Miscellaneous > The Sallyport
Ancient Knightly Wisdom (True Quote, no matter the source)
Sir William:
A win's a win, eh Sir Edward? There are uses for that sort of chivalry I suppose. LOL
I'm kidding of course, its only sound strategy. A cop once told me, after I'd complained to him about him getting me when I was at the back of the convoy when the guy in front was moving faster than I was.
He used a fishing analogy that basically went- slowest one gets the jakes.
Good times.
Sir Edward:
--- Quote from: Sir William on 2011-04-08, 20:17:52 ---A win's a win, eh Sir Edward? There are uses for that sort of chivalry I suppose. LOL
--- End quote ---
Well, there's a couple of different ways to look at it. Historically, knights weren't expected to be honorable towards peasants, which most of the enemy troops would have been. Chivalry only applied to their equals and betters. In the modern context, that doesn't apply anymore of course, but it was a historical reality.
In the other sense, you can be both honorable and fierce, chivalric and strategic, all at the same time. That is, you can fight to win once the gloves are off, but you can't mistreat your foe once you've defeated him. Does that make sense?
In war, knights had to be effective, first and foremost. It doesn't mean they discard their honor, just that they have to apply it appropriately, without taking it to such an extreme that they're giving the other side the upper-hand. :)
Sir Edward:
I should add though that it really depends on the situation.
Here's a thought experiment-- Imagine that you're a biplane combat pilot in World War I, and that your squadron comes into contact with a German squadron of equal number, but one of them is the Red Baron. What would you do?
I'd probably strongly consider going for the Red Baron first. To me, my team's best chances of survival are in keeping him from getting onto anyone's tail, rather than just try to rack up kills on my own behalf going after lesser pilots. And if I couldn't shoot him down, but managed to force him to withdraw, I'd have to let him go and make sure my team can handle the remaining planes.
But in other scenarios, if you're the cavalry and you just really need to reduce the number of people shooting/charging at your side, sometimes the best thing to do is simply cull the herd. :)
(BTW, have you ever looked at the Red Baron's combat record? Man, that was one heck of a pilot!)
Sir James A:
Interesting idea, Sir Edward. In all of my RPG experience, you usually thin out the "minions" when confronting larger bosses, so that the remaining party members can focus on the big guy and take him down with extreme prejudice. You just have to be faster at eliminating the minions than the boss is at eliminating your team mates.
Nissan Maxima is an interesting guy.
Thorsteinn:
"In fighting and in everyday life you should be determined though calm. Meet the situation without tenseness yet not recklessly, your spirit settled yet unbiased. An elevated spirit is weak and a low spirit is weak. Do not let the enemy see your spirit."
"The true science of martial arts means practicing them in such a way that they will be useful at any time, and to teach them in such a way that they will be useful in all things."
-Miyamoto Musashi
"If the race goes too swiftly, victory goes to those who are willing to fail."- Roddenberry's 'Andromeda'
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