User blog:SkullinBones1/Season 1 Finale. Viking vs Samurai Rematch

Throughout history, many great and famous warriors existed. From the Spartan hoplites of greece to the modern day Green berets from America, we have seen warriors who have proved their metal and have become legendary. In 2009, a battle between two of these legendary figures took place on the Tv series deadliest warrior.While this episode was in its own right entertaining and fun to watch, it was wracked with a good number of historical inaccuracies. Today, I intend to right this wrong and make an accurate production of the battle. So without further delay, let's begin.

Viking: The seafaring raiders and explorers who hailed from what is now Scandinavia.

Samurai: The Elite professional cavalrymen who hailed from feudal Japan.

Viking
The Vikings/Vikingum were a group of seafaring raiders and traders who hailed from the Scandinavia. The earliest official record of Vikings was the Raid of the christian monastery on Lindisfarne in 793 AD. The Vikings raided and too land all over Europe and the north seas. So sailed south to Byzantium and worked and mercenaries. Many took great plots of land in places like England, Ireland, France and Spain. These men even made their way across the northern seas at times, colonizing places like Iceland, Greenland and even North America. The Viking ages lasted from 793 AD to 1066 AD. The official end of the Vikings came about during the battle of stamford bridge, were the great Norweign king Harald Hardrada and his armies were massacred on mass. The Vikings were for years demonized by people all over Europe for their actions, but have recently grown in popularity thanks to shows like the last Kingdom and Vikings.

Samurai
The Samurai were a group of warriors who operated as a military unit in Japan from roughly 794 to 1877 Ad (Just a note. For this battle, I will be using a Samurai who was contemporary to the viking. The Samurai will be a warrior who lived during the Heian period, around 1000 Ad). As a group in society, the Samurai were of the Bushi class of society. This Bushi were the warrior class, similar to the later Knight class in European Feudalism. As a unit, the Samurai/Bushi were primarily Cavaliers and Archers, not being known for their insane skill with swords as most films will make you believe. The Samurai were the professionals of them time, and would have operated as a form of either field commander or back line tactician. Through history, the Samurai were used by just about all the people who lived in Japan, Working under the Daimyo/Lords of the era. The Samurai officially ended in 1877, when the last Samurai rebellion ended with the Samurai losing and dying out.

Viking Equipment
Pole-arms: Winged spear. The most common weapon carried among the ranks of the Vikings. The Spears shaft was close to 7 feet long, and weighted about 3-4 pounds. The head was made of either Iron of steel was primarily a thrusting a weapon, though its edged designed made cuttings possible. It was called winged due to its having a small cross bar below the bladed section of the head. This bar was designed to stop the blade from going to deep and getting the body of an enemy from getting stuck on the weapons shaft. The weapon was primarily used 1 handed along side a shield, but longer versions used with 2 hands did exist. Dane Axe. A less common but highly powerful anti armor and anti cavalry weapon. The weapon was about 5 feet long and weighed about 3 pounds. The blade was strong, being designed to have a very hard and sharp edge, perfectly made to hack through armor like mail and gambeson. The weapon was often used by men on the flanks, it working well to both deal with enemy cavaliers and skirmishers. The weapon was seen by the vikings as a fairly effective counter option against horsemen, the hooked blade and hacking power of the axe being perfect for either pulling enemys off their horses or to disable to horse as it rides by.

Ranged weapons: Javelin. The most common ranged weapon on dark ages battlefields. The simple throw spear would have been used by many men on the field of battle, mainly due to its light weight and high levels of impact. The spear could be throw about 40 feet on average, with a really dedicated man easily exceeding that. A warrior could carry multiple Javelins on his person, with some even carrying 3 or 4 in his off hand. The thrown spear packed a serious punch, being able to punch through the mail and gambeson of the Europeans and possibly even the iron lamellar of the saracens (Though this is unknown). Self bow. The common hunting and war bow. It shot common arrows around 300 feet effectively, it being made to take down small to medium sized animals and warriors fiarly easily. The bow had the draw weight of between 60 to 80 pounds. The bow shot standard arrow heads (Not bodkin or broad heads). The weapon wasn't commonly used among the ranks of the vikings, being used by a comparitively small minority of them (Lets say around 15 out of the 100 used bows). One of these could be deadly in the hands of trained archers, but were not the most practical in crowded shield walls (which is the main reason they weren't very common).

Melee weapons: Skeggox. The common 1 handed bearded axe. Used by a good number (If not the majority) of the vikings, the Skeggox was fairly hard hitting and damaging axe. Being made to hack through layers of wood and to split roots, the Skeggox had little trouble in smashing bones and hacking through flesh. The axe would have been around 2 feet long and would have weighed about 2 pounds. the majority of the weight would have in the metal head/blade of the weapon, giving a great deal of momentum of the swing. This Damage output came at the expence of agility and mobility in the hand, its unbalanced build making preforming effective blocks and parries taxing on your stamina and generally less effective. This weapon was used mainly to damage armor and to inflict damage through the armor, it easily being able to break bone and batter flesh through most types of armor. Sverd. The less common but high effective Viking sword. Being made from steel and being well suited for chopping and slashing. The weapon was more balanced then the axe, making it feel light and be more nimble in the hand. This is despite the sword being heavier and larger then the axe, it weighing 2 1/2 pounds and being 3 feet long. While not as balanced as later Europeans swords like longswords and arming swords, the weapon still felt fairly nimble in the hand. The sword had a heavier hilt then earlier migration period sword, helping to balance out the weight of the blade. But unlike later sword, it didn't have either a distal or profile taper, so it wasn't quite as nimbe as later swords.

Armor: Byrnie and Gambeson. A pairing of 2 different but fairly effective armors. The outer layer of the armor was the Byrnie, a type of Chainmail Hauberk. This Hauberk would have been made of steel or iron rings, riveted together at a single point. Due to these riveted rings, the armor was resistant to most attacks froms piercing blows, with modern tests on showing that the mail could turn most arrows and sword thrusts. The armor covered the body from the shoulders to the middle thighs, with the arms being covered down to the elbows. While a Byrnie could turn most slashes and thrusts, it was highly prone to impact weapons, it not really being able to soak impacts. But this is were the gambeson comes in. The Gambeson was a padded jacket made of wool and linen. It was able to on its own turn lighter to medium hits on its own, its padded nature being able to mainly absord the impact of percussion weapons. It covered the same area as the Byrnie. The overall weight of the armor weighed about 28 pounds. Skjoldr. The standard Viking round shield. At times called a boss shield, the Skjoldr was a very strange shield in its design. Unlike most shields, the shield was held with a center grip and not strapped to the arm. A neat factor to the center grip aspect is that it could quite easily rotate in the hand, allowing it too deflect blows fairly easily. The shield would have been made of a type of coniferous wood, such as linden of pine. The shield would have been faced with layers of linen and leather, with the rims being covered in a thick layer rawhide. The hand would have been guarded by an iron or steel boss. Spangenhelm. The standard helmet of the vikings. This helmet was similar to later nasal helmet worn by the normans, saxons and franks, the Spanganhelm was in many ways an armor implement from an earlier era. The Helm was made from 4 pieces of plated iron of steel, riveted together into a metal frame. The helmet has a nose guard similar to a nasal helm, but also expanding out into a much larger face plate. The helmet covered most of the face down to the mouth, also having fairly large eye holes. It also wasn't uncommon to see these helmets have mail aventails covering the back of the neck and even the full head.

Armor weight: at most 38 pounds. 28 pounds for the Byrnie and Gambeson, 4-6 pounds in the Skjoldr, and 3 to 4 pounds in the helmet.

Samurai Equipment
Pole-arms: Naginata. The primary pole-arm carried by Samurai of the Heian period. The entire weapon was about 7 feet long in its entirety, about 5 and a half of these feet being in the shaft. The rest of the weapon was the blade, it being a very predigious cutter and slasher. The Naginata was used as an infantry tool, but it wasn't uncommon for it to be used on horse back. The entire weapon weighted about 4 pounds. As a tool, the actual tool wasn't used among the Samurai on a regular basis (Mainly because they were horse archers. Only about a a quarter of the Samurai would carry this weapon).

Ranged weapons: Yumi. The Primary weapon carried by the Samurai. A massive longbow made primarily from Ratan wood and being in size around 7 feet from end to end. It was designed to be used in horse back, the bow appearing awkard and asymmetrical at first but in truth being perfectly suited for usage on foot. The bow had a draw weight of around 50 pounds, being able to launch an arrow around 200 feet easily, and being able to break the armor of the day within 15 to 20 feet. To make up for the comparitively light draw weight, they arrows were very weavy duty.

Melee weapons: Tachi. The older brother of the famous katana. A traditonal sword, having similar but slightly different proportions to a katana (Longer and slightly more curved balde but with a shorter handle). The sword was itself designed for cavalry usage, its comfortable 1 handed grip and blade heavy design making it great for spliting skulls from a mounted postions. the weapons blade around around 31 inches, with the hild be 7 inches. The entire weapon wasn't as agile as later Europeans swords and the chinese Jian, the heavier blade making it less mobile in the hand and more taxing on the users while defending.

Armor: O-Yoroi. A suit of heavy weight iron lamellar armor. This armor covered the torso and thighs, Being composed of Iron and leather plates. The armor was made to be highly durable, it being able to soak just about any strike, with most weapons of the era not being much use against it. But this armor has problems. For one, it is quite heavy and has poor weight distribution, with nearly all 65 pounds of it hanging directly on the shoulders. Another big problems is that while it is basically unbreakable in the areas it covers, it has quite of few weak spots (Face, Lower legs, Fore arms, throat). Sode. A set of very large and heavy weight Pauldrons made from Iron platelets. These Pauldrons were massive, covering the arms from the shoulders to the elbow (Being connected to the O-Yoroi at the shoulders). These Pauldrons would have been made of iron scales/platelets, in turn weighing an absolute ton. These Pauldrons weren't firmly attacked to the elbows, moving freely so that the Samurai could freely using his bow. Kabuto. A heavy metal 2 part helmet made for combat. This helmet was composed primarily of Iron, with a base of wood and leather. The helmets of this era was not solid, but composed of 2 pieces up togeather. The main helm would have been rested on the head, with the lamellar semi salleted back would have been layed onto it and tided together with leather of silk cords.

Armor weight: 75 pounds all in all. O-yoroi weighs about 65 pounds. The pauldrons together weigh about 3 pounds each. The Kabuto weighs about 4 pounds.

X-factors
Training: Viking 70/ Samurai 90. While the Vikings weren'y by any means untrained, they weren't at the same level as the Samurai. While the Vikings sparred and fought recreationally, they weren't professionally trained for as long as the Samurai. So in the end, the Viking is just out matched here.

Experience: Viking 95/ Samurai 75. While the Samurai and Vikings were both professional warriors who fought in battles and skirmishes on a semi regular basis for around the same amount of time equally, the quality of said experience was greater for the Vikings. I say this because they went up against a greater variety of people, including people very similar to the Samurai (Moors and Saracens primarily). The Vikings have battled against Horse archers before, battling with the Saracens and Moors on a fairly regular basis. The Samurai on the other hand never battled anything like the Viking shield wall before, mainly fighting against spear blocks and other Samurai. So while they both were fairly experienced in battle, the Vikings simply had experience against more people then the Samurai did, and actually battled people similar to the Samurai before. The Samurai can't say the same.

Physicality: Viking 80/ Samurai 70. The Average height of the viking has been estimated from 5'6" to 5"10", and average a weight of between 130 to 170. The Samurai averaged a height average of 5'2' to 5'4" and averaged a weight of between 110 to 120. What else can I say. If you bigger, heavier and stronger, your more physically fit.

Tactics
Skjoldborg. The classic Viking shield wall. This is a small composed of several layers of shields overlapping each other, creating a solid wall of wood. The shield was was designed to deal with incoming arrows and attacking infantry, being just about unbreakable to attack. This wall still remained mobile however, being able to move forwards and pressure enemies. All the while this shield wall moves and defends, their men within it are using projectile weapons from either within it or from behind it, harassing and picking off enemies.

Harassing Cavalry. The fast moving and agile Cavalry tactic. Based around harassing enemies and weakening them and then running away. The Samurai were horse archer primarily and used this tactic to a great level. They would ride within range of enemy infantry units and bombard them with arrows before riding away. This tactic was used to weaken enemy units so that these units enemies would be more easily be over powered by their main infantry force (Which is a problem since they don't have their militia forces of spearmen to over power the vikings here).

Voting information
This conflict will be an actual form of battle. I will be comparing 2 groups of 100 men each. The battle will take place on the great plains, in South Dakota.