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.
Pre-Gunpowder
1. Charles Martel versus Salah ah-Din
2. Lu Bu versus Xenophon
3. Maasai versus Inca
4. Mycenaean versus Sumerian
5. William of Normandy versus Belisarius of Byzantium
6. Australian Aborigine versus Inuit Warrior
7. Thracian Peltasts versus Celt-Iberian Almogavars
8. King Kamehameha versus Lapu-Lapu.
8. King Kamehameha versus Lapu-Lapu.
Post-Gunpowder
1. Oda Nobunaga versus Vlad Drakula
2. Miyamoto Musashi versus Charles d’Artangnan
3. Roman Legion versus Germanic Landsknechte
4. English Longbowmen versus American Minutemen
5. Ottoman Janissary versus Varangian Guards
6. Sir Henry Morgan versus Hattori Hanzo
7. French Foreign Legion versus Royal Ghurka Rifles
Nice to see that a great many of the matches that I have come to love are in there ( such as Masai vs. Inca). Also GREAT! to see that the matchup I suggested so long ago, Oda Nobunaga vs. Vlad Drakul, is also included.
ReplyDeleteA couple of questions though: What about other matchups such as Alexander the Great vs. Atilla and Koa vs. Filipino?
And if you decide not to include Alexander or the Koa, know that my suggestion for a battle between the two of them still stands (Koa could get limited gunpowder to make it more even).
Oh shiiiiiiiiiii- I forgot to include Kamehameha vs Lapu Lapu. That match is still in, thanks for reminding me about it.
ReplyDeleteThe book looks awesome so far. The only thing, in some of your very early blogs, who had a broader ranking system including 'History' and 'Mobility'. You later cut them to a simpler format, and then again to what you have now. How will the warriors in the book be ranked.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to use the ranking system that I have now. That's actually something that I wanted to discuss on my podcast with J&K - how my system has evolved since I began doing this to the shape we find it in now.
ReplyDeleteSo you can count on it being the same system in the book as found in the blog - unless I change some things, but that seems VERY unlikely except for Ghurka versus FF Legion, which will have its own unique system to account for more advanced weaponry.
All I can say is that it looks totally awesome, and I can't wait to read it.
ReplyDeleteWhatever battles that you won't use, like Ztec vs. Zande rematch and Atilla vs. Alex, can you consider putting back up? Except in your new format?
ReplyDeleteThat's my plan. I'm going to do as many matches from the show as I can for this blog, but dome of them are going to be saved for the book - like Vlad, the Roman Legion, etc...
ReplyDeleteHi Mike! This is Rikun85 from the old boards! It's good to see you're going ahead with your new book, so keep us updated on its progress.
ReplyDeleteIn any case, do you think you'd be willing to do any post-gunpowder battles? I've got several good matchups, but I may need your help in figuring out how to rate them. email me if you have the time. rikun85@gmail.com
Hey man, it's great to see you!! The book is coming along a little slower than I'd like, but as busy as things are for me right now that's to be expected. As for progress - subscribe to my Twitter feed to get all the juicy details!
ReplyDeleteI very well may do some post-gunpowder battles. So far the only really significant one for the book is FFL vs Gurkhas (circa WW1), though. I'm not sure when I'll do some for the Blog - there's just so many pre-gunpowder cultures to talk about.
E-mail sent!