Warrior Bio: Napoleon Bonaparte and the Grand Armée, circa 1808 CE.

Author's Note:  I may catch flak for this, but I think that I'll survive anyway.  I'm not going to be looking at the warriors involved in this match based on their greatest victories or defeats, but at midpoints in their career - I feel that this will be more fair for both of them in the long run.  Also, Napoleon won't be getting howitzers among his artillery (though he did have them) for this match, as it really wouldn't be fair for the Continental Army as they had none of their own, or even anything comparable to them.  However, I'm sure that this Warrior Bio will be used in a later match against someone else (likely the victor (as well as the loser!) of Confederate General Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia versus Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke the Elder) and I'll adjust it accordingly, adding weapons and such where needed.  Anyway, the drill is the same for this Bio as the previous one - I'll be uploading bits as I write them, which hopefully won't take as long as last time.  So let's get started - and don't forget to the vote in the new poll!

This famous painting, Napoleon Crossing the Alps, was made by French artist Jacques-Louis David.  There were actually five versions of this painting made by him between 1801 and 1805 CE, each commissioned by the Spanish King in commemoration of Emperor Bonaparte's actions in 1800 CE.  The painting is a highly idealized representation of that event, and is used without permission from http://en.wikipedia.org/.

Warrior Bio: George Washington and the Continental Army, circa 1778 CE.

Author's Note:  This is an exciting series of Blogs to start!  This is the debut of my firearms grading scale, as well as a rematch of the first Episode of Season Three of Spike TV's program, Deadliest Warrior.  I think that I should warn you now; the scores for this match are going to be much lower than you may be anticipation, not because they are bad weapons or anything, but because they are poor in comparison to modern technology.  Anyway, back to the part where I play up the things featured in this match:  I love this period of warfare because it wasn't yet all about guns.  Heavier weapons like cannons played just as big of a role as older forms of fighting like cavalry sabers, while new technologies such as grenades and the bayonet were making themselves known on the battlefield.  One more thing... this thing is going to be really freaking long, as I've got a ton of ground to cover, so I'll upload bits and pieces as I write them.  If you want to save yourself the trouble of checking this Blog every few hours (not that I mind) you can Follow me on Twitter and get updates as soon as I announce them.  I've held you long enough - let's get started!

This famous painting, made by the artist Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze, portrays a heroic General Washington leading his ragged army from the forefront across the Delaware River to take part in the infamous Battle of Trenton.  In reality, Washington is believed to have either taken cover under a shawl against the frigid weather or taken part in the rowing duties after one of his men lost control of his hands to the cold.  This image was not taken by me, and is used without permission from en.wikipedia.org/.

A Preview of What's to Come...

 

Stay tuned!

Warrior Conflict: Alareiks the Bold versus Hannibal Barca.

Author's Note:  I'm terribly sorry about the delay in getting this up, guys, but things have been stupid busy for me lately at work (protip:  being a young, single parent SUCKS from a logistical perspective) so I haven't been able to work on this as much as I would like to have.  So yeah... I'll try to keep things as regular as possible from here on out, but there aren't any guarantees that I'll be able to keep an actual schedule.  So stay tuned!  Anyway, without further filibustering, here is the latest Warrior Conflict.

The Scenario.

Hannibal Barca, commander of the army of Carthage, was in trouble.  Having campaigned in Italy for the past several years – he had himself lost count – he had decided to take his army home for some much-needed rest and recovery.  To that end he had commandeered a fleet of vessels large enough to transport his army back to North Africa and their families.

At least, that was the plan until a great storm wrecked his host off of the coast of the island of Sicily.

Warrior Bio: Hannibal Barca, the Annihilator; circa 216 BCE.

Author's Note:  I chose not to include Hannibal's infamous war-elephants in this match because it would be too unfair of an advantage over his opponent, who would have no effective counter to them, skewing the outcome of the match.  That said, if and when I use Hannibal for another match in which his opponent has something in their arsenal that would be just as influential, such as elephants of their own (here's looking at you, Alexander), I'll revise this Bio to reflect their use.

This stylized sculpture presents Hannibal as a grim, strong figure wearing an idealized helmet made to emulate the wreaths of victory.  Hannibal Barca hated Rome with a great passion, and the feeling was mutual.  This image is used without permission from http://israeliteidentity.com/.

Warrior Bio: Alareiks the Bold, Chief of the Visigoths, circa 410 CE.

Author's Note:  Despite the fact that we normally call him, "Alaric" in English, I've found that the original spelling of his name was Alareiks, and so that's what I'm going to refer to him as.  I hope that you enjoy the Bio!

This model is an excellent representation of the equipment and appearance of Gothic warriors from Alareiks' time.  From a military perspective, he Visigoths served as a cultural midpoint between the earlier Romans and later Franks and Norsemen.  This image is used without permission from http://www.onesixthwarriors.com/.