Pier Gerlofs Donia/Bio & Battles

"Butter, bread, and green cheese: whoever cannot say that is not a true Frisian."

- Pier Gerlofs Donia

Pier Gerlofs Donia, also known as Great Pier, was a Frisian pirate and rebel who became legendary for his size, said to be seven feet tall or greater, and likewise, his great strength said to be able to behead multiple enemies with a single swing of his seven-foot zweihander.

Pier was a farmer until 1515, until the Black Band, a violent group of Landsknecht in service of the ruling Habsburg dynasty burned his village and raped and murdered his wife. In retaliation, Donia declared a led a Frisian uprising against the Habsburgs, taking to the sea and capturing numerous Habsburg and allied vessels, and captured and razed multiple Habsburg-controlled cities.

Pier's actions, however, were not enough to win Frisia its freedom, and Pier retired in 1519, disillusioned with the conflict, and died a year later.

Battle vs. Zhu Yuanzhang (by Pygmy Hippo 2)
Burgundian Netherlands

Pier Gerlofs Donia and four of his Frisian rebels are resting in the mountains after another successful pirate raid against the Habsburgs. While Pier converses with his men and sharpens his legendary Zweihander, one of them scouts the area for intruders and resources before spotting several branches sticking out of the ground. As he approaches them, the Frisian realizes that these are spears although they don't look European with the tassels but any weapons will help their efforts.

"Kijk hier!" (Over here, look!) Donia and his men turn to see the rebel pull out a spear...and immediately get blown up by the Mechanical Landmine which sends his head tumbling down to them. The Frisians are unable to get past their shock when they hear several people marching towards them. "準備開火了！" "Maak je klaar om te vuren!" (Get ready to fire!) Both leaders shout but Zhu Yuanzhang's Ming soldiers started first and get the first shot off with their 3-Barrel Pole Guns which bounces off Gerlofs' steel breastplate. The Arquebus shot afterwards has much better results, punching right through the iron-studded leather lamellar of a Ming and through his heart.

Another soldier has more luck and sends a second lead ball through a rebel's eye but in the chaos, neither side can get another hit and drop their firearms for melee weapons. "In rekening brengen!" (Charge!) "堅守陣地！" (Hold your ground!) Pier and his Frisians charge at Zhu and his Mings who hold out their Qiangs to stop the charge but once again the steel breastplates beat out the iron-studded leather lamellar. The extra length of the Pikes help too as one soldier takes a stab to the leg and another gets impaled through the stomach, causing him to fall over with the weapon left in him and bleed out.

The rebels now are only wielding swords which Yuanzhang takes advantage of by distracting one of them with rapid tassel movements before plunging the spear point into his throat. Donia roars in fury and cleaves through the wooden shaft with his Zweihander, sending his foe scrambling backwards before drawing his Dao and Rattan shield. The last Frisian cautiously approaches the remaining Ming and dodges a Qiang thrust before swinging at the man's throat with his Katzbalger, causing it to spurt out blood.

Unfortunately that left the rebel open for the other soldier to slash his Dao at the back of his neck, completely cutting through and sending his head rolling next to his ally's. Pier has been dominating Zhu in their duel with his longer weapon and giant size causing his foe to rely purely on his martial arts training and speed to stay alive. Yuanzhang gets frustrated with only being able to take pot shots that don't get past the chainmail and makes a terrible mistake with charging into Donia to knock him over.

Pier takes the impact with ease and punches Zhu into the face, making his nose bleed from the force and causing him to fall over, before swinging the Zweihander down at him. The massive sword demolishes Yuanzhang's Rattan shield and is only kept away from cutting off his arm by the last Ming's Dao blocking it. He still has a nasty cut and grimaces as he drops the shield and fights through the pain to get back up only to see his soldier's sword fly through the air followed by his head and Donia stomping towards him again.

Zhu has an idea and baits Pier into taking another massive swing by pretending to be sluggish from his wounds and narrowly dodges the Zweihander which gets stuck in the dirt from the force of the swing. The Frisian barely avoids losing his hand and gets a deep wound on his palm which he yells off and draws his Katzbalger to keep on fighting the Ming. Yuanzhang starts gaining ground with his longer and lighter Dao made for single-handed combat but once again gets overconfident and his cut gets blocked by the s-shaped guard before he gets headbutted by Donia.

Zhu cries out in pain as the blow gives him a headache and Pier seizes the opportunity to thrust forward with his Katzbalger. The Ming gasps as his heart is run through and the Frisian lets him topple to his knees as he retrieves his Zweihander and takes a moment to gather his strength. Yuanzhang yells in horror as Donia yells out in triumph and stabs the 7-foot blade down on the bronze helmet first, actually punching through a bit but it doesn't kill his foe yet.

Unluckily Zhu still suffers for a couple more seconds before Pier's Zweihander cuts off another of his foe's heads and grabs it with his bad hand before lumbering up a hill. Pier Gerlofs Donia uses his Zweihander as a cane to steady himself before he raises Zhu Yuanzhang's head up in the air and cries out in the victory. "Vrijheid voor Friesland!" (Freedom for Frisia!)

Winner:Pier Gerlofs Donia

Expert's Opinion
In this battle of blackpowder rebels, Pier Gerlofs Donia won due to his superior technology in the Arquebus and his more practical Zweihander along with having better armor and fighting with his men in battle. Zhu Yuanzhang had a good sword in the Dao but the Katzbalger held its own against it and his Qiang narrowly prevailed as the better spear but he wasn't used to this style of combat and his Eastern martial arts couldn't match the Western giant's guerrilla warfare tactics despite being historically more successful.

To see the original battle, weapons, and votes, click here.

Battle vs. Oliver Cromwell (by Pygmy Hippo 2)
TBW

Expert's Opinion
TBD