User blog comment:GSFB/Centaur vs Knight/@comment-5232784-20130601055715

Okay woodcampers, lets get this votez on!

1. Melee

Though the Centaur could be killed by the Anelace dagger (though being such a big being this might not be as likely as it might seem), a Knight WILL get killed by a boulder shot (the armor won't stop the crushing power of a boulder thrown by a superstrong creature like a Centaur). Centaurs are raised wild, they have experience with boulders, and could move them more quickly than we would think, due to their enormous strength.

EDGE: Centaur

2. Mid range

The Knight's broadsword is made out of steel. The club of the Centaur is made out of wood. Nuff said.

EDGE: Knight

3. Longrange

The Lance of the Knight can impale a horse or centaur, yet the rock ca be thrown at a great distance, especially by a big being capable of throwing heavy boulders with no problem! The impact of such a stone must be phenomenal, and even with the armor the Knight could be severely injured or have the wind knocked out of him. Indeed, he could be knocked out if the rock hit his head, given enough muscle behind the rock. A knight could better withstand the projectile with a good shield block, however.

The Lance itself could pose problems for the Knight, though: while the lance tis a large and heavy instrument of death, the Centaurs are as strong as great beasts: I can imagine the Centaur grabbing the lance and shoving it away as it made a strike on the Knight or his Destrier horse, our trying to dehorse the Knight by jerking and shoving with the lance while it is in his hands. Therefore, it seems that the Centaur could better deflect the lance than the Knight could the rocks, for while a Knight can block a rock with his shield, the Centaur, as above noted, can both block the lance and use it to dehorse the Knight.

Plus, there will be more rocks than lances in this fight...

EDGE: Centaur

4. special1

The Knight's Crossbow has steel tipped arrows, while the arrows of the Centaur are bronze: while the steel will cut deep into the Centaur's flesh, the bronze won't break the Steel armor, not by a long shot. The Crossbow will most likely have better range and definitely more power, though wont be as quickly reloaded as the Composite bow.

EDGE: Knight

4. Special2

Centaurs are super strong: their horse half is as powerful as a horse of similar size, and their upper human half can lift, carry and even throw boulders. This means that the human half will also have superior speed to the Knight, who is weighted down by armor and shield. The Knight's armor and shield will offer some needed protection, but it might crumple under the blows of the Centaur, or might not prevent some bone breakage...

Still, the Centaur is wearing nothing: though physically tougher than the Knight (its human half capable of withstanding superpowerful blows of other Centaurs, as well as its own mighty muscular exertions,) it won't have the same level of protection.

Meanwhile the Destrier warhorse will prove a good match for the Centaur's horse half. Indeed, it might be larger and stronger than the Centaur's horse body, for Destriers stood 5 feet or less at the withers, weighed 1400-1600 lbs, and were strong even for their size. They were stallions, and trained to box with their hooves, just like the Ancient Egyptian Chariot horses. Horses can "box" with their hooves naturally enough, but Destriers were well trained in the art, just as their Knightly masters were. Though the Centaur could knock out or kill a Destrier with a blow to the head (Large men can knock a horse down with a punch to the head if aimed right. Of course, the argument that the Centaur's can stun or kill the Destrier with a punch to the head assumes the armor on the Destrier does not offer sufficient protection from the punch), the Destier will give heavy hoofbeats of its own, and will mostly likely prove more powerful, and heavier than the horse half of the Centaur.

The wrestling and Boxing martial arts of the Knight will be of no use against a Centaur: even the steel gauntlets will not give the Knight a sufficient hard blow to stun a Centaur. the Latter will laugh and probably knock the Knight's head off i retaliation, or pummel him with his fore hoofs. And can you imagine trying to wrestling a creature as large as a horse, and as strong in the human half as a large primate (perhaps like an Orangutan or maybe even Gorilla...?)?

EDGE: Knight

Despite the one sided voting pattern so far displayed, this is a toughy: on the one hand, the Centaur has the more powerful, heaving hitting projectiles when it comes to rocks and boulders. Yet it loses when we compare the composite Greek bow to the Crossbow. Yet the Knight's sword can cut right through the club of the Centaur, which would leave the brute in a precarious position. Though used to fighting human warriors with metal weapons that can cut right through wood (bronze), steel is a far harder metal, and will more easily cut through the club. The Centaur's great strength, specifically its human half's strength, will give it a major advantage when in close quarter combat, for such great strength will also egual great speed, which the Knight will lack. And while the Destrier can be knocked down by even a powerful human blow (though it will wear armor) the Centaur could be knocked down or out by a blow from the Destrier's hooves.

Ultimately, this comes down to metallurgy: the Knight has actual steel armor, steel shield, steel weapons. Centaurs were beaten by men with bronze armor and weapons, such as their ancestors, the fully homo sapien Lapiths (this war was subject to depiction in ancient Greek art).

Thus, only the Knight survives to tell his enchanted tales...

KNIGHT CLOBBERS CENTAUR!!!!