To The Sound Of The Guns – Chapter 8, Act 2, Strip 111

Well, no one less than Napoleon Bonaparte said “In war, the moral is to the physical as three to one”*. Assuming that holds true, it would provide some justification for Gregory’s decision to forego the advantages of modern weaponry in favor of the moral-boosting effect of authentic revolution-era arms. Although even then, three to one would be cutting it kind of close, given the relative ineffectiveness of that old junk. >_>

And that’s even leaving aside the practical impracticalities of handling such old weaponry. I mean, Snuka has a point – Napoleon might have said that, but he was used to handling muzzle-loading smoothbore bronze guns. He had no way of knowing how complicated the process of loading, aiming and firing such a gun would appear to people accustomed to the much smoother user-experience provided by weapons in the early 21st century. Add to that the much higher probability of the whole thing blowing up in your face, and Snuka seems to be justified to feel a bit disgruntled.

And that disgruntlement might make one doubt the morale-boosting effect, to begin with…but it doesn’t really matter. Gregory has the moral momentum, he’s the carrier of the divine spark of inspiration and the Professorian’s thoughts and prayers, and the current main protagonist by default. Thus, what he says goes…and is bound to work out somehow, no matter how hare-brained it might appear in principle. Nice situation to be in, come to think of it…

More on Monday.

* Well, allegedly said. But it’s widely attributed to him, starting during his lifetime, and at the very least it sounds pretty plausible coming from him.