Last season I pit a Bronze Age soldier against a Native American warrior and now I'm going to do a squad fight follow-up to that match. Except this time, the Bronze Age soldier debuted on this site and the Native American warrior debuted on the original show. It's a battle where arrows and spears will fill the skies and axes and swords will clash on the ground.
Apache Warriors, the guerrilla fighters who took on technologically advanced invaders!
New Kingdom Egyptian Soldiers, the Dynasty's defense against the Sea Peoples assaults!
Who is Deadliest?
Apache Warriors[]
"It is better to have less thunder in the mouth and more lightning in the hand."-Apache Proverb
Short Range:Tomahawk and Bowie Knife
The Apache's single-handed axe is 24 inches long, weighs 1.5 pounds, is made out of iron, and can be thrown. The Warrior's back-up weapon is 18 inches long, weighs 0.9 pounds, is made out of steel, and is throwable with a clip-point.
Mid Range:Native American Spear
The Apache's spear is 8 feet long, fairly heavy, is made out of wood with a copper blade, and could be thrown or used for melee combat.
Long Range:Apache Bow
The Warrior's bow has a range of 182 meters, lightweight, fires 36 inch obsidian, rusted and regular iron, or rattlesnake poison coated arrows, and was used to bombard enemy positions.
Special Weapon:War Club
The Apache's blunt object is 24 inches long, weighs 2 pounds, is made out of wood and stone covered in rawhide for crushing skulls.
New Kingdom Egyptian Soldiers[]
"Each truth you learn will be for you, as new as if it had never been written."-Egyptian Proverb
Short Range:Khopesh and Epsilon Axe
The Egyptian's sickle-sword is 24 inches long, weighs 1.5 pounds, is made out of iron, and has a blunt end for bludgeoning foes. The Soldier's back-up weapon is 25 inches long, weighs 1 pound, is made out of bronze, and used for hacking attacks against unarmored foes.
Mid Range:Egyptian Spear
The Egyptian's spear is 6 feet long, fairly heavy, is made out of wood with a bronze blade, and could be thrown or stab foes.
Long Range:Hyksos Composite Bow
The Soldier's bow has a range of 228 meters, weighs 3 pounds, fires 33 inch flint, bronze, and barbed iron arrows, and was imported from the Middle East.
Special Weapon:Mace
The Egyptian's blunt object is 26 inches long, weighs 4.5 pounds, is made out of wood and a flat disc stone head for crushing skulls.
X-Factors[]
Armor:The Apache Warriors used rawhide shields that were 17 inches wide to protect against weaker projectiles and didn't wear body armor. The New Kingdom Egyptian Soldiers used small leather covered shields with wooden frames and some wore leather bands as body armor.
Experience:The Apache Warriors fought the Comanche, United States military, other Apache tribes, and Mexican farmers. The New Kingdom Egyptian Soldiers fought the Asiatic Hittites and the varous Sea Peoples who were their greatest foes.
Tactics:The Apache Warriors used raiding and ambush tactics to kill their foes with stealth along with making sure that they were in peak physical condition for combat. The New Kingdom Egyptian Soldiers fought in formations where the archers would soften up foes so the melee infantry could finish them off but the chariots often did more damage than them.
Notes[]
Voting ends on August 4th. Votes need edges or two paragraphs to count. The fight takes place in an Egyptian town with 10 men on each side.
The Battle[]
Deir el-Medina, Egypt
All was calm in the village before a group of ten men showed up with axes, spears, and bows who were merely trying to ask where they were but due to the locals not knowing what they were saying and the weapons they were carrying, the populace started fleeing in terror. The commotion attracted a group of ten New Kingdom Soldiers who tried to end the threat before it got out of hand. "መሣሪያዎችዎን ይጥሉ!" (Put down your weapons!) "What?"
The Apache Warriors were even more confused than before at this odd language while the Soldiers were fed up with this and three in the back started firing arrows from their Hyksos Composite Bows while the others pulled out shields and melee weapons. One Warrior got a flint arrow in his left eye and a bronze arrow in his right and another got his rawhide shield punctured by a barbed iron arrow which cut open his arm before another landed in his throat. The Apache yelled out their war crys and started returning fire with their Bows, while most of the arrows hit leather-covered wooden shields and broke, an iron arrow hit an Egyptian archer in the eye and another was hit in the side.
The Warriors retreated and the New Kingdom Soldiers chased them before another of their archers fell over dead, a victim of rattlesnake poison. This distracted them long enough for another of their men to get his head bashed open from above by a War Club and another had his spine severed by a Native American Spear. The third member of the Apache ambush threw his Spear at an Egyptian's shield where it bent and didn't penetrate, leaving him shocked as his foe hurled an Egyptian Spear at him that hit his stomach.
The other Warriors were quickly dispatched with a stab to the neck from another Soldier's Spear and an Epsilon Axe splitting another's skull as the leader yanked his weapon and some innards out of his dying foe. He turned to see one of his men get a thrown Bowie Knife right between the eyes and another barely blocked a thrown Tomahawk with his shield before he was hit in the side of the head. The Apache and Egyptians went into an outright brawl as a pair slashed the New Kingdom Axe wielder's arm and leg with their Knives before slitting his throat and stabbing his spine while another pulled out a Mace and broke his foreign foe's ribs before crushing his skull with another swing.
The Soldier was fatigued however and in no position to prevent a Tomahawk to his forehead but that Warrior was quickly stabbed through the side by an Egyptian Spear in return. The leader left his Spear in the body and pulled out a Khopesh as their foe's own leader approached him with a rawhide shield and Tomahawk and the two took mock swings at each other as their men finished their bloody brawl. The Apache pair approached the final Egyptian who threw his Spear which they dodged but weren't prepared for him yanking away one of their Knives with a Khopesh and cutting that man's throat open.
The other Warrior gutted the Soldier in return but stumbled away after being hit with the blunt side of the Khopesh and looked up to see the blade coming down on his head, both collapsed a second later. The leaders grew tired of the duel and slammed their weapons into their shields, both got stuck but the Khopesh brought back the rawhide shield with it while the leather-covered wooden shield proudly displayed the Tomahawk. The Egyptian pushed his foe with his shield to the dirt and drew his Epsilon Axe just in time to slam it on the Apache's shoulder before he could reach him with the Bowie Knife.
The Apache Warrior staggered back in pain as he dropped his weapon and was left defenseless as the New Kingdom Egyptian Soldier calmly freed his Khopesh before letting a mighty swing loose that decapitated his foe. He kicked the head away before getting to the rooftop of a nearby building to inform the town of their Dynasty's triumph. "አዲሱ መንግሥት ወራሪዎችን አይወድቅም!" (The New Kingdom shall not fall to invaders!)
Winner:New Kingdom Egyptian Soldiers
Expert's Opinion[]
The Apache Warriors had an arguably equal blunt object weapon and their guerrilla tactics were something their opponents had never seen and would still be effective in their foe's own territory but the New Kingdom Egyptian Soldiers had almost every other edge from Short, Mid, and Long Range combat to a superior shield and some body armor. While the Apache faced more advanced foes, the Egyptians weren't far behind in experience and the benefits of being part of an Empire meant they were actually at least as, if not more, physically capable than their tribal foes.