(no subject)

Gods, I am such a bloodthirsty little geek. What is it with me and medieval artillery? Seriously. Someone says 'trebuchet', or 'arbalest', and suddenly I'm all ears. And today ... we had a lecture on medieval crossbows. I think that maybe have been the closest I've ever come to lust. The Chinese, by the 12th century, had pump-action crossbows, with 12-bolt clips. Europeans had unwieldy brutish meter long lumps of wood and hand-cranks. The Chinese had poetry in action. 12 bolts in 80 seconds. Regiments of up to 50,000 men, armed with these babies. No wonder no-one could stand up to them! (Except for horsemen. The Chinese apparently weren't so hot with cavalry)

I don't know why I love these things so much. They're actually horrible things. Possibly one of the most deadly weapons ever created, and certainly in the early days of fire-arms, far more efficient than guns. They were designed, completely and utterly, to kill, and to kill people. No animal needs armour-piercing bolts to stop, not outside of the Jurassic. But ... maybe it is just the sheer efficiency. Like sharks. Just the sheer deadly elegance of the design. Guns are all flash and bang. A crossbow is pure, lethal physics.

Anyway! In other news, I have two more fics owed to people. I've been caught up the last few days with actual college, though, and probably will be into the weekend, so I hope no-one minds waiting? I'm probably gonna be quiet until around Saturday. -_-;

(no subject)

Gods, I am such a bloodthirsty little geek. What is it with me and medieval artillery? Seriously. Someone says 'trebuchet', or 'arbalest', and suddenly I'm all ears. And today ... we had a lecture on medieval crossbows. I think that maybe have been the closest I've ever come to lust. The Chinese, by the 12th century, had pump-action crossbows, with 12-bolt clips. Europeans had unwieldy brutish meter long lumps of wood and hand-cranks. The Chinese had poetry in action. 12 bolts in 80 seconds. Regiments of up to 50,000 men, armed with these babies. No wonder no-one could stand up to them! (Except for horsemen. The Chinese apparently weren't so hot with cavalry)

I don't know why I love these things so much. They're actually horrible things. Possibly one of the most deadly weapons ever created, and certainly in the early days of fire-arms, far more efficient than guns. They were designed, completely and utterly, to kill, and to kill people. No animal needs armour-piercing bolts to stop, not outside of the Jurassic. But ... maybe it is just the sheer efficiency. Like sharks. Just the sheer deadly elegance of the design. Guns are all flash and bang. A crossbow is pure, lethal physics.

Anyway! In other news, I have two more fics owed to people. I've been caught up the last few days with actual college, though, and probably will be into the weekend, so I hope no-one minds waiting? I'm probably gonna be quiet until around Saturday. -_-;