Introducing sabre Roh-sham-bo

[edew]

Remember Roh-sham-bo (paper-rock-scissors?), here my sabre variation.

Scissors is analogous to a direct attack (or direct riposte). I will symbolize Scissors with A for attack.

Rock is parry (think of holding your parry as you make the fist). Rock is symbolized by P for parry.

Paper is compound action attack. Paper is symbolized by F for feint.

A vs A will be simultaneous attacks. Nothing done, start over.

A vs P will be attack-parry. Need to immediately make the next choice.

A vs F is simple attack into compound attack. Touch for simple attack.

P vs P will be both making fake parries. Need to immediately make the next choice.

P vs F will be touch for the compound attacker (feint disengage, touch).

P vs P will be simultaneous compound attacks. Nothing done, start over.

In the case of the A vs P or P vs P (where a parry is involved), the following possibilities will occur:

A vs A: person who made the previous P (parry) has right of way, gets point, unless it was a P vs P, in which case it's simultaneous, no touch.

A vs P: counter-parried, go immediately to next choice. (We'll assume if fencer X made the P and Y made the A, and then X made the P and Y made the A again, it's parried yet again.)

A vs F: Feint loses time (even as a riposte), attack into preparation wins, no matter who made the A and who made the F.

P vs P: Immediately go to next choice
P vs F: Feint gets around parry, point scored.

F vs F: The one who made the parry has right of way. If both made parry, then simultaneous action, no score, start from beginning (i.e., "roh-sham-bo...")

Here's a scenario:

LEFT RIGHT
A P go immediately to next pick
P F touch for right

A A nothing done. Start again.

F P touch for left

F F simultaneous, start again.

P A go immediately to next pick
A A touch for left

P A go immediately to next pick
F A attack into prep, touch for right.

Get the idea? Play test this.

[Gav]

This looks too complicated for Sabreurs!

[Inquartata]

Owww...head hurt...Edew bad man!

[Zelda]

I get it....I think.... and I'm a foilist!!!

[sabreur]

Tech business must really be slow, Eric.

By the way, I got my tapes--thanks very much.

MR

[edew]

How hard can it be? I did play test it and it's a bit tough to remember the secondary actions. But the primary ones match (more or less) the standard rock-paper-scissors priority.

[Purple Fencer]

Rock...always go for rock...

[BugabooX]

A couple of months ago, I used the standard R-P-S game to experiment with fencing tactics choices with my friends. Nothing quite like what E.Dew suggests here, but still related to fencing. It seemed sort of silly at the time, but as long as the topic is open... (shrug)

When you start up a new game of classic R-P-S, say, to five or ten points or so (duplicates are considered double touches), try to pay close attention to the choices your opponent makes: 1. His very first play, 2. His second play, and 3. Any time after you repeat yourself. Whatever he plays is more than likely his most natural default reaction to certain stresses or stimuli. Remember this. It can be used against him.

For example, let's say your opponent's first play is Rock. After you two coast along for a few points, you take a 15-second break and start again. Is it likely that he'll play Rock again? In my experience, it happened often enough to be useful (although not with 100 percent accuracy, of course).

Or let's say you both double-out on Paper, and then double on Paper again. His next response is Scissors. ... The game proceeds, and a few points along you double-out on Paper once more. Your opponent may be more likely (I noticed) to play Scissors next -- and if you know that, you can trump him with Rock instead.

If you try this at home, don't make a big deal about the experiment until it's over; you don't want self-conscious decisions, you want natural quick ones. And you have to gauge each opponent separately; the same responses cannot be expected from person to person.

Here's the point: Recognizing your opponent's natural patterns and preferences in R-P-S isn't so different from using the same observational skills on the strip. If on your first beat attack, for example, your opponent reacts with a hard parry in six, you can come back to that over and over again (mixing it up with some other stuff so he doesn't realize what's up) and use it against him with a disengage, or some other prepped second intention. A person's first reaction to a certain stimulus is quite often a natural tendancy which will be repeated. Pay attention to those patterns.

R-P-S is a tidy little tactical wheel of its own for this micro-experiment.

[edew]

Originally posted by Purple Fencer
Rock...always go for rock...

Thanks. I'll take paper, please.

[Purple Fencer]

Doh! That's right...paper covers rock, rock loses.

Guess that's why I don't play that game very well!

[three_hundred_fifty_five]

Dude,
You have way too much free time.

[WJM]

I thought roh-sham-bo involved somebody getting kicked in the crotch at some point.....so when I saw the topic "Introducing sabre Roh-sham-bo" it would be something along the line of "Hey, you wanna fence sabre roh-sham-bo?" "sure!"....*kick* *aaaaaaggghhh**crumple*

[135711]

i just played a variation right here in the library with a few kids last week, there's is:

hurricane
cyclone
tornado [a tornado wins every time]

[a517dogg]

i'm an epee fencer. where's the C? (countreattack)

[edew]

That's why it's called "SABRE" roh-sham-bo. SABRE. S-A-B-R-E Roh-sham-bo.

If I wanted to make an epee rohshambo, I'd make the rule that the first person to show anything wins.

[a517dogg]

unless the second person is taller.