I remember that from Bladestorm: Hundred Years War. Wielded by the Abyssinian units.

Good taste in video games, hazmick; Bladestorm: Hundred Years War was unique for me in that it actually allowed you to control, and fight alongside, your chosen units in a RTS/Hack-n-Slash hybrid kind of way. Real different from the usual one-man army stuff you usually see in Koei's Dynasty Warrior games.

As for me, I remember the shotel from Dark Souls 1. Just like IRL, it allowed you to bypass the enemy's active block, which was a very big thing for me in PvP lol

Oh yes, Khajiit has heard of the shotel before. It was featured in an episode of Forged in Fire once. Wicked little blade, for sure!

The Macedonian army had many elite formations within it. But the most prestigious and perhaps famous were the Companion Cavalry, led by Alexander himself. They were heavily armored horsemen, who specialized in shock (i.e. melee) combat.

Their opposite numbers in the Persian military were even more heavily armed and armored. After the Persians created their empire, their worst enemy often turned out to be other Persians, in the form of rebel Princes with an eye to killing whoever the current King of Kings was to take his place. Since these battles came down to Persian vs. Persian, and they hinged upon the leaders not only fighting, but being the one who lived, the Persian cavalry adopted heavier and heavier armor and weapons.

By the time Alexander invaded Persia their heavy cavalry was even more heavily armed and armored than the Companion cavalry. So the Macedonians really needed weapons like the Kopis and their lances to make any kind of dent (pun intended!), in that thick Imperial Persian armor.

Ahh, well that explains why it was shaped like it was. Just like what you said earlier, more weight forward meant more power. So in this case its main use was to put the hurt on the boys in armor, yes? I thought its main use was more along the lines of an anti-light infantry weapon TBH, where you ran down fleeing stragglers/engaged in infantry-vs-cavalry melee and used the Kopis' distinguished curve (and your elevated position) to just effectively collect heads. Now I know!

Man Khajiit loves ancient warfare!

Somehow, for some reason or another, I smell an Ancient Warfare: Tactics and Strategy Appreciation Thread coming...

I am sure it would have been great for hacking limbs and heads clean off as well. Especially given the added height (and thus power) achieved from striking from horseback down on someone on the ground. It is not the most versatile weapon. You can pretty much only chop with it. But it is very powerful. I always thought it would be the perfect weapon for a Highlander Immortal.

Or an Ayleid noble/knight/cavalry. Reading the new books about the Ayleids in ES:O, alongside the existing ones, and then thinking about it for a while, pretty much convinced me that they're basically the Tamrielan equivalents of the Greek city-states! Greek city states with a little bit of Mayincatec thrown in, I suppose.

Scholagladiatoria reviews the cutlass fight from Black Sails season 1 episode 1.

Damn how did Khajiit miss seeing this?! This one is a fan of the show, the sword fights are well done when they have them.

An interesting thing I noticed in the warehouse fight scene in Wonder Woman is that at one point she morte strikes with her sword. You can see it at 1:08.

How does that work with her sword? It's supposed to be sharp enough to cut Superman, so wouldn't she do herself a serious injury?

At any rate, it looks cool as HECK.

The sword she has in her eponymous movie is not the same one she uses in BvS. And I don't think it is the same one as from the comics. When you see the movie, you will see what I mean. Otherwise, I don't want to give away any spoilers.

But in any case it would be the same as with a real sword I suppose. There is a way you can grip a double-edged blade with bare hands without cutting yourself. Skallgrim has a video showing how. Here it is

Yeah I'm familiar with the Mordhau technique, and it's really cool to see it being used in WW. I still haven't seen the movie, but when I do I'll keep an eye out for sword stuff.

I saw a cool video about the sword the other day, if I can find it again I'll drop it in here.

EDIT: Ah, here we are.

Khajiit is reminded of Sophitia and Cassandra from the Soul Calibur series when he sees all of this. Also, Mira Cervantii!!

I watched that same video a few days ago!


Sophitia was my favorite in Soul Calibur. And Lizardman. They both had the same sword and shield fighting style.

Han Dynasty Jian
Khajiit loves the form of these swords.

Shadiversity: Is Ice from GOT/ASOIAF a longsword or greatsword?

*Derp* we were talking about the one from the show.

Greatsword, I'd wager.

I do not see how you could wield that with one hand, so I would have to go with greatsword just on that.

A History of Modern Jousting, with Tobias Capwell. Be aware that the video begins to repeat itself somewhere around the twenty minute mark and doesn't resume new footage until about minute 37. (The repeat material is obviously easy to skip.) Lots of interesting info on rediscovering proper gear and technique.

Planning to get a Katana later though prolly not until next year. Good for collecting and home defense...

Wakizashi might be better for the tighter confines of the home.

Yes, I have thought of that. But it won't be a home defense weapon for realz (unless I'm desperate) but rather a collector's piece. Plus, I wanna be able to say I have a katana....

Maybe look into getting a set?

I have thought of that too, yes. But that would be more expensive, unless I get a set with less quality and I still want a sword that is "made for business" so to speak.

Yeah.

This particular one is advertised as being as close to the original as it can get, and that's why I want it

Was it forged on Japan?

I don't think so, so I guess location and time are the things not authentic about it.

Well the method can be done anywhere, it should be fine.

An interesting demonstration of spear vs sword, in which many variables do not come into play (as discussed during the conclusion).

I saw some links to that over the last few days too. I agree that the spear is an excellent weapon. It can be found everywhere. It is cheap and easy to produce. Perfect for arming mass levies of peasants. In the hands of someone who has trained in it, it is a very deadly weapon. Even in the hands of someone with very little training, it is still effective as long as they stand in a straight line with a few thousand other people and don't move.

But historically, when spear-based armies like the Macedonians met sword-based armies like the Romans, the spears always lose. Pydna, Cynoscephalae, etc... The spear is limited, and its very range advantage becomes a mortal disadvantage once an enemy gets past the point. Or gets around them. Swords on the other hand, have a lot more options in how to use them. They are much better at close quarters. Finally, they are ideal for armies that move and maneuver.

Spears are the “Kings of weapons” according to the Ancient Chinese, and Khajiit totally agrees. We need more games with spears as weapons.

I like to think of the spear as the melee equivalent of the Jab. Tools to both rain death from afar and to maintain distance. And while I don’t know much how well the Spear is regarded in its own community, most striking systems regard the Jab as *the* most important part of a striker’s arsenal. Just so versatile and important. Makes me tear up just thinking about it, tbh.

Funny you guys are talking about Spears tho. I’m on a Carthage/Greek binge rn, and I’ve been watching a whole lot of documentaries/reading stuff about them, particularly the former.

Anyway I’m just here to articulate my Appreciation for the melee weapon that is the Falcata. I posted about it earlier in this thread, but damn! That sword is one sexy fella!

Khajiit thinks it’s telling that just before firearms became the main weapon of soldiers, massed pikes made a comeback as the dominant force on European battlefields. Even after muskets became standard, what did they do? Put a frickin’ metal spike on the end of it!

Old habits Die Hard™

The pike, and the bayonet, became so prevalent because spears are an effective deterrent to cavalry. Unlike in movies, in real life horses will not impale themselves upon a row of spears. So to defend against cavalry, infantry would simply stand still and put out their spears. In the time of muskets they would fix bayonets and the do the same. They even developed circular formations like the schiltrom and later squares so the cavalry could not ride around them and charge them from behind. The British did this to great effect at Waterloo.

Though it should be noted that once you do this, you are entirely on the defensive. A schiltrom or bayonet square cannot move. The muskets could not even be fired, because the early bayonets were of the plug type. They literally plugged into the end of the barrel. So it basically becomes a standoff. The cavalry cannot get at you because of the spears/bayonets. But you cannot get at the cavalry because you are trapped in a static formation that cannot move (if it tries to move, then gaps will form in the spear hedge. The cavalry will exploit them, charge in, and literally kill everyone).

Related to all of this, here is an article for the Spanish infantry formation known as a Tercio.

Speaking of swords, the long held view that in RL it is impractical to carry them on the back is apparently beginning to be reassessed. Here's one of a number of recent videos discussing this.

It makes sense for weight distribution while traveling and maybe certain other situations, so depending on what a fighter would be doing while in the field, a back sheathe could be useful. This one definitely doesn’t see a common frontline soldier needing something like this, but a scout might find it useful. Khajiit figured for it to be viable that it would require a special “back sheathe” attached to the baldric. This one would like to point out that the guy still had a really hard time getting it back in maybe 50-75% of the time once he drew it, but the design does seem solid so Khajiit sees no reason why ancient-medieval craftsmen couldn’t have come up with a similar design.

I have seen some of these vids purporting back-sheathing to be viable, but have not taken the time to watch them yet. One thing that I do recall in an old vid of Skallgrim's was that he mentioned you could always take a sheathed sword and hang it (with the sheath and swordbelt) over one shoulder, the same way as rifle. It would not be ideal for any kind of quick draw, but it does strike me as a comfortable way to carry a greatsword over long distances.

This.

I finally did see it. Interesting, and very brilliant scabbard he invented in order to draw a longsword from his back. Of course the very fact that had to invent something new to make it possible does not invalidate the statement that in real life, people did not do this. Because no one had that custom scabbard of his in Medieval Europe, or the Roman Mediterranean, etc... But in his defense, he does point out that the ideal use for this is not in a historical setting, but rather in a fictional Fantasy setting. I agree that it is indeed ideal for adventurers, from Geralt to Aragorn.

Recently been watching videos from a TY channel focusing on various aspects of medieval soldiery I don't recall having come across before. Here's an episode titled Weapons: What Did Knights Use? I doubt anything seen here will be new to readers of this thread, but it is well made and entertaining.

The polite and friendly Denethor! Hahaha I watched his videos before, his series on medieval food, and that guy’s just jubilant! Glad to see a fellow Chorrolesterol enjoying him too.

Well Khajiit would be jubilant too if he got to play around with swords and [censored] all day

Primordial Joy, I call it. It’s in every human’s DNA.