Archaic Weapon for an Advanced Age: “No matter how fancy the weapon, a hanrian between the wielder’s shoulder blades will seriously cramp his style,” to misquote Steven Brust.

All of which is to say that you don’t want to be a pure swordsman on the modern battlefield with its fancy gravomagnetic slugthrowers and other such modern weapons, but – be it at super-close range, or for stealth or concealment, or for not breaking anything downrange, or when you just need more delicate control over the force you’re exerting, or even when you run out of ammunition – from one end of time to the other, it’s unlikely that they will ever like it up ’em.