Class 1 width

[Cailte McDonough]

Okay, my old eyes can't spot it, either because it's hidden or not there anymore. At one point, I could've sworn there used to be a rule about the width of a class 1 (blue) weapon had to be at least 1 1/4" along the striking surface. Am I thinking of an outdated rule, or one that has changed at some point.

I only ask because it came up at weapons check today, and I was reluctant to pass a weapon, but couldn't see the rule on my printed copy of the BoW.

[Freyson]

You are correct, the width requirement is no longer a rule in the game. It was taken out during the last rules revision involving weight limits. Weapon tips are still restricted in the 2 1/2" hole, but there is no longer any blade width requirement.


A bit of history:

Back about 10-12 (around rag 10) years ago some really small and thin 'ultralights' started to appear. Some of these swords were less than an inch thick/wide and weighed less than 2 oz. The 'eye socket' rule was implemented and/or enforced more at this point so these weapons were no longer legal due to the fact they passed through the 2.5" hole. The result of this was the sword users built the famous 'penis head' swords, swords which had a large enough tip to not fit through the hole but were otherwise exactly the same as before. This solved the problem of fitting through the 2.5" hole, but left the * about the weapons being too light. Since these weapons made a huge impact on the game and spread so rapidly, when the vote came up originally in War Council there was a compromise made. The compromise was that a sword had to weigh at least 12 oz or be 3" x 1.25" throughout the entire blade. The thought at the time was that the thicker weapons would end up weighing more and re-balance the game. The last War Council vote showed that this had not happened enough and weight minimums were passed. With the passing of the new weight limits, the compromise of sword dimensions was no longer needed.