Miasmatic Review

Do I count?

Eric of Straight White Guy talks about his brother making a 30 mm cannon, at the end of it he asks “I mean, c’mon… how many friends do you have who own their own artillery?...” Reading that I instantly thought of three people, four counting myself.

I’m sure by now all of you are familiar with the Howling Jezebel, my half scale mortar that I use with the mortar maidens. Of course, this isn’t a cannon, but it is still artillery. It can launch a cement filled pop can over a half a mile. Someday I’m going to get to test that out; I just have to find someone that will let me launch cement filled pop cans on their property. I’m so used to having it around the house, that I don’t think twice about it. Nor do I find it unusual that I actually own a piece of artillery. Then again, I don’t find it unusual that I have more swords than firearms in my house, and I’m currently up to twelve firearms counting black powder.

Having items like that around really distorts your sense of “normal”. Once I upset some females at work because they where talking about people breaking into houses and I said, “I’m not worried about it, I sleep with a battle axe.” One of the females gasped and said, “You shouldn’t talk about Ktreva like that!” After I was finished laughing I explained that no, I really have a real battle-axe next to my bed (well I did at that time, I know have a Roman Gladius). I don’t think about it too often, but I have weapons all over the house. Guns, swords, knives, axes, daggers, flails, pole arms and artillery, now I’m wondering if people who come to my house get a little nervous with all the various accoutrements of violence around.

Anyway, I went off on a tangent there. The other three people I know that own artillery are all also re-enactors. I guess we are a “special” breed. Oh and all the artillery we own is from the French and Indian war to the Civil War. Nothing with modern shells, maybe that disqualifies us from Eric’s question.