User blog comment:SkullinBones1/Francis Drake vs Wang Zhi/@comment-27043000-20191231041546

Pygmy Hippo's "Who's Johnny Depp Playing?" Edges

Men:Drake's men as a whole seem a lot more trained and experienced than Zhi's men which include civilians and convicts alongside actual soldiers. Meanwhile Francis exclusively employs military personnel from both land and sea, something that Wang also lacks. Edge:Francis

Munitions:At long range, the Tanegashima is better than the Arquebus but the Cannons will be a lot more devastating to opposing ships, making them more suitable for a naval battle however I don't see any notable differences. For close range, both sets of swords seem equally effective and I don't see any obvious weaknesses except the Rapier being unable to do anything but stab. In mid range, Zhi has more weapons but Drake's Halberd is more versatile than all of them with three different points to attack with while it's competitors are long spears and a sword on a spear. In armor, the Kozane Cuirass is better than the Padded Gambeson but the Metal Cuirass beats it although there's less of them, in head gear,the Morion Helmet is not only far superior to the Kasa and at least comparable to the Kabuto, there's far more in play. Edge:Tie

Ships:The Sloop is faster and lighter than the longer Junk and both seem to be made of similar materials and have the same munitions. While I'm not knowledgeable of naval combat, a faster moving vehicle tends to be better than a bigger one when all of the other categories are the same. Edge:Francis

X-Factors:Francis Drake takes Training and Experience while Wang Zhi takes Charisma. While Wang's leadership is truly admirable with men literally willing to die for him on a regular basis, Francis just has the more practical set of skills with naval combat as determination isn't helping much when your opponent is much more prepared for battle. Edge:Francis

Final Verdict:I actually see Wang Zhi losing but still surviving this fight to be a pirate another day but he definitely shouldn't go for a rematch with Francis Drake. The Englishman just has better troops actually trained for combat under his command with superior polearms and armor to help them survive along with the crucial edge of a faster vessel. The Chinaman has trained troops of his own but not as much and while he does have more weapon edges, they're extremely close and his men have inferior armor so it balances out. Wang definitely will give Francis trouble but he'll soon find out motivation alone isn't winning the day against a superior and more experienced force.

Winner:Francis Drake