about:realism in Oblivion

[ThomasCovenant]

... The wear of weapons: swords. Reality check. A claymore was used like a baseball bat.

If your sword was used for slashing and its now dull, you can still beat the crap out of someone with it.

If you think swordfighting is swinging a sharp steel baseball bat around, you'd be surprised the first time some guy does a crook strike while stepping offline in a bout against you. Give the guy a hand (preferably the one that's flopping on the ground in front of you).

 

...A knight could not walk under his own strength in full plate armor...

A modern soldier typically hauls more weight in gear on his back than the 50-60 pounds of thin, flat metal a knight bore evenly distributed over his entire body.

 

 

First, the sword in the game is not a claymore.

It looks like a ceremonial sword used to knight, um...knights.

It's usually a 2H affair that cannot be used to slash anything because the edges are not really there.

Anything that resemble the 2H sword in the game are in real life "fantasy" swords.

Second, the thing weighs a ton. Well, ok, not really. But it is really unwieldy to umm...wield.

Yes it has a point, but it would crazy overbalance the wielder to stab with it.

[ninja_lord666]

Anything that resemble the 2H sword in the game are in real life "fantasy" swords.

There were two-handed swords in real life:

 

The two-handed claymore was a large sword used in the Medieval period. It was used in the constant clan warfare and border fights with the English from circa 1300 to 1700. The last known battle in which it is considered to have been used in a significant number is Battle of Killiecrankie in 1689.

 

According to post-medieval accounts, the earlier, more practical Zweihänder types were used to break up pike formations, first by smashing the pikes and then by hitting the pikemen themselves. Other longer versions of the sword were used to take the front legs off a steed in combat.

 

The male without a father sword, or contemporary espée bastarde, is a type of sword dating from roughly the early 15th century. It received its name for fitting into neither the one-handed sword family, nor the two handed sword family, thus being labelled a "male without a father." These weapons featured longer grips similar to those found on the longswords. The extra space was not enough to allow both hands entirely, however, but was enough to provide for the use of a couple of fingers or a part of the palm, providing some extra leverage.

[Rhydderch Hael]

...First, the sword in the game is not a claymore.

Umm— you were the one mentioning claymores, not I.

 

Blame Cassie-the-Assassin, my Imperial character who is bound more-or-less by roleplaying (and fashion sense) to stick with Steel Claymores, but I do know of one 'claymore' in this game that actually does look like a claymore (and by that I don't mean the Scottish basket-hilted single-edged broadsword).

 

It looks like a ceremonial sword used to knight, um...knights.

It's usually a 2H affair that cannot be used to slash anything because the edges are not really there.

Anything that resemble the 2H sword in the game are in real life "fantasy" swords.

Second, the thing weighs a ton. Well, ok, not really. But it is really unwieldy to umm...wield.

Yes it has a point, but it would crazy overbalance the wielder to stab with it.

You're thinking of the parade 'bearing' sword, identifiable by the fact that any and all inscriptions on the sword can be read when it is held with the point up (traditionally, inscriptions on practical swords were oriented to be read with the sword pointed down, thus resembling a Christian crucifix).

 

Bearing swords weren't intended, much less designed, as weapons. They're as practical a sword as a flagstaff is as practical a cavalry lance.

 

ninja_lord666 has already touched upon the practical two-handers used by Swiss mercenaries, German landsknecht and double-pay men. Longswords, however, can be regarded as swords with a two-handed grip, but thin or light enough to be used one-handed (as they would be, when used on horseback). Fighting two-handed with these swords would occur when the knight is dismounted— if he had no means to a shield, or were bound by tradition when prosecuting a judicial duel (trial-by-combat, resolving a court case the ol' Navy Way: first guy to die— loses!).