User blog comment:WildBoar8/Scots Highlander vs Border Reiver/@comment-17814994-20161211061017

Elgb's "The Green Fields" EDGES!!!

Close: I have to give this on to the basket-hilted sword. While the rapier is undeniably longer, like Wass said it will be ineffective when used on horseback. The broadsword is also a more balanced weapon for both thrusting and hacking. EDGE: Highlander

Mid: You have a point WildBoar that a lochabar axe is an excellent anti-cavalry weapon for hooking riders of their horses. The only problem is that the Reivers are armed with lances that 3ft longer, and combined with their swift horses, they can pin down a Highlander from a farther distance before they can use their axes. EDGE: Reiver

Defence: The buckler is a small puny shield that is no match against the bigger Targe. The latter can also be sued for offense. EDGE: Highlander

Special: Although the dirk is an actual weapon, I'm actually going to give the edge to the pony. The pony allows the Reiver to get in and get out quickly before a Highlander can react. Combine those with the lance and the Reiver is basically one unstoppable rhino of a tank. EDGE: Reiver

X-Factors: This I give straight to the Highlander. The Reivers are excellent raiders, but the Highlander were also raiders and more. Unlike these border ruffians who rely only shock and surprise raids to fight, the Highlanders were both raiders and warriors who were more experienced in pitched battles. EDGE: Highlander

Deadliest Warrior?

I'm gonna give my two cents to the Highlanders. I like how the Reivers were established; their mixed ethnicity as both Scots and Englishmen is unique. Both Highlanders and Reivers were made up of clans of raiders who made hell for the enemy occupants in their territory. But the problem with the latter is that the name "Reiver" is a general term used for all border raiders in Scotland and England; not a name of a tight-nit organization or unified group. Reivers were made up of family clans that were independent to each other and not that cooperative. They sometimes work alongside each other but not always. While the Highlanders started off like this, the Scottish War of Independece did gave them a reason to unify against a common enemy; giving them far more unity than the loosly organized Border Reivers.

And like what I said in my x-factors. The Reivers were only raiders and nothing more, while the Highlanders were raiders and warriors who can hold their own in a pitched battle. They may lack horses or superior longarm weapons, but they do have the better sword and the shield, and if they can hold their ground like what any unified group can do, they can use their axes to counter the Reivers and win.