Re: [GZG] [SG3]: What if?

At 8:14 AM -0600 1/30/08, John Atkinson wrote:
>
>Tell you what.  You get a sword, I get an M-4.  We'll see how well you
>do.  Consider that there are few areas where you can get a quick kill
>with a sword, and most of them are covered by the ceramic plates or
>the helmet.

Naah, I'll give Thapa my ghurka buddy a kuhkuri 
and my FAL and he can try his craft against you. 
I'll issue you both with blanks so noone really 
gets hurt. ;-)

The advantage of heavier weapons like a kukri or 
axe or sharpened E-Tool (the WWII types, not the 
folding thing we have today) is that they tend to 
be blunt force items as well if they don't 
penetrate. Generally the kukhri is used on arms 
and legs and such which are much harder to 
protect. A severed arm raised in defense will 
generally make someone combat ineffective and a 
casualty in short order. It's hard to charge your 
M4 with your hand sitting in your lap. Though you 
can try the other hand usually by then you'd have 
seen your head stoved in.

>Let's make it really interesting.  I'll take a 12ga shotgun instead. .
.

Ahh, now you're getting into the light/close 
range weapons area again. Winchester 1898 with 
the bayonet fixed? :-D

>There should be a severe disadvantage for folks going into combat
>without firearms.  There is a reason we don't really fix bayonets
>before going into houses anymore.  Proper CQB techniques minimize the
>chance of being surprised by some idiot at arm's length or less, and
>you should already have your weapon up and ready to engage the target
>anyway.

You'd say that, but they still seem to have an 
effect. A bunch of enraged soldiers rushing at 
you with steel fixed tends to cause a fear 
response.  I think the British used them 
relatively recently to clear a street of 
insurgents/rioters when a couple of their 
squaddies got hit with petrol bombs. I do think 
they stuck a few of the folks responsible too. 
The British in WWII did routinely carry the day 
with bayonet charges against Germans (no slouches 
when it came to infantry attacks) when everyone 
had ammo running low and it was win or loose time.

Really, I think the point to be asked, is would 
light armor, a carbine and a hand weapon like an 
axe, kukhri or gladius useful where forces along 
side or opposing are using heavy armor and more 
weight of kit?

Next time you deploy, have your squad fix 
bayonets and see how the opposition fixates on 
that one thing you're poking around at them. You 
might never stick someone, but you should see a 
noticeable difference.

Any more thoughts on carrying a short roman sword into combat?
-- 
--
Ryan Gill	       rmgill@SPAMmindspring.com
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