[shadyspace]

Flying guillotine

I saw on Mythbusters that this thing would actually work. Crazy.

[Diamond]

There is very little evidence to suggest that spiked flails of the type pictured were ever actually used in battle. Like the iron maiden, they appear to be a later embellishment on actual medieval gear.

Doesn't seem very practical when you think about it. Still, I wouldn't want to end up in a fight with a skilled flail fighter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nm74_yWe0OM

[show me your skeleton]

the mace or war pick would've fucked shit up, right?

[viciouskillersquirrel]

Though it was of course excellent against non-armored opponents from horseback. Of course the sword and the flail and the morning star all were just instruments to introduce your brain to the persistent intrusion of your own horribly inward-dented helmet, if you were lucky enough to have one. Other wise, you know, just... skull shards. Medieval swords were not sharp, folks. They were somewhat slicey clubs. Killing people efficiently is much like modern fiction depicts killing zombies efficiently. Gotta blunt force the head.

Militant bishops used to ride in to battle wielding morningstars (which were clubs, not flails) and other blunt weapons. The idea was to kill people without shedding their blood so their vows not to do so were kept.

[EVOL 100%]

Militant bishops used to ride in to battle wielding morningstars (which were clubs, not flails) and other blunt weapons. The idea was to kill people without shedding their blood so their vows not to do so were kept.

lol

[Anteater]

[viciouskillersquirrel]

Doesn't seem very practical when you think about it. Still, I wouldn't want to end up in a fight with a skilled flail fighter. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nm74_yWe0OM

Don't get me wrong - flails were still used. They just didn't look like that. That was probably the result of someone taking a spiked club and combining it with a flail - the blunt weapon equivalent of a gunblade.

[maquiladora]

The knee splitter!

[24FrameDaVinci]

The knee splitter!

Weapons, not torture devices. That's a thread of it's own.

[evil solrac v3.0]

There is very little evidence to suggest that spiked flails of the type pictured were ever actually used in battle. Like the iron maiden, they appear to be a later embellishment on actual medieval gear.

so... you're saying it was used for kinky play... I like were this is headed....

[Bazza]

Since katana and the war horse were already mentioned, the English Longbow. Battle of Agincourt

English longbow is my pick as well.

[GrandHarrier]

Not sure if this counts...



But it'll sure fuck you up.

[Timedog]

Hokuto Shinken

[Forceatowulf]

lol how is this even an on going debate? It's the motherfucking Katana.





Accept no substitutes.

[evilwart]

Boomerang

"Historical evidence also points to the use of non-returning boomerangs by the ancient Egyptians, Native Americans of California and Arizona, and inhabitants of southern India for killing birds and rabbits. Indeed, some boomerangs were not thrown at all, but were used in hand to hand combat by Indigenous Australians."

[Volimar]

Flying guillotine

The fuck?

[keuja]

[Jason Raize '75 - '04]

They rocket launchers in the ancient world as well

[Dead Man]

Bows and spiked flails. Fuck everyone up.

[BGBW]

Katanas are folded over two million times and are therefore many magnitudes sharper and more durable than inferior western blades. True facts.

[squidyj]

Greek fire.

[keuja]

Greek fire.

Yes

[Ledsen]

MOTHERFUCKING WAR HORSE COME AT ME BRO

Hey, I've been to that museum.

[Drazgul]

Katanas are folded over two million times and are therefore many magnitudes sharper and more durable than inferior western blades. True facts.

How about we keep to facts instead of manga/anime nonsense, eh? :P



And yeah, greek fire is pretty damn cool like someone posted already.


"Clay grenades that were filled with Greek fire, 10th–12th century"

That'll fuck you up no matter what kind of plate mail you're wearing.

[Shining Sunshine]

How about we keep to facts instead of manga/anime nonsense, eh? :P

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwQqtf86qOc

Yeah no.

[viciouskillersquirrel]

Katanas are folded over two million times and are therefore many magnitudes sharper and more durable than inferior western blades. True facts.

Durable. Heh.

[EVOL 100%]

Durable. Heh.

I thought they folded steel since the quality of the steel there was pretty shitty.

[Jake.]

i always thought the warhammer was dope.

[Enosh]

The Pike, specifically Swiss Pikemen. Oh, you have a horse and a suit of armor? That's cool, we'll fuck you up anyway.

Polish Hussar say hy

[elrechazado]

Boomerang [IMG]h://i.imgur.com/c9Nky.jpg[/IMG] "Historical evidence also points to the use of non-returning boomerangs by the ancient Egyptians, Native Americans of California and Arizona, and inhabitants of southern India for killing birds and rabbits. Indeed, some boomerangs were not thrown at all, but were used in hand to hand combat by Indigenous Australians."

Non returning boomerangs....you mean wooden clubs?

[Enosh]

Medieval swords were not sharp, folks. They were somewhat slicey clubs. Killing people efficiently is much like modern fiction depicts killing zombies efficiently. Gotta blunt force the head.

/facepalm
that's just simply flat out wrong

they were as sharp as any other sword and they weren't that heavy either, 1-1.5kg, just as a katana and no one ever says katanas were only used to smash people with
except sometimes near the grip so that the user could use them as basically a spear without slashing his hands

if you want to smash someone on the head with the sword anyway you don't use the blade, that's stupid, you grip it by the blade (if you have some kind of hand protection that is) and use the pommel, so there is no practical reason for the blade to not be sharp

[Opus Angelorum]

The fuck?

Basically shaped like a large rimmed hat with a chain attached. Throw it onto someone's head, pull the chain and decapitation.

[Tesseract]

pipe tomahawks will fuck your shit up raw.

[br0ken_shad0w]

How about we keep to facts instead of manga/anime nonsense, eh? :P And yeah, greek fire is pretty damn cool like someone posted already. "Clay grenades that were filled with Greek fire, 10th–12th century" That'll fuck you up no matter what kind of plate mail you're wearing.

I love reading about greek fire. It's such a fascinating invention.



Portable flamethrowers? Sign me up!

[Drazgul]

Yeah no.

Read up on the subject, not just link to some documentary. Traditional samurai swords were rarely folded more than 10-15 times. These "folded million times amagawd!" claims are pure bullshit. There's a lot of layers in a katana, but even that number isn't even close to a million.

[AdrianWerner]

Roman Spathas

[CurlySaysX]

poisoned rice.

[Drazgul]

poisoned rice.

Biological warfare in general has an interesting and varied history:

During the 6th century BC, the Assyrians poisoned enemy wells with a fungus that would render the enemy delirious. In 184 BC, Hannibal of Carthage had clay pots filled with venomous snakes and instructed his soldiers to throw the pots onto the decks of Pergamene ships. Historical accounts from medieval Europe detail the use of infected animal carcasses, by Mongols, Turks and other groups, to infect enemy water supplies. Prior to the bubonic plague epidemic known as the Black Death, Mongol and Turkish armies were reported to have catapulted disease-laden corpses into besieged cities. The last known incident of using plague corpses for biological warfare purposes occurred in 1710, when Russian forces attacked the Swedes by flinging plague-infected corpses over the city walls of Reval (Tallinn). The British army at least once attempted to use smallpox as a weapon, when they gave contaminated blankets to the Lenape during Pontiac's War (1763–66). It is suspected, but not confirmed, that biological warfare was used against the Indians at other times as well.

Human ingenuity really stretches when it comes to harming your fellow man.

[Spiders]

This.

They had incredible range, were very accurate and could fire a large variety of projectiles including incendiary bombs and rotting corpses to spread decease.

Before the cannon was invented the trebuchet was the most powerful war machine available.

[Shining Sunshine]

I thought they folded steel since the quality of the steel there was pretty shitty.

No, Japanese iron is considered one of the strongest iron material in the world because of the nature of Japan being a volcanic land by nature.

[bobbytkc]

Read up on the subject, not just link to some documentary. Traditional samurai swords were rarely folded more than 10-15 times. These "folded million times amagawd!" claims are pure bullshit. There's a lot of layers in a katana, but even that number isn't even close to a million.

I don't think you get the idea of exponents. It is not that far fetched. 2^20 is approximately a million, so you only need to physically fold 20 times to get a million folds or layers. It is not inconceivable that a good blade by a master blacksmith would fold the iron 20 times.

[Man Puncher]

[Alligatorjandro]

These things destroyed a pig

[Drazgul]

I don't think you get the idea of exponents. It is not that far fetched. 2^20 is approximately a million, so you only need to physically fold 20 times to get a million folds or layers. It is not inconceivable that a good blade by a master blacksmith would fold the iron 20 times.

I understand them just fine. The swordsmiths rarely went over 15 folds, which is just 32 768 layers. But many people think the amount of folds done is the same as the layers, thinking that these mythical smiths folded these swords over a million times during the process. Folding in itself isn't some magic process, either, it was done simply because the quality of the iron ore available in medieval Japan was so mediocre, so they would fold the jewel steel carefully to try and homogenize the carbon content.

That is not to say that they weren't master craftsmen who really worked at a peak level of what was possible with such relatively crude methods, but nowadays you could just skip the folding part altogether and end up with a sword just as good, simply because the quality of the materials is so much better.

[OttomanScribe]

Woomera/Atl Atl.

What's that British soldier? You have a musket?

Woomera is accurate to about 200 metres, fires faster and will mess you up.

Good stuff.

[maquiladora]

Weapons, not torture devices. That's a thread of it's own.

It's a weapon if I throw it at someone from the top of my castle.

[Log4Girlz]

Spear and magic helmet.

[Man Puncher]

Spear and magic helmet.

[jorma]

15 year old me came back from the past and posted this:



And it has nothing to do with the person holding them in this pic. Nothing i tell you!

[Black_Stride]

Did this manga ever actually end?
Ive been looking for new chapters since forever.

I think that manga has the most unique weapons of any martial arts manga ive ever seen.
Usually all the martial arts manga have the usual and i swear at this point boring Katana.

The weird neckcuff-guilotine-thing from this manga would have to be my Favorite.