User blog comment:Goddess of Despair/Season 3 battle 7 Persian Immortal vs Hashashin/@comment-4661256-20130204030224

El Alamein's "That is One Crappy Battle Card" Edges:

 Close Range: Akinakes vs. Scimitar:  The curve of the scimitar allows for a longer reach, a more powerful downward slash attack, and makes for an easier parry. The Akinakes sword is a good weapon, but because of its shorter curve it's not going to have as damaging an attack. Plus, any martial arts learned by the assassins (which is likely, considering assassins need to be able to fight with their bare hands if needed) will only benefit their close-combat technique.

Edge: Hashashin

 Mid Range: Spear vs. Throwing Knives:  As good as an assassin might be with a projectile knife, there are several problems with it - first, accuracy. It's not going to be easy to hit a target with such a small projectile. Second, stopping power - any decent shield or armor is likely to stop the short blade because it's not flying through the air very quickly. Finally, the throwing knife might hit the target handle-first, causing no damage. Plus, you're disarming yourself once you let go of the blade. The spear has a longer reach, it too can be thrown with far more devastating results, and it's got a counterweight on the other end that can be used as a bludgeoning weapon if needed.

Edge: Persian Immortal

 Long Range: Bow & Arrow vs. Composite Bow:  Okay, here's the thing. There's actually an archer unit in the Persian military that's dedicated to long-ranged attacks. I'm not saying that the Immortals didn't use bows, but it wasn't their primary weapon. The Hashashins probably were a bit more skilled at long ranged attacks because of their stealthy operations, but this is all an assumption. Even so, a composite bow allows for the bow to bend more and create more energy with which to fire the arrow, and it's smaller, so you can use it in tight quarters.

Edge: Hashasin

 Special Weapons: Scimitar vs. Poisoned Khanjar:  What kind of poison is it? "Poison" doesn't help - is it a fast-acting poison that neutralizes and kills within seconds, or is it a slow-acting poison that causes pain and merely hampers the victim, rather than kill? The sagaris is longer and it's got a spike for piercing armor and a blunt end for trauma and crushing power that can go through armor and break bones. The Khanjar is nice, but it's short and ultimately another knife in the Hashasin's arsenal - and they've got a bit too many of those.

Edge: Persian Immortal

 Training:  I'm inclined to agree with noob here - the assassins will be slightly more trained because of their specialist status as a hired killer. However, the Immortals will have received a more militaristic style of training that doesn't require stealth and secrecy for success - but they won't have trained nearly as much as the Hashasin.

Edge: Hashashin

 Experience:  The Immortals, who are a regular military unit, will most definitely have seen more combat than the Hashasin - who might not have seen combat at all, instead having assassinated defenseless political targets who didn't even know what was coming. The Immortals know how to fight - the Hashashins, maybe not so much.

Edge: Persian Immortal

 Stealth:  This one's obvious. An assassin's going to be a lot more stealthy by nature than will a regular infantry soldier.

Edge: Hashashin

WINNER: PERSIAN IMMORTAL

It's Spartan vs. Ninja all over again. The Hashasins have some nice tricks up their sleeve, but they're ultimately assassins, unused to going up against targets who can fight back - or at least targets who are prepared to fight back when the battle starts. The Immortals are bred for war and can take punishment as well as dish it out, and factor in the deadly spear - which I predict to be the most efficient weapon in this battle - and the Immortals will be impaling Hashasin left and right.