So Cracked made a list of the 11 worst fantasy weapons...

[Niode]

What always bothered me about swords in fantasy stories is they usually held the idea that all swords are razor sharp and light as a feather.

Glad somebody else noticed that. Because running around with any length of steel longer and thicker than your arm is tonnes of fun!! Seriously, go and try it.

[zarathstra]

The bayonet wasn't always a last resort, it simply allowed the rifle to be more effective in close combat. The term "bayonet charge" exists for a reason.

When guns were still primitive, a line of gunner would always have a group of pikemen to support them in case the enemy got too close. With the bayonet, everyone could carry a gun and a blade at the same time.

The first bayonets fit INTO the barrel, meaning that the gun couldn't be fired once it was fixed. Later, they were adapted to fit AROUND the barrel, so you could fix the bayonet before the battle started and still use your gun.

I imagine if the "cleaning the gun before using it again" thing is true, it was probably because of the various fluids that could get in the barrel when you stabbed someone with the bayonet.

[lordofduct]

I imagine if the "cleaning the gun before using it again" thing is true, it was probably because of the various fluids that could get in the barrel when you stabbed someone with the bayonet.

my point about that was a reference to what was in the article about how stabbing a guy with your gunblade would render you rifle useless or blow your own arm off when using it (don't try and shoot a blocked weapon).

and wow zarathstra... you do wonderful work at repeating people.

[vejita]

Well, I wasn't expecting an in-depth article on the hows and whys of weaponry, so it was just a funny pundit making geek references to weapons that are the least likely to have ever been made in that fashion...

I still think the gunblade looked cool. the game actually attempted to explain the mechanics of it.. but it's not like anyone cared (unless they were gun buffs who still complain about the amount of rounds fired in movies)

[lordofduct]

I'm hardly a gun buff... and still the amount of bullets fired in a movie drives me MAD!!!! MAD!!!!!!!!

Well it depends on the movie actually. If the movie is over the top borderline fantasy with guns. Ok, I let that one go. I don't expect Rambo or Some old Schwarzenager film to be accurate about that kind of stuff. They're over the top and some times make fun of themselves in this respect (like "last action hero"... I think there was a couple parts in that movie that the characters pointed out the ridiculous amount of bullets fired)

But when it's to be a serious drama that is meant to be taken seriously and be based in world that is SUPPOSED to be the real world. Especially if it is supposed to be a piece of history or some crap like that. No, I'm sorry... be a little damn more realistic then! It's not that hard to know how many rounds a 6 shooter has, it's called a fucking 6 shooter for a reason!

This actually goes for a lot of different "effects" in a movie for me. If your movie is meant to be realistic follow the laws of God damn physics why don't you!? And if your movie is meant to be actiony, well hey there is only so far I'm going to suspend my reality for you... especially if you want to force certain laws of life into the movie to create plot points but completely ignore so much else. Like your not so bright and weak main character who doesn't even know what the word fight means, yet can dodge every bullet and take every 500 foot fall and finish the movie off unscathed like he was a super human.

Yeah I'm talking to you Michael Bay... STOP MAKING MOVIES!!!!

[vejita]

Aw, c'mon! How else is Steven Segal going to take down those greased-up bad dudes with piercings AND still have time to make his sandwich?

[The Apprentice]

Though the revolutionaries of America really spruced up the use of the bayonet with some strange tactics, but usually the tactics involved removing it from the rifle. But then again they're the same guys who went on and invented the practice of "sniper rifles" in the Civil War. Keen little buggers we were.

Well actually, we used "snipers" in the War of 1812, although it was a different technique. Basically, an American soldier would position himself in a tree with the same rifle that the others were using, although the fact that he was in a tree made him very hard to notice with all the guys out in the field, giving him more time to aim and fire, thus improving accuracy. I remember that some general rode into battle in that war and was immediatly picked off by an American sniper. The sniper was then slaughtered because the army knew exactly where he was and he had nowhere to run because he was, well, in a tree.

[marurun]

I read/saw somewhere (and just confirmed with Wikipedia) that the M1903 rifle the US adopted in 1903 was used as a standard infantry rifle even in WWII, and as a sniper rifle in the Korean War and early parts of the Vietnam conflict. That's longevity, though it's odd we didn't devote resources to finding a better sniper weapon.

[Ack]

I read/saw somewhere (and just confirmed with Wikipedia) that the M1903 rifle the US adopted in 1903 was used as a standard infantry rifle even in WWII, and as a sniper rifle in the Korean War and early parts of the Vietnam conflict. That's longevity, though it's odd we didn't devote resources to finding a better sniper weapon.

You mean while taking from the resources dedicated towards creating new chemical weapons, atomic weapons, tank designs, airplanes, mechanized infantry, automatic weapons, support vehicles, transport, logistics, tactics, so on and so forth? The M1903 worked for the time, so why fix it? It's still used for drill due to its weight, though they haven't seen active use since Vietnam.

But hey, you want longevity? Try the M1911. The official sidearm of the United States Army from March 29, 1911 to January 14, 1985. Hell, SOCOM still advocates going back to the sucker, nearly a century later. Now THAT'S longevity.

[Jrecee]

I was totally expecting to see the Laser Piano wire thing from Johnny Mnemonic on here.