It's the year 1955 and the sword is the most prized weapon on the battlefield

weaboo fightan magic

>It's the year 1955 and the sword is the most prized weapon on the battlefield.
>Why?
Armor's resistance to blunt impact was improved upon so much that bullets simply are unable to pierce a simple bodysuit.
Therefore, people have to fall back to flechettes, bolts, shrapnel, and, yes, swords.

>thinking bullets are blunt
Friend. You understand they create puncture wounds, yes? That they readily cut through flesh and move it aside?

Because it's an alternative history where no one could figure out guns, industrialization, or any technology to speak of.

The trick is that swords aren't the most prized weapons, Swords are. The capitalisation is important.
Relics from... somewhere, there's plenty of debate as to their origin.
Some say little men from the stars created them with cunning science, other say they're the blades of the knights of the Round Table enchanted by Merlin himself, others that they're creations of Hephestus and carry a divine spark of the long dead god.

All that's known is that they imbue their wielder with immense strength, speed and resiliance, every one unique in both style and magical effect.

Nobody has yet been able to design bullets that can pierce through the chainsaw armor that have been developed. Even with massive force behind it the new chainsaw armor defense system manages to withstand the first impact of any bullet, stopping it's momentum and grinding it up before self repairing the damage.

This has caused people to make swords out of the new chainsaw armor. These new Chainsarmor Blades lack the stopping power of a bullet, but since the user is able to continue to apply pressure to their attack after striking a blow they are able to continue the momentum of their attack and push it through the armor before it can self repair. Seeing this as the next evolution of warfare, president Eisenhower oversees the mass production of this weapon for the military to prepare to to defend the United States against the newfound threats of NeoMcDonalds and New Disneyland.

The point isn't that bullets are blunt, the point is that bullets aren't sharp enough.

I'm pretty sure that making sharper bullets makes more sense than swords.

There are demons that project an anti-technology area that melds together all the internal parts of any artificial device in their proximity.
THey also spend most of their time in an astral plane we cannot reach and appear in unpredictable places, often shrouded in darkness and stuff.
If you want to be ready to defend yourself against the demons, you must have a melee weapon with you.

What about, and hear me out but, what about a gun that

and this is a pretty wild idea but just think about it

what about a gun....that fired swords?

I like this.

I like this a lot. I like it so much I don't care that it's been done before, or that it wouldn't make sense to be like this already at 1955.

Obviously because it's 1955 BC.

*anti-technology aura

Fwocka-Fwocka-Fwocka-Fwocka-Fwocka-Fwocka-

>let me steal shit straight from the Old Kingdom trilogy
Enchanted weaponry is the only thing that will slay the living dead reliably, and without a master enchanter you'd have a hard time finding anyone who can manage to add runes of destruction and rest to more than three or four slugs a day.
So while "holy" rounds aren't unknown, supplies will always be minimal and never enough to keep up with demand.

At the same time, that same enchanter can work runes of destruction, rest, purification and binding into a single sword all day and that will last for decades with minimal upkeep.
It doesn't help that areas with high magic can degrade items not made by hand, causing firearms to jam or break unexpectedly.
Soldiers who are assigned to areas with undead presence will do whatever they can to get their hands on a runed blade and breastplate, at a pinch finding another soldier with a pinch of magic to add a rune or two to whatever they got their hands on.
Even if the government tries to pretend that the undead don't exist and swords appear merely as specialised bayonets on requisition orders, there's still a busy trade on them at the borders to the Undying Lands.

So very little survivied that time. Precious few photographs remain. Carefully preserved newspaper clippings. Stories of the time growing up to the end. All scrawled over, publicized, taken in some vain hope to preserve a memory. All titled "February, 1955". Don't you know, user? Nuclear winter is forever and March will never come.

the plague wiped out all of civilization in europe and now all that's left is the retarded civs.

Officers can do sword duels, to advance in rank or to settle disagreements. The same is even true of politicians.
Carrying a sidearm is also a sign of status in public, and if it has visible known heraldry you are not bothered at any checkpoints.

In fact: Civilian servants are carrying ornamental daggers to identify themselves, but aren't allowed to duel in public. And it is still a gigantic show of status.

Warfare have, as a result of two devastating world wars, returned to a ritualised stage where only the champions of each state fight each other in arenas under a certain holy protocol. Warfare as such has thus been limited to partially sportslike entertainment and religious ceremony.

Nazi and Japanese science during WW2 unlocked weaboo fightin' magic on a global scale. Guns are useless before the superhuman reflexes and warrior spirit of the samurai.

After the use of the Atom Bomb, Mankind decided that if they kept looking forward then eventually war would destroy the world, and decided to used older technology to fight wars in the future so as if to not be as destructive to the world itself.

Polearms, guns, bows and arrows and all other weaponry cannot be enchanted to a level comparable to that of the sword. A heavily enchanted pollax can hew three men in half at the hips. A similarly enchant sword cuts the top off three mountains.

>Because people realizes that guns are only a measure of industrialization and has no bearing on skill, strength, honor, or capability. Any idiot with a gun can kill anyone. But melee weapons are a true measure of a soldier's dedication and skills.
>Naturally this would require a society that can functionally think.

It is far more difficult and requires far more skill to shoot accurately with any kind of firearm and at any kind of distance than it does with a sword.

Firearms require far more discipline given their capability, they require greater situational awareness, greater mechanical knowledge to care for.

For most people, firearms are scary, dangerous, loud, and require some measure of strength and toughness to handle recoil of older ones (Muskets and pre-smokeless powder types), which is where their dislike comes from. Many new male types are scared of loud noises, responsibility and authority, all of these are represented in a very real way with firearms.

Firearms are the more honorable weapon given that a skilled user can kill indiscriminately, but do not because of personal honor/belief code. They require a far higher functioning society and soldier to operate them effectively.

The god of war and honor is real and is pissed at what firearms do to warfare, his clerics actively hunt down guns and are magically empowered by him to get the job done

>requires far more skill to shoot accurately with any kind of firearm and at any kind of distance than it does with a sword.

I don't know man it seems pretty hard to shoot accurately with a sword.

A new type of armor that thwarts bullets was developed, and to thwart it in turn new swordmaking techniques are the frontier of war.

Technology under the Nazi Empire really pushed the boundaries of science and technology.
Nano machines, super vibrating swords and muscle fibers rule the world's war economy.

Guns are obsolete because both the armor and reflexes of the soldiers using them can stop regular bullets. Two soldiers can destroy a city block in a matter of seconds.

Air power dominates the battlefield, destroying logistics trains and resupply in order to isolate the enemy. After a day or two of fighting on the front, all ammunition has been spent, all fuel has been used, and food is running out. Decisive action has returned to the bayonet. But in this day, specially trained soldiers bearing swords and sprinkled through the ranks bear the honor of breaking these deadlocks, skillfully outmatching the makeshift spear-using dough-boys in the opposite ranks, and seeking out their opposites to duel.

It is a dangerous and heroic task, as both sides are want to save a few bullets to kill these heroes. But both sides respect them as much as they fear them. It is not uncommon for an enemy, exhausted of ammunition, to break or surrender when they see the gleaming swords of their foes unsheathed.

Here's your (You). I'd tell you to go get into an exchange of fire but you'd shit yourself and run away anyway.

Cause having one it either means your a person of high importance, or you killed one.

Here's your (You). I'd tell you to go get into a life or death sword duel but you'd shit yourself and run away anyway.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doomsday_Clock
>The lowest point for the Doomsday Clock was 1953, when the clock was set to 2 minutes until midnight after the U.S. and the Soviet Union began testing hydrogen bombs.

Already have, kid.

Ok, Virt.

It's no good. Even if the greatest threat is best to be fought by a sword (making it prized), people with guns would be the best way of fighting people with swords.

It's a Flamethrower problem all over again. Flamethrower specialist beats bunker and tank. Rifle beats flamethrower specialist. There's a whole lot of rifles, Flamethrower specialists walk small and keep their heads down.

Hollywood

All those US Soldiers who came back from Europe and Asia, inspired by all those Shrines and Forts that have outlasted their countries and survived bombings and whatever else they could throw at them, they made movies about them. Made up stories about Nazi commanders unwilling to surrender but incapable of throwing away their men's lives who challenge the enemy to a sword duel, the victor taking the fort. Some unnamed peasant returning an Officers Sword and bringing back intel, foregoing an 'honorable' death in battle. Maybe some European !Noble with a sword leading his men, gets shot down, and another keeps picking it up to push the soldiers forward.

Keep inundating society with it and eventually they'll believe that's how it always was, always will be.

>Die nanomaschinen, mein sohn

I can dig it.

This.

It could be 1955 in Middle Earth. (How often, if ever, did Middle Earth characters outside of the Shire refer to any particular year by number?)

>bullets
>sharp
Bullets are about as sharp as a ball-point pen

I also have no imagination

Take this for example, here's where I got hung up.

Nazis! In this case those bastards got vampire forces going in a big way (no pseudo-science plague, literally accursed by god wretches), everybody has some, and the only weapon they will notice is crusader steel (modern blessings don't take, how embarrassing).

Vampire beats army, a guy with a Deus Vulte hilt beats vampire, but... it's a guy with a sword.

I'm really not seeing what the problem is here. You might as well complain that riflemen aren't tanks.

Gunpowder was never invented as that chemical reaction doesn't exist or is inert instead

because japan told the dutch and americans to fuck right off and stayed in their own little bubble.

And they're about as blunt as one too

What is compressed air? Also, gunpowder isn't only explosive out there.

Obscure Egyptian god Wee Jab prevents firearms from working against officers and distinguished heroes due to a mistranslation.

>melee weapons are a true measure of a soldier's dedication and skills.
>this would require a society that can functionally think

In this universe we simply lack the chemicals and minerals necessary to produce gunpowder or combustive powder of any kind. They world lacks any notable deposits of them

Also what's the origin on this, I know I've seen it before (probably on Veeky Forums since that's what google tells me)

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>Naturally this would require a society that can functionally think.
A society that can functionally think understands that the most efficient way to save your own ass in a fight involves killing your enemy long before he can get within reach of you.

Eventually, somebody finds out what he's using for yellow dye is a nifty high explosive.

>nitrogen bonds
>not even once

It's the Cold War, personal duels with swords are the only thing permitted by all sides to keep things from escalating to nuclear war.

He's not entirely wrong. Ballistic injuries aren't caused from proper punctures or lacerations. They penetrate by crushing tissue and smashing bone in their path because the velocity is so high. A baseball can theoretically penetrate going at a high enough velocity and would probably leave similar wounds to a bullet, albeit much larger in size.

a sword is a tool, a technology...

Removing every explosive would just lead to airguns which were once more effective than black powder equivalents. There wouldn't be effective pistols though and logistics of compressed air would probably mean more backup melee weapons.

>this entire post

well, good thing you read his post and how his demons actually disabled technology, right? or else you'd look proper dumb.

Pope ban of crossbows in middle ages was actually respected and in time it evolved into includnig handheald guns.
Nothing wrong with canons tho

Because saltpeter can only be produced from the nipples of the imperial family.

Therefore only the imperial guard have guns.

Because in a world with magic, only attacks with the force of human will behind them can overcome barriers. Arrows and undirected attacks don't work, you have to get in close and kill someone with a sword in order to overcome his magical defenses.

You sound about as autistic as swordfags.

Hope not, i don't get why neckbeard types hate firearms. They wish fulfilment in ttrpgs is armed and in control of their weapon. When given the right to do so irl they balk and run away scared.

Confuses me.

>It's the year 1955 and the sword is the most prized weapon on the battlefield.
>Why?

Good anti-tank rockets are invented slightly earlier.

Tanks never become the trenchline-breakers they are IRL

Trenches are still a thing in warfare come WW2

Trench Raider is now a standard role in warfare, with helmets, submachineguns and swords.

The swords are because guns aren't very effective during the raids - in the night, targets are hard to see at range (and the noise alerts everybody), during daytime, heavy smoke cover must be used to reach the other trench alive, rendering sightlines short enough that swords are a great tool.

>wavers have no bearing on skill, strength, honor, or capability. Any idiot with a waver can kill anyone. But guns are a true measure of a soldier's dedication and skills.
>guns have no bearing on skill, strength, honor, or capability. Any idiot with a gun can kill anyone. But melee weapon are a true measure of a soldier's dedication and skills.
>melee weapons have no bearing on skill, strength, honor, or capability. Any idiot with a melee weapon can kill anyone. But grappling are a true measure of a soldier's dedication and skills.