[ANSTHRLD] commentary on July Iloi Commentary

[Timothy A. McDaniel]

Andre / Ray Smith <rayasmith at yahoo.com>
> PoetLover <poetlover at spdway.net> wrote:
> >> slot machine return.
> > Would someone please explain this term for me?
>
> Basically, as I understand it, it refers to an excessive number
> (three or more) of primary charges, or three or more secondaries
> either on or held/maintained/sustained by the primary charge.  My
> friends, please feel free to correct me if I am in error.

Nit: you top-posted and didn't trim what you were replying to.

Major point: it's not "number of charges".  "Azure semy-de-lys Or" has
more than three charges, but it's fine period style.  (A coat of arms
used by people named Louis, Louis, Louis, Louis, Louis, and the odd
Philip.  To wit, France.)

Also, it's not just for primaries, secondaries, and/or maintained
charges.

The basis is Rules for Submission VIII, Compatible Armorial Style,
section 1.

   1.   Armorial Simplicity  - All armory must be simple in design.

    a.  Tincture and Charge Limit - Armory must use a limited number
    of tinctures and types of charges.

    As the number of tinctures involved in a device increases, the
    number of types of charge should decrease.  As the number of types
    increases, the number of tinctures should decrease.  In no case
    should the number of different tinctures or types of charges be so
    great as to eliminate the visual impact of any single design
    element.  As a rule of thumb, the total of the number of tinctures
    plus the number of types of charges in a design should not exceed
    eight.  As another guideline, three or more types of charges
    should not be used in the same group.

The last sentence is often called the "slot machine" rule.  The origin
is like pulling the lever on a slot machine, spinning the wheels, and
having three different designs come up (lemon, bell, bar -- you
lose!).

So it's three more *types* of charges, not number.  Also, "in the same
group".  That could be for overall charges, tertiary charges (that is,
charges entirely on other charges), or whatever.

Daniel de Lincolia
--
Tim McDaniel is tmcd at jump.net; if that fail,
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