your sword his blows will come from. Pretty definitive to me.
For me thats proof enough, but I do wonder why Silver says both "down right blow" and "downright blow". I've a theory for why this is, but I need to read more to see if it could be true or not.
The thing is, that all through Paradoxes of Defence I think Silver says "down right", and so far in Brief Instructions, the only mention I've found is "downright". I've a feeling that Silver meant "downright" to be the case in both, but that Paradoxes was edited and as this was a time before dictionaries the word "downright" was changed to be printed as "down right". Thats my theory at least, and I've no idea if people at the time would have actually seen a difference between the two. I'd find it odd if he was using two different terms that sound identical when said allowed though, would just cause confusion if it was the case.
I'll be more firm in my resoning if Silver never uses "down right" in his Brief Instructions, and only ever uses "downright". We shall see!
It does make me feel great noticing these things though!
P.S. Got a lovely new sword just after Christmas! I'll be sure to pop a nice review up as soon as I've taken a few pretty pictures.
Something I've seen interpreted differently by other people who have studied Silver's works has been the "down right blow". Some people interpret this as a blow from Open Fight that comes down and from the right. I've even seen evedence for it presented in the form of another source that was translated from another language. In this source a description for a blow coming down and from the right was translated into English as "down right blow". Now my teacher interprets a down right blow, to be a "downright blow", so soemthing that is strong and forcefull. I've agreed with him because it makes sense to me, but I personally always attach a level of doubt to something until I've prooved it for myself.
Well last night I did. I was reading through Silver's Brief Instructions, and came across a section where he mentions facing Open Fight with Variable Fight. In that section he says to be wary when facing Open Fight as you don't know which side of your sword his blows will come from. Pretty definitive to me.
For me thats proof enough, but I do wonder why Silver says both "down right blow" and "downright blow". I've a theory for why this is, but I need to read more to see if it could be true or not.
The thing is, that all through Paradoxes of Defence I think Silver says "down right", and so far in Brief Instructions, the only mention I've found is "downright". I've a feeling that Silver meant "downright" to be the case in both, but that Paradoxes was edited and as this was a time before dictionaries the word "downright" was changed to be printed as "down right". Thats my theory at least, and I've no idea if people at the time would have actually seen a difference between the two. I'd find it odd if he was using two different terms that sound identical when said allowed though, would just cause confusion if it was the case.
I'll be more firm in my resoning if Silver never uses "down right" in his Brief Instructions, and only ever uses "downright". We shall see!
It does make me feel great noticing these things though!
P.S. Got a lovely new sword just after Christmas! I'll be sure to pop a nice review up as soon as I've taken a few pretty pictures.
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