Talhoffer, Crecy, Sempach, or Regent

[Ian Mac Pharlaine]

I have found the Regent to be a very lovely sword, best of both worlds in every respect. The Type XVIIIa blade is balanced for cutting and thrusting equally, and the fishtail pommel is a balance between a flat wheel and a pear-shaped scent stopper. Now it is a very robust sword, but after playing with one on at least 3 occasions, the extra blade presence doesnt bug me anymore. I quite like it actually, and its a close second behind the Brescia Spadona as my favorite

The talhoffer is also nice too, for a type XVa of couse. but it is a very plain sword. If you want a XVa, go with the Cluny.... I know I know, lotta $$$, but it is hands down one of THE best swords I have EVER handled. Very long, very light, perfectly balanced.

[James Brazas]

Ian Mac Pharlaine: I don't think the Cluny would quite be my style. It looks too thin for my taste. The Brescia Spadone looks interesting, but it is a bit too pricy. Thanks for the input, though.

On the subject of price, I've been thinking. For the price of the Albion Regent, I could buy a Crecy/Talhoffer, a Liechtenauer, and an NSA waster. That's an Albion sharp, an Albion blunt, and an NSA waster for the price of one Albion sharp.

I'm sure the Regent is an excellent blade, but it might not make economic sense to sink all that money into one blade like that right now.

The Crecy and Talhoffer are both good blades and are about as cheap as Albion next generation blades get. I love the way the Talhoffer looks (simple but quite elegant) and I hear the handling is fantastic and it's lightning fast. The only trouble is that I also hear it's not as good with cutting power. Ideally, I'd like a quick blade with a balance between cutting and thrusting.

The Crecy seems to have that balance between cutting and thrusting that I like, though it has a shorter blade, shorter cross guard, shorter grip, and it is rather plain. I also would imagine it isn't as good for half-swording.

So what would be the real difference in cutting power between the Talhoffer and Crecy against unarmored targets and against maille-clad targets?

Honestly, if they had a cheaper Type XVIII, I'd probably just go with that. But the XVIIIs are all quite expensive.

Here's an odd side question. The Earl is slightly cheaper than the Regent, I like its pommel better, and it has a closer Point of Balance. The only thing I don't like about the Earl is the curved cross guard. Would it be possible to get an Earl with a straight cross guard?

If I could get an Albion Earl with a straight cross guard, that would be absolutely ideal.

[James Brazas]

So it looks like a customized Earl is very expensive.

For the time being I'll have to go with something else, probably the Talhoffer or Crecy.

Our group leader owns the Crecy and Agincourt. I can probably ask if I can try them out for a few minutes to see whether I like the Type XV or XVI better.

How would the Sempach relate to them? Is it about halfway between the two in terms of handling and performance?