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Dark Link · 07-22-2005, 10:28 AM

Its really a matter of circumstance...

1. A knight wouldn't touch a ranged weapon to save his life, it was against the moral code of all that knight's stood for. Now Some knights have in the past seen the strategic and tactical importance of ranged weaponry in a battle, but rarely emplyed it on a personal level. Let the peasants use a peasant's weapon or something along those lines.

If it was 1 on 1, knight on a horse, and a samuri with his composite bow at full range, I would go with the samuri. why? seeing as they trained with the bow more then any other weapon they had, It wouldn't take alot to take out the knight.

2. Knight's rarely fought on foot, that was the job of the Men at arms. A knight's job was to charge in with devistating effect and crush and dismantle formations of men, letting men at arms or spearmen to come in behind them and mop up the shocked, maimed, and scattered enemy. Now, take the above scenario, and change it to 100 knights vs 100 samurai, in this situation, I would go with the knights. Not all the knights would be killed in the volleys fired at them, and the sheer wieght of horses, armour, and kinetic energy of the weapons the knights were wielding (lances, swords, whatever...) Would completely dismember the samurai. I mean, It would actually be better, if they were weighted down with extremely heavy armour...so much more weight being thrown at the men standing there cringing for the impact.

3. the biggest weakness to knights were rows and rows upon pikes. Why? not because the horse was dumb and charged into the rows of pikes, impailing both rider and horse...infact, that is what you would want to happen. Rather, the horses would most likely refuse to charge into the wall of spears, thus loosing all the advantages of a knightly charge...momentum, weight, and shock power. 100 knights on horseback, vs 100 Yari Samurai(pike armed samurai)

This time, the winner would be the samurai once again, who could then move up and easily stab at the now stationary horses or knights at a distance and totally annihilate them.

4. But say the knights were diciplined enough, the horses trained to not fear the pikes. the fore runners would of course be sacrificing themselves, but it has been recorded in the past, of knights and horses charging straight into the spear wall...Now, yes, the spears work wonders on the initial charge...but thats what...5-10 knights at most killed initially? All the strengths of the charge would be preserved, and totally rip the pike armed unit a new one after the initial impact...I mean, I don't care if you got a spear...a dead horse charging full speed will not stop just because its dead...800 lbs are still going to barrel through ranks of men, disrupting the formation, allowing the knights not at the front(who arn't dead) to exploit the opening and tear the unit to pieces.

100 well diciplined knights vs 100 well diciplined Yari-Samurai: Knights win.

So, really, it depends on the circumstances and who is smarter and planned for the battle accordingly. I would be a knight though, for the sole fact that if I losted the battle, I wouldn't have to commit suicide.

[ July 22, 2005, 10:38 AM: Message edited by: Rock God ]

07-22-2005, 10:28 AM	#19
Dark Link Member Join Date: May 2000 Posts: 1,302 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Points: 1,570.00 Bank: 1,000.00 Total Points: 2,570.00 Donate	Its really a matter of circumstance... 1. A knight wouldn't touch a ranged weapon to save his life, it was against the moral code of all that knight's stood for. Now Some knights have in the past seen the strategic and tactical importance of ranged weaponry in a battle, but rarely emplyed it on a personal level. Let the peasants use a peasant's weapon or something along those lines. If it was 1 on 1, knight on a horse, and a samuri with his composite bow at full range, I would go with the samuri. why? seeing as they trained with the bow more then any other weapon they had, It wouldn't take alot to take out the knight. 2. Knight's rarely fought on foot, that was the job of the Men at arms. A knight's job was to charge in with devistating effect and crush and dismantle formations of men, letting men at arms or spearmen to come in behind them and mop up the shocked, maimed, and scattered enemy. Now, take the above scenario, and change it to 100 knights vs 100 samurai, in this situation, I would go with the knights. Not all the knights would be killed in the volleys fired at them, and the sheer wieght of horses, armour, and kinetic energy of the weapons the knights were wielding (lances, swords, whatever...) Would completely dismember the samurai. I mean, It would actually be better, if they were weighted down with extremely heavy armour...so much more weight being thrown at the men standing there cringing for the impact. 3. the biggest weakness to knights were rows and rows upon pikes. Why? not because the horse was dumb and charged into the rows of pikes, impailing both rider and horse...infact, that is what you would want to happen. Rather, the horses would most likely refuse to charge into the wall of spears, thus loosing all the advantages of a knightly charge...momentum, weight, and shock power. 100 knights on horseback, vs 100 Yari Samurai(pike armed samurai) This time, the winner would be the samurai once again, who could then move up and easily stab at the now stationary horses or knights at a distance and totally annihilate them. 4. But say the knights were diciplined enough, the horses trained to not fear the pikes. the fore runners would of course be sacrificing themselves, but it has been recorded in the past, of knights and horses charging straight into the spear wall...Now, yes, the spears work wonders on the initial charge...but thats what...5-10 knights at most killed initially? All the strengths of the charge would be preserved, and totally rip the pike armed unit a new one after the initial impact...I mean, I don't care if you got a spear...a dead horse charging full speed will not stop just because its dead...800 lbs are still going to barrel through ranks of men, disrupting the formation, allowing the knights not at the front(who arn't dead) to exploit the opening and tear the unit to pieces. 100 well diciplined knights vs 100 well diciplined Yari-Samurai: Knights win. So, really, it depends on the circumstances and who is smarter and planned for the battle accordingly. I would be a knight though, for the sole fact that if I losted the battle, I wouldn't have to commit suicide. [ July 22, 2005, 10:38 AM: Message edited by: Rock God ]