The two sword-wielding slayers of the late Middle Ages come together in a clash of steel! The Landsknecht, the flamboyant German mercenaries whose brutality was matched only by their greed for plunder, trades blows with the Samurai, the disciplined, calculating knight of Feudal Japan! Both wear highly protective armor and carry fearsome blades, but when muscle meets muscle one must give way to decide who is deadliest!
Landsknecht[]
During the Renaissance, professional standing armies were much too expensive for most European leaders. Instead, mercenaries were the primary fighting force, with major rivalries forming between different bands. Perhaps the most famous mercenaries of this time were the Landsknecht (German for "country servant"), first formed by Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I. Garishly dressed and willing to fight for anyone as long as the price was right, Landsknecht bands served in just about every armed conflict of the 1500s.
| Range | Weapon |
|---|---|
| Close Range | Zweihänder two-handed sword and Katzbalger arming sword |
| Mid Range | Pike |
| Long Range | Arquebus matchlock musket |
| Armor | Burgonet helmet, munition half-armor |
Samurai[]
The samurai were a Japanese aristocratic warrior class that existed from about the 10th century onwards. From the late 12th century onwards, Samurai warlords, known by the title shogun were the de facto rulers of the Japan, with the emperor serving only as spiritual leader. The samurai were known for living by the code of bushido, which emphasized loyalty, duty and honor above all else, even in the face of death. The samurai class was abolished in 1860s, during the modernization of Japan during the Meiji Restoration.
| Range | Weapon |
|---|---|
| Close Range | Katana two-handed sword and wakizashi short sword |
| Mid Range | Yari |
| Long Range | Tanegashima matchlock musket |
| Armor | Kabuto helmet, tosei gusoku chest plate |
Battle[]
The air is still and calm. Deep in the Japanese mountains, a samurai warrior kneels in meditation inside a small, one-room temple. A waterfall quietly splashes off in the distance, but the smell of fresh water and mist drifts peacefully into the shrine. The samurai has left all of his weapons outside - except for his katana, which he has kept sheathed in its scabbard on his belt. He controls his breathing and keeps his eyes closed, focusing on the noise and smells around him to sharpen his senses, especially for when he'll need to use them in battle. Despite the tranquil setting, the samurai's heartbeat still pounds quickly with a vague excitement or anxiety, but he continues breathing and relaxes.
Up in the green trees above, a bird makes its call, the sound echoing off of the mountaintops surrounding it. The bird is loud enough to temporarily mask the noise of a Landsknecht mercenary making his way through the forest. He holds his matchlock musket in his hands, his Zweihänder hanging at his waist in its scabbard. His pike is strapped to his back, along with a few other supplies. As he goes along his way, the sound of the waterfall attracts him, as he realizes how thirsty he has become in the mild noonday sun.
The Spanish monarchy, after seeing the success of their South and Central American expeditions, have kept on with the flow of explorers to the mysterious west but have also turned their attention to the mysterious east. Japan has cut off any communication with Western civilization and is enjoying its peaceful isolation (civil wars aside) and is ripe for the picking. The Spanish have hired Landsknecht mercenaries to spearhead the invasion of the Far East in the hopes that these flamboyant mercenaries will enjoy the same bountiful success that 'the conquistadors have had against the Aztecs.
The Landsknecht kneels by the waterfall and drinks to his fill. Standing up, he wipes his mouth with the back of his sleeve and looks around, breathing in the fresh, brisk air. He lazily walks down a stone path he finds, and makes his way up to the samurai shrine. The Landsknecht pokes his head in the entrance and sees the samurai kneeling.
The samurai's eyes fly open and the Japanese warrior tears the katana out of his scabbard lightning-fast. The Landsknecht shouts in surprise and clumsily pulls out his Zweihänder, swinging upward just in time to deflect the samurai's first strike. Keeping on the offensive, the samurai tries to exploit the Landsknecht's weakness at very close range and lands blow after blow on the mercenary. The Landsknecht counters with a vicious swing of his own that slams into the samurai's chest plate and knocks him down. Raising his sword over his head, the Landsknecht swings down but the samurai rolls out of the way and sprints to the side of the shrine where he has left his other weapons.
Taking an opportunity he knows he might not get again, the Landsknecht sets up the stand for his musket and lowers the firearm onto it, aiming at the bent-over samurai. The match burns and the Landsknecht flinches slightly as the musket goes off, smoke and powder flashing up in front of his face. He coughs slightly and decides to reload, taking the gun off of the stand and readying another shot. He hears a loud bang from down the forest and a musket ball slams into his shoulder plate, denting it severly and sending a huge flare of pain across his arm. The Landsknecht falls to the ground, howling in pain.
Smoke obstructs the samurai's vision too, and he throws his Tanegashima musket to the ground and approaches with his yari spear. The Landsknecht staggers to his feet and grabs his pike off the ground where it had fallen, holding it out in front of him menacingly. The samurai coolly sidesteps the first lunge and swings the yari downward, hitting the wooden handle of the pike and splintering the weapon nearly in two. The blade of the yari gets stuck in the wood, though, and the samurai's look of triumph turns to one of surprise and shock as the Landsknecht brings the shaft of the pike upward, breaking the weapon and cracking the samurai across the face. The samurai stumbles back and draws his katana again, while the Landsknecht takes the Zweihänder sword in his hands. The two men lock eyes and charge.
The samurai's strike to the Landsknecht's neck goes low and strikes his breastplate, glancing off and doing no damage. The Landsknecht's powerful swing to the gut, in turn, does not penetrate the samurai armor but inflicts a massive amount of blunt trauma on the Japanese warrior. He collapses onto the soft grass and gasps for air, coughing in pain. The Landsknecht leans against a tree to check himself for any wounds, and after wincing again upon touching his shoulder, he walks toward the downed samurai.
The Landsknecht sneers and brings his sword down to his feet, then swings upward in a massive attack. The samurai puts his arm in front of his face and the limb absorbs the damage. The samurai shouts in pain but pulls himself up to a knee and pulls out his wakizashi. Mustering all the strength he can, he lunges at the Landsknecht and tackles him to the ground, stabbing deep into his thigh under the plate armor with an angled thrust. The Landsknecht grabs the samurai's hand and pushes it away from the wakizashi. He punches the samurai in the face, sending the Japanese warrior rolling off of him, and he picks up his katzbalger from the grass. He swipes at the samurai's face, slicing through his nose and cutting through to one of his ears. The injured samurai spits blood from his mouth and picks up the wakizashi in his hand.
The Landsknecht throws the katzbalger aside and rushes over to grab his Zweihänder. He raises it high over his head one final time as the samurai plunges the wakizashi into his own neck, defeated. Enraged, the Landsknecht brings the blade down and the dead samurai's head rolls over in the grass, away from its body. The Landsknecht stares at his fallen foe in battle frenzy, breathing heavily, before he turns and looks at the temple behind him. He was sent here for treasure hunting after all, and why not look inside and see what treasures there are to take?
WINNER: LANDSKNECHT
Expert's Opinion[]
This battle was very close, especially when you boiled down the weapons and fighting styles. The swords were very similar but were used very differenly, and the Zweihänder was long enough to keep the samurai at a distance and keep him from snatching a close-ranged victory. The Landsknecht owes his victory to his armor and training, however, because his munition plate armor protected more of his body and offered greater protection against musket fire than did the samurai's tosei gusoku armor. The Landsknecht was used to fighting where muskets were just as present as swords, and while the samurai did adapt rather well to gunpowder-based combat, it was ultimately their undoing, and this battle just goes to prove that one more time.