User blog comment:Pygmy Hippo 2/Inuit Raider vs. Maasai Warrior (Collab with Kazanshin)/@comment-25253035-20200205120041

Close Range: I am not a huge fans of clubs, and both of them look like they have their own uses. The flatter head of the Inuit club reminds me of the Maori's mere club, which can direct all the force in that flat edge causing significant damage. It's flat surface can be used to swat arrows in the air, though I am skeptical that they can do that, still sounds pretty badass. The rungu club reminds me of any other typical African clubs like the knobkierre, but can be thrown similarly to the Zulu's iwisa. The fact that it can be thrown is a big advantage especially in a warrior that focused on hit and run tactics. It is difficult to decide but I think I will lean with the Inuit club since I think that they would easily parry and swat away the Massai club (and the African club itself probably won't do much damage against Inuit armor).

Edge: Inuit

Medium Range: The lion spear is one large nasty spear, and I see similar designs to the Japanese yari spear with its more obloid tip. And while it can kill lions, I still think the Inuit's unak is far more deadly and useful since it can both be thrown and used to stab. It's cord is also helpful in retrieving it so the Inuit can follow up with another shot.

Edge: Inuit

Long Range: After reading about both weapons, I think the pititsik is the better bow here. The Massai bow is a traditional self bow which is shorter and probably has less power. The arrows are dipped in poison which is nice, but I think the Inuit's tough parkas and armor would make it useless. The pititsik not only has more power with its design, but unlike the Massai's bow where the user needs to pull and release the bow quickly to gain power (making said bow inaccurate), the pititsik can rely only on its draw weight so the Inuit can take his time to aim more accurately.

Edge: Inuit

Special: The seme has the longer blade and made up of better steel materials compared to the Inuit's iron and ivory.

Edge: Inuit

Armor: African cow shield sucks. It's not really that strong and almost anything, even obsidian can penetrate it. The fact that the Massai has to deflect projectiles rather than block it meant that defending is also a very tiring process, probably even more so than with the sue of actual shields. Leather sucks too. Nuff said. But the Inuits? People tend to underestimate ivory (hell the Egyptian pharaohs used them as arrows to penetrate light armor), and in this battle, they would serve the Inuit better than the Massai's equipment. Then there's also the superior wooden shield which makes it even better for the Inuit.

Edge: Inuit

X-Factors: What the Massai lacks in weapons, they seem to make up for their x-factors. The way I see it, the Massai ha more experience when it comes to actual warfare. These dudes literally kicked alot of African tribes, extinguished a few, and even fought the British Army for a brief time. The fact that they even cause problems to Mombasa, which was one of the richest African nations at that time, was a pretty good feat. In order to do these, they would have needed good tactics and logistics to pull them off.

he Inuits lack these sort of high-scale wars. Yeah they fought against other tribes but I don't see them as being large as the battles the Massai did. They also didn't displaced the Dorset since they were dead before the Inuits became a thing. The only feats I see the Inuit have were their wars against the bloody Dene people, and how them (or maybe the Tuniit and the Beothuk) kicked the Vikings out. But these are fewer compare to the constant battles against superpowers the Massai did.

Edge: Massai

Final Verdict: Frankly, I am not sure.

DF-wise, I am kinda leaning with the Inuits. Even though the Massai takes an overwhelming edge in x-factors, but the Inuit's superior weapons are just too much. While their formation tactics will be utterly useless in this scenario, and the Massai's hit and run tactics will make it difficult for them, in the end I just don't see none of the Massai's weapons besides the spear which can really put down the Inuits for good because of their excellent armor. This is basically pittinga peltast against a hoplite, but this time the hoplite wins. And its not to say that the Inuit doesn't have any weapons to counter these hit and run tactics; they still have their bows and spears to kill the Massai without the need to get close, and if the Massai is stupid enough to engage the Inuit in melee with their lion spears, then they are toast.

However, the whole scenario is a bit iffy to me. The fact that this takes place in the Amazon would have been detrimental to the Inuit, who's never been to such climates before. Their traditional vast open frontiers land is nothing like the cramped, humid and full of vegetation like the Amazon. The Massai would have a hard time too, but probably not too much like the Inuit. With this kind of scenario, there's a huge chance that the Massai can outlast the Inuit here. But I could be wrong though, and frankly right now I am not yet sure.