How I got my butt kicked in a board game 2000 years old.

So... I recently joined a group of Viking re-enactors at our local ren-fest, and during my first day as a Viking, I went from being in the queen's guard to being the guy in charge of the ancient board games.  I immediately realized that, unlike popular opinion, the vikings were not dumb giants with axes and boats.  They played strategy games that rival chess in complex strategy & difficulty, and this has led me to conclude that they were actually quite clever.  Anyways... I spent about 5 hours teaching the patrons these viking games.  And I lost just about every game.  By the end of the day, I had only won a grand total of 5 games.

Woop-dee-doo, I suck at strategy games.
See ya 'round.

So now we buy a not-crappy sword.

So yeah.  I found a quality sword, and I think I'm gonna go for it.  It's a Windlass, which is one of the oldest sword companies still manufacturing.  The steel is something like 1060 springsteel, although it could be carbon steel.  not sure which yet.  The only problem I've heard pertaining to this sword is that Windlass blades tend to be a tad whippy, meaning it acts less like a bar of steel, and more like a pool noodle.  But I'm not too concerned about that.

On a side note, I'm this [            ] close to fixing my previous attempt at a sword.  You remember... that crappy one that broke in my last post.  Well, I've almost got it presentable again.  And then it will go on display in my room and will have it's own personal "do not touch" sign.

So... until next time, Thanks for reading etc etc.

Never buy a crappy sword.

EVER.  I mean that.  Just today, I went and bought a nice looking sword at a local ren-fest, but in my excitement, (buying swords is exciting) I forgot to treat this certain wallhanger like a wallhanger.

Note for those of you unfamiliar with sword terminology:  Wallhanger means any sword that looks really cool, but if you try and swing it, it falls apart in your hands.

Thus, half an hour after getting home with my newly bought shiny sword... it came apart and I discovered that it was designed in such a way that it couldn't be repaired.  So... I am now faced with the problem of constructing a brand new hilt to attach to the still-shiny blade.

And the moral of this story is this:  Never, ever, ever, evereverevereverever, ∞, buy a crappy sword, unless it's going straight into an air-conditioned, vacuum-sealed, anti-rust display case.