![]() Soon afterwards, the US government was also pressed to perform such research by their British allies who, along with the French, feared a German attack with biological weapons ( Moon, 1999, Regis, 1999), even though the Nazis apparently never seriously considered using biological weapons ( Geissler, 1999). Sir Frederick Banting, the Nobel-Prize-winning discoverer of insulin, created what could be called the first private biological weapon research centre in 1940, with the help of corporate sponsors ( Avery, 1999 Regis, 1999). In North America, it was not the government but a dedicated individual who initiated a bioweapons research programme. ![]() B, bacterium P, parasite T, toxin V, virus. After the war, with no lasting peace established, as well as false and alarming intelligence reports, various European countries instigated their own biological warfare programmes, long before the onset of the Second World War ( Geissler & Moon, 1999).ġDoes not include time and place of production, but only indicates where agents were applied and probably resulted in casualties, in war, in research or as a terror agent. The German army was the first to use weapons of mass destruction, both biological and chemical, during the First World War, although their attacks with biological weapons were on a rather small scale and were not particularly successful: covert operations using both anthrax and glanders ( Table 2) attempted to infect animals directly or to contaminate animal feed in several of their enemy countries ( Wheelis, 1999). However, although these, as well as later treaties, were all made in good faith, they contained no means of control, and so failed to prevent interested parties from developing and using biological weapons. These dangers were soon recognized, and resulted in two international declarations-in 1874 in Brussels and in 1899 in The Hague-that prohibited the use of poisoned weapons. However, the foundation of microbiology by Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch offered new prospects for those interested in biological weapons because it allowed agents to be chosen and designed on a rational basis. Man has used poisons for assassination purposes ever since the dawn of civilization, not only against individual enemies but also occasionally against armies ( Table 1). if the guy you're dueling gets killed, you can be tried for murder.During the, the Japanese army poisoned more than 1,000 water wells in Chinese villages to study cholera and typhus outbreaks It is worth pointing out that in the post-Rennasance period, dueling arms shifted from arming and broad swords (combining thrust with slash) to rapiers (primarily thrusting with a secondary slash), then to smallswords (exclusively thrusting) preciesly because of that little detail. Broken arms, legs, skulls, ruptured organs, that sorta thing. And if you hit an unpadded or underpadded section, you can inflict quite severe injuries without breaking a single link. From there, the level of protection is dependant upon the quality of the gambezon beneath the mail. All mail does is change slashing damage into bludgeoning damage. Slashing wounds have a much greater chance of delivering an incapacitating injury, especially against mail. They tend to 'icepick' and not slow down a target unless you manage to hit a really, really vital target. Stab wounds with a narrow profile are notoriously poor at incapacitating a target. What is not guaranteed is that he is going to die in time to save your life, which is what is most important in a fight. ![]() The Bastard Sword thing, well, you can probably hit hard enough to rattle someone in plate severely, the sword has a reinforced point to get in the gaps well, AND it is long enough to half sword it, which means more power on a thrust, more options, and all kinds of fun.Īnother thing to bear in mind: shock value.Ī stab with an estoc deep into the abdomen, is a fatal wound barring antiseptics or magical healing. ![]() Basically, you probably have more viable targets unless the guy is fully kitted out in plate and more viable means of attack. Or depending, you may be able to take out a leg or a knee with a slash. With a long sword/arming sword sort of weapon, you have the point that can do some of the same thing (if not as well), and a good slash against mail may still break a wrist or a collar bone. That being said, you are probably more likely to get a one shot kill off, so to speak (if you are skilled enough to do it), and you are probably more likely to do damage against someone fully kitted out in plate. Which basically means you have to be very accurate and patient under close combat conditions, which is not especially easy. You have to thrust, and you are going to have to find the places in the armor where there is leather or mail and then commit to a thrust. ![]() Well.to avoid the "gaming weapon names vrs real weapon names" thing.Īn estoc is sort of the grand daddy of the rapier. ![]()
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