Warrior Conflict: Roman Gladiators versus Apache Warriors.

Author's Note:  Yeah this is easily the most mediocre conflict that you're likely to see on this Blog; but no worries, the next series of posts will be up very soon.  Anyway, you can find the Bios relevant to this Conflict can be found here and here, for the Gladiators and Apache respectively.

The Scenario.

Sparatakos crouched in the undergrowth next to his other escapees.  He touched his forehead-brand as he contemplated their situation.  They were Roman gladiators, all of them.  Each man among them had fought and killed in the arena - not the grand Coliseum in Rome, but in arenas nonetheless.  There had been ten pairs of fighters, some the traditional slaves, such as Sparatakos himself, others freeborn Romans who had wanted to win some glory in the ring.

Two nights before, they had been inside of a trade caravan that their ludus had been traveling with.  In the middle of the night, when they had set up camp, they had been set upon by men that seemed like ghosts - they drifted silently through the night, never stepping into the light of their fires.  In the confusion, Sparatakos and five others had managed to escape - taking much of their fighting-gear with them on the way out.

Warrior Bio: Apache Warriors, circa 1800 CE.

Author's Note:   Despite the late era, this Bio will not feature gunpowder weapons.  The eventual Cherokee one will, though!

This rare photograph of a later-era Apache hunting party demonstrates what types of clothing and equipment that they would have used; a spear, bow and arrow, and rifle or musket are all visible.  This image is used without permission from http://impurplehawk.com/.

-Offensive Assessment

~Close Quarters Combat; War-Club, Shield.  The war-club was a staple of all Great Plains tribes on the North American continent, and the Apache were no exception.  It was constructed of a heavy wooden handle topped by a stone carefully shaped into an angular position perfect for striking opponents.  Beyond that, however, each war-club was unique to the warrior that wielded it:  the Apache would decorate their weapons with feathers, beads, precious stones, intricate carvings, and more to differentiate between different warriors’ possessions in the chaos of post-combat.  The Apache shield was very similar to the European buckler – it was a small defensive device built on a lightweight wooden frame with cleaned animal hide stretched across its front.  These shields were also heavily decorated with painted symbols of animals and other objects.  Altogether, the Apache war-club and shield combination get four (4) of five (5) possible points in this category.

Warrior Bio: Roman Gladiators, circa 72 BCE.

Author's Note:  I'm sorry for the long delay in new content, through numerous personal circumstances I've been both out of town and away from Internet access.  To sort of make up for that, I'm posting the next scheduled Warrior Bio a day early!

Two gladiators combat one another in the ring, one of them a retiarus fighting with net and trident.  This image is used without permission from http://www.dpchallenge.com

-Offensive Assessment

~Close Quarters Combat; Sica, Gladius, Shield.  The primary weapon of most Roman gladiators would have been the sword; a tool after Rome’s own heart, as it was the staple weapon of the Legions and their enemies.  The two main types  of swords used by the gladiators would have been the sica and the gladius – the sica was essentially a gladius with the blade bent sharply forwards near the middle of the blade at a forty-five degree angle.  Commonly referred to as the “Thracian knife”, due to its similarity to Thracian daggers and swords, this sword was the primary weapon of the thraex and retiarius varieties of gladiators.  The other mainstream sword type was the gladius, which was identical to the model used by the Roman Legions.  Many gladiators were actually dishonored legionnaires who had been ordered to serve time for various crimes against the Legions, so they were often given the same gladius that they had once fought with.  Both of these swords were used alongside a shield, are excellent slashing and thrusting weapons, and have relatively decent reach for this category.  As such, they get five (5) of five (5) possible points in this category.

Warrior Conflict: Norse War-Lord versus Samurai Daimyo.

Author's Note:  I'm going to set a release schedule for matches for now on.  The first Warrior Bio will go live on Fridays, the second Bio on Sundays, and the Warrior Conflict on Tuesdays/Wednesdays (whenever I get time).  Hopefully this will make things a little more regular around here.  Anyway - you can find the relevant Warrior Bios for both the Norse and the Samurai before reading this Conflict by following the links in each of their names in this sentence.

 

The Scenario.

Uthred drummed his fingers on the tall prow of his ship, the Sea-Eagle.  Ralla, his new shipmaster following the last one's sudden death, was a capable man with a steady hand.  He was a natural-born leader, but knew where his post was and where his gold came from.  There were forty of his household soldiers, his huscarls, either sleeping, watching, waiting, or rowing from the flanks on either side of the ship.

They had set sail nearly a week before in their wolf-headed war-ship, Uthred at the helm and every man dressed to kill.  Rumors of strange ships and stranger men abroad on the cold seas had filtered in, and they had been enough for Uthred to take down his father's war-horn and his own sword from their places in his hall and declare that he was to go a-viking in search of these newcomers.

Warrior Bio: Samurai Daimyo, circa 1600 CE.

Author's Note:  The warrior-cultures of the Eastern Hemisphere really are not my forte, so if you see an error here or there please point it out to me and I'll do my best correct it (provided that I can find a source or two to back up your claim). 

This photograph of several samurai warriors, two retainers flanking
their daimyo, gives an excellent representation of the arms and armor used at
this time period.  From left to right:  a yumi, katana and naginata can all be easily seen.  The image is used without permission from http://exequy.files.wordpress.com/.

-Offensive Assessment

~Close-Quarters Combat; Wakizashi.  The wakizashi was the second-smallest of the three swords worn by every samurai, along with the katana (largest) and tanto (smallest).  Many in today's culture believe that it only existed to be used on the samurai that owned it in an act of seppuku, but that is only partly true.  Whenever a samurai would enter indoors he would leave his katana at the door as a sign of respect towards the homeowner, but would bring his wakizashi with him in case a situation would arise when he would need it.  The wakizashi was used basically as a shortened katana, but was capable of being used to thrust as well as slash.  It is believed that the ninjato sword made popular black-clad ninja was created by attaching a wakizashi blade to a katana handle, allowing the user to draw the weapon faster and surprise opponents.  Given its short length but multiple functions, I'll give the wakizashi a three (3) out of five (5).

Warrior Bio: Norse War-Lord, circa 892 CE.

Author's Note:  I'll just leave this here.

A troupe of Norse raiders known as "vikings" makes landfall,
their war-lord at the head of the assault.  Image used without
permission from http://blogs.toorakcollege.vic.edu.au.

-Offensive Assessment

~Close-Quarters Combat; Seax, Hand Ax and Roundshield.  The Norse used a variety of weapons in melee combat - most commonly, the seax and hand ax.  The seax was a long, cutting dagger used in everyday life for various utilitarian purposes:  cutting meat, chopping wood, clearing underbrush, and gutting enemy soldiers.  The hand ax was also a very common weapon, being easier to produce and maintain than a sword.  Norse hand axes were single-edged and short, useful when packed shoulder-to-shoulder in a shield-wall.  Together with the roundshield, the close-range weapons of the Norse get three (3) points out of a possible five (5) in this category.  As always, slashing weapons are not as effective as thrusting ones, keeping both of these close-range killing tools from winning more points.

Warrior-Cultures: The Book!

I guess that it's about time that I formally announce this project of mine.  Without further pause, I give you...

Warrior-Cultures 

An In-Depth Look at History's Deadliest Figures.

This book will feature thirty-two profiles of some of mankind's greatest historical warriors, with each pair being compared and contrasted at what they did best:  make war upon their enemies.  The people covered in this book range from rank-and-file professional soldiers, tribal champions, warrior-kings, national heroes and expert duelists.  You can find the complete list (as of the time of writing; it is subject to change) below.  Note that they are not yet in any specific order beyond how I thought of them.

Warrior Conflict: Gallic Celts versus Iroquois Confederacy.

Author's Note:  Alternative history, natch.

The Scenario.

Hiawatha studied the bodies brought before him.  In life, they had been two young women not yet of marrying age, wearing the brightly-dyed deerskin clothing common among the Iroquois.  Now, though, they were cold and lifeless like the fish they had been gutting when they had been murdered.

A junior warrior scouting out a place for the season’s lacrosse game had found them, not far from the river where they had been cleaning fish for the midday meal.  Knowing full-well his danger, he had sprinted back to their fortified village to deliver warning of the crime to his chief.

And now he had led Hiawatha back to the place of the murder with a score of senior hunters and fighters in tow to try to figure out what had happened here.  From what he could tell a group of men – likely a war-party – had made infringement into their lands for some sort of raid, and found the women.  The barbarians had killed them mercilessly so as to prevent word of their arrival spreading among the Five Nations.