[Artemisia] A New Discussion - SCA Skills in a Modern Plague

[Randolph Hagen]

This has been an interesting discussion.  Perhaps because I live within blocks of the Missouri, with new turbines in Black Eagle dam, and wind turbines on the horizon, water and electricity are two things I didn't consider.  Nor did I think much about transportation, with a couple dozen horses in the front yard, nor food (meat any way) with a small heard of cattle in the far paddock.
 
What would really be annoying is not being able to check the bank balance on line.  The US is fast becoming a cashless society and trying to rebuild trade and any kind of economy without specie would be near impossible.
 
His Grace's question, though was what advantages would medieval reenactors have.  First one: security.  If there isn't a lot of spare ammunition left around, as a reenactor I know that a crossbow has better accuracy and a higher rate of fire than a musket; and though less accurate than a crossbow, a long bow has an even higher rate of fire.  In hand to hand combat I know that part of the Roman Leagions' success was due to each soldier's actually swinging his sword at opponents for six minutes per hour.  Having myself fought melee games with rapier that have gone on for hours gives me a real appreciation for just how overwhelming an advantage that really was.
 
Why would this be important to know?  When a person gets hungery, s/he may remain retiscent, when his/her kids get hungery s/he gets desperate.  If production and distribution were somehow interrupted in the US, 300 million people would quickly get desperate enough to start hurting each other.
 
YIS
Wulf