User blog:SPARTAN 119/Hussite Rebel vs Song Dynasty Warrior

The Hussite Rebel, the Czech religious separatists who challenged the might of the Catholic Church

VS

The Song Dynasty Warrior, the lethal defenders of Medieval China.

WHO IS DEADLIEST!? =Combatants

Hussite Rebel
The Hussites were the followers of Jan Huss, a Czech theologian who, in the late 14th and early 15th century challenged to doctrines of the Catholic church, including some of those that would later be challenged by Martin Luther, such as indulgences. The Hussites rose up after the Huss was burned at the stake for heresy. The church declared a Crusade against the Hussite, who responded with innovative tactics known as Wagenberg, in which a ring of wagons, lined with spearmen, crossbowmen, and hand cannoneers were successfully used to defeat larger forces of armored knights. The Hussites were among the first military forces to sucessfully use gunpowder-based weapons in battle. It took five crusades, until the 1434 to defeat the Hussite Revolt.

Song Dynasty Warrior
The Song Dynasty ruled China from 960-1279. During this period of time, Chinese soldiers made the first use of gunpowder weapons, including bombs, guns, rockets, and land mines. The Song Dynasty finally fell to the Mongols in 1279, who employed some of the gunpowder weapons they captured in their later conquests. =Weapons=

Longsword (Hussite)
The European longsword was a simple straight sword about 1.2 meters in length. The weapon had a cruciform hilt, and could be used with one or two hands, sometimes being known as a "hand and a half".

Jian (Song)
The Jian is a Chinese straight sword with a length of about 70 centimeters. The weapon sometimes also had a tassel on the hilt to serve as a distraction for an opponent.

119's Edge
The Hussite's Longsword for its greater reach.

Flail (Hussite)
The flail or "ball and chain" was a simple medieval weapon with a metal ball chained to a handle. The metal ball often had armor piercing spikes to increase the lethality of the weapon.

Meteor Hammer (Song)
The meteor hammer is a weapon used in Chinese martial arts that consists of two weights chained together. The weapon can be used as a blunt instrument, and, with proper training, can use techniques for disarming enemies.

119's Edge
The Hussites Flail looks easier to wield than the meteor hammer.

Pike (Hussite)
A pike is simply a long spear, up to twenty feet long. The weapon is useful for warding off cavalry when used in formation. When used in combination with archers and handgunners, the weapon brought about the end of the era of the armored knight.

Qiang (Song)
The Quiang is a simple Chinese spear up to about thirteen feet in length. The weapon can be used both on foot and on horseback. Like the Jian, the qiang sometimes had a tassel to distract the enemy.

119's Edge
The Hussites Pike for its longer reach.

Arbalest (Hussite)
An arbalest is a crossbow with a steel bow, capable of firing an arrow with much more force than a wooden crossbow. Because of the forces involved, an arbalest, a windlass was often required to string the bow.

Repeating Crossbow (Song)
The repeating crossbow, or chu ko-nu, is a crossbow equipped with a lever mechanism to repeatedly load, string, and fire bolts from a magazine on top of the weapon. The weapon had rapid rate of fire, firing up to ten bolts in 15 seconds. For this match, the crossbow will have a ten-round magazine.

119's Edge
The Song Warrior's Repeating Crossbow for its superior rate of fire.

Hand Cannon (Hussite)
The Hand Cannon is a simple metal tube filled with gunpowder and projectile. The weapon is capable of piercing plate armor given the right powder charge and a large enough projectile, however, the gun was highly inaccurate, but could be deadly when used in mass formations in combination with crossbows and pikes.

Fire Lance (Song)
The fire lance was, effectively an ancient Chinese shotgun, with a tube filled with gunpowder and lead shot. The weapon was effective only at short range, sometimes as little as a few feet. The weapon, however, could be effective at slightly greater ranges when fired in racks from city walls.

119's Edge
The Hussite's Hand Cannon for its greater (if only just) range.

Bombard (Hussite)
The bombard was a crude type of cannon used in the late Middle Ages, firing a stone, or later metal ball. The weapon's effectiveness depended greatly on the amount of powder used, which was not always known in the Middle Ages- too little, and the cannon would not have enough power to damage castle walls, or in the case of smaller cannon, pierce armor. Too much powder, and the gun would explode. When the proper powder charges were used, the cannon could cut down armored knights and blast through castle walls.

Shot Cannon (Song)
The Song Dynasty used a crude cannon loaded with metal shot as an anti-personnel weapon, acting like a giant shotgun, being able to take down multiple targets.

119's Edge
The Song Warrior's shot cannon as its multiple shot would be more effective in an infantry fight. =X-Factors=

Explanation
The Hussites were mostly infantry who were former peasents, and would likely be less well trained than professional Song Dynasty soldier. The Hussites would also likely have less armor- some may have leather or chain mail, but few would have the plate armor of contemporary knights. The Hussites, however, did developed tactic that allowed them to defeat larger, better armored forces. =Notes= Battle will end on December 22nd.