Novelist here. Need some pointers, please.

[nathan featherstone]

well this is a reason i love this forum i learn a ton. so thank you for sharing any more info would be good im learning lots on eastern archery which is new to me.
i agree with your points the back quiver was an issue most of all when i had to bend over pick stuff up etc.
i hope the author is reading this its great stuff.

[Eli Freysson]

It depends on how you'd want to frame the training regime. Such a long training period could be plausible if the program included things like tactical lessons, war games, and "live-fire" exercises made as realistic as safety paradigms would allow. If the school didn't have any of these things, though, and focused only on weapons-handling, it might be a better idea to get the recruits out in the field after only about two years or so, putting them out on things like routine patrols and garrison duties to give them some experience without sticking them into too much danger, since too much skill-at-arms without tactical experience could make them dangerously overconfident and prone to suffering from things like surprise attacks (no amount of weapon-handling drills could teach recruits the importance of deploying security detachments). They (or the survivors, anyway) could always be brought back to training afterwards to discuss and sharpen the lessons they had learned in the field.

Of course, that's only if you really need a "full spectrum" soldier. If all you need is a supreme battlefield shock force that doesn't have to deal with outpost duties and the like (because there are other troops detailed to handle them), then weapon handling, formation drills, and long marches could theoretically be enough to make them a decently useful fighting force.

Hmm. Well, the zweihander supersoldier dudes are meant to fulfill a very specific purpose and generally don't fight with the regular army or lead troops. But I do want them to be more than "decent" at what they do. I'll have to think about this. Thanks for the pointers.

Why would you give them all longswords, though? Against such large, powerful adversaries, it'd probably be more realistic to use a mixture of weapons. Even if you wanted to stick to only hand-to-hand weapons, the demon-hunters would probably be better served by two-man teams, one carrying a long spear or lance to stick the demon and keep it at bay while the second takes advantage of the distraction to move in for the kill with a shorter but more impactful weapon (sword, axe, hammer, whatever). This was how medieval Europeans hunted dangerous animals like the boar and also how John Hawkwood's mercenary English men-at-arms operated in Italy (based on the description that they, well, fought like men hunting boars).

Well okay, I've misspoken (mistyped?) a bit. They DO use a variety of weapons when possible, but a longsword is what they have at hand at all times. Plus, a sword can be placed in a scabbard and the hunters are spread out and often operate alone. Thanks for the spear-n-sword boar hunting tip. I'll keep it in mind and use it as the default method for "amateur" monster killers.

i hope the author is reading this its great stuff.

I am. I've just been a little distracted lately.

[nathan featherstone]

any other questions you might have that we can help with?

[Eli Freysson]

any other questions you might have that we can help with?

Not for now. But I'll know where to turn when I need good advice.
Thanks everyone.

[Eli Freysson]

Well, now I DO have other questions. For those who don't remember, I'm an author looking for advice from people who actually know which end of the sword to hold onto.

*Does training/fighting regularly with a sword cause a callus buildup that another fighter would recognize?

*I am trying to decide what kind of sword one particular character should carry. She's something between an assassin and a commando; Specialized in creeping into an enemy camp or home under cover of darkness and strike hard and fast before anyone can react. But she also needs to be able to fight toe-to-toe when the situation arises, often in fairly cramped quarters.
Suggestions?

[Andrew F Ulrich]

Funny you should ask; we sometimes talk about how back in the day a person might have been able to tell swordsmen by their battered hands like we in modern times can tell boxers by the cauliflower ears and/or broken nose.

Battered hands would be a telltale sign of intense training. Look for smashed, blackened fingernails or scars on the back of the hand, or if the training is recent, nicks, bruises, or swollen fingers. I once got a bone spur from a strike on my finger, but I think it's gone now 'cause I can't find it.

The better you get, the less often your hands get hit, and actually most effects wear off in a week or so, but you'll still have the scars from nicks and scrapes from when you weren't so good, and sometimes when you're binding you get nicks, scrapes, and minor smashes just from working around the other weapon (anyone who's worked with someone using an Albion Meyer can attest to this). Hands seem to become even more susceptible to smashing when you're using a polearm.

As for fighting in cramped quarters, maybe a sword and buckler with a dagger in the belt would do. I would also think that with a job like that, being a good marksman would probably be a great benefit.

[Richard Strey]

"You're looking for the fencing master? Check the tavern, he's the guy with one eye, seven fingers and missing teeth."

Other than that, I find that any regular bruises you get from training aren't exactly "typical fencing marks". From my experience in the military, camping trips and general life "outdoors", I generally sport far more scraps and burns from daily life (e.g. cooking, making fires and chopping firewood) than combat practice.

Fighters recognise each other by the look in their eyes and the way they move.

[LafayetteCCurtis]

Other than that, I find that any regular bruises you get from training aren't exactly "typical fencing marks". From my experience in the military, camping trips and general life "outdoors", I generally sport far more scraps and burns from daily life (e.g. cooking, making fires and chopping firewood) than combat practice.

True. One thing I like to point out to people is the thickening of the skin at the tips of my right thumb and the three central fingers on the same hand (from practicing two different styles of archery)--and then I show them the cuts and scrapes I got from various tools (craft knives, rasps, hammers, needles, tacks, etc.) while making or repairing archery equipment. Guess which ones would be more obvious even to the trained observer.

As for the type of sword for an assassin/commando character...well, actually, I'd be tempted to suggest any type of sword that would let them blend in quietly into the enemy camp (in other words, a type sufficiently common among the enemy that nobody would look twice at it). Better still, give her a moderate-sized weapon that could also do double duty as an innocuous tool, like a billhook. An assassin's best defense is not looking like an assassin. Just look at actual historical ninjas who looked exactly like common farmers or household servants complete with the associated tools. Once they had done their job they would have been able to hide in plain sight as a horrified onlooker.