Weaponry

[Khan]

If we are allowed to take two weapons I would take a short bow as well as my short sword.

Advantages

Small easy to carry

quick RoF

Disadvantages

Weak against armoured opponents

[Cyborg]

If we are allowed to take two weapons I would take a short bow as well as my short sword.

Advantages

Small easy to carry

quick RoF

Disadvantages

Weak against armoured opponents

Add a crossbow and you'resuddenly better equipped against armored units.

[Khan]

yeah but a cross bow is bulky with a slow rate of fire and I have no idea how to use one.

[Cyborg]

believe me, you are better with a crossbow than with a bow.

I mentioned crossbow because bolts are more armor piercing than arrows.

[TMA_1]

yes but khan is right. The crossbows that are used for piercing armor take about a minute to load. They are very effective though once they are set though.

[Khan]

But it would take me about half an hour since I dont know how to use one.

[Cyborg]

yes but khan is right. The crossbows that are used for piercing armor take about a minute to load.

Correction:

An average crossbowman fires 2 shots per minute which means 30seconds or less per bolt. The crossbows can be used by about everyone and does not need much training.

Using crossbows in battles during war was almost looked at as cheating since a crossbow team could consist of farmers and casual people which added many more soldiers do that team.

[TMA_1]

but a well trained bowmen could fire about 12 arrows a minute. A huge difference. We are also taking the assumption from all the posts that we know what we are doing with these weapons.

[nemafakei]

"but a well trained bowmen could fire about 12 arrows a minute"

The couldn't keep it up for lond. The sheer stamina required, plus the fact you need running distance, plus the weight of more than a quiver or two of arrows (48 arrows, 4 minutes, a hell of a weight of wood on your back.)

You must consider the loading mechanisms for crossbows. With strong hands, a goat's foot lever is good for reloading, ten seconds or so...

And Ex, do you really think a light shield would protect your arm from pain and remain intact? And do you think a well-trained or even just sensible samurai would hit the shield, and also remain in place long enough for you to hit them?

[exatreide]

depends on the composition of the shield nema, is it wood? or steel?

If they strike, the ussaly have a opening, either parry with your shield, and strike

or dodge and strike, or simply make the first strike,

if you hit the shield you nock them back, it takes a moment for them to again regain control, then what will they do? run foward only to get hit again?

and if they back up,they step foward and hit again with the axe rapidly,

only way a samuri could take out a berserker is if he surpises him,but in combat the Sameri is out matched by berserker :)

[thomas]

foolish axeman gets slaughtered by samurai with katana and tanto action. plus axes are easy to parry and a counter strike swift and hard to block for axe men.

Huh How so?

So you slash with Katana, I block with light arm sheild, slash with axe, Samerui have practicly no armor, and whoops there goes mister samurai's arm......

whoops there goes Mr Samurai's head.

and say you have a Arm Sheild,

I hit it, it hurts your arm

and before you can strike back

I hit it again, Nocking you back a couple of steps

and before u can hit me, I hit you again in the shield with it, hurting your arm and sending you back a few more steps untill

A: You find yourself against a wall, and a nice head chop gets rid of you

B: You run

C: I continue to batter your arm shield untill it brakes a bone, and opens up a opertunity for me to kill you.

D: You commit Supuko Take your pick

That was of course if a Samurai Had a arm shield :) and since they dont, well your chances just went from 10% survival to 5%

Becouse A Samurai Could Never, Ever, Ever Defeat A berserker.

Ever. :)

And if not the Axe, Then the Curved Swoard of the Jan Ceri. Those things were made to wack peoples heads off :) easily owning one of those pitiful little Katana things.

(but the axe is still better, double sided, with short-medium handel, cant reamber its exact name)

before you could even heft hte axe my kayana would be though you. and less armor means faster movement.

[nemafakei]

Ex, I sincerely doubt you are able to move a metallic shield thick and so heavy enough to keep from being destroyed quick enough to parry many blows.

What armour do you intend to wear?

[exatreide]

huh? its a small axe i dont have to swing it over my head, i can easily hold it in one hand and strike,

i dont have to twirl it around my head or anything like that lol shesh come on scytal.

say you jab foward, I hit the katana thing on the top nocking it down with heavy force. to strike me you first have to raise it, then strike, but then i have already taken a cut at your neck :)

oh and scytale berskers whare bear skin only, berserker is viking for bear skin :)

and in the rage of battle that the berserkers get in, some times they dont even whare those.

[DjCiD]

I watched some pretty cool documentary's on discovery channel and they did a big think on axe's swords and spears and other medieval stuff. The Axe was by far on of the best weapons. It was like every hit of the Axe was on offense. I wish I could get you some clips from the show.

Yeah it talked about Berserker's too the even had some re-enactments of them getting all worked up before the fight running around and cutting themselevs... I don't care what kinda soldier I am if one of those guys was running at me cutting his-self, I'd start running the other way... who only knows what he'd do to me if he caught me. ;D

[TMA_1]

hehe yeah those guys would go crazy. They would be as strong as "bears" which is where their name comes from. They would go mad and manic by taking a certain mushroom. it is the one that has a red bulb with the white spots on top. They are extremely potent and the guys would trip on them before a fight. pretty weird.lol

[Elite47]

hehe yeah those guys would go crazy. They would be as strong as "bears" which is where their name comes from. They would go mad and manic by taking a certain mushroom. it is the one that has a red bulb with the white spots on top. They are extremely potent and the guys would trip on them before a fight. pretty weird.lol

I was just about to add that. Fly-Agaric mushrooms AKA amanita muscaria mushrooms would be consumed by the vikings so they would go into a trance before they battled.amanitas are the most potent, and potentially lethal mushrooms. they would be eaten at a high dose b4 the battle making the effects very powerful resulting in an army of crazed fearless beasts, like super soldiers.

[Vanguard3000]

...Just like Super Mario!

[Cyborg]

hmm. A samurai would attack with a fast rate of slashes, so he would stand a fair chance against the axeman as long as the axeman don't get the chance of making a good blow. ::)

[ExSPlug]

The samuari would only have one chance(draw and slash), miss it, he loses.

[Cyborg]

The samuari would only have one chance(draw and slash), miss it, he loses.

Depends on the situation.

If the samurai and axeman just met eye to eye, the samurai would have fair odds(I am talking about a light weapon like katana, not a wakisashi. That would give the samurai great rate of slashing. The axeman need a little bit of time to recover from blows + a littlebit more to raise his axe from a chop.), but the axeman would also have fair odds.

If the axeman and samurai met on a distance, the axeman could charge and knock the samurai down or kill him in one blow.

[Dante]

I'm amazed that this topic is so popular. Great!

All you people who mentioned swords or daggers (rapier, katana, knife, etc) consider coming up against my trident. Alone that is. To get close enough to do some damage you have to get past the prongs which are about a metre in front of me (other metre is behind for balance). The stabbing and thrusting can keep any potential moves of yours unfinished. You can't move to either side as the trident can move easily. You have to hope that it's length makes me make a mistake, or you have to go underneath the prongs (a slap on the back from a trident doesn't do much damage at all). But once you get close the trident becomes a quarterstaff and can be its own shield. Admitedly it won't last for long but often it's enough for the trident-wielder to step back again.

As to the axes, maces and the like, the power of the thrust would probably mean that the trident couldn't do much.

And the longbow/crossbow? No contest. A weapon as thin as a trident that allows no shield could never last against a projectile weapon.

So how about swords against halberds? Or something else? Keep going people, this is getting interesting!

[ExSPlug]

One more thing, would you choose to be mounted or not? I would choose to be mounter whenever I can, since you can at least prevent from being trampled...

[Anathema]

Well I'd go with a polearm of sorts, preferably a halbert. Or maybe a shield with a morning star.

When mounted, I'd go with a bow for hit and run tactics.

About the sword versus halberd thing, it the swordsman gets close the halberd is dead. But my guess is that he woudln't.

[Dante]

You can choose to be mounted or not, but if you are, so is your opponent.

And I agree about the halberd/sword thing Earthnuker. That's why long weapons have an advantage.

[nemafakei]

Unless in a tight military formation, or in heavy armour, meaning my movement is hampered, then a sword isn't too bad against a polearm - the reason being that you besically have one chance to hit me, unless I retreat.

"You can't move to either side as the trident can move easily"

So you're saying you can lug a two-metre long pole around in an arc, turning it faster than I can move from side to side (not advancing until I can)? Think of the weight of it, and your own hands' turning circle...

Plus if I get the opportunity, I'll 'parry'. Pris du bois, I suppose. Once that happens, you have no chance...

Note also that when staving, your hands are vulnerable, especially to a light sword that can whip down the length of the trident.

"If the axeman and samurai met on a distance, the axeman could charge and knock the samurai down or kill him in one blow"

Possible. However, for hand axes, remember the longer reach of the katana. Also remember that anyone with little armour, like a samurai, can dodge without too much trouble.