Also to note, as monopolyman hinted to me, Hannibal will be unable to steer his elephant and use his weapons on the same time. That is why this match up will be two on two. Hannibal has his African elephant in this battle, sitting on a platform on top of the elephant and Genghis has his mongolian horse. A rather small horse that had amazing stamina. I have also decided not to write down the lifestory of the two warriors because of a few reasons. It is really some work, sometimes you cannot write certain battles of dates of importance, which is really an sad thing and lastly, i have no idea if you guys acutally read it.
What i will do is this. I will write a little bit about the warriors, something important or good to know and i will post a link to a site which can give more detais about the warriors.
Hannibal Barca
Hannibal saw his father, the military leader of Carthago lose the the Romans and swore revenge. He got the revenge. This man collected mercanarys and enemies of Rome under one banner and wanted to destroy Rome.
He was very famous as a tactical genious, being able to use his men to great advantage, even though most of them were mercenary's. He was succesful in beating some outstanding Roman generals. Hannibal always made shure that the battles would be in a terrain of his choosing, making the battle already won before the fight started.
His most famous fact, bringing elephants over the alps to use. Altough only a quarter of all these animals survived the trip, those were enough for some sweet victories. In the end, he got beaten by two Roman generals. Fabius, who used a shadow war to inshure Hannibal lost supplies and spirit and finally Scipio. At the battle of Zama, Scipio used the tactics of Hannibal against him.
Did i get you curious about him, read this http://www.factbehindfiction.com/index_files/hannibal.htm
Weapons and Armour
I could take the armour and some weapons of Hannibal from the DW website. For short range we have the falcata. The weapon is a steel curved sabre with one edge. It has a sharp tip and could be used for thrusting. Top heavy and great slicing cabilities. This weapon was used by both heavy infantry and light infantry and could crush helmets and cut shields. The Falcata: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Falcata_%C3%ADbera_(M.A.N._Madrid)_01_vertical.jpg
The second weapon will be the javelin. This throwing spear was used heavily to drop spears from the elephant on the opponent, which due to the downwards drop was very effective. It could also be used as spear if neccecery but i have found no evidence to support it. i say it only because i can imagine this use.
The ranged weapon of Hannibal will be the short bow. This bow was used from elephants and altough they did not shoot far, the bow had great power. Also the downwards movent because of shooting from the back of the elephant gave the attack more force.
The last weapon of Hannibal is his elephant. This big African animal can crush you with his feet and can knock an horse over. If an elephant goes on rampage, it will be devastating, but the devastation can also turn to the user. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Schlacht_bei_Zama_Gem%C3%A4lde_H_P_Motte.jpg picure showing both the bow and the javelin used from horseback. Note that this is an artistic impression and that those are the wrong elephants. These are Asian instead of African.
The Armour of Hannibal consists of a bronze chestpiece that also covers a bit of the upperarm. Leather and linnen hangs under it to protect the groin area and the legs are protected by greaves. The helmet is similair to Roman helmets, that protect the ears and neck. It is finished with a nasal. Ofcourse, Hannibal will be using a shield. The Caetra is actually a big buckler, with boss but it has been used alongside the falcata.
X-factor
The x-factor of Hannibal is the fact that he used the terrain to his advantage. He would always make shure that battles were fought under his terms and on a terrain of his choosing. This has proven very succesful for him and he has defeated many opponents using this tactic.
Genghis Kahn
Genghis was born as the second son of a Tribal leader. His father got killed by poison and the new tribal leader threw him, his mother and his brothers and sister out of the tribe. They became outcasts and soon after, Genghis, or Termujin (as he was known in the time) had to kill his own brother.
He managed to create a tribe from outcasts and started taking over other tribes. When all the tribes were his, he started conquering China and later Europe and the middle east, untill he was finally killed in his own tent. The Mongols relied heavily on the horse and the whole army existed only out of horseachers. It is said that the mongols could ride before they could walk and were able to shoot arrows while the horse was running in opposite direction. Mongols always carried three quivers with fifty arrows each, making the total of arrows that were carried to battle 150.
Some fun facts, he conquered the most of the world, even Alexander the Great did not conquer as much as Genghis. Lastly, 0.5 procent of the world population is related to him.
For more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genghis_kahn
Weapons and armour
Genghis too, will be wearing weapons and armour. The short range weapon of Genghis is the Mongol sabre. This curved blade was great for hacking and slashing and had some stabbing abilities. One handed and could be used both on foot and on horseback. http://www.google.nl/imgres?imgurl=http://ryanwolfe.weebly.com/uploads/1/5/5/6/1556620/2728629.jpg%3F212x155&imgrefurl=http://ryanwolfe.weebly.com/weapons.html&usg=__upAcHuesJWLCf8M8pf7d4r-rj0g=&h=168&w=228&sz=12&hl=nl&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=1Jhb64-sxhLHzM:&tbnh=134&tbnw=182&ei=uFrnTYv9NYXqOYfe0MIJ&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dmongolian%2Bsabre%26hl%3Dnl%26biw%3D1366%26bih%3D667%26gbv%3D2%26tbm%3Disch&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=229&page=1&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0&tx=113&ty=70&biw=1366&bih=667
The Mongolian Sabre
The Midrange weapon of Genghis is the lance. It was an rather short spear, good for attack opponents from horseback. The lances also had an hook to hook the opponent from horseback to the ground. Genghis formed an part of his army as lancemen who was to charge the opponents and either kill them or knock them off horse. It was an very effective weapon.
The Long range weapon is ofcourse the Mongolian bow. This composite bow was small and light, being able to be fired from horseback. There were several kinds of arrows, all with their own uses but i will deal with only one now. These arrows had an iron tip and could be shot as far as 200 m. Genghis have been trained since childhood with the bow and arrow and it will be his best weapon. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsKEVIsc_gM To get an impression of the mongolian bow
The last weapon, in the special catogory is the flaming arrow. I saw pictures on the DW website indicating that those will be used by Genghis and i think that it will be his special weapon. The firearrow has a hole in the arrowtip in which a cloth could be stuffed and lighted. The arrow would flame up as it was shot and got a flameburst as it landed. I expect the arrow to do mostly spookdamage.
The Amour of Genghis is an leather breatplate, covered with lacquer. Under the Leather was a silk undershirt. The lacquer on the leather prevented arrows from penetrating the leather. Even if arrows would penetrate, the silk would make shure that the arrows did not harm the body much and could be pulled out with ease. Over the breatplate, the Mongol warrior would wear an fur coat to protect against the cold and it could hold off some blows.
The helmet was made of iron, with leather to protect the ears and neck and fur. Most helms also had horsehair on top.
Finally the shield. Genghis would have had an wicker round shield, covered with leather and lacquer.
X-factor
The x-factor of Hannibal is his usage of horses. As i have said before, the Mongol warrior relied heavily on the horse and they could ride before they could walk. The horse was the best friend of the warrior. Due to the close contact, there were little habits like making a littke cut on a horse to drink its blood to get energie or bigger things like shooting arrows from hard positions and using tactics that suit horsefighters best.
Weapon Testing
Falcata vs. Mongolian Sabre
- Weapon on weapon, i really see no difference between the two. Both weapons are curved steel blades, ideal for slashing but with thrusting abilities. both blades are just with only one hand and the warriors have a shield in the other. Both are the same lenght and both are deadly.
- Weapon on armour, not much changes. Both warriors have full sets of armour and shields with only the face unprotected. I do not see the Mongolian sabre cutting trhough bronze and due the liquid, i have my doubts that the falcata will go trough the hardend leather. To make things worse, both warriors carry an shield. Again, as weird as it sounds, both weapons are the equal of each other.
- Finally skill. Both warriors get credit for being skilled with this weapon. Genghis can use his sabre on horseback, but i doubt the sword will be effective on the skin of the elephant much. Hannibal cannot reach his opponent with his word from the elephant but on the other side, he also cannot be reached by Genghis in a sword duel.
- After considering carefully, taking everything into account and looking at the bladed, I give an slight egde to the falcata. This is only based on the design that can thrust a tiny bit better and has just a tiny better ability to slash behind shields. Note that this is minimal and will not have that much of an effect on the warriors.
Edge: Falcata (slightly)
Javelin vs. Lance
- Both weapons are made of wood, with an iron tip for the Javelin and a steel tip for the lance. The javelin was thrown from the elephant and altough all sources that i studied indicated that they were thrown in quick succesion, no indication on how many javelins were there per man were given. I will assume three to four javelins. They would be thrown downwards, increasing the speed and power, similair to the bow.
Javelins were usually thrown but in a last sort of defence, could be used for stabbing.
The lance was a weapon to take either the opponent off horse, like the european knight did, or go in for a death stab. The Lance was mostly useful on horseback but could be used on foot if there was no horse. The stabbing power was immense.On the other hand the Javelin is prone to miss, especially with the agile horse running around. The Lance will work some better, being able to reach up to above the elephant to hit the warrior on top or hook him away. Those attacks have less damage but still can push an opponent off the animal. If the opponent is on foot, there will be more likely a kill.
- I do not see the javelin being able to penetrate the lacquar leather amour of the Mongolian and if is does penetrate, Genghis will have the silk undershirt for protection. The only open targets are the limps and the face, which is really hard to hit.
The lance has more killing potential as i feel that with the added speed of the horse, it can actually penetrate the arnour of Hannibal. it also can hook Hannibal to the ground and finish it off with a stab then.
- Both warriors were skilled with the weapons and could very well kill with it. It is to note that Genghis would mostly let he lance be used by heavy calvery and not using it much himself, but he introduced it into Mongolian warfare and he shure knew how to use it. Hannibal would have used the javelin since childhood, practising by hunting and killing animals and in games. Due to the massive training with this weapon as kid, he would have been most accurate.
- In the end, I feel that even though Hannibal was accurate with his javelin, it would not match up to the armour and both the stabbing and hooking power of the lance.
Edge: Mongolian Lance
Shortbow vs. Composite bow
- Weapon on weapon, i think the egde is obvlious. The mongolan can shoot his arrows a lot further, going at a range of 200 m, but the shortbow will not go as far. My guess is, that from the elephant, it will get a 50 m top.
Not only has the composite bow the greater range, this bow has more power.
- Now comparing these bows to armour, it is my prediction that the Mongolian composite bow will not be able to penetrate the armour of Hannibal. The bronze armour will prove too usefull to any attack. With that said, i also do not believe that the shortbow arrows can penetrate the armour of Genghis, leaving just as with his opponent, the face and arms to be hit.
- with the skilltest, it is an different story. Hannibal would have been an pretty accurate shot with the bow, being able to hit opponents from the back of the elephant. But Genghis is known to have trained with the bow and arrow since childhood Genghis would be an master horse archer and would be able to hit an target with exellent precision.
- The edge is obvlious here i think. Genghis had an more powerful bow with more range and had more skill with the bow. That is why he is getting the egde.
Edge: Composite bow
African Elephant vs. Fire arrows
- The elephant is an big and strong animal that has a strong hide, but also has the ability to do severe damage. It has a strong slurf that can knock someone out and even kill if there is enough power behind the slam. It can also use its massive feet to destroy an opponent, breaking the bones of the victim and i think that the hart will even pop. The fire arrows won't do much damage to either the elephant or the warrior but will mostly spook the elephant. This had been shown and proven in history as an very effective methode to scare the elephant. A scared elephant can start rampaging in which he will be a danger for the user, or flee the battlefield.
- With elephant against armour, i can be quitte clear, the armour will be pulvarised. The armour of Genghis cannot defend against the crushing power of the African elephant. The fire arrows on the other hand, i doubt that they will be effective. The arrows might hit target but the heat of the arrows will burn the skin together again. The heat also will not be enough to melt the armour of bring in enough heat to burn the warrior inside. It might have been useful when the grass catches fire and burns the whole area, but that chance is quitte small.
- Skill. Hannibal has much skill using his elephant. He was able to bring some elephants over the alphs and fought with the elephants. He knew their strong points and their weaknesses and would be able to steer the elephant or fight from its back.
Genghis would be as accurate with his fire arrows as with his other arrows. So his skill has already been explained.
- Well, in my opinion, the elephant is just more effective in battle then the fire arrows. It can start rampaging but then both warriors would be in peril. The fire arrows are great at spooking but killing, not so much while the elephant can destroy armour and the body.
Edge: African elephant
X-Factors
Use of terrain vs. Horsemastery
We have Hannibal who uses terrain to his advantage. He will do anything to get the right terrain and with that win the battle before it is done. Then we have Genghis, who is an horsemaster and can use the horse to his biggest advantage, knowing every tactic to use the horse. This was really hard to decide on, but in the end, i have to give this edge to Genghis. With the terrain, your battleplan can get messed up if anything goes awry. If you somehow cannot reach your terrain or if the opponent knows how to use it too, you have a problem.
being a master horserider is something that is inside of you and will always, under all circumstances and in all terrain come into play, that is why it gets the edge.
Edge: Horsemastery
Let em rip!
Hannibal watched the man who steered his elephant over the plains. It was an old soldier who had fought with Hannibal for a long time and was used on controlling elephants. It was just recently that the general from Carthage had promoted this soldier to guide this elephant. The elephant used by Hannibal himself. Hannibal wanted to do some training with the elephant and the soldier to get more feeling for each other. All the war gear was loaded on the platform on which the two warriors stood and the two men themselfs were also dressed for battle. Hannibal was wearing his bronze armour and his soldier was wearing chainmail. The two rode on the African warelephant and made it to an hilltop where they would have full view of the area. Suddenly the sound of horses came near and Hannibal saw two men riding their horses towards them. 'This is going to be trouble' Hannibal whispered to the soldier, who nodded. Then the elephant made its way towards the hilltop again, aiming for the high ground.
The horse of Genghis Kahn rode over the plains. He had been bored and had decided to go scouting for a new area for the tribe to put camp. His generals had demanded that Genghis would take someone with him and not leave on his own. After a while of hassing from one of his sons, he decided to take a soldier with him. The man he had taken, always used a lance during fighting and he had been with Genghis since the start of the great Mongol empire, such a man would prove useful if there was any danger. The two rode on, untill they noticed a big elephant in the opposite direction. We have to take him down, was the first thought of Genghis. This leader knew that he had to send an good message to the people here so they would be left in peace. Taking down the elephant and its riders would deliver the message. Genghis did not need to say anything to his subordinate, the man understood the movements he made with the horse as they neared the elephant.
Hannibal had taken his shortbow and started shooting at the two horseriders. The arrows missed the agile horses and the Mongolian riders split up, one a side. Genghis took his own bow out and started firing. The first arrow landed in the side of the elephant but did nothing to hurt him, the second arrow landed in the wood platform and another few either were just a bit too high or hit the armour and bounced off.
Hannibal had now dropped the bow and taken an javelin and his shield. Hannibal Barca threw his first two javelins at Genghis but failed to hit the Mongolian Kahn. A third javelin flew past Genghis and as the general was about to throw his last javelin, he felt something next to his foot and was just able to step away from the other Mongolian warrior who had tried to hook Hannibal away, using his lance. Hannibal threw his last Javelin at the man and the throwing spear hit target. The Mongolian was knocked off his horse and fell on his back in the grass. As Hannibal watched, the soldier from Carthage made the elephant step on the warrior.As the elephant stepped with his foot on the Mongolian,the soldier fell how his ribs broke and his longs got crushed. After a few seconds his heart popped and Hannibal spoke 'One down, one to go'
After seeing his loyal soldier get crushed Genghis wanted revenge. He rode next to the elephant and noticed that nobody paid attention to him. He shot his bow, hitting the soldier who steered the elephant in the throat. The man fell backwards and rolled off the elephant, landing in the grass.
Hannibal saw how his just promoted soldier died by the arrow and fell of the wooden plateau. He quickly replaced the man and forced the African animal towards his opponent. Genghis took some distance as the big animal came towards him, aiming to hit the Kahn with his trunk. Genghis took his fire arrows and quickly lid them as he fired the arrows at the feet of the elephant. The elephant got spooked by all the fire that came down at his feet and stopped the attack. Instead, he tried to escape the fire and turn backwards. Hannibal had some trouble, getting the elephant back on tracks. As the military leader was struggeling controlling the beast, Genghis launched himself from his horse and made his way to the platform. As he was there, he took his curved sabre and his shield while Hannibal, who had finally been able to control the animal, saw his opponent close to him. He took his falcata and Caestra buckler.
The two men clashed arms and fought in an heated battle, wanting to kill the other. There was a constant sound of metals clashing as the swords came into contact with each other, the shields or the armour. The two warriors dealt harsh blows to each other and neither of the two warriors was able to get the upperhand in the battle. The two warriors battled hard and after some swordclashing, Hannibal blocked an upperstrike wtih his sabre and rammed his shield against Hannibal. The general flew backwards, from the elephant in the sand. Genghis, knowing he could not steer this elephant, jumped after his opponent.
The two warriors continued their fight on the ground, with both men slashing at their opponent.
Hannibal tried to get behind the shield with his falcata twice but failed both times. Suddenly he attacked with an high attack again but Genghis managed to block the attack with his sword, stepped aside and used his shield to push the sword of his opponent away. This gave him room to slash at the hand of his opponent, what Genghis did. The swordhand and sword of Hannibal fell in the sand and as an automatism, he slammed his buckler in the face of his opponent. Genghis fell how his nose and some teeth broke. With only a shield to defend himself, Hannibal did not have much chance to survive the battle and as Genghis attacked again, he brought his buckler op in defence. Genghis used his own shield to hook the other shield away and brought his sabre up above the shields. With a big slash, the underside of the chin and the upperside of the throat. Hannibal made a strange sound as he dropped in the sand with a big gash in his throat and half of his chin chopped off.
Genghis was tired after the fight and collected both horses and he went back to camp. The body of his fallen soldier would be picked up later.
Winner: Genghis Kahn
In my personal opinion, i think that Genghis would have the win in this battle. He had great armour that would protect against most of the attacks of his opponent. His best weapon in this fight would be his bow and arrow, as he was superb trained with these instruments of death. His lance would also deliver death upon his opponent. The battles would have been rough and altough Hannibal would lose, he would be close behind Genghis. The difference in numbers would be minimal and the best weapon of Hannibal would be his elephant.
A special thank you for afanofsparta and Wally. These guys helped me out with finding the correct weapons on both warriors. Especially on Hannibal Barca. Guys, thank you!
This was my opinion on the fight that DW presented us and i hope you like it. Tell me if you agree or not!
The new ancient match up still has to be announced and because of that, i cannot tell what the new match up will be, but stay tuned!
He managed to create a tribe from outcasts and started taking over other tribes. When all the tribes were his, he started conquering China and later Europe and the middle east, untill he was finally killed in his own tent. The Mongols relied heavily on the horse and the whole army existed only out of horseachers. It is said that the mongols could ride before they could walk and were able to shoot arrows while the horse was running in opposite direction. Mongols always carried three quivers with fifty arrows each, making the total of arrows that were carried to battle 150.
Some fun facts, he conquered the most of the world, even Alexander the Great did not conquer as much as Genghis. Lastly, 0.5 procent of the world population is related to him.
For more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genghis_kahn
Weapons and armour
Genghis too, will be wearing weapons and armour. The short range weapon of Genghis is the Mongol sabre. This curved blade was great for hacking and slashing and had some stabbing abilities. One handed and could be used both on foot and on horseback. http://www.google.nl/imgres?imgurl=http://ryanwolfe.weebly.com/uploads/1/5/5/6/1556620/2728629.jpg%3F212x155&imgrefurl=http://ryanwolfe.weebly.com/weapons.html&usg=__upAcHuesJWLCf8M8pf7d4r-rj0g=&h=168&w=228&sz=12&hl=nl&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=1Jhb64-sxhLHzM:&tbnh=134&tbnw=182&ei=uFrnTYv9NYXqOYfe0MIJ&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dmongolian%2Bsabre%26hl%3Dnl%26biw%3D1366%26bih%3D667%26gbv%3D2%26tbm%3Disch&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=229&page=1&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0&tx=113&ty=70&biw=1366&bih=667
The Mongolian Sabre
The Midrange weapon of Genghis is the lance. It was an rather short spear, good for attack opponents from horseback. The lances also had an hook to hook the opponent from horseback to the ground. Genghis formed an part of his army as lancemen who was to charge the opponents and either kill them or knock them off horse. It was an very effective weapon.
The Long range weapon is ofcourse the Mongolian bow. This composite bow was small and light, being able to be fired from horseback. There were several kinds of arrows, all with their own uses but i will deal with only one now. These arrows had an iron tip and could be shot as far as 200 m. Genghis have been trained since childhood with the bow and arrow and it will be his best weapon. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsKEVIsc_gM To get an impression of the mongolian bow
The last weapon, in the special catogory is the flaming arrow. I saw pictures on the DW website indicating that those will be used by Genghis and i think that it will be his special weapon. The firearrow has a hole in the arrowtip in which a cloth could be stuffed and lighted. The arrow would flame up as it was shot and got a flameburst as it landed. I expect the arrow to do mostly spookdamage.
The Amour of Genghis is an leather breatplate, covered with lacquer. Under the Leather was a silk undershirt. The lacquer on the leather prevented arrows from penetrating the leather. Even if arrows would penetrate, the silk would make shure that the arrows did not harm the body much and could be pulled out with ease. Over the breatplate, the Mongol warrior would wear an fur coat to protect against the cold and it could hold off some blows.
The helmet was made of iron, with leather to protect the ears and neck and fur. Most helms also had horsehair on top.
Finally the shield. Genghis would have had an wicker round shield, covered with leather and lacquer.
X-factor
The x-factor of Hannibal is his usage of horses. As i have said before, the Mongol warrior relied heavily on the horse and they could ride before they could walk. The horse was the best friend of the warrior. Due to the close contact, there were little habits like making a littke cut on a horse to drink its blood to get energie or bigger things like shooting arrows from hard positions and using tactics that suit horsefighters best.
Weapon Testing
Falcata vs. Mongolian Sabre
- Weapon on weapon, i really see no difference between the two. Both weapons are curved steel blades, ideal for slashing but with thrusting abilities. both blades are just with only one hand and the warriors have a shield in the other. Both are the same lenght and both are deadly.
- Weapon on armour, not much changes. Both warriors have full sets of armour and shields with only the face unprotected. I do not see the Mongolian sabre cutting trhough bronze and due the liquid, i have my doubts that the falcata will go trough the hardend leather. To make things worse, both warriors carry an shield. Again, as weird as it sounds, both weapons are the equal of each other.
- Finally skill. Both warriors get credit for being skilled with this weapon. Genghis can use his sabre on horseback, but i doubt the sword will be effective on the skin of the elephant much. Hannibal cannot reach his opponent with his word from the elephant but on the other side, he also cannot be reached by Genghis in a sword duel.
- After considering carefully, taking everything into account and looking at the bladed, I give an slight egde to the falcata. This is only based on the design that can thrust a tiny bit better and has just a tiny better ability to slash behind shields. Note that this is minimal and will not have that much of an effect on the warriors.
Edge: Falcata (slightly)
Javelin vs. Lance
- Both weapons are made of wood, with an iron tip for the Javelin and a steel tip for the lance. The javelin was thrown from the elephant and altough all sources that i studied indicated that they were thrown in quick succesion, no indication on how many javelins were there per man were given. I will assume three to four javelins. They would be thrown downwards, increasing the speed and power, similair to the bow.
Javelins were usually thrown but in a last sort of defence, could be used for stabbing.
The lance was a weapon to take either the opponent off horse, like the european knight did, or go in for a death stab. The Lance was mostly useful on horseback but could be used on foot if there was no horse. The stabbing power was immense.On the other hand the Javelin is prone to miss, especially with the agile horse running around. The Lance will work some better, being able to reach up to above the elephant to hit the warrior on top or hook him away. Those attacks have less damage but still can push an opponent off the animal. If the opponent is on foot, there will be more likely a kill.
- I do not see the javelin being able to penetrate the lacquar leather amour of the Mongolian and if is does penetrate, Genghis will have the silk undershirt for protection. The only open targets are the limps and the face, which is really hard to hit.
The lance has more killing potential as i feel that with the added speed of the horse, it can actually penetrate the arnour of Hannibal. it also can hook Hannibal to the ground and finish it off with a stab then.
- Both warriors were skilled with the weapons and could very well kill with it. It is to note that Genghis would mostly let he lance be used by heavy calvery and not using it much himself, but he introduced it into Mongolian warfare and he shure knew how to use it. Hannibal would have used the javelin since childhood, practising by hunting and killing animals and in games. Due to the massive training with this weapon as kid, he would have been most accurate.
- In the end, I feel that even though Hannibal was accurate with his javelin, it would not match up to the armour and both the stabbing and hooking power of the lance.
Edge: Mongolian Lance
Shortbow vs. Composite bow
- Weapon on weapon, i think the egde is obvlious. The mongolan can shoot his arrows a lot further, going at a range of 200 m, but the shortbow will not go as far. My guess is, that from the elephant, it will get a 50 m top.
Not only has the composite bow the greater range, this bow has more power.
- Now comparing these bows to armour, it is my prediction that the Mongolian composite bow will not be able to penetrate the armour of Hannibal. The bronze armour will prove too usefull to any attack. With that said, i also do not believe that the shortbow arrows can penetrate the armour of Genghis, leaving just as with his opponent, the face and arms to be hit.
- with the skilltest, it is an different story. Hannibal would have been an pretty accurate shot with the bow, being able to hit opponents from the back of the elephant. But Genghis is known to have trained with the bow and arrow since childhood Genghis would be an master horse archer and would be able to hit an target with exellent precision.
- The edge is obvlious here i think. Genghis had an more powerful bow with more range and had more skill with the bow. That is why he is getting the egde.
Edge: Composite bow
African Elephant vs. Fire arrows
- The elephant is an big and strong animal that has a strong hide, but also has the ability to do severe damage. It has a strong slurf that can knock someone out and even kill if there is enough power behind the slam. It can also use its massive feet to destroy an opponent, breaking the bones of the victim and i think that the hart will even pop. The fire arrows won't do much damage to either the elephant or the warrior but will mostly spook the elephant. This had been shown and proven in history as an very effective methode to scare the elephant. A scared elephant can start rampaging in which he will be a danger for the user, or flee the battlefield.
- With elephant against armour, i can be quitte clear, the armour will be pulvarised. The armour of Genghis cannot defend against the crushing power of the African elephant. The fire arrows on the other hand, i doubt that they will be effective. The arrows might hit target but the heat of the arrows will burn the skin together again. The heat also will not be enough to melt the armour of bring in enough heat to burn the warrior inside. It might have been useful when the grass catches fire and burns the whole area, but that chance is quitte small.
- Skill. Hannibal has much skill using his elephant. He was able to bring some elephants over the alphs and fought with the elephants. He knew their strong points and their weaknesses and would be able to steer the elephant or fight from its back.
Genghis would be as accurate with his fire arrows as with his other arrows. So his skill has already been explained.
- Well, in my opinion, the elephant is just more effective in battle then the fire arrows. It can start rampaging but then both warriors would be in peril. The fire arrows are great at spooking but killing, not so much while the elephant can destroy armour and the body.
Edge: African elephant
X-Factors
Use of terrain vs. Horsemastery
We have Hannibal who uses terrain to his advantage. He will do anything to get the right terrain and with that win the battle before it is done. Then we have Genghis, who is an horsemaster and can use the horse to his biggest advantage, knowing every tactic to use the horse. This was really hard to decide on, but in the end, i have to give this edge to Genghis. With the terrain, your battleplan can get messed up if anything goes awry. If you somehow cannot reach your terrain or if the opponent knows how to use it too, you have a problem.
being a master horserider is something that is inside of you and will always, under all circumstances and in all terrain come into play, that is why it gets the edge.
Edge: Horsemastery
Let em rip!
Hannibal watched the man who steered his elephant over the plains. It was an old soldier who had fought with Hannibal for a long time and was used on controlling elephants. It was just recently that the general from Carthage had promoted this soldier to guide this elephant. The elephant used by Hannibal himself. Hannibal wanted to do some training with the elephant and the soldier to get more feeling for each other. All the war gear was loaded on the platform on which the two warriors stood and the two men themselfs were also dressed for battle. Hannibal was wearing his bronze armour and his soldier was wearing chainmail. The two rode on the African warelephant and made it to an hilltop where they would have full view of the area. Suddenly the sound of horses came near and Hannibal saw two men riding their horses towards them. 'This is going to be trouble' Hannibal whispered to the soldier, who nodded. Then the elephant made its way towards the hilltop again, aiming for the high ground.
The horse of Genghis Kahn rode over the plains. He had been bored and had decided to go scouting for a new area for the tribe to put camp. His generals had demanded that Genghis would take someone with him and not leave on his own. After a while of hassing from one of his sons, he decided to take a soldier with him. The man he had taken, always used a lance during fighting and he had been with Genghis since the start of the great Mongol empire, such a man would prove useful if there was any danger. The two rode on, untill they noticed a big elephant in the opposite direction. We have to take him down, was the first thought of Genghis. This leader knew that he had to send an good message to the people here so they would be left in peace. Taking down the elephant and its riders would deliver the message. Genghis did not need to say anything to his subordinate, the man understood the movements he made with the horse as they neared the elephant.
Hannibal had taken his shortbow and started shooting at the two horseriders. The arrows missed the agile horses and the Mongolian riders split up, one a side. Genghis took his own bow out and started firing. The first arrow landed in the side of the elephant but did nothing to hurt him, the second arrow landed in the wood platform and another few either were just a bit too high or hit the armour and bounced off.
Hannibal had now dropped the bow and taken an javelin and his shield. Hannibal Barca threw his first two javelins at Genghis but failed to hit the Mongolian Kahn. A third javelin flew past Genghis and as the general was about to throw his last javelin, he felt something next to his foot and was just able to step away from the other Mongolian warrior who had tried to hook Hannibal away, using his lance. Hannibal threw his last Javelin at the man and the throwing spear hit target. The Mongolian was knocked off his horse and fell on his back in the grass. As Hannibal watched, the soldier from Carthage made the elephant step on the warrior.As the elephant stepped with his foot on the Mongolian,the soldier fell how his ribs broke and his longs got crushed. After a few seconds his heart popped and Hannibal spoke 'One down, one to go'
After seeing his loyal soldier get crushed Genghis wanted revenge. He rode next to the elephant and noticed that nobody paid attention to him. He shot his bow, hitting the soldier who steered the elephant in the throat. The man fell backwards and rolled off the elephant, landing in the grass.
Hannibal saw how his just promoted soldier died by the arrow and fell of the wooden plateau. He quickly replaced the man and forced the African animal towards his opponent. Genghis took some distance as the big animal came towards him, aiming to hit the Kahn with his trunk. Genghis took his fire arrows and quickly lid them as he fired the arrows at the feet of the elephant. The elephant got spooked by all the fire that came down at his feet and stopped the attack. Instead, he tried to escape the fire and turn backwards. Hannibal had some trouble, getting the elephant back on tracks. As the military leader was struggeling controlling the beast, Genghis launched himself from his horse and made his way to the platform. As he was there, he took his curved sabre and his shield while Hannibal, who had finally been able to control the animal, saw his opponent close to him. He took his falcata and Caestra buckler.
The two men clashed arms and fought in an heated battle, wanting to kill the other. There was a constant sound of metals clashing as the swords came into contact with each other, the shields or the armour. The two warriors dealt harsh blows to each other and neither of the two warriors was able to get the upperhand in the battle. The two warriors battled hard and after some swordclashing, Hannibal blocked an upperstrike wtih his sabre and rammed his shield against Hannibal. The general flew backwards, from the elephant in the sand. Genghis, knowing he could not steer this elephant, jumped after his opponent.
The two warriors continued their fight on the ground, with both men slashing at their opponent.
Hannibal tried to get behind the shield with his falcata twice but failed both times. Suddenly he attacked with an high attack again but Genghis managed to block the attack with his sword, stepped aside and used his shield to push the sword of his opponent away. This gave him room to slash at the hand of his opponent, what Genghis did. The swordhand and sword of Hannibal fell in the sand and as an automatism, he slammed his buckler in the face of his opponent. Genghis fell how his nose and some teeth broke. With only a shield to defend himself, Hannibal did not have much chance to survive the battle and as Genghis attacked again, he brought his buckler op in defence. Genghis used his own shield to hook the other shield away and brought his sabre up above the shields. With a big slash, the underside of the chin and the upperside of the throat. Hannibal made a strange sound as he dropped in the sand with a big gash in his throat and half of his chin chopped off.
Genghis was tired after the fight and collected both horses and he went back to camp. The body of his fallen soldier would be picked up later.
Winner: Genghis Kahn
In my personal opinion, i think that Genghis would have the win in this battle. He had great armour that would protect against most of the attacks of his opponent. His best weapon in this fight would be his bow and arrow, as he was superb trained with these instruments of death. His lance would also deliver death upon his opponent. The battles would have been rough and altough Hannibal would lose, he would be close behind Genghis. The difference in numbers would be minimal and the best weapon of Hannibal would be his elephant.
A special thank you for afanofsparta and Wally. These guys helped me out with finding the correct weapons on both warriors. Especially on Hannibal Barca. Guys, thank you!
This was my opinion on the fight that DW presented us and i hope you like it. Tell me if you agree or not!
The new ancient match up still has to be announced and because of that, i cannot tell what the new match up will be, but stay tuned!
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Good analysis, and I must agree with you, Genghis's bow is going to simply be to deadly for Hannibal to get anywhere.
BeantwoordenVerwijderenFor DW they dont seem to have many ancient matches, so perhaps you'd like to do early gunpower (Ivan vs. Hernan Cortez, GW vs. Napoeleon) -
I dont know. i really do not feel comfortable using early gunpowder. I just have to little knowlegde about the subject i am afraid but maybe if there are no ancient match ups posted anymore.
BeantwoordenVerwijderenThanks btw
Hannibal was a brutal guy, you had to be to live his life. But Ghengis is a thinking man. Partly for that reason I think he takes the cake.
BeantwoordenVerwijderenPlus you have some great analysis in this match :)
But I always start laughing when I remember that Hannibal got his elephants drunk in his last battle with the romans.
Honestly I think Hannibal should have won but Ghengis is also exceptionally good.
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