Fact: You could still kick butt with swords in WWII

[TL10]

Point of case (I withheld the link because it contains vulgar language):

Now here is a man everyone should know about – he truly typifies awesomeness and bravery. Nicknamed “Fighting Jack Churchill” and “Mad Jack”, he was an English soldier who fought throughout World War II armed with just a longbow, arrows and a claymore (sword). He once said “any officer who goes into action without his sword is improperly dressed.” Remember that during this war he was basically using a sword and a bow and arrow against men with tanks and machine guns. He is the only soldier to have killed an enemy with an arrow in the war. And in true quirky British style, not only did he fight the good fight – he would rouse the troops with a merry tune on his bagpipes, as he was an expert piper and always took them with him to battle. In his most awesome moment, Churchill led a team of commandos into enemy lines playing “Will Ye No Come Back Again?” on his bagpipes. He was the only member of the group that made it to the objective alive – everyone else was killed around him. Perhaps the Germans liked his playing too much to kill him. When the war ended and the world celebrated, Churchill was not happy. He is recorded as saying: “If it wasn’t for those Yanks, we could have kept the war going another 10 years!” In retirement he took up surfing in Australia before returning to England to live. In the photograph above you can see Churchill on the right with sword in hand.

[Mute]

You could only kick butt if you had a lot of guys around you with guns actually making a difference. You might kill a couple with a bow and arrow but you are not going to be nearly as effective. The polish thought it was a great idea to charge panzer tanks on horse back with swords and rifles. Look where that got them.

[TL10]

You could only kick butt if you had a lot of guys around you with guns actually making a difference. You might kill a couple with a bow and arrow but you are not going to be nearly as effective. The polish thought it was a great idea to charge panzer tanks on horse back with swords and rifles. Look where that got them.

I dunno. If the guy was alive today, he'd probobly say something like this:

Happy Slamjet?

[slamjet]

Happy Slamjet?

Never knew I was sad.

[Dravin]

You could only kick butt if you had a lot of guys around you with guns actually making a difference. You might kill a couple with a bow and arrow but you are not going to be nearly as effective. The polish thought it was a great idea to charge panzer tanks on horse back with swords and rifles. Look where that got them.

Arguably the Poles thought and did no such thing but were the victim of propaganda. Sorry, I can't seem to find any reputable citation online for it, it's a refutation I've heard from multiple source such as History Channel and others*. Something I realize doesn't exactly have much more weight than the myth/status quo.

* Numerous armchair history sites and Wikipedia.

Edited January 23, 2011 by Dravin

[talisyn]

We totally need bagpipes with our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. I'm serious.

[Blackmarch]

Point of case (I withheld the link because it contains vulgar language):

Sword-

Pro: Unlimited ammo.

Con: Extremely limited range, weaker piercing capabilities.