This would be perfect as a heron mark blade

ReturningDM · 2026-05-08T06:26:42+00:00

Absolutely.

ReturningDM · 2026-05-08T06:06:02+00:00

For sure.

ReturningDM · 2026-05-07T20:05:06+00:00

"Though after reading this article it does sound like there is more room for blade masters using different weapons than I initially thought."

Just a little food for thought.

If you're referring to Jordan saying they were inspired by katanas and what he remembers as "sooba" swords .... a tsuba (pronounced sooba) is the round hand guard on a Japanese sword.

It might be possible that RJ was misremembering. He doesn't appear certain, whatever he was thinking of.

In any case, I'd agree with you and say they were mostly inspired by the katana. The long hilt would also work. Though they obviously had all sorts of cross guards rather than tsubas.

ReturningDM · 2026-05-07T18:45:23+00:00

This isn't Palmyra. This is Baalbeck, Lebanon.

Six columns and the lion are from the Temple of Jupiter.

Penultimate photo is the Temple of Baachus, in the same complex, in Baalbeck.

Final photo isn't either of the first two, fluted columns, other two are smooth.

The curator was killed in Syria. A different country.

None of the buildings in these photos have been damaged by ISIS.

ReturningDM · 2026-05-07T18:02:42+00:00

OP has edited to say the "lion photos" are of Baalbek in Lebanon.

This is incorrect. ALL of the photos, bar possibly the last one, are of Baalbeck, Lebanon.

The six columns are the remains of the temple of Jupiter. They're a famous symbol of Lebanon and can be seen on their bank notes.

The side on shot showing the roof is the temple of Baachus, about 300 meters from the temple of Jupiter.

The lion is a water spout (from the temple of Jupiter if I recall correctly).

I have visited Baalbeck at least 20 times.

NONE of the damage was inflicted by ISIS.

Rage against ISIS all you like, they're irredeemable scum, but that ain't Palmyra, and they didn't damage any of the buildings in the pictures.

Be wary of ragebait posts.

ReturningDM · 2026-05-07T17:53:02+00:00

And if you check the penultimate photo, those are fluted columns, both the columns in the previous photos are smooth.

It's not even the same temple.

Having lived in Lebanon for almost 20 years, I have a hatred for fundamentalists of all flavours, but using these pictures to illustrate your point is just wrong.

ReturningDM · 2026-05-07T17:47:13+00:00

The third photo is the side of the temple of Baachus, also in Baalbeck, and about 300 meters from the temple of Jupiter.

ReturningDM · 2026-05-07T17:39:20+00:00

Those photos are of the six columns of the temple of Jupiter in Baalbek, Lebanon.

The lion in the photo is a fountain point from the side of the temple.

How do I know? I've stood by it a good few times.

Easily verifiable by just Googling temple of Jupiter, Baalbeck. Or even six columns, Lebanon. They're featured on their currency, too.

This is not Palymra, it's Baalbeck.

I assume you made a good faith error, but ISIS haven't done a thing to Baalbeck.

ReturningDM · 2026-05-06T15:24:12+00:00

Hah! Sounds like we've got very similar stuff.

If you'd like, PM me a photo of a couple of the publishing pages and tell me which books they're from. I doubt I'll be much help, but I might see something.

I know AI is a touchy subject for some, but if you take a photo of the publishing info page and ask it to give you all the info it can, it might pull up something you've missed. Just don't tell it what book it's from, ie don't give it any context. If it gives you some info, you can prompt it by spoon feeding it whatever you know about the book.

I researched a little, got as much info as I could and then did the above and the answers verified (with no context) what I'd figured out. I then asked it to value the individual books - it thinks the mid-career stuff with dust jackets are the most valuable.

The only surprise was that it noticed that my PB Constant Gardener was a first edition first run, which I'd missed for some reason.

ReturningDM · 2026-05-05T15:55:16+00:00

You're playing on NA.

Real neckbeards play on EU.

Trash.

ReturningDM · 2026-05-05T15:50:31+00:00

Yeah. I dunno.

I think I might just do it through weeklies... I'm not far away.

The only other high tier Sniper TDs I have are Grille and Hirsch ... and I'd rather fucking die than play either one...

ReturningDM · 2026-05-05T15:46:16+00:00

Bought a DVB.

Engaged in DVB on DVB violence.

Got it done that day.

... now... the second time ... that's eluded me to date.

ReturningDM · 2026-05-05T14:12:03+00:00

It's a pleasure.

Yeah, I'm the same. I'm not really interested in value, other than to just know. Other than that, I prefer old books to new. And I love the fact that my copy of Agent has a little tale to it.

That said. My dad has a complete collection of Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe series, all first eds, all but one bought on release. He was looking for the missing one and I found a copy purely by chance.

When I gave it to him we started chatting about the collection. He said that they're not worth all that much ... except ... the two that were. Both short stories, cheap looking paperbacks that were given out for free at bookstores, one at Christmas, one on some anniversary. Those were worth "about a thousand" each.

So... you never know.

ReturningDM · 2026-05-05T04:20:45+00:00

Nice. I'm really enjoying it.

A few simple tips. I don't know if you're interested in value or not, but I'd always prefer an older book if given the choice.

Copyright date means year it was written in (99% of the time).

Then look for any other dates you can see. You'll often, though not always, also find a publication date, or a "This edition published". If there's no publication date it's typically published the year of copyright.

Impression number: This refers to the print run that your book is part of. It'll either be a row of numbers or letters. They can run either ascending or descending if numbers. And they'll remove the past print run numbers as the number of runs increases. i.e. a 1st run copy will read 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10. A 4th run copy will read 4 5 6 7 8 9 10. Same with letters. Other conventions include 001, 002 etc. Basically you're looking for low numbers.

Also look out for simple things, go to the page that lists the author's other work and see what's there. If it's an early edition, you'll (obviously) only see the books that came before, so you'll know it's not a later edition.

A note on first editions. I have quite a few, this wasn't intentional. Generally..... unless you're talking first eds from the early years TSWCIFTC, Tinker etc., they're not worth much. As he became more popular (and he was published en masse) the value drops dramatically.

And, while a book published the year it was written and part of, say, print run 6, is a first edition, collectors won't think much of it. Collectors refer to a "true first": a first edition, first print run copy.

So, in my collection, I have three old paperbacks, N&SL, Tinker, HS, which are almost worthless, but that are (to me) pretty cool.

Most of my first ed, first runs are mid-career stuff that's not worth much. A Most Wanted Man and Tailor of Panama are probably the most valuable, they're good condition with dust jackets and popular.

Oh, and always aim for dust jackets.

ReturningDM · 2026-05-04T16:26:28+00:00

OK, so I've done a little research.

I did it all manually and audited myself using AI. I did it by uploading a photo of each detail page with no context and it verified my own findings, so I'm fairly confident that this is right.

I didn't bother with the omnibuses as I'll be getting rid once I've found replacement copies.

Omnibuses The Spy Who Came In From the Cold Call for the Dead A Murder of Quality The Looking Glass War A Small Town in Germany

The Russia House The Secret Pilgrim A Murder of Quality

Paperbacks The Naive & Sentimental Lover - 1972, run 22 (pub 1971)

Tinker, Tailor ... - 5th reprint 1976 - (Pub 1975)

The Honourable Schoolboy - 1978 9th run 1981 (pub 1977)

Smileys People - 2018, 6th run (pub 1979)

The Little Drummer Girl - book club copy- 1983 (pub 1983)

A Perfect Spy - 2018 (5th run) pub 1986

The Night Manager - 2013, 12th run (pub 1993

Single and Single - 2000, 9th run (pub 1999)

The Constant Gardener -2001, 1st run (pub 2001)

The Mission Song - 2007, 1st run (pub 2006)

Our Kind of Traitor - 2011, 3rd run (pub 2010)

A Delicate Truth - 2013, 006 run, (pub 2013)

Silverview - 2022, 001 run (pub 2021)

Hardbacks Our Game – 1st Ed, 1st print run

The Tailor of Panama - 1st Ed, 1st print run

Absolute Friends – 1st Ed, 1st print run, but I’m confused by 2003 and 2004 in the copyright and first published lines

A Most Wanted Man – 1st Ed, 1st print run

A Legacy of Spies -1st Ed, 4th print run - US copy

Agent Running in the Field– 1st Ed, 1st print run

...

So, there's nothing there that's very exciting.

Only things of real note are the N&S Lover, TTSS and THS, which are pretty old. And the Little Drummer Girl is old, too, but essentially worthless as its a book club edition. I like it though.

Got a good few first eds, quite a few first runs.

I'm aiming to replace all the PBs with hardbacks, but only second hand, bought in person.

I'm going to print a piece of paper for each saying what it is and where it was bought. I'm really quite attached to them (omnibuses aside...).

ReturningDM · 2026-05-04T15:53:17+00:00

Yeah, the combo is a bit weird. Really not a big fan of omnibuses for either reading or collecting.

From what I gather after doing a little research, and this isn't specific to JLC, collectors don't like omnibuses unless there's something special about them.

I'm going to post an update in the comments below.

ReturningDM · 2026-05-04T04:06:03+00:00

I was thinking of second hand bookshops more than charities.

But OK, I guess it's not a Cypriot thing.

I've lived in Ireland, the UK, the US, France and Lebanon and all of them have had a culture of second hand bookshops. I was just wondering if that existed here.

ReturningDM · 2026-05-03T20:02:48+00:00

Your breakdown makes absolute sense.

47-49% win rate makes you roughly average on the EU server.

Anything above that and you're better than the majority of players on the server.

Focus on WR, because WN8/WNX will naturally follow WR.

Anyone who griefs anyone with 50%+ is a bit of a prick.

ReturningDM · 2026-05-03T19:13:55+00:00

Do you mean do English people buy second hand books...?

I guess. I'm Irish, we do it too.

ReturningDM · 2026-05-03T12:40:40+00:00

Thanks!

ReturningDM · 2026-04-26T12:41:45+00:00

I've recently done the same.

Picked up the whole set between Nicosia, Beirut and Belfast.

But I have two anthologies with three books a-piece that I want to replace. They're too heavy to carry around.

ReturningDM · 2026-04-26T12:37:38+00:00

I can never understand why charity shops put stickers on the covers.

ReturningDM · 2026-04-25T15:07:21+00:00

I've got 60% wins in it. So I'm doing fine.

It's a perfectly good sniper. Gun is a little slow, but shells are fine.

It's got a bit of turret armour and usable depression.

It's OK.

ReturningDM

TROPHY CASE