While I think that the gnome engineer would have had “the right moment” to run a flying bodytackle on Taro (panel #2, while he’s reloading), this is a good time for Bandit to yank him over the edge so he falls under the wheels…
As Mr. Miyagi (Karate Kid movie) once said, “Squish, just like grape.”
The jinx was the goodbye.
“Goodbye, Mr. Bond.”
“Goodbye once and for all, Spiderman.”
“Good riddance, all you lying politicians.”
… it always produces a fail.
“If you have to look along the shaft of an arrow from the wrong end, if a man has you entirely at his mercy, then hope like hell that man is an evil man. Because the evil like power, power over people, and they want to see you in fear. They want you to know you’re going to die. So they’ll talk. They’ll gloat.
They’ll watch you squirm. They’ll put off the moment of murder like another man will put off a good cigar.
So hope like hell your captor is an evil man. A good man will kill you with hardly a word.”
― Terry Pratchett, Men at Arms
Matt Helm says that when you’re holding a gun on someone and someone else tries to interrupt, shoot the one you’ve already got under the gun before you do anything else.
If you weren’t planning on killing him, why point the gun t him in the first place?
This is what I was thinking as well. Why would you give an opponent you know first-hand to be cunning and hard to kill another opportunity to strike at you? And let’s be honest, I’d be much more worried about Bandit as a threat than Sundar. She’s proven again and again to be exceptionally problematic for Taro in the past.
Yep. If you’re going to talk to someone that you intend to kill, kill them first, THEN talk. Corpses don’t usually fight back while you’re busy talking.
a breech loading musket that chambers shells. That’s novel. The flair on the muzzle of the barrel would normally serve as a funnel for loading black powder. In Arkera it would be only a decoration
You do not brake open this cartoon single shot, you chamber the round by pulling back on a hinged door. I link you to a modern gun which chambers 357 magnum among others. https://bondarms.com/bond-arms-handguns/snake-slayer/. I know it is a two shot. but notice the hammer is directly behind the shell, as would a non repeating shot gun The hammer swings forward to strike the primer. On this gun the hammer swings down to strike the primer which is necessary on a black powder muzzle loader. I have seen examples of bolt action single shot used for competition single shooting
Especially once the Minié ball came around. Slightly decreased loading time too. Thing with round ball, you’re literally jamming it down the barrel, it’s in contact with the rifling both on loading and firing. Minié ball instead was smaller then the rifling and with the grease packed into the grooves of the bullet itself it easily slid down the barrel, even after the rifling had been partially fouled through spent powder. Grease actually improved function by reducing powder fouling and lead fouling which got more shots before cleaning for accuracy was necessary. Now, normally a bullet smaller then the rifling was a bad idea. However the Minié ball had a hollow skirt near the base of the round. When ignited, the black powder charge would expand this skirt and make it come into contact with the rifling of the barrel. This had the secondary effect of sealing the rifling better then most round ball ammo of the era would which also increased muzzle velocity of the rounds, not to mention accuracy and even effective distance.
That’s not to say they didn’t have initial “user error” issues though. When first introduced the armies noticed an increase in fire arm failures (In other words ‘blowing up’ in peoples faces) which was initially attributed to poor metallurgy. On further investigation however, it was deemed user error. You see, some soldiers, seeing this new pointed bullet that they had never used or seen before, were under the impression that the cone was to ease loading and make the bullet easier to slide into the barrel… IE They were loading the bullet in backwards. On firing the smaller diameter bullet would begin to yaw inside the larger barrel, the skirt would deform, but not in the way intended, and would then lodge inside the barrel. Pressure of the ignited black-powder charge would build and.. Boom. Catastrophic failure of the barrel.
I would guess it uses nitrated paper cartridges and is primed by something similar to paper roll caps that automatically feed into that oversized anvil thing when cocking the hammer. There were a few such weapons made just prior to the advent of the metallic cartridge.
Hmm. Best explanation here of Taro’s unusual firearm. Yosemite Sam had a cannon that he used to shoot at Bugs Bunny which fired by yanking on the rope. In real life, this would be the fuse.
If you have to look along the shaft of an arrow from the wrong end, if a man has you entirely at his mercy, then hope like hell that man is an evil man. Because the evil like power, power over people, and they want to see you in fear. They want you to know you’re going to die. So they’ll talk. They’ll gloat.
They’ll watch you squirm. They’ll put off the moment of murder like another man will put off a good cigar.
So hope like hell your captor is an evil man. A good man will kill you with hardly a word.
Yeah, see you little shit, if you were half as smart as you think you are, you wouldn’t have been caught monologuing, but you had to get in your speech… and now your musket is empty, and a far more skilled fighter than you has her hands on you.
Say Goodnight, Gracie.
Yeah, but I can see a major problem coming up: She’s got a knive on her belt, right in the reach of Taro’s free hand, and he’s proven to be a quick thinker. Alternatively, with a wood like that a knee in the belly would pretty much incapacitate her for good. I just hope injured bandit is better than grappled taro.
That’s an awful hold that won’t last once his panic wears off. She should yank him off balance and take a chunk of his bicep with her teeth before he has time to think. That’ll put him out of the fight right handily.
He only put the damn MINIÉ BALL in, that’s all he put- it’s not got any wadding, gunpowder; or anything. PLUS; it wouldn’t be a wheel lock if it was using that mechanism in the first place. I swear….
Best timing ever, Sundar. Now, Bandit, sod the ESRB attitude towards killing kid NPCs and finish the little shit off.
And if he’s not an NPC, kill him anyway. We know at least he isn’t one of the tube people.
Could still be another Best alt…
Actually Taro would be the Worst alt someone could pick…
While I think that the gnome engineer would have had “the right moment” to run a flying bodytackle on Taro (panel #2, while he’s reloading), this is a good time for Bandit to yank him over the edge so he falls under the wheels…
As Mr. Miyagi (Karate Kid movie) once said, “Squish, just like grape.”
*Ghost of Papa Iwatani* That’s what happens when you monologue, you prat.
The jinx was the goodbye.
“Goodbye, Mr. Bond.”
“Goodbye once and for all, Spiderman.”
“Good riddance, all you lying politicians.”
… it always produces a fail.
“Don’t bluster. Don’t promise. Just do it…” – His Grace Iwatani
And in today’s update, Taro spends 3 panels blustering, and ends it with a promise (“Goodbye, Cold Corpse Keyes.”).
I mean for goodness sake, it’s #6 on the
Granted, he needed the time to reload, but the third panel is just wasting time finishing his gloat.
but . . . “Talking Is a Free Action” ?
“If you’re going to shoot, shoot. Don’t talk” – Tuco from “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly”
Literally about to post the same quote. I, uh, guess I shouldn’t have talked about it first.
“If you have to look along the shaft of an arrow from the wrong end, if a man has you entirely at his mercy, then hope like hell that man is an evil man. Because the evil like power, power over people, and they want to see you in fear. They want you to know you’re going to die. So they’ll talk. They’ll gloat.
They’ll watch you squirm. They’ll put off the moment of murder like another man will put off a good cigar.
So hope like hell your captor is an evil man. A good man will kill you with hardly a word.”
― Terry Pratchett, Men at Arms
…Which is probably why Bandit *isn’t* hesitating right now…
Good advice indeed! If only people would “Aah!” or “ Aaah!” more often, I feel the world would be a better place.
Patience is a virtue, but this one of those times that he really should’ve acted hastily.
“Good things come to those who wait – but not to those who wait too late.” – Bill Withers.
Time to find out whether this game has infant immortality or not
Oh, good. When Taro bites it, no one can say his executioner wasn’t picking on someone her own size.
Matt Helm says that when you’re holding a gun on someone and someone else tries to interrupt, shoot the one you’ve already got under the gun before you do anything else.
If you weren’t planning on killing him, why point the gun t him in the first place?
Particularly true in this case where not many people have firearms and any extra enemies you face will likely only have melee weapons.
This is what I was thinking as well. Why would you give an opponent you know first-hand to be cunning and hard to kill another opportunity to strike at you? And let’s be honest, I’d be much more worried about Bandit as a threat than Sundar. She’s proven again and again to be exceptionally problematic for Taro in the past.
But she’s only a gnome. Gnomes make good toys for their human masters to use, but one being an individual threat to a human? Surely not.
(My speculation about Taro’s viewpoint, not mine, should it be unclear.)
“When you have to shoot, SHOOT! Don’t talk.”
Tuco
“The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly”.
(Wee-ah-wee-ah-weeee! Woo woo woooo.)
Strangle him till he is dead Bandit and feed him that pistol!
Some people man. If you’re going to shoot just shoot. Why waste time talking to a dead person?
Yep. If you’re going to talk to someone that you intend to kill, kill them first, THEN talk. Corpses don’t usually fight back while you’re busy talking.
a breech loading musket that chambers shells. That’s novel. The flair on the muzzle of the barrel would normally serve as a funnel for loading black powder. In Arkera it would be only a decoration
Haven’t you ever heard of a bicuspid musket?
… yeah, neither have I.
Basically a small break-open shotgun, at that point.
You do see conical barrel attachments as an early form of flash hider sometimes.
You do not brake open this cartoon single shot, you chamber the round by pulling back on a hinged door. I link you to a modern gun which chambers 357 magnum among others. https://bondarms.com/bond-arms-handguns/snake-slayer/. I know it is a two shot. but notice the hammer is directly behind the shell, as would a non repeating shot gun The hammer swings forward to strike the primer. On this gun the hammer swings down to strike the primer which is necessary on a black powder muzzle loader. I have seen examples of bolt action single shot used for competition single shooting
no help to suppressing the flash. also the flaired muzzle prevents the shooter from sighting down the barrel.
Made by the same arms company that cranks out John Wayne’s revolvers with the hidden magazine in the handle, so they could fire more than six shots.
How do you figure it chambers shells? There’s conical bullets for muzzle loaders; it’s just more traditional to use a ball.
By the time of the US Civil War, almost every rifled weapon firearm used conical bullets. They’re more aerodynamic, thus greater range and accuracy.
In panel 2 he is loading the gun from the rear.
That’s not how that works. That’s a MINIÉ BALL not a cartridge.
Especially once the Minié ball came around. Slightly decreased loading time too. Thing with round ball, you’re literally jamming it down the barrel, it’s in contact with the rifling both on loading and firing. Minié ball instead was smaller then the rifling and with the grease packed into the grooves of the bullet itself it easily slid down the barrel, even after the rifling had been partially fouled through spent powder. Grease actually improved function by reducing powder fouling and lead fouling which got more shots before cleaning for accuracy was necessary. Now, normally a bullet smaller then the rifling was a bad idea. However the Minié ball had a hollow skirt near the base of the round. When ignited, the black powder charge would expand this skirt and make it come into contact with the rifling of the barrel. This had the secondary effect of sealing the rifling better then most round ball ammo of the era would which also increased muzzle velocity of the rounds, not to mention accuracy and even effective distance.
That’s not to say they didn’t have initial “user error” issues though. When first introduced the armies noticed an increase in fire arm failures (In other words ‘blowing up’ in peoples faces) which was initially attributed to poor metallurgy. On further investigation however, it was deemed user error. You see, some soldiers, seeing this new pointed bullet that they had never used or seen before, were under the impression that the cone was to ease loading and make the bullet easier to slide into the barrel… IE They were loading the bullet in backwards. On firing the smaller diameter bullet would begin to yaw inside the larger barrel, the skirt would deform, but not in the way intended, and would then lodge inside the barrel. Pressure of the ignited black-powder charge would build and.. Boom. Catastrophic failure of the barrel.
I can tell it is a shell because the rim of the shell is clearly visible in panel 2 as Taro reloads.
I would guess it uses nitrated paper cartridges and is primed by something similar to paper roll caps that automatically feed into that oversized anvil thing when cocking the hammer. There were a few such weapons made just prior to the advent of the metallic cartridge.
Hmm. Best explanation here of Taro’s unusual firearm. Yosemite Sam had a cannon that he used to shoot at Bugs Bunny which fired by yanking on the rope. In real life, this would be the fuse.
should’ve offed her and waited for the right moment to deal with the others ^^’
Once an idiot, always an idiot…
Great facial expressions on Keynes
“It’s slightly improved now, Sundar.”
Classic rookie bad guy move; monologueing before the death blow.
Taro, you putz. I’m sure your father read the Evil Overlord list to you.
Part of me wants him to ‘meet his father in the afterlife’. Another part of me wants Bandit to break his arm painfully first.
I don’t think it’s the correct stance to broke arm, It’s more likely a stance to do sacrifice judo throw
Taro could’ve turned it into a hostage situation instead of blind firing like a noob.
Hey this is that irony thing, right
Obviously Taro studied economics at the University of Chicago.
— Terry Pratchett, Men at Arms
*sigh* Pratchett was a wise man.
And he was right, of course.
World politics proves him right every day.
“If you’re going to shoot; shoot. Don’t talk.”
Yeah, see you little shit, if you were half as smart as you think you are, you wouldn’t have been caught monologuing, but you had to get in your speech… and now your musket is empty, and a far more skilled fighter than you has her hands on you.
Say Goodnight, Gracie.
Yeah, but I can see a major problem coming up: She’s got a knive on her belt, right in the reach of Taro’s free hand, and he’s proven to be a quick thinker. Alternatively, with a wood like that a knee in the belly would pretty much incapacitate her for good. I just hope injured bandit is better than grappled taro.
That’s an awful hold that won’t last once his panic wears off. She should yank him off balance and take a chunk of his bicep with her teeth before he has time to think. That’ll put him out of the fight right handily.
A bite seems like a good plan here. Try to make him lose hold of the gun and even things up a tad.
Hey, Bandit takes no size penalty for her Grapple check!
He’s clearly never read the Evil Overlord list. NO MONOLOGUING EVER.
What? None at all? That seems to take all the fun out of being an evil overlord…
Hehe, loving all the excerpts and rules about talking rather than shooting we are getting here.
Oh fuck off, he shouldn’t have it reloaded already.
He only put the damn MINIÉ BALL in, that’s all he put- it’s not got any wadding, gunpowder; or anything. PLUS; it wouldn’t be a wheel lock if it was using that mechanism in the first place. I swear….
Taro, I know your instincts are telling you to fight back, but just wait and see how it plays out!