Bayonets and Rifle Butts

[Sault]

So I have been playing a character whose only weapon is a Shotgun, Solberg Inertia for those wondering. So I've looked through the Into the Steam book and both the Bayonet and the Rifle Butt require you to have either a rifle or a carbine? 

Is this an intentional ruling? There have been plenty of historical cases of Shotguns having bayonets and the Butt Stroke technique would work perfectly fine with a shotgun.

Thank you for the input.

[Mason]

It was an intentional choice! 

The reasoning was based primarily on the 19th century idea that long rifles with bayonets attached would give a soldier greater reach over the melee weapons of their enemies. Historically, there was a really interesting sort of bayonet arms-race over just who could get the longest rifle with the longest bayonet attached, since clearly, the longer the bayonet, the longer "kill reach" your soldiers would have in combat.

Then World War I happened and everyone just sort of realized that it was impractical in a battlefield setting and started using other weapons, such as trench knives, truncheons, and pistols as back-up close combat weapons. Bayonets shortened and became easier to use in close combat and as tools.

However, the bayonet was still mostly a "mass warfare" tool, and while shotguns were quite favored in the wild west, they didn't receive much love in armed forces (save for some cavalry units). Again, that changed in WWI, to the point where Germany tried to make the use of shotguns by American troops into a war crime.

 

Now, World War I hasn't happened yet in Malifaux - the current year is 1906, about a decade before everyone starts fighting - so a lot of that 19th century logic still applies. People have made changes, however, and some of the logic that was learned in WWI - such as the impracticality of stupidly long bayonets - was discovered a bit ahead of its time as people fought in the cramped streets of Malifaux City.

Most of the bayonets in Malifaux were either brought over from Earth or made by people who grew up on Earth, however, and Earth still thinks that sticking a bayonet onto a long rifle is pretty much the reason to have bayonets. As a result, there aren't many existing bayonets designed to be used with shotguns. There are a few modifications for pistols, because pistols are popular in Malifaux and companies saw a market they could tap into, but shotguns are less popular and just haven't "caught up" yet.

 

So, all that rambling about design decisions based on a little bit of non-expert research aside, can you stick a bayonet onto a shotgun?

Sure, if your Fatemaster gives you the green light, run with it. I don't think it will seriously impact your game's balance in any significant way.

The restriction was primarily just a nod toward existing bayonet theory and Earth history.

 

The rifle butt subject was partially just a matter of matching aesthetics. Malifaux shotguns tend to be shorter and stubbier than real life shotguns, so we decided not to let them make rifle butt attacks. This also ties in to general role use; the rifle is a long-range weapon, so we wanted to give characters that focus on long-range combat a way to defend themselves in close quarters. Because shotguns tend to be favored for close combat situations, we didn't think they needed that little boost.

Again, if you decide to allow shotguns to make rifle butt attacks, it don't think it will actually cause any problems.

 

[Grimcleaver]

Another perspective would be this: Peacebringers are six shooters with three-foot long blades attached to them. So really anything can have a blade attached to it I figure. If you look at history around this time they were still attaching revolvers to the basket hilts of swords to make gunblades! This was kindova' era where lots of gonzo combinations of weapons got cloodged together, so a combo shotgun/bayonette seems fine to me.

Here's a hilt design from  T.A. Rauh and Co. from 1866 of a 9mm revolver that came attached to a 32" sword blade. This is awesome.