User blog comment:Goddess of Despair/King of Kings Round 1: Julius Caesar vs Oda Nobunaga/@comment-222.154.118.237-20131121042436

Anon's "Where's the Pilum?" Edges

Short Range: Gladius vs. Katana

These two swords are both incredible but if I had to choose I would go with the Katana. The Katana while primarily a slashing weapon would still have a sharp enough point to pierce the chainmail armour worn by Caesar's legionaries, and on top of that can easily decapitate heads or amputate limbs with a single slice. And I would need to witness a Scutum stopping a Katana before I make any judgements on that matter. The Gladius on the other hand is not powerful enough to stab through Samurai armour and is not heavy enough to actually damage Oda or any of his Samurai via blunt trauma. Simply put the Katana can kill Caesar or his men with ease, the Gladius...well...will have a much harder time of it.

Edge: Oda

Mid-Range: Hasta vs. Yari

Personally I would have compared the Yari to the Pilum as it was more common during Caesar's time but whatever. Once again it comes down to which weapon can pierce armour, and once again Oda's weapon suceeds where Caesar's weapon fails. The Iron-tipped Hasta will not penetrate Samurai armour while the Yari will be able to penetrate Lorica Hamata (chainmail). I will give credit to the Hasta for being able to be used with a shield but I don't think that will have enough impact to turn the fight around as the Yari has a longer shaft and a longer spear-head.

Edge: Oda

Long Range: Arcus & Sagitta vs. Yumi

This is a difficult one because composite bows and longbows are great in their own right. Both have specialised designs allowing greater stopping power of each arrow. So in reality it comes down to skill, which the Samurai as demonstrated on Deadliest Warrior seem to have more of, being able to place each shot right where it needs to go as opposed to firing showers of arrows at the enemy and hoping for the best, while this tactic does often work in large scale battles it can hardly be applied to a 4 vs. 4 so Oda gets the edge.

Edge: Oda

Armour: Muscle Cuirass (Caesar), Lorica Hamata (Soldiers), Scutum vs. Tosei gusoku

This one is a tie, surprisingly. While tosei gusoku armour is much stronger than bronze armour or chainmail, the reason this one is a tie is because of the Scutum shield should be able to stop any listed Samurai weapon but again lacks enough impact for me to give the edge to Caesar as his body armour is still weaker than tosei gusoku and his weapons won't be able to penetrate it.

Edge: Tie

Tactics: Battle of Alesia vs. Battle of Okehazama

While both tactics are impressive and I think it is unlikely for Oda to catch the disciplined Roman army while they are drunk I do think his tactic is superior as Caesar's would take a long time to execute and would be impractical in such a small scale battle. It will be far easier for Oda and his men to catch Caesar by surprise than for Caesar to build a ring of defences around Oda with only himself and 3 others and then wait for Oda to surrender. Oda takes the edge for not only his ability to defeat a much larger army but for also using a tactic that can actually be applied to this situation.

Edge: Oda

Overall, I have to give it to Oda Nobunaga; better weapons, stronger armour, flexible tactics and superior skill, precision and discipline. Oda and his Samurai will take this without too much difficulty.

WINNER: ODA NOBUNAGA!!!