Not long over 2 years ago, a rematch was made of a previously made battle on this very Wiki. The battle, while very well written, still found itself being one sided and unfair. Today I hope to fully right this wrong and get a true and hopefully fair conclusion to this battle which has been argued and debated intermittently for the last 9 years. So without further ado, here is Knight vs. Samurai, the Horsemen.
Disclaimer[]
For this little battle, I will specifically be using both Knights and Samurai from the late 11th to early 12th centuries, with these Knights and Samurai both being from around 1100 AD. While this admittedly makes a far less awesome, action packed and drawn out fight, it'll make for the most fair fight possible. Simply put, using a fight between Knights and Samurai from the 16th century would be wildly unbalanced, especially for a fight like this which mostly takes place within comparative close quarters. For this, both sides have more equal armor, and a number of weapons which could pack enough of a punch to go through the enemies armor, unlike previous battles which used Knights in full plate armor and which gave the Samurai 1 really good anti armor weapons.
I'm also using a strange weapons comparison system. I won't be comparing weapons in order of effective ranges (such as long, medium, short etc...), but instead comparing them by how commonly they will be used. Because of this, you won't be seeing a very comparable weapon section. And because of this, I would strongly suggest not comparing the weapons in order. Instead, either compare each weapon list as a whole or compare the two weapons which you consider to be the closest in effect (though I personally would suggest the former).
Knight[]
Originally being either the professionally trained soldiers of lords and or wealthy men with a complete disregard for his own life, Knights came about originally to keep up with the started to help compete with the armored cavalry used by the Seljuks, Umayyads and other surrounding Muslin cultures. Knights originally started in what is now France, and soon became popular over most of Western Europe. While later on Knights took on codes of chivalry which made them come across as more Noble and less brutal, early Knights were themselves little more than mounted Mercs in the service of lords.
Weapons.[]
Simple Lance: Being little more than just a simple long spear, the lance was the main weapon used by the Knight. The lance was between 7 to 8 feet long and generally had an ash-wood shaft, going to a defined point made of steel. The lance was known to pack a severe punch, with records saying that a mounted warrior could deliver stabs which could go clean through mail, gambeson, and then dispatch the man wearing the armor.
Arming Sword: A sign of nobility and the most Iconic weapon of the Knight. The weapon was made from steel and was double edged, making it a capable cutting and thrusting weapon. It had a one handed grip, with a more hilt heavy design (distal taper, hefty hilt), making it feel light in the hand. This weapon was roughly 3 feet long and weighed between 2-2.5 pounds. While being a versatile weapon, it had less mass in the blade then earlier swords, making it more agile but less punchy then other weapons.
Battle-Ax: A simple but brutally effective weapon. Being composed of an iron or steel head and wooden half, the ax was designed to land incredibly powerful blows. Being roughly 2-4 feet long (either a 1 or 2 handed grip, though often paired with a shield), the weapon was incredibly top heavy, giving it a massive amount of impact on the swing at the expense of nimble handling. The ax packed a punch, being able to hack into mail and leave crippling wounds through armor due to the pure impact.
Samurai[]
Originally being men from the Bushi or warrior of society in early Feudal Japanese society, Samurai came about to combat the powerful Emishi horse warriors. While Originally being formed to deal with the Emishi, the Samurai/Bushi stayed around due to the effectiveness of the type of unit, becoming the dominant type of unit on the Japanese battlefield. While the Samurai later became known for being honorable warriors who followed Bushido, this wasn’t true for the Samurai of this time, with the Samurai of this period pretty much being a bunch of wealthy Mercs in the service to a Daimyo.
Weapons.[]
Yumi: The most famous and common weapon of the Samurai. The Yumi was both massive in size and draw weight, with most estimates (pretty much just Kaz's estimates) putting the draw close to 150-170 pounds. The bow was designed to pierce armor, with the arrows being able to easily pierce the lighter Do-Maru and even the much heavier O-Yoroi at closer ranges. The bow had a maximum range which ranged over 200 yards (600 feet).
Tachi: The older brother of the Katana. The Tachi was for its time the most common sword of the Samurai, being best used as a powerful slashing tool. It was a much more blade heavy sword, with it not being a particularly tapered sword. Because of this, it's handling was less nimble. It was slightly curved, with a handle which could fit both hands or just a single hand, and was itself devilishly sharp. It was roughly 3 feet long, and while not being a great option for piercing armor, it still hit hard and could hurt a man through armor via impact.
Naginata: A large two handed slashing pole-arm. Being composed of a simple two handed wooden haft which usually measured between 5 to 9 (lets say 6 for this battle) feet long, and a single edged blade made from steel or iron which is between 1 and 2 (lets way 1 for this rodeo). It was primarily designed for slashing and cutting (though it could still stab), being made to land powerful blows which can hack through limbs (and due to the leverage) land decently impacting blows, being similar in combat to a glaive. It was a two handed weapon and
X-factors[]
Experience[]
Living during the end of the early middle ages and near the beginning of the high, early knights would've lived at a time of unrest through Europe. Beyond the many small scale conflicts between waring kingdoms and invasion attempts between other European provinces (Norman invasion of England), Europe as a hole was being invaded by a number of Islamic Caliphates (primarily the Umayyad and Seljuk Caliphates to be exact), which itself lead to thousands of Knights from all over Europe to fight in the first Crusade at the end of the century. So to put it simply, Knights would have been hard at work during this time, doing large amounts of fighting all over Europe and sections of the middle east.
While the early parts of the Heian period were relatively peaceful, by the mid to late 10 thousands, a large number of small scale military conflicts would begin to sweep the country as food production decreased and population increased. These conflicts were frequent, and were most fought by members of the Bushi class. This gave the Bushi/Samurai large amounts of work to do, with the many territory and recourse wars between ruling families becoming more and more popular as the Fujiwara powers began to recede and eventually fall when Go-Sanjo took the imperial throne.
Armor[]
Being warrior elite, Knights would have worn the best armor available at the time, which for the time would have predominantly been riveted mail. An average would have went into battle wearing a full mail Hauberk worn over a padded gambeson. This pairing of armor made for a solid defense, with the Hauberk protecting from the blades and points of edged weapons and the Gambeson helping resist the impacts of attacks/adding an extra lay of protection against anything which gets through the mail. This would have gone down to lower half of a warriors thighs and by the time of the first crusade was generally long sleeved. Paired with this would've been a padded arming cap worn under a mail coif (which appeared to actually be connected too the Hauberk) which would've covered most of the face below the nose, and a wooden kite shield which would've been faced and edged with raw hide and leather. The entire armor set would've weighted between 50 pounds.
Also being of the warrior elites, Samurai would've worn the best armor available at the time as well. During the 11th century, the more durable and sturdiest armor worn by the Samurai was the O-yoroi, a full suit of mostly Iron lamellar. This suit had 6 main components, thos the dō (cuirass), kabuto (helmet), menpo (mask), kote (armoured sleeves), sune-ate (greaves), and hai-date (cuisses). This set of armor (as mentioned earlier) was mostly composed of Iron scales, which were either laced together by Leather strips or silk cordage. This armor set was resounding solid, with it being able to turn most bladed attacks thrown at it and deflect incoming arrows at most ranges, though a blade could either cut the cords or get in-between the plates while in a grapple. All in all, the entire set weight around 65 pounds.
Scenario[]
This battle will take place on a grassy, damp and grey section of flat land in a narrow valley between two large hills (exact location completely unknown to both sides). Both groups of men will have made camp on each side of the opposing hills, being part of two larger companies of men looking to take control of the land. Both groups will have the previous night made note of the fires of the enemies camps roughly a mile away across the valley. That morning, each group will send out a group of 5 men each for deep scouting on horseback. Due to the thick morning fog and shrubbery, the two groups won’t see each other until they are 10 yards away. All 5 men will be mounted.
Prologue[]
The grey marshy morning hung heavily over the heads of the 5 mounted knights making their march slowly across the valley field. All 5 men were miserable. They were given a mission to cross the fields at first light and do some light scouting on the lands beyond the next ridge. According to their senior commander, the sentries saw firelight over the next ridge that night. And unluckily for them, they were the ones saddled with scouting. The group continued forwards, trying their hardest to see past the fog ahead of them, though only doing so poorly. They continued to slop and squelch through the thick mud.
On the other side of the large gap of unruly land were 5 other mounted men making their way across the same flat marshes. Similar to their European counterparts roughly half mile away, for a very similar reason. That evening, their own sentries saw a young man with a torch traveling across the grey opposing hill. That morning, their Daimyo came to them and ordered them to investigate the area on the other side of the opposing ridge. The Samurai warriors trudged their way through the mud while on horseback, doing their best to not fowl their equipment in the surrounding brush.
Both groups rode close to each other, slowing closing in, but remaining entirely oblivious to each other. As the to groups slowly closed in, entering 10 yard's of each other, did they finally see each other. Appearing through the mist, both groups came to an abrupt stop. Pausing for a moment, they looked through mist as each other. And as the moment pasted, both groups simultaneously primed their arms and kicked their mounts into movement.
TBC
Battle[]
TBW
Conclusion[]
TBW