User blog comment:Goddess of Despair/King of Kings Round 1: Julius Caesar vs Oda Nobunaga/@comment-24189690-20131122022108

Short Range: Caesar. The Japanese Katana was extremely effective in their area, however, the katana wasn't effective against chainmail, which is what the Roman soldier's will be wearing, the Lorica Hamata. Lorica Hamata is a riveted chainmail, and is extremely effective at stopping cuts and slashes. Chainmail in general was extremely effective against slashing and stabbing attacks, though, it fell against blunt weaponry, or arrows. IMO, Oda's troops lack of shields is going to weigh heavily against them, even though they wield the katana with greater power. The roman Gladius is made for use of one hand, and the Scutum. In a test of the katana vs chainmail, the chainmail held, and didn't suffer any major damage. [http:// http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kHs0tXeq9Y]    In that video, the mail was butted. The difference between butted and riveted chain mail is that butted chainmail comes apart easily, and can be slashed with enough force. Riveted chainmail was vastly superior, and the katana couldn't even cut through butted, which is a cheaper version of riveted chainmail. In Eastern Asia, chainmail was occasionally used, but it was less like riveted chainmail and more like butted chainmail. In the end, the Roman's Gladius and Scutum combo can and will punch holes in Oda's forces. Not only that, but the katana wouldn't be able to do as much damage to the scutum as well, since it doesn't penetrate through the wood well-  [http:// http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWdquGmqyFs] See, the thing is, the katana in the video is a Tenchi Katana, its pretty tough, and it couldn't really cut through the wood. Not only that, but the Scutum had been vastly improved after Hannibal's time, when Julius came to pwoer the Scutum was more powerful than ever. For me, the choice is obvious. Edge- Caesar

Mid Range: In an army battle, I would give this to the hasta for the ability to be used in the Roman Formation with ease and skill, cutting down enemies. However, in a 4v4 battle like this, the Romans don't exactly have the luxury of most of the military formations they use. For this reason, the Yari takes the edge, with its longer reach and better material composition. Edge- Oda

Long Range: Yumi Bow takes this, and for multiple reasons. See, the Arcus bow isn't exactly as well known as the Roman Pilum, or javelin, or any of their thrown weapons, for good reason. The Romans, while not viewing archery as cowardly as the Greeks, still didn't consider it a very "Roman" thing to do. After all, they had fought many years without use of archers, and it worked well for them. On the other hand, we have Oda and his samurai. While the samurai are known for their katana, they rarely used it in comparison with their Yumi bow. The Yumi bow, while heavier than the Arcus bow, is much more effective than the Roman bow in which Oda's troops are willing to use it. Not only that, but for every Roman commiting to archery, thats another gaping hole in the formation. (I would've personally added the Pilum as the long range for Romans, after all, archery is just suicide for them with these low numbers. Not only that, but the pilum would be highly effective against Oda's troops due to their lack of shields, not to mention the Roman's comfortability with the weapon in comparison with the bow, as the infantry carried their pilum with them, in addition to their Scutum and Gladius. On the other hand, the archer had no scutum, and was vulnerable the second he turned to archery). Oda's troops hands down win this archery competition. Edge- Oda.

Tactics: Gonna have to go with Caesar on this one. The Battle of Okehazama was utilized with a great feat of trickery and deception, fooling Oda's enemies and allowing him to gain the edge. However, with that said, the Battle of Alesia tipped the war in Rome's favor, allowed Caesar to conquer their lands, and rise to the fame he has today. That being said, both tactics would be unusable in this battle (I highly doubt Caesar's going to build a castle, and I doubt Oda has a bunch of banners with him). These tactics DO depict the leader's strategic strength, however. Caesar had no time to plan, no relief when Vexingetorix hit, he had to counter him, and through ingenious strategy won. While Oda's victory was impressive, it involved trickery and deception rather than on the spot thinking. Edge- Caesar

Overall: Oda. I quite wanted to vote for Caesar, as his Gladius and Scutum combo, along with his tactics, are off the charts. With that being said however, Oda simply has better long range capacities. The thing is, Caesar can't spare any men in this battle, he needs to get the Roman uniformity and battle position to do this right, that being said, however, Oda's bowmen are superior to Caesar's. Even if Caesar strikes, Oda can definitely counterattack with his longer, steel spear. If Caesar had the Pilum, he could've had the battle, since he can wield it with the sword. In a situation like this, however, sacrificing the Scutum for the Bow, making it that much harder to get into formation, will be the death of Caesar here.