Saladin, the fierce Muslim Arab general who led a victorious army that drove the Christian 'infidels' out of the holy land...
vs
Oda Nobunaga, the chivalrous Sengoku samurai who sought to unify Japan no matter what the cost...
Who... is... DEADLIEST?
Saladin
Oda Nobunaga
Weapons[]
Saladin and his army of Saracen warriors bring with them to the fight...
| Short Range | Scimitar |
| Medium Range | Pike |
| Long Range | Recurve Bow |
| Special | Khanjar |
Oda and his team of samurai strike back with
| Short Range | Katana |
| Medium Range | Yari |
| Long Range | Yumi |
| Special | Chigiriki |
Personal Edges[]
Short: Both swords are designed with aerodynamics in mind and both are very versatile
EDGE: Even
Medium: The yari is basically an extension of the pike since it has extra prongs
EDGE: Yari
Long: The Recurve bow is designed to be versatile - to be both used on foot and on horseback
EDGE: Recurve bow
Special: Although the chigiriki is essentially a flail, it is smaller and therefore more user-friendly. The Khanjar is very deadly but only if Saladin can get close enough to use it.
EDGE: Chigiriki
Battle[]
Saladin: 
Oda Nobunaga: 
Saladin and 4 Saracen soldiers on horseback (two archers and two foot soldiers) are traversing across the savannah on patrol from Jerusalem when they reach the top of a hill. From there, Saladin looks to a small distance and spots Oda and his samurai (all of them also on horseback) approaching a small lake near a lightly wooded forest. Seeing them as a potential threat, Saladin silently orders his archers to ready their bows. Positioning himself on the top of the hill, Saladin asks Oda and his men what their business is trespassing on Arab soil. Not understanding Arabic, Oda asks Saladin for directions back to the coastline. Thinking that he is asking for trouble, Saladin looks behind him and gives a slight nod to the troops in waiting. Soon, the Saracens come charging over the hill as if to be ready for an assault. Oda orders his men to ready their weapons as the horse archers (as well as Saladin) fire their recurve bows and miss (deliberately, in order to scare the horses). Oda's archers return fire their yumis (while their horses are not that much under control) with ineffective result. Just as the archers begin reloading their yumis, one samurai is knocked off his horse and as the others dodge the incoming hail of arrows, the grounded samurai is not so lucky and is killed by an oncoming arrow . The samurai again return fire but as the enemy's horses get closer and closer, Oda then has his troops dismount and retreat into the woods. Saladin and his archers continue firing their arrows and manage to knock another samurai off his horse. Before the archer can deliver a final blow, the samurai manages to get his yumi ready and fires back - killing the horse archer - before charging into the woods. When Oda and his men become hard to target, Saladin has his men slow down. Getting off his horse, Saladin walks over to the fallen samurai and notes the deep penetration of the arrow within its armour, giving Saladin an idea. He walks back over to his men and secretly discusses a plan with them, all the while Oda and his three samurai watch from a distance. Oda has his three remaining samurai set up an ambush while Oda waits for Saladin further in. The samurai then dismount and prepare their weapons. As one samurai watches, Saladin has his archer stay behind to provide covering fire while he and the foot soldiers continue on inside without the horse. When Saladin walks off in one direction and his two foot soldiers in another, the samurai then charges out wielding his yari at the horse archer. With a quick reaction, the archer takes out his pike and begins clashing with the samurai, each swing and parry from the pike being countered by the yari. The samurai then jabs the yari into the horse, scaring it and knocking the Sacaren off his horse. Before the Saracen can fully get up, the samurai kicks him to the ground before jabbing the yari into the Saracen's chest . As the samurai takes out his yari, he feels a sharp pain in his neck - it is Saladin who, after watching the spectacle involving his archer, snuck up behind the samurai and stabbed his Khanjar at an open spot. The samurai falls dead onto the dusty ground . Sensing danger involving his two foot soldiers, Saladin rushes off in the their general direction. Weaving in and out of the trees, the two foot soldiers descend deeper into the woods, passing by two trees where two samurai are lying in wait. As they continue walking, the two Saracens notice a horse drinking water by a small stream. Coming up to investigate, the samurai sneak up behind, katanas draws. When they get close enough, one samurai stabs the foot soldier from behind . The other one now has to face two samurai, but Saladin rushes in on time and fires his recurve bow, killing the assailant . Saladin then continues making his way down to the river bed as the Saracen and samurai continue clashing swords. From the other side of the river bed, Oda comes up with this yumi drawn and at the ready. During the sword clash, the Saracen tries to strike through the back of the helmet but only succeeds in knocking it off. Saladin continues making his way down when he spots Oda waiting for the right moment to fire his bow. Saladin yells at his remaining man to duck, which he does - meaning that the arrow meant for him strikes the samurai instead . Noticing his blunder, Oda runs away from the river into the forest. Saladin then comes up to the Saracen and again devises a plan and again the two men go their separate ways. Entering a clearing where his horse is, Oda, thinking he may have lost the two, prepares to mount his steed. Behind the horse, however, Saladin's remaining soldier jumps out and starts swinging the scimitar at him. Oda unsheathes his chigiriki and strikes back at the Saracen, wrapping the end of the chigiriki around the blade. As the two warriors struggle with their weapons, Saladin sneaks up behind Oda again with his Khanjar dagger. However, before Saladin can strike, Oda swings his chigiriki out, taking the scimitar with it. Defenseless but seeing Saladin behind him, the Saracen tries to make a final stand using his hands. However, Oda strikes the Saracen with the chigiriki and (with flourish) beats him to death . The swinging of the chigiriki hits Saladin and flings the khanjar away a distance. Saladin then unsheathes his scimitar and two have a fierce sword battle. Although one manages to wound the other in some areas, the battle is dead even. Saladin tries to swing his scimitar at areas where Oda's katana isn't but they are blocked by the samurai armour (although the force of the swing is enough to shatter the plates). Oda himself is having trouble due to the weight of his armour and his blows being blocked a lot by Saladin's sword. Eventually, Oda disarms Saladin. Saladin then runs towards the trees. Oda chases after him thinking he is on the retreat. In actually, Saladin was reaching for his fallen khanjar, which he does, and throws it at Oda who is charging at him with the katana. The thrown knife pierces Oda's eyes, causing him to scream out in agony. Saladin gets up on his feet as Oda collapses dead onto the plain . Saladin pumps his fist into the air shouting "Allahu Akbar!".
Winner: Saladin
Expert's Opinion[]
This was a very close battle. Both warriors were excellent swordsmen and excellent leaders. However, what really won the day for Saladin was his long range weapons (which surprising included the khanjar dagger) and his more powerful (but only just) scimitar. Yes, Oda did have the armour but this made the wearer slightly heavier (like a knights armour) and slower. (if you think this battle is unfair, you can go right ahead and do a rematch).
Battle Notes[]
For this battle, I reckon the best setting would be a savannah-/prarie-type terrain so that way both teams aren't at a disadvantage and Saladin will be leading the attack with 2 horse archers and two Saracen infrantry (who at one point are also on horseback) against Oda and 4 samurai warriors (edit: Change of setting, it is first in the savannah before the action moves to a dense forest)
Like before, voting will be done through commenting; with regard to time though, I'm inclined to say that it will be until Saturday will you be allowed to vote (I'm that keen a person to get his other battles rolling); on Friday, I'll reveal the next battle
Next battle coming up: the battle-hardened Special Air Service (not headed by John Price) goes up against the equally rough-and-tumble MACV-SOG (not headed by Alex Mason)
Change of plan: The planned battle actually seems unfair and I can't find any Vietnam-era weapons the SAS use for their mission so I'll try to come up with something else either using MACV-SOG, SAS or something new
OK so I think I've got the next battle up and running and I hope I've got it right... Next Battle will have Cold War connotations (if I've got it right, that is): The ferocious Sri Lankan Tamil Tigers go up against the violently patriotic Cuban 26th of July Movement