User blog:SkullinBones1/Bushi vs Cataphract

In history, one of the key units used in battle was Cavalier. Ever since the beginning of large kingdoms were made, men have been trying to make horses an element of combat. From Ancient Egpyt and China to the Trenches of world war 1, horses played a large role in military combat. Today I plan to compare 2 fairly important but relatively overlooked Cavalry men from history.

Bushi: The Armored horse archers and grandfather of the famous Samurai.

Cataphract: The Heavy mounted spearman from the middle east and Byzantine empire.

==Bushi. == The Bushi were the Warrior cast of Japanese Feudalism during the Heian period (794-1185 Ad). As members of the warrior class, they were the professional militants. They would have been professionally trained in many different martial arts, but primarily being trained in the usage of the the longbow on horseback. They would ride around the battle field, Harassing their enemies with pepperings of arrows and then riding away at high speeds.

Primary weapon: Yumi longbow. The Yumi was a Japanese longbow made from Ratan woods. The bow would have been massive in size, the largest being 7 feet long. The Yumi shot heavy weight arrows with steel points. These arrows could travel up to 300 feet in distance, and were able to pierce the Lamellars and Scale-mail worn by the Chinese and other Asain cultures of the time. These bows were know for being insanely accurate in the hands of the Bushi, being considered to be the heart and soul of later Samurai (who were basically the same group).

Side arms: Tachi. The Tachi was a 1 to 2 handed hack and slash style sword, being very similar in shape and size to the later Katana. The sword had a 30 inche long blade and had a handle which could comfortably hold either 1 or 2 hands. The sword was single edged and would have weighted about 2 and a half pounds. The majorty of the weight was in the blade, making it insanely powerful with slashing maneuvers on and off horseback. It was also quick of the draw, just like the later katana, being very fast.

Special weapons: Naginata. The Naginata was a powerful slashing weapon, with a similar design to the European glaives. The weapon had a sword like blade, only being a about a few inches shorter then swords like the Tachi and later Katana. This blade would have been made of high quality steel and would have been hafted upon a 4 to 6 foot long shaft. The Naginata could be used fairly easily on horse back, being used in a similar style as the European Fauchard. But the main used of the Naginata to was cut off the legs of the incoming horse, its being mainly used as an anti cavalry weapon.

Cataphract.
Cataphracts were the Professional mounted heavy cavalry who fought over most of the middle east and eastern europe. They functioned as a unit in the middle east from the 3rd to 7th centuries in the Sassanid empire, and worked as a unit in places like the Byzantine empire for centuries afterwards. They were used as cavalry spearmen, riding towards their foes and smashing into tightly packed lines of enemies.

Primary weapons: Cavarly spear. the spears carried by the Cataphracts were themselves very similar greek sarissa. The spears was over six pounds and would have been just under twelve feet in length. Unlike the Lances carried by Knights later on these spears would not have been counched under the arm but would have been held out along the side of the horse. While this gives a slightly larger range of motion for the spear wielder to attack with, it makes the attacks done by the spear pathetically weaker then it could.

Side arms: Spatha. The Spatha was a sword invented by the Roman empire in its hayday. By the time of its colapse, the sword was still being used by the Byzantines up until the 6th century. The sword was in its entirely about two and three quarters feet long, and it would have weighted about 2 and a half pounds in whole. The sword was ogrinially made as a cavaliers weapon carried by Roman Auxiliaries and Cavaliers, but  was later on used by infantrymen. The swords blade heavy design made it great for chopping from horse back but still was agile enough on foot.

Special weapons: Mace. The Mace was a common military weapon used by the grand majority military units throughout history. Being litle more then an improved club, the Maces carried by the Cataphracts would have had a head made from either Iron, Bronze or possibly even Copper. Most maces only average up to 2 feet long and weights about as much the average swords of the time (2 to 3 pounds). The Mace was made to be able to bash armor and destroy bone. The Mace was favored by cavalry due to its heavy metal head being able to gain large amounts of momentum when slung with the assisted power of the horse.

X-factors.
Armor: The Bushi would have been chiefly dressed in Dou-Maru armor. Dou-Maru was made up of a mixture of steel and leather plates. On the head would have been a a Kabuto helmet, which itself would have been paired with a metal mask called a Mempo. Covering the upper arms and shoulders would have been types of Pauldrons know as sode,. The over all weight of the armor would end up being about 30 pounds. A Cataphract would have chiefly been dressed in bronze scale-mail. This armor would have been made up of multiple metal scales layered in an overlaping roof tile pattern. On the warriors head was variant of the nasel helm, but this one has a fairly odd type of mail aventail which loops around to the front of the face. This armor set was completed by a small wooden and steel shield which would have been strapped to the forearm. All in all the armor set would have weighed about 65 to 70 pounds armor. This was made more heavy when considering the bronze scale horse barding which would have added about an extra 40 to 50 pounds to the panoly, making the whole set each at least 115 pounds.

Mobility: While dressed in the Dou-Maru, A Bushi would be fairly fleet of foot. The armor wasn't very heavy all in all, and it would have been evenly distributed throughout the body. The Cataphract is generally less agile on mobile of foot and on horse back. Due to the weight and deisgned of the armor he wears, the weight of the armor would weigh heavily upon shoulders and slow him down greatly. This was made even worst on horse back, since his horse is also dressed in scale barding which could weight upwards of 50 pounds.

Tactics.
As a fighting unit, The Bushi were used to quickly assault and overwhelm enemies with flurries of arrows. They were not made ot butcher enemies on a grand scale, they were used to weaken and distract enemies from the incoming infantry. They were constantly being used to harass enemy flanks, pelting foes with their arrows and then riding off.

Cataphracts were generally based around being heavy weight units designed to push their way through the formations of tightly grouped infantry. They use their spears, swords and maces to smash the heads and split the skulls of their foe while powering through their lines. At the same time, the heavily armored horse would be able to slam into these formations and crush anyone who got in their way.

Notes.
The voting will end on Thanksgiving of this year. This battle is going to be a 4 on 4 battle. The 2 groups will be meeting eachother randomly and will have no time to prepare for battle. The fight will take place is the deserts of Israel.