Avatar Aang Vs. Tim Drake

In a battle between two agile teenage warriors, who will win?

Avatar Aang Versus Red Robin










Avatar Aang
The story:

Master of all four elements and being trained to save the wold. As avatar, Aang had a unusual life and learned to fight and become one of the most powerfull beings on the planet. He would need this power quickly because the firenation attacked and he was the only one who could stand in the way of this danger.

Aang was born as son of two airbenders and he was taken to the monks of the southern airtemple and trained in airbending. On a very young age, Ang was discovered at being the new incarnation of the avatar, master of all four elements, but it was kept a secret from him. That he was good in bending because obvlious as he was better at bending then people twice his age when he was 6 and he was even better then most adults when he was 10 years old. Apart from training, he also met his flying Bison Appa, traveled around the world and played with a great assortment of friends.
However, the firenation decided to expand and started taking over the world. This let the teachers of Aang tell him about his avatar status at the age of 12 instead the usual 16. Knowing now his destiny, Aang stopped playing with friends and trained harder.
His teachers were deemed to soft and Aang had to move to the Eastern airtemple to complete his training, The young boy did not like that and decided to run away with Appa. As they flew through the sky, a storm overtook them and the two crashed in the water. The special avatarstate activated and unknown to himself, Aang used airbending and waterbending to imprison himself and the Bison in a block of ice, where he would stay frozen for 100 years while the war raged on.

After 100 years, Aang was freed from the iceberg by two teenagers of the southern watertribe. These were Sokka and Katara. After hearing about the war, Aang knew he had to act and learn the other three elements so he started off searching for a waterbending master while trying to avoid the firenation prince Zuko.
Aang then traveled around and in that time gained a lot of friends, a few enemies and fought the firenation. He learned to master waterbending, earthbending (altough with some trouble) and in the end also learned firebending. Not only that, but Aang also learned more about himself as the avatar and learned about the dangers. he also mastered the avatarstate, a powerfull state of energy where he was more powerfull then ever before because he could combine the power of all past avatars. The downfall of this power is however that should he be killed in this state, the avatar cycle would stop and no new avatar would be born.
Just before the final battle with the firelord ozai, Aang realised he had to kill the man and killing was something Aang hated. As airtemple monk, he had learn to respect all life. He consulted with past avatars but they all gave the same reply and desperate to find another way, Aang met the Lion turtle who learned him how to energy bend.
with this newfound power, aang fought the powerfull ozai, who's power was enhanced by a comet and in the end, managed to trap the firelord in the ground. Aang then used energy bending to take the bending of ozai away and the boy stopped him permanently.

After the 100 year war, Aang developed a relationship with Katara and he started restoring the damage done by the firenation.
After some trouble with the restoration movement, Aang and the new firelord Zuko founded the united republic of nations where all benders and non-benders could live together in harmony. he also married katara and they had three children. One waterbender, one non-bender and a airbender. He also kept true on his job and protected the world against dangerous criminals.
Aang died at the age of 66. being trapped in a iceberg for 100 years had damaged his body severly.

Aang had two sides of his personality. To the outside, Aang was fun loving, care-free and loved to play with all animals. He was also shown caring for all living beings and he tried to solve violence with talking. He had a broad sense of traveling and he had a complex netwerk of friends whom some were from 100 years before.
His interior was much darker and Aang kept himself blaming that he could not protect the world against the firenation and every time he saw the damage done in the war, it guilted him. This made him train all the more, even though he was one of the best at every type of bending.
aang was also afraid of losing his friends. this made him going into the avatar state when his friends were in life danger and causing lots of damage. He also hid a map when he heard about Katara and sokka wanting to leave and visit their father.aang then lied about recieving it.
When a buzzardwasp took one of his animal friends away,  Aang struck down and decapitated the creature. This was part however because Appa was already missing and he was having raging outbursts already.
Later in the series, Aang managed to controll himself and the avatarstate and keep more the funloving side but the darker guilty side would always remain.

The weapons:
Aang had some powerfull bending that he could use in both offense and defense. Because of the different powers and the weapons Aang wields, He will get more weapons per range. I have chosen for this so i can include all his powers and that would lead to a more honest comparison. Because bending can be used in the offensive and the defensive, I will include the bending in both.
Because Aang prefers not to kill, I will not look at what weapons kan kill but also how they can take his opponent out of the battle in other ways.
Each bending style has different forms of attack and defense, it would take very long to write it all down and \i am not sure how that would be read. Therefore I will post a link under every type of bending, which holds more information.

Short range: Gliderstaff and Ba gua
The main weapon of Aang for close range was his gliderstaff. In the series, he had used two of these. The first one was created by the airnomads but destroyed in a storm and the second one he got from some engineers. For this one, I am going to look at the second one. The staff was slightly longer then himself and made from thin wood. It also had blue wings and a tailfin folded in that could be used with the help of a springload mechanism. The staff also contained a snack compartment.
There were several ways Aang could use the gliderstaff. First and foremost in battle itself. The staff was a dangerous weapon that could disarm or take out opponents without Aang having to resort to bending. Aang was a powerfull staff fighter and has shown the abilities on several ocasions. it is a good tool to do damage. Apart from that, Aang could also use the staff in the bending and has shown to earthbend and windbend while wielding the staff. However, when the wings are out, Aang will not be able to use very powerfull airbending,due to the small wings.
Lastly, the wings can be clapped out and \aang can fly around on it, using it to dodge attacks or attack from above.


Then there is Ba Gua. Ba Gua is a defensive martial arts that fits perfectly with Aang. He used this matial art when he was pretending to be a young firenation student and got into a fight with a fellow student. With avoiding the attacks of the opponent and waiting for the opponent to get off balance, Aang could push him and thereby defeating the other student without hitting him once. Aang can use this to avoid physical attacks of his opponent and wait for Red Robin to get off balance and then attack.


Medium range: Waterbending and earthbending

To start off with waterbending, Aang was a powerfull bender in that sort. With waterbending, one can controll existing water  but not created it. A powerfull waterbender could create ice out of water or water out of ice. Aang is a very powerfull waterbender and has shown to be able to use some of the hardest feats such as creating massive tidelwaves, a waterknife, icebreath and creating small streames of water.
However, Aang never caried water with him and only used water when there was natural water in the neighberhood. \therefore, he did not use waterbending often and was his least used bending style.
http://avatar.wikia.com/wiki/Waterbending

The second midrange weapon is the earthbending. Earthbending was the element that Aang had most difficulty to master because it was the opposite of his nature. When Aang needed to save his friend Sokka against a dangerous animal, he needed to stay his ground and then managed to do his first good earthbending. After that, earthbending became more easy and it became Aang's second most used bending style. He could throw rocks and other pieces of earth but the boy also could form earth over his body and attack with that. Aang also learned seismic sense, making him able to feel the earth and things on the earth without seeing it due to the vibrations.

http://avatar.wikia.com/wiki/Earthbending

Long range: Firebending and Airbending

Firebending is the element that Aang learned last and the one associated with agression.
Aang first got the chance to learn firebending early on in the series but he was impatient and the fire went out of controll, burning katara. After that, Aang swore that he would never firebend again.
Aang came back to that conclusion after the failed attempt to take out the firelord. He found his teacher in Zuko, who hunted him before and together they learned to firebend as the ancient dragons had done.
Aan can now firebend and is very dangerous with it. With the help of a comet that enhanced firebending, Aang managed to set fire to several ships. Even though he swore that he would never firebend again, Aang uses it in his fighting. Not a lot, but he used it.
http://avatar.wikia.com/wiki/Firebending





The second type of bending that will be used in long range is airbending.
Airbending is the native type of bending aang uses and also the type of bending he is best in. From a young age, Aang has shown a mastery of airbending and he mastered 35 of the 36 tiers on a young age before being disrupted in training. He mastered the last tier when he was 40. Aang also created his own airbending technique called the airscooter.
Aang could par witht he greatest master of other elements while airbending and he has been shown to create giant tornado's and powerfull streams of wind that could blow even the heaviest objects away. \it was also Aang's most used element, even after he learned the other ones.
Usually aang used airbending to defend himself and put the opponent off-balance, it was also the element he used with his only kill and could be very lethal if the avatar would become enraged. I doubt however, that he would go to such extremes.
Apart from attacking, Aang also used airbending to help him fly and enhance his agility.
http://avatar.wikia.com/wiki/Airbending


Special: Avatar state and Energybending

If his normal bending attacks are not enough to take down a opponent, Aang can use the avatar state. When he goes into the avatarstate, the powers of all the past avatars gets unlocked and Aang gets more powerfull. when it was first introduced in the serie, Aang could not controll it and only went into the avatarstate if he was full of rage. The power that was brought with it, was uncontrolled as well and Aang always left massive damage.
This has changed and Aang does have the ability to control the power of the Avatarstate and go in and out of it as he wishes. However, he will always first try to solve things in other ways because if he dies in avatastate, no new avatar will be born. As example that he does wait for using the avatarstate is the battle of a adult Aang against a bloodbender. The man attacked Aang  twice with bloodbending and it was only when he was aiming to kill Aang with it, that Aang went into the avatarstate. When Aang is in the avatarstate, his eyes and the tattoo on his forehead emit a bright light and when he talks, the voices of the past avatars echo with it.
As for the power of the avatarstate, Aang can create giant earthquakes that tear the earth apart, he can lift the ocean up and controll the tide. He can let vulcano's erupt and controll the magma and he can form heavy tornado's and gusts that will turn rock to rubble. Not only is the bending more powerfull but the Avatar is more resistant against controlling from the outside such as mindattacks and bloodbending.
http://avatar.wikia.com/wiki/Avatar#Avatar_State


Energybending is the most vague of all bending. Only Avatars can learn it and of the few that actually learned it, even less people used it. It is dangerous as well. The user needs to have a strong mind, otherwise it can kill the user and the victim. Aang learned it and used it first in the battle against Ozai, where he stripped Ozai off the firebending the man had. Later on, when Aang was a adult man, he showed another example of energybending when he took the waterbending of a criminal. This time, he did it much easier and faster. Apart from stripping someone from bending, energybending can also return bending to someone or transfer information as been shown by Aang to Korra.



protection: Agility, Ba Gua and Bending

The main form of defense Aang has is his agility. The boy moved around very quickly, being able to jump high, run fast, run on walls and being very agile overall. He will always first try to avoid something heading for him before anything else. He was also very acrobatic and could walk on his hands with ease and do summersaults without the aid of airbending. The fact that his only armour was the monks robe did help a lot in his agility.
Overall, Aang will be very hard to hit.

Ba Gua is as I have told a defensive martial art, that helps Aang avoid blows. Simply said, Aang will move to the side and will avoid attacks better. This will work for the hand to hand combat of his opponent but I think it also will for some other ranges.

Aang loved to get out of the way and avoid a attack, but sometimes he could not. In these instances, Aang could rely on his bending skills to help him.
With airbending, Aang could form a shield to block bending attacks and it could aid him in his agility, making Aang even harder to hit.
The waterbending could bring Aang both a watershield and a iceshield against attacks. Altough the watershield would work better against bending, the ice would help against all other attacks.
Earth could bring Aang yet another shield or even a wall to protect himself. Aang could also form armour of earth over part of his body or his entire body to form some sort of natural armour. This would help him defend and strike with more power.
Then there is the firebending that could form a powerfull shield that prevents against incoming attacks.
Lastly there is the avatarstate. This shield is the most powerfull one as it combines all elements in one powerfull shield that surrounds the avatar. Note that it can be used for offense.


X-Factors

Motivation: Being the Avatar
The first x-factor is motivation. Aang is the avatar and it is his job to keep the world safe. Since his birth, Aang had gotten a important task due to his immense power. He knows his task and knows how important it is. He is greatly motivated to protect the world because it is his duty and his duty alone. He does get some help from his friends but Aang knows that he is sole responsible.
Aang carries the responsibility with pride and altough he sometimes hates it, he never backs down or gives up.

Tactics: Subdue with little to no violence
Aang is a airtemple monk and as such, he has learned to respect all forms of life. He has only killed once and  he has never killed a human being. Even when he knew that he had to kill the firelord and every past Avatar said the same thing, Aang managed to avoid killing his foe in the end. His fighting style is based on that. Aang will always first try to talk and solve things without violence. When that did not work, aang would rely on quick and less powerfull attacks to subdue his opponent,while trying to let his opponent surrender himself. Only when Aang cannot stop his opponent anymore and he has no other choise, Aang would go into the avatarstate and stop the fight. Again, trying to use as less violence as possible.

Experience: Benders and non-benders
Aang mostly fought Benders and then especially firebenders and earthbenders, altough he has fought waterbenders as well.
He also fought some non-benders who all had different tricks to stop benders. Either by a machinem throwing knifes, agility or simply pressure points, there were ways to stop a bender as non-bender and Aang faced a lot of them. So Aang has a lot of experience facing all different foes, and that is something that will come in handy facing anybody

The Links:
Here is a link to a Aang biography. i could only write so much about him and his travels. This bio gives a lot more information about Aang and his adventures. I highly recommend reading it.
http://avatar.wikia.com/wiki/Aang

Then there is Aang tribute that I found on youtube. It is really good and shows how Aang is.

Red Robin 
The story:
Once one of the sidekicks of Batman but after joining both teen titans and young justice, Tim Drake was ready for the big work. Now as red Robin he fights solo and scares every villian who comes across him. 
To quote one of batman's most dangerous villains:

Tim Drake is not Bruce Wayne. He isn't Grayson, or even Damian. Drake is different. [...] Look behind his eyes. I suspect he's already won. 

-- Ra's al Ghul ^src

Tim Drake is the third boy who took up the red cloak as side-kick of Batman. After the faillure of Jason Todd, Drake proved himself by finding out which man hid behind the cowl of the Bat all on his own.
He was in the circus the night the flying Graysons were murdered and years later saw Robin do a summersault that few people could, which included the Graysons. Tim Drake then found out that Bruce Wayne was the ward of Dick Grayson and realised that Wayne was Batman.
Since that day, Tim followed the adventures of Batman and Robin.

The boy saw how Grayson became nightwing and that Jason Todd followed up as Robin. After the death of Todd, the boy knew that another Robin had to step up. Batman had become reckless and needed the support of a sidekick. The boy managed to get into the Wayne manor with the help of nightwing and met Alfred. Together, they knew that Batman needed help and so the boy got dressed as Robin to save the day.
After a few missions together and helping defeating Scarecrow, Batman deemed Tim Drake worthy and did he get a own costume.
So the boy started training under Batman and helping him. These missions took him all over the world and he learned fighting from masters all around the world.
After a storyarc named nightfall where Bane releashed every Gotham criminal, Drake begane to work more solo as he feeled that Batman did not need him anymore.

Not only working alone, Drake also teamed up with other super sidekicks in Young justice. There he became teamleader and it was only when the others stopped trusting him after a failed mission were half the team got tortured that Robin decided to quitt young justice.
Tim returend but was out-voted as leader in favor of supergirl. Still he was acting as help of Supergirl and became the tactical expert.
After young justice disbanded, Tim and few others continued on as the teen titans and altough he was not the leader, the younger members saw him as such.

After the battle of the cowl where Bruce Wayne died, Grayson became the new Batman and with Damian Wayne as Robin, Drake became the superhero red robin, in which he traveled around the world in search of bruce wayne because he was convinced that his old mentor was still alive.
Finally, after searching for a long time, Drake found Bruce wayne, who had been trapped in time. Now bruce was back, he installed a bigger Batman organisation and while Drake returned into the Batman family, he still kept the mantle of red Robin.

Tim Drake was not a born acrobat or ran hotheaded into every battle, as the previous incarnations of Robin. He set himself apart with his intellect and tactical skills. His detective skills were in par with those of Batman himself and Bruce Wayne has confessed that drake does have enough potential to overcome Batman himself.
Not only did he have a great intellect, he was also a born leader, having lead both the teen titans and young justice at different points in his life.
The fighting skill is something that Drake was not born with but after recieving training in all different weapons from all sort of masters around the world and most of the superheroes, Drake became a master in most armed and unarmed combat styles.
As an interesting note, his best friends were Superboy and Kidd Flash. He also had very close relations with other superheroes and after the death of his father, he considered Bruce wayne his new father.


The Weapons:
Tim Drake has used lots of weapons during his time as Robin and Red robin. Mostly being weapons that batman himself used, Drake also had some weapons of his own that I will use. I will be using weapons and gadgets from all his time-periods and even include some that he used in the game arkham city.
His weapons may look like nothing compared to the bending that his opponent has, but he is one who should not be underestimated, especially with his modern gear.


Short range: collapseble bo staff (with hidden blade) and martial arts

Tim Drake is a master fighter with the bo staff and it is said that he has the most skill with this weapon of all the superheroes in the DC universe. The staff is made of a light steel and is collapseble, meaning that he can take it anywhere form it as weapon when he needs to use it. The staff is the main weapon of Red Robin and it won't be a surprise that Tim will use this weapon often in battle.
The staff has the advantage that it can knock out a oppponent without killing it. It is also has two dangerous sides that will knock out any opponent.
As if the bo staff is not dangerous enough, Tim also keeps a small blade hidden inside the bo staff for emergencies. If Tim needs anything sharper then the ordinary bo staff, the blade will become very usefull.

Drake does not only have his bo staff to rely on but also a score of martial arts.
Having trained with all different kinds of martial arts masters, Tim has mastered a lot of martial arts. Some are: Kung Fu, Aikido, Jeet kun do, escrima, tae kwan do, judo, wing chun, hapkido, karate, savate, kendo, ninjutsu, tai chi and biangan. Altough he still has not learned as many martial arts as Batman, he still has learned enough to hold his own against the best. His martial arts are a combination of both offensive and defensive fighting styles, thus he can use all of them to his advantage.





Mid range: Batclaw and explosive gell

Both of his mid range weapons are more tools then actual weapons, but they are still very usefull in a one on one battle.
The batclaw is a grapple gun and during arkham city, Drake used it to survive in the city. He also has shown to use the tools in the cartoons. He can use it to climb buildings by lifting himself in the air with the use of a suspention cable. This is a tool, which will be usefull when Drake tries to escape from or sneak upon his opponent, as he can get on top of buildings really quick.
The claw also has another use. It can pull weapons out of the hands of the opponent or pull opponents closer. This will be usefull to disarm his opponent or interrupt Aang while bending.
I should note that the batclaw itself will not be able to hurt Aang on itself but rather aid the other weapons to disturb the battle plan of the Avatar.

The explosive gell is another weapon that Tim recieved during the game arkham city and it is another tool rather then a actual weapon. The difference between this one and the batclaw is that the explosive gell can actually stun.
The primary use of explosive gell is to break open walls.This will not be used much, if at all. But the gell can also be used to stun enemies. There are two ways that drake can use the explosive gell to stun. The first is by spraying a solid wall or the ground. As soon as his opponent walks close to the sprayed place, Tim can detonate it and stun his opponent for a few seconds. This will give enough time for a free hit. Another way to stun his opponent is by spraying a breakable wall and let the rubble fall on his opponent. This will knock the opponent out.
The explosive gell can be placed on three spots at the same time but will be detonated together. The range from which drake can detonate is not stated directly but it is very large.
Altough this is a effective weapon to knock someone out, it has to bee used with a lot of strategy, something that Tim is capable off.

long range: Discs and sling

For long range, Tim Drake uses a few small but dangerous weapons. The first are the throwing discs. Like Batman, Drake likes to throw small metal shurikens at his opponent to either hurt, disarm or distract. While the shuriken of batman are batshaped, those of Robin are R-shaped and when Robin became Red robin, the R-shaped shuriken transformed into throwing discs. Tim is very accurate with the discs and can hit a hand of a weapon from far away, just like his teacher. He always carries a bunch of them with him in case he needs them. He is also capable of throwing batarangs and the r-shaped shuriken. It should be noted that this picture does not show the discs but rather the R-shaped shuriken.

Since before he became Robin, Tim drake has used a sling. It is a simple, yet effective weapon and the boy was very accurate. After becoming a member of the Batfamily, he kept on using his sling, next to all the other weapons. he mostly threw rocks with it but is known to throw other small objects if he had no choise. Again, I was unable to find a accurate range but Red Robin has shown to be very accurare with the sling from dinstances.
The sling is mainly used to either distract or hit the hands, so the opponent loses the weapon but it can actually hurt and even kill altough drake would never use this weapon to kill.




Special: utility belt and bullet shield

As does Batman, Tim Drake wears a utility belt. During his time as Robin and brief period as Batman, Tim has used the utility belt with all different tools and gadgets. As Red Robin, he kept on using this great belt with all gadgets.
The belt itself will not hurt or harm any opponent and never has either Batman or robin been seen fighting with the belt. It is rather what is stored in the belt, what will be usefull.
Here are some gadgets that Tim Drake has in his belt and will help during the fight. I also will give a very brief description. Note that these are not all the gadgets stored in the utility belt.
Sleepgas, smoke pellets, knock out gas, tear gas,rebreather, snapflash, cryo capsule and handcuffs.
The sleepgas is kept in capsules and when releashed, can finish the battle as Red Robin lets his opponent sleep. The smoke pellets will make a great getaway and when drake is in danger, he will be able to escape with ease when the opponent is blinded with smoke. Knock out gas is almost the same as sleepgas. Stored in a capsule, it can knock the opponent out and end the battle. Teargas can blind the opponent for some time and gives Tim the chance of a free hit on his opponent. The rebreather enables Tim to breath under water. snapflash are small bombs that can be attached to enemies to knock them out. It also gives a signal that will attract others. The cryo capsules can freeze a opponent and the handcuffs are just handcuffs.
These are all tools and weapons that Tim Drake either used as Robin, Batman or Red Robin and even though may not all are usefull, most are.

As for the second weapon, it was rather hard to decide if i would put it in offense or defense. Finally I have decided to put the bullet shield in offense and in defense.
The bullet shield is a metal shield that Drake uses in arkham city to defend himself. Not only a defensive weapon, he can also use the shield to bash opponents from close range and either knock them to the ground or even knock them out cold. Both the boss of the shield and the edges can be used to knock someone out.

Protection: Armoured suit, agility and bullet shield
Tim Drake has worn different outfits during different parts of his superhero career. For this match, I will look at his latest outfit.
The red robin suit is a mixture of the Batman outfit, the Robin outfit and ideas from himself. It has black leggings and boots, a red tunic with chest harness and a black cowl and cape. It also has the utility belt. It is a good suit that is both protective and allows for agility.
The suit is made from all different materials, including leather, steel and nylon. It has been shown to protect Drake against supernatural punches, explosions and other sorts of attacks.


Just like all the other Robins and Batman, drake is very agile. He is trained to move like a acrobat, being able to do high jumps, salto's and summersaults. He can also run fast, glide from buildings has been shown to avoid rapid attacks from superbeings.
Even though he has a protective suit, Drake will always first try to avoid any attack instead of block it. Altough blocking will work well with a staff as weapon.

About the last defensive tool, i have spoken already for a bit. The bullet shield is a tool that Drake uses to block enemie attacks. Just as the staff, it is retractable so drake can keep it with his person and only use it when he needs it. He first got this tool in Arkham city where he could use this metal shield to block gunshots from opponents.
In this battle, Drake will be able to use the shield to block several of the bending attacks such as earth and water. Fire attacks will be dangerous as the shield could get heated up and may become to hot to use.
In overall, it is a usefull form of defense and when he needs it, Drake can rely on it.

X-factors

Motivation: Being a superhero
Tim Drake became a superhero at his own choise. He followed the adventures of Batman and he became Robin at his own choise. Drake wants to protect the innocent and help the people of Gotham. Even though there are other superhero's, including Batman, Tim still feels the need to help on his own way. He has joined other superhero's in a team to be a more effective fighter and even when he stopped in teams fighting crime, he still continued on solo. This plus the years of training his mental and physical abilities shows his dedication into becoming a hero and help those in need.
The only time Tim Drake stopped being a superhero was when his father blackmailed him and threatend to reveal the identities of the other members of the Bat-family.
After his forced stop, he still protected his classmates during a attack as good as he could without weapons or a suit, still trying to protect them. Afterwards, he ignored his father and became Robin again.
So in overall, Tim has a high motivation. instead of being forced into a roll, he chose the roll with all of his heart and that is a superb motivation.

Tactics: Using the shadows and improving
Tim drake is very intelligent and is a very good strategist. During his time at the young justice, he was looked at to create tactics and that combined with his great detective skills, makes him a very tactical opponent.
His primary tactic is hiding in the shadow and attack when his target least suspect it. using fear and shadows to overcome his opponents has served both Batman, Nightwing and him many times over.
However, this is not the only tactic that Tim Drake has used. As I have said, he is a expert detective and great strategist, being trusted for that by even senior members like superman. He will be able to make up a strategy at the spot and chance tactics according to the circumstances. Tim Drake really is a cunning fighter who will surprise his opponent multiple times during the fight.

Experience: Supervillains, villains and thugs
Tim has not only fought Batman villians but also other villians from the DC universe, ranging from simple thugs with pistols or bats to villians with automatic weapons and supervillians with superpowers.
This will help a lot during the coming battle because he has fought people with powers similair to benders such as Mr. Freeze, Aqualad and Terra. This will make him understand the power of the avatar better and come up with counterattacks.
The experience with the thugs and the villains will help him fighting off people with superior ranged weapons and fighting close range.
To sum it up, Tim Drake has experience fighting all different kind of attackers.

Now for the links.
First off i will post the link to the batman wikia. I have given a very brief history of Tim Drake and i encourage everyone to read the extended history. He is a very interesting character who played a very important role in the Batman saga's.
 http://batman.wikia.com/wiki/Tim_Drake

The normal biography of Tim is great, but the Arkham city one is interesting as well. Since I used plenty weapons from his Arkham city persona, I decided to include that here.
http://batman.wikia.com/wiki/Robin_(Batman:_Arkham_City)

Lastly a youtube video. This one I found, is dedicated to Tim Drake and both his Robin and red robin persona. I like it a lot and it gives a few good pictures of him.

Red Robin extra:
I completely forget to tell you guys why I chose Tim drake out of all the Robins.
Now I am going to explain why.
Let us first sum up all the robins that have fought beside batman. Note Robin and not batgirl.
We have Dick Grayson, jason Todd, Tim Drake, Stephany Brown and Damian Wayne.

Jason todd got killed by the joker, Stephany got fired by batman and Damian is still in training. That means these are not good candidates to use.
That leaves us with Dick grayson and Tim Drake.
Dick is the born athlete and Tim is the born detective. I had to choose, which of these two would be better of a match against aang and I believed that Tim would be the better choise because he has an edge as a detective. Besides that, Dick has always been named as the Robin and alltough he is strong and very powerfull, i felt like Tim Drake was the better Option to use.


The Edges:

Now i am going to write edges again and as my last match, they will devided in small, medium and large edges. This will be also the first time that i will take defence as seperete egde into account. I will still work the defence against weapons in the weapon  edges but i will also look at the overall defence on itself and the movebility with said defence.


Gliderstaff and Ba Gua Vs. Bo Staff and martial arts
- Both sides have similair weapons in the staff and unarmed combat. However, even though the weapons are rather similair, the styles in which the weapons are used are completely different.
if I look at Aang, his staff is a dangerous wooden staff, that can deliver quick and powerfull punches. he can fly distances with it and he can use it to aid his bending. Some very strong powers for such a simple staff. His  Ba Gua is very defensive as he will dodge the attacks of the opponent and then counter. it really is a martial art that aides a monk.
Tim counters with his metal bo staff and his own martial arts. The metal bo staff is a dangerous weapon as well. it is collapsable, which means that this weapon is easy to transport, it is made of metal so that the damage is even greater then a simple wooden staff and it has a hidden blade inside as a back up. The martial arts are numerous. it would have been unfair to pick just one of those Tim trained in so i use them all. That Tim has mastered a lot of both defensive and offensive martial arts means that he can counter all sort of styles his opponents can throw at him and it will be easy to spot the style that his opponent uses and see attacks coming.
Now if I just look at all these weapons, I can see that the metal bo staff has a small edge over the gliderstaff. Both are equal in lenght but light metal is always better then wood. Then there is the hidden blade. However, the gliderstaff can aid in flying and can help with the bending. That is why I see only a small advantage. Over the fighting styles is the advantage bigger. Ba Gua is a great style and it can take a opponent down who is constantly attacking. However, Tim has mastered a lot of styles and some of them are very much like ba Gua such as hapkido. This means that tim will be able to recognise the style and counter it his own way. This is a small advantage that Aang does not have with his ba gua. Don't get me wrong. Ba Gua is a great style and it will help Aang a lot but the simple fact is that one style cannot take on multiple styles.

- If I will compare the weapons on the armour, then Aang has no armour to speak off for this. he will not use elemental shields in such a close combat and will try to avoid all staff and martial arts attacks. If he is unable to dodge it, he might use earthbending to protect himself but in such a close space, he will prefer not getting hit at all. This is a great strategy but will only work so much. No matter how much you avoid attacks, you are bound to get hit at least once. The only sort of bending i see actually usefull here is airbending, which will help avoiding attacks better.
Tim on the other hand, has his armoured suit to help him next to avoiding attacks. As aang, he will try to avoid the attacks of his opponent as good as possible. He will not use his metal shield in such a close quarters but instead use his own agility. With him I can say again that no matter how good you avoid attacks, you are bound to get hit. Luckely for him, Drake has a suit to protect himself against impact.
It should be noted that both staffs will be able to block the staff attacks of the other. neither staff will be any better then the other in this way.

-  Now for the skill. First of all, Both Aang and Robin have a lot of skill with their staffs. Both use them as their main weapons and both can knock a opponent out with ease. Now for the martial arts. Tim had training with all different masters, both superhero and mortal. Apart from that, he hones his martial skill every day when he is fighting bad guys. |His skill is superb. Now Aang has trained with the monks and has taught him as much to master it. However, he does not use his Ba Gua often. In the whole show, he has only used it two episodes. Usually he either uses bending or is staff. Now when he used it, he showed it exeptionally well but still, it is something he does not use often.

- Now to give a egde. We have started off with some very good weapons on both sides. Both the staffs will be used a lot during the battles seeing that both are the main weapons of both fighters. If I have to jugde each weapon from most effective to least effective, then the bo staff of Tim would be the best weapon in this fight, due to his effectiveness on Aang, the fact that it is metal and the hidden blade. The glidingstaff that Aang uses is the next weapon in the list, with that it can aid in the bending. The follows the martial arts of Drake and the least effective weapon is ba gua. The martial arts beats the ba gua because Tim will be able to see what Aang is doing and will counter this passive fighting style  by fighting passive himself.
Obvliously, Tim Drake will get this edge. Now we have to see what kind of egde he will get. The difference between the two staff weapons is rather close. The difference between the martial arts is bigger as it is multiple fighting styles that gets practices daily against one fighting style that gets practised not much at all.
Because of the big differences in the weapons, I have decided to give Drake a medium edge.
Medium edge: Tim Drake


Waterbending and earthbending Vs. Batclaw and explosive gell
- Now are the first two of aang's bending styles and these are very usefull ones. i have described the bending styles and I will not repeat it. i will say that waterbending is very great, as Aang can turn the water into ice and back into liquid. he can also form sharp knifes that can cut through a lot, including metal. Aang can also form huge waves or tentacles of water and he can envelop his opponent in water, to freeze it and trap Tim Drake in ice. However, for all these things to work, Aang needs water in the neighberhood. He can manipulate water but not create it. Some waterbenders are able to controll water inside the air or even the body but as long as Aang is not in the avatarstate, he will not be able to do this.
Eartbending is another powerfull form of bending that Aang can use. As with waterbending, he cannot create earth but he can controll it. That he cannot create earth is not that bad because earth is all around us. Some earthbenders can even bend metal but again, Aang never developed that and cannot do this.
The most simple form of eartbending constists of hurling pieces of earth towards a opponent. Aang can also form earth around him to protect himself or give his fist attacks more punch. he can also create shockwaves or controll the earth underneath his opponent to either let his opponent trip or capture his opponent in the earth itself.
Tim counters all this with his batclaw. The batclaw is no weapon that can hurt a enemy. instead, Tim can move away from his opponent and up a building rather quick. he can also pull weapons out of the hand of his opponent or even pull his opponent forwards to disrupt the bending. This weapon might not seem dangerous, but it is rather usefull in the hands of a tactical fighter.
The next weapon of Tim is again a tactical weapon. The explosive gell can explose and confuse the enemy. I see four ways that the explosive gell can be used during this battle. The first is by applying it at a weakened wall to get away from Aang. The second is by spraying it somewhere and let it explode to distract Aang. The third is by using it on the ground and when Aang walks over it, let it explode so Aang gets knocked on the ground and Tim can end this battle. The last way is to spray it on a weakened wall and let it explode when Aang is near, thus allowing the wall to collapse on Aang and knock him out and end the battle.
Tim will be very handy with this explosive gell and he can spray it three times before he needs to explode it. After exploding, he can use it three times again and so on.
Now, to see which of these weapons is best is rather hard. Aang has the lead in offense, altough he needs either earth or water to use it but Tim has weapons that have a low chance of ending the battle but can help during the fight in different ways.
Out of aang's two bending styles, i think that earthbending will be most usefull as there will be more earth then water during the battle and he can counter the attacks of his opponents better with it. As for Tim, i think that the explosive gell is the better of the tools. He can use it in more ways and even win with it, if he plays it well.

- Now to see how well the two fighters can protect themselfs against the weapons of the other.
The suit of Tim will help him protect against blows from the earth and water. however, his suit will not help him if Aang traps Tim in either ice or earth. If this happened and Tim still has his hands free, he can use the explosive gell to free himself, seeing as the gell will not hurt him in any way. The main way Tim will protect himself against the attacks of aang will be by dodging it and as I have said before, you can dodge only so much attacks. I would like to note that the pieces of earth can be blocked by the bullet shield.
Aang still has no armour and for the batclaw, this won't mind. if Tim tries to use it, Aang can cut it with a waterknife or send a boulder towards it.
The explosive gell will be harder to counter as Aang will need to look for it to see it and it can blow his protection away. the only way for Aang to really counter the explosive gell is by either trying to keep staying in the air and avoid buildings. This may be a effective way but it will hinder his use of earthbending.
So because the weapons of Tim are more tools then weapons, it is also harder for aang to counter them.

- Now I have to look at the skill that each fighter has.
Aang is a great waterbender and has been shown to beat even master waterbenders. he can see a technique and use after a few tries. He has not been able to controll water in the air or someones body but that is because he never learned it. Overall, Aang is a very gifted waterbender and his skill his on masterlevel.
With earthbending, Aang always had some trouble. because his nature is opposite earthbending, it was very hard for him to actually learn the bending but as soon as he got the hang of it, he became better and one of is more used bending styles.
Overall, Aang is very good in both bending styles and he will be able to do a lot of damage with these.
As for the batclaw and the explosive gell, the skill is more in using these weapons strategically then anything else.
Considering that Tim is a master tactician and is almost as good as Batman himself, he will know how to use these weapons best and in which ways he can surprise his opponent, even though he has already used them.
Tim will be able to surprise more then once and I can see him using these two weapons to turn the tide in his favor more then once during the battle.

- Now to sum it all up. We have two great offensive powers against two great tools. Now I know that we measure weapons on how well you can take out your opponent with it but a battle is more then only attacks. Again i am going to make a top four of these weapons and tell you why. The best weapon is the earthbending without a doubt. It gives good offense and defense. Furthermore, it can take out Tim rather quick and earth is all around us.
The second best weapon is actually a tie between waterbending and explosive gell. Waterbending is very dangerous and can bring a quick end to this battle by using either water or ice. However, Aang will need water to use it and if Tim stays away from that, then Aang is not able to use the bending. The explosive gell is rather hard to use to finish the battle as Tim needs to get Aang near the explosives but it can be done. Furthermore, it a good counter against the earthbending and can free Drake if he is trapped in earth or ice. It also gives a great escape and distraction.
The least best weapon is the batclaw. It cannot hurt Aang and can only be used to either escape or pull weapons away. If Tim flees to a building, Aang will have no trouble following him or even stop Tim when he tries to get away. As for the disarming, that can work on the staff but nothing else really as Aang can summon the element again when he loses it. The claw can work however to pull Aang off balance, altough Tim has to react quick and Aang can still protect himself.
This battle is not as one-sides as i first believed it to be but still Aang is clearly superior in this range. I would say that Aang gets a large edge here because of the two powerfull bending styles that can end the battle quickly but because Tim has a usefull counter in the name of explosive gell, the edge will not be large. instead, i will give Aang a medium edge here.
Medium edge: Avatar Aang


Firebending and airbending Vs. Discs and sling
- This is a strange match between two bending styles and throwing objects towards the opponent. Firebending is a powerfull style and the one that will be able to take out Drake the easiest. With his bending, Aang can shoot fireballs and jets of fire. it is the one style that can kill the opponent without much trouble and may be the biggest problem to the Red Robin. However, Aang had burned one of his dearest friends early on in the series with his firebending and does not like to use it. He did not want to learn firebending and even though he learned a more peacefull way of firebending, he still almost never uses it.
The other bending style that Aang uses is completely different to the firebending. Airbending is the native style of Aang and it is the bending style he is best in.
Ever since he was young, Aang was taught the airbending style and mastered the style at a young age. He even went as far as invent the airscooter as a way to travel through the air. Airbending is a great form of bending, however it is not lethal. The way I see it, airbending will be used mostly as a tool rather then a weapon like blowing the opponent or weapons of the opponent away, shoot himself forward, letting himself glide in the air and even disorientate by using tornado's. The only ways I can see the airbending being a knock out is when Tim Drake gets lifted up in the air and dropped again or getting pushed into a building.
Tim Drake has his discs to attack his opponent with. These discs work like any flying disc and are used to distract or disarm the opponent. These discs are not lethal and willl not permanently injure or kill the opponent but still very good.
The sling is a piece of string that is used to hurl rocks at the opponent and Tim uses this weapon the same way as the discs. The rocks get thrown with more power and speed then the discs and these can be used to injure or kill, however, Robin will never kill using the sling.

- Now when I look at the defence that both warriors put up, I can see Aang block or dodge the discs and the rocks from the sling with ease and in multiple ways. First of all, Aang can simply dodge the long range attacks, he can use the earth or water as shields or he can simply blow the projectiles back at Drake using airbending.
Tim has more trouble defending against the attacks of Aang. His bulletshield will not help against the fire, considering that metal gets heated with fire and may be to hot to hold on too. I also doubt that the suit will hold up against fire. That only leaves dodging as means of avoiding fire. The airbending is equally hard to avoid. Air with blow Drake with shield and armour away. Dodging the airbending is hard as well. Aang can manipulate a lot of air at the same time and has a wider range of attack. If Aang creates a tornado, Drake can get sucked in and no armour will help him with that.

- Now comes the skill. Aang has superb skill in airbending, he can use it in all different ways in the battle and it is the style that will be used most.
Then there is firebending, His skill with this element is not that great. Aang does know some techniques but not much and he never showed any form of shooting lighting. What is more, he almost never uses it.
Tim has his discs with which he is very accurate, being able to hit small targets from far away. he also is master at throwing batarangs and metal R's. Lastly there is the sling and considering that Tim trained with this weapon since before he became Robin, he is very accurate with the sling.

- Now to decide about the edge. The firebending is the strongest power here and even though it will not be used much, when it will be used Aang will devistate with it. The next strongest power is the airbending. It is versatile, as it can be used all different ways. It also the type of bending that Aang can use best and will be used the most in the whole battle. Third is the sling for its reach and power and the least best weapon is the disc.
The two weapons of Drake have the problem that aang must not see them coming. If Aang see either a rock or a disc flying at him, he will be able to avoid the attack every time and in the worst situation will Drake need to dodge his own weapons. If you combine that with the power of the airbending and add the small amount of times that the firebending is used, I can honestly say that Aang gets a large egde. There is just no way that Drake can compete at long range with the avatar.
Large Edge: Avatar Aang


Avatar state and energybending Vs. Utility belt and bulletshield
- If I start with the avatar state, I start with something strong. The avatar state is when Aang calls the power within himself and uses all the knowlegde and experience of the past avatars to accomplish things he would not be able to do on his own like controlling magma, create giant tsunami's giant tornado's and even earthquakes. When Aang calls in this power, he is near unstoppable. That the avatar gets killed when Aang gets killed here does not mind much as his opponent will not kill him. However, the avatarstate does take some energy and Aang will only use the avatarstate when he needs it. If Drake can stay away from Aang while the latter is in the avatar state, Drake has a chance to escape harm during this period.
The energybending is totally different in a way that it will not harm Drake at all. First of all, It will be hard for aang to get close enough to perform this and even when the avatar succeeds, he will find Drake has a very strong mind to overcome. even if that somehow works, Tim Drake has no bending powers that can be taken away, all his powers are his skills that he earned by training and experience. In fact, i can see the opposite happen. If aang tries to perform energybending, Drake might be able to overpower the avatar and learn bending by accident. If that is the case, then Aang has a huge problem.
The utility belt is a usefull tool as well, as it has a lot of capsules, grenades or tools to fight Aang during the battle in different terrains.
I can see Drake use the things in the belts in two different ways throughout the battle. The first one is by taking Aang out. I have written all about the offensive weapons that the belt has and Tim can use these to take out his opponent when he uses them in a surprise attack. Then there are the tools that will be usefull during the battle. Think about the rebreather when Tim gets swallowed by water, the smoke pellets to escape or even the handcuffs to arrest Aang.
The last weapon of Tim will not be much help either during the battle if you look at its offensive qualities. Tim needs to be very close to Aang to damage him with the bulletshield and even then Aang can avoid the attack. I also consider it unlikely that the bulletshield will do much harm even when it hits. So altough this is a weapon, it will do low damage and Tim is better off with the utilitybelt.

- Tim will have a very hard time blocking or dodging the attacks of a Avatar state Aang and i think that neither the bulletshield as the armour will help him resist attacks. There is only one way that Tim can keep himself spared from the attack and that is by simply hide. Altough Aang is very powerfull in the avatarstate, he still cannot see hidden opponents and when he cannot fight in the avatarstate, it is more likely that Aang gets back to his own self. So even though the avatar state is very powerfull, there is still a chance for the red Robin to stay in the battle. i would also like to say that Robin does use that tactic a lot.
As for the energybending, Tim does not need protection against that.
Aang can protect himself very well against the tools of the utilitybelt. Let me first start with saying that Aang can freeze the utilitybelt if he has the chance but that sounds easier then it is to pull off and even when it succeeds Tim might be able to free his belt by using the explosive gell.
The smoke gas and knock out gas can be blown away, as can Aang unfreeze the cyro grenade. The tools that Tim uses on himself during the battle with be impossible to stop however.
The bulletshield can easily be dodged by avoiding it or blocking with a earthshield.

- As for Skill, Aang has the skill of all the other avatars during this state and that is a lot. However, i need to adress another issue here. Will Aang spam the avatar state or get into the avatar state from the start of the battle? My personal opinion is no. I am aware that aang did so in a comic but i feel that is cheap and not the way that Aang would use it in the series. What is more, during the legend of Korra, the flashback shows clearly that Aang only gets in the avatar state after he has been bloodbended on twice and his opponent is trying to kill him. I have thus decided that Aang will only use the avatat state if he actually needs it and not more. The skill of Aang with the energybending has improbed as he can use it quicker and with less danger to himself.
Drake has a lot of skill with the utility belt and will use the weapons and tools inside in ways that Aang will never see coming. he will be able to surprise the avatar and even trap him to allow the weapons to work.
As with the bulletshield, Tim can punch hard with it.

- I am really torn between the avatar state and the utilitybelt. The avatarstate is all powerfull and can easily win the match for Aang when he can see his opponent but the utilitybelt can be used throughout the battle and combined with the tactics of Drake, can take out Aang before the latter actually goes into the avatar state.
Normally, i would side easily with the state as it could give the likes of Superman a very hard time but the utilitybelt has shown its worth many times and can help Tim a lot in this battle even before Aang thinks of going avatar state. After carefully going through all sorts of battle scenes in my mind and considering these two weapons without prejustice towards either of them, i have come up with a draw. Both the avatar state and the utilitybelt will play important roles in their own right and both may decide the battle. Therefore I think that both weapons are equal to each other and the best weapon here is therefore a draw between the avatar state and the utilitybelt.
To decide which warriors gets the egde in this battle, i have to look at the other weapons. Both the other weapons are not very good against these warriors and it is rather ironic that these will decide who gets the egde.
The bulletshield is a bit clumsy to use against such a agile opponent and i can see only very low damage there. However, low damage is still more then no damage that the energybending does and therefore the bulletshield is slightly better here.
This small detail does give Tim the tiny egde it needs and he will get a very small egde in special.
Small Edge: Tim Drake


X-factors

Motivation
Being the avatar Vs. being a superhero
- Both guys fight evil powers and try to save their words and so in a way, they are similair. however where Tim Drake chose to be a hero, Aang did get his job forced upon him because he is the avatar. Now I have to decide who has the better motivation. let me first say that I think that there are both positive and negative sides on chosing to be a hero and getting the avatar forced upon you. Where Aang knows that it is his destiny to fight, Tim will know with what reasons he chose to be a hero and fight for. On the other hand, Aang has shown panic and even said he could not handle being the avatar, while Tim quitt because he felt it was the right choise.
Aang is not able to really quit and will always know he needs to fight on, even with doubt but Tim will fight with all his heart. It is really difficult to say who has the better reason to fight.
To decide this, I will look at their back up. Aang has a group of friends to help him but none of them is the avatar and none is as strong as he is. he will always play the most important part and will always continue to fight because he needs to. Drake has backup of the batfamily if he needs help and even the other superhero's from DC. So where Drake can back away and come back later with stronger allies, Aang cannot ask for help from stronger friends. This will make Aang fight all the harder and do whatever it takes to win, even if it means his death.
Both have great reasons to fight but Aang cannot afford backing off. Therefore, he gets a small edge.
Small Edge: Avatar Aang


Tactics
subdue with little to no violence Vs. hiding in the shadows and improvising
Aang mostly fights in a defensive style and tries to talk with his opponent rather then beat him. if that does not work and those close to Aang are in danger, aang gets angry and will fight by simply keeping attacking. This he has done few times in the series. Aang is not a tactician and leaves all the tactics to his friend Sokka.
This is in contrast to Drake, who is a master tactician. His main tactic is attacking from shadows but he is very good at using all sort of tactics and coming up with them on the spot. He has created tactics not only for him but several teams he was in.
This actually is a blowout match. Aang will keep using the same tactics and that will make him predictable. Tim will know what Aang will do and exploit it. There is no way to outsmart a young genius with a tactical brain and i cannot make anything else then a large edge.
Large Edge: Tim Drake

Experience
Benders and Non benders Vs. Supervillains, villains and thugs.
- Aang has fought a lot of benders and some non benders, being able to beat them all. he has a lot of experience taking these guys out and dealing with several bending styles and even unusual sorts of bending like swamp bending, sand bending and a opponent who sends out explosive blasts of fire.
Tim drake has fought several types of bad guys ranging from street thugs without weapons to armed opponents and even villians with superpowers. He has beat them all and he sparred with friends who have superpowers.
This is very crucial because Drake actually met people with powers similair to bending while Aang has never fought a opponent with gadgets. he has some friends who created gadgets but none of these were anything as advanced as Tim will carry. To make it clear, Tim will know a bit how to deal with Aang while Aang has no knowlegde on how to deal with the Gadgets. I do give the Red Robin only a medium edge however, since Aang will know how to handle a opponent with martial arts and a staff. Altough Tim has dealt with powers similair to bending, none were really the same or at the same level as the avatar so Tim will be surprised as well.
Medium edge: Tim Drake


The battle

The boy walked through this strange town. it was nothing he had even seen before and he was curious on what all these things were. After fighting Azula again, the fire-princess has escaped using some sort of crystal and Aang had been quick to follow. That was something he now regretted, seeing that his friends could not follow and he was alone on this strange world. 

Suddenly, Aang heard a honking sound and he jumped into the air as some sort of metal vehicle passed below him. Aang landed on the ground and looked at the construction. Some friends of his would like to see such a machine crossed the mind of Aang as he walked on, not sure where the firebender had gone.

'Hello boy.' A man in some sort of blue outfit said as he walked towards the young avatar. The man looked important, with a special badge and his strong attitude. 'Aren't you a little young for tattoo's?  the man asked.

This was a rather strange question. With the monks in the air temple, every boy got such tattoo's and age had never been the issue. Aang was just about to explain this when a woman came running towards this man in blue. 'Fire.' She screamed. 'Not again.' The man spoke softly. he then asked the woman where the fire was and quickly spoke in some sort of box. He then ran away away.

A fire was not good and Aang knew he had to help. he also knew that with a fire, Azula should be around. Aang set off to run so he could follow the man who had spoken to him and when he could see a fire from afar, he suddenly heard a familiar laugh. Aang stopped to look up and saw Azula walking up from a alleyway. 'Hello Avatar.' She spoke with a evil smile. 'Azula, give up.' Aang spoke with a strong voice. This was a busy city and Aang did not want anybody to get hurt. The young woman smiled as a reply and send a burst of fire towards Aang, who managed to avoid it by jumping in the air.

Aang then blew his opponent on the ground with a gust of wind and held his staff ready to fight.

To the surprise of Aang, Azula kept on smiling. 'What is wrong? can't you fight fire with fire?' she spoke taunting the boy. Azula then jumped up and walked towards Aang. 'You will find this earth here harder to bend and with no water in sight, you will need to use fire.' She kept on speaking. To his dismay, the avatar noticed that the firebending girl was right as he did not manage to bend the earth here somehow. Still, he had  his airbending to hold her off. 'has my brother never bothered to teach you firebending or are you afraid to use it?' came the taunting again.

Aang tried to ignore the taunting of this woman but he could not help getting angrier with her. He tried everything he had learned as a monk to keep himself in control, but it was hard.

The young woman kept on taunting Aang while he tried to talk to her and get Azula to give up but she kept hitting his sensative snares. 'Are you afraid to hurt anybody again? What kind of avatar are you if you cannot even use fire?' Azula looked into the air as she was searching for a sign. aang used that moment to send another gust of wind that rammed the fireuser against the wall. 'Now come back with me.' Aang spoke in his most confident voice as possible.  Azula only smiled at that and started to speak again. 'you can only take me if you dare use fire. But i think that you are just afraid. You will always stay here while your friends get destroyed, only because you are too afraid to use fire here.' After that, she turned away while laughing.

At that moment, Aang shot forward a jet of fire. instantly he regretted it, since he hated using firebending and he let it out in a moment of uncontrollable anger.

To his surprise, Azula cried out. Aang was stunned for a few moments, she had never done anything like that and the young avatar wanted to know why now. Just as he wanted to say something, a shadow flew towards him.

The thief ran towards the end of the alleyway but suddenly fell flat on the ground. A steel R lay on the ground near the feet of the purse thief. Red Robin towards the thief and picked up the purse from the ground. Just as he was about to handcuff the man, he received a message through his ear piece. 'Tim. There is a house on fire near your position.' Came the voice of Batman. 'I'l check it out Tim responded and after returning the purse to its owner, Tim used the batclaw to get on a building to spot the fire. After seeing the flames, Tim Drake ran over the buildings to get near the burning house. 

Once he was there, Tim saw a two story house burning. The firemen were trying to put out the fire while police kept the civilians away from the fire. 'My baby.' An woman cried in fear, indicating that someone was still in the house. 

Tim entered the house with the help of the batclaw and he walked through the burning bedroom, trying to avoid the fire. After two doors, he heard crying and opened a third. There a small fat boy sat in his bed. 

'It is okay. You are safe.' Tim muttered as he took the boy. With the boy firmly in his grip, red Robin tried to avoid getting burned again while he retraced his steps and finally jumped out of the window. 

He delivered the boy to a relieved woman and then spoke into his intercom. 'I'm going to look around and see if i can find the arsonist.' Tim then climbed on top of some buildings and peered down the street.

Down in the street, he saw how a young bald boy was attacking a teenage girl. Both were oddly dressed but the boy was clearly pushing the girl to the ground somehow without getting near her. The boy then send some fire towards the girl. The fire hit her and she fell down screaming in pain.

Without thinking, Drake grabbed one of his r's and threw it at the boy. This was the villain who had set the houses on fire the past week and he needed to be taken down.

Something hard suddenly hit Aang and he took a few steps backwards. The strange object that had hit him lay on the ground and next to it stood a young man, dressed in red and with a black cape.  Another fire bender, was the first thought of Aang and as the young man stepped forwards, Aang blew him away. 'Give up.' Aang spoke as he took a hold of his staff.  He looked at azula but she was no-where to be found. The avatar then stepped towards the fire nation soldier

After Tim had been blown away by some sort of hard wind, he saw the young bald man walking towards him with a staff in the hands. Two can play at this game, he thought as he took his bo staff and clicked it together.

The two staffs hit each other with a lot of force as both fighters tried to hit the other. It was Drake who followed up with some quick attacks, using his expertise with the bo staff. Aang went on the defense and shows as much skill by blocking every single attack. 'Give up.' Aang yelled. 'You cannot win.' Drake ignored this and kept on attacking until Aang blew him away with air bending.

it was a hard push of air that send Drake sprawling. From the corner of his eyes, he saw how his staff was rolling away and he was now unarmed against this super villain. Strange enough, this villian kept asking about someone called Azula and Drake made a mental check to see if the bat computer knew anything about that person. 

The red robin reached for his bat claw and fired it at the avatar. The claw grabbed the wooden staff and drake pulled on the cord. The staff flew out of the hands of the avatar and rolled away. 

Aang saw his opponent running towards him and he was just able to avoid a fist. Tim then tried another few strikes, which were all evaded by Aang and even kicks did not reach target. Suddenly, Drake fell out of balance as his foot overextended. His opponent had seen this as well and with a good push, Tim was send to the ground. even though he was pushed down, Tim now knew that his opponent fought defensive. A justing his style, Tim threw a punch, which he retracted the last possible moment and shot his other fist forwards, hitting the bald opponent in the face. Tim then kicked his opponent to the ground and when the avatar had stood up again, Tim came with another fake punch and followed up with a kick that hit the left leg of Aang. Now off balance, Tim threw Aang to the ground.

Aang groaned in pain. he could only avoid attacks and had never really learned to throw punches as monks do not fight. He was unable to either earthbend or waterbend and his opponent was coming near. Knowing nothing else to do, Aang took a deep breath and created a powerful gust that send his opponent flying towards a nearby building. Aang then picked up his gliding staff, jumped in the air and soared away, towards the forest he had seen. 

Tim saw how his opponent jumped in the air with staff and flew away. As he took his own staff, Tim took some mental notes on his foe. This villain could shoot fire, send blasts of wind and was a great staff fighter. Knowing that this was not all of the power the young man had, Tim followed while he tried to think of another strategy.

Aang landed on the ground. He was surrounded by trees and could not see his opponent. The first thing he did was checking if earth bending would work here. Aang took a breath and slammed his foot on the ground. he was happy to see that he could bend this ground. Aang then went over his opponent. This fire nation soldier was a great fighter at both the staff and martial arts. The man also had some sort of disc weapon and another strange one. Not knowing how to fight this stranger, Aang hoped that he could overpower using his bending skills.

Suddenly something hit Aang in the chest and to his surprise, he saw it was a rock. Another rock flew at him, which Aang managed to blow off course. Aang then stamped his foot on the ground and the piece of earth that sprung up got send to the three where his opponent was hiding. Just before the earth collided with the three, aang saw how his opponent jumped out and landed on the ground. Another rock flew at him and Aang quickly created a wall out of earth to protect himself. He then steered the wall towards his opponent and saw the wall crash against target. 

Tim saw how a wall made of earth was speeding towards him and he had his bullet shield ready just in time. The wall collided with the shield and when the dust disappeared, Tim saw his opponent standing ready with another piece of earth. remembering Terra, Drake threw his metallic R and aimed at the hand of his opponent. Terra had never been able to hold a piece of earth when her hand got hit and  with this opponent, it was no different. Just as his opponent dropped the piece of earth, Drake threw a cryo capsule at his opponent. The capsule hit target and froze Aang. After having seen his opponent use earth, wind and fire, Red Robin guessed that his opponent could control water and maybe ice. Not taking a chance, he fled deeper in the forest.

Aang was surprised to see that his opponent could freeze someone as well but that did not matter. Aang changed the ice into water, that he kept in his hands. He then followed this opponent.

Aang saw his opponent standing somewhat further in the forest and send on of his water balls towards the man. The ball hit and the water pushed red robin away. As aang got nearer, he prepared to throw the other water ball and change it into ice as soon as it hit target. Just as aang was about to throw the water ball, something exploded under his feet and Aang got pushed to the ground, losing the water in the process. Before he could recover, something went off near him and his eyes suddenly start to hurt as if someone had squirted lemon juice in his eyes. Confused and in pain, Aang went into the avatar state, knowing he had no other choice. As soon as he had the help of all past avatars, Aang managed to bend the strange water out of his eyes. He then jumped into the air, where he stayed hovering in mid air. 

After having thrown the teargas grenade, Tim hoped the battle was over but to his surprise, he saw how his opponent jumped up and stayed in midair. The eyes and the tattoo of his opponent was glowing and Tim knew he was in trouble. Wanting to test the new power of his opponent, Tim ran at him with staff in hand but his opponent created a blast of wind that blew the former boy wonder away several yards. This strange opponent then created a big square out of the earth and send it towards the robin. Just being able to use his shield, Tim  still got pushed away as a ragdoll. Putting away the shield, Tim took his bo staff as the villain was flying towards him. Tim then threw a smoke pellet on the ground.

Aang flew towards his opponent. He would bind the arms and feet of this man to the ground and then give him another chance to surrender. Just then, smoke appeared out of nowhere. It was easy to take care of in the avatar state but when the smoke cleared, his opponent was gone. 

Aang was unable to see his opponent and after sending a powerful earthquake that knocked down some trees, there was still no response.  Aang then flew high in the air, only to see his opponent running towards a small lake. Creating a powerful tornado Aang send it towards his opponent, who got sucked in and spun around. The avatar then used the water in the lake to create to swallow the tornado with the robin in it. 

\The tornado had changed into a whirlpool and Aang changed back into his normal self. By the time the avatar state had worn off, the water had fallen silent again and the boy watched the lake. He hoped he had not downed his opponent as it was not his intention to kill. Still his opponent was out and now the avatar could search for Azula once more. 

Tim Drake swam slowly towards the shore and when he arrived there, he put his re-breather away. Tim was shaken, tired and cold but he still had to take out his opponent. After getting on shore, he took his bo staff again and sneaked towards his opponent. The bald warrior heard him just before Tim could strike and avoided the staff by jumping high in the air. Another attack got avoided when the avatar did a back flip, which got followed with a gust of wind. 

Tim got pushed away and he saw how water was rising from the lake and ready to strike him. Knowing that his opponent would freeze him again, Tim took out the explosive gel and sprayed it in the air just as the water hit him and froze. Just before freezing, Tim had managed to get the trigger of the gel into his hand palm, together with his thumb so he could still push it, although he was in the ice. Hoping it would work, Tim pushed the trigger and a explosion sounded as he fell on the ground, freed from the ice. 

although Tim was free, he was tired and every muscle in his body hurt. He could not get himself to stand up as his opponent walked towards him. 'I give you one last chance, surrender.' the boy spoke. 'Never.' Tim yelled and he used the knife he had taken from his staff and slashed at his opponent, slashing the chest. The pain distracted the avatar and Tim was able to get his bullet shield out in time and delivered a powerful blow to the head with the rim. Tim followed up with a push that forced Aang back. Another hit with the rim send Aang to the ground. Tim knew that his opponent was tough and still was in the element with all the water, so Tim threw a capsule with sleep gas and disappeared into the forest. 

The wound was light as the knife had only cut the skin but the blows of that shield did hurt. Aang rubbed his head in pain and suddenly yawned. Aang felt tired and suddenly realized that his opponent had released a gas. blowing all around him, Aang felt somewhat better and after sticking his head into the water, he was ready to go again. 

This opponent used some of the most strange weapons Aang had ever seen and he knew that his energy bending skills would not help this time. There were just no powers to take away. 

Searching for his gliding staff, Aang suddenly realized that it was still in the forest. Having no time to retrieve it, Aang created an air scooter, jumped on and flew into the air.

High in the air, Aang saw his opponent near a old hut and he raced towards the man in red. When he was almost near, his opponent threw the metallic discs again. Aang blew the discs back towards the owner, who used the shield again to protect himself. Aang landed on the ground, created a fist out of earth and when he was near his opponent, rammed the shield with the new fist. 

The shield received a dent and Tim got pushed backwards but he was still holding on. Tim saw how the fake fist dissolved and was just wondering what would come next when Aang shot flames from his hand as if he was holding a flamethrower. the shield stopped the flames but his shield got hotter and hotter until Tim was forced to release the weapon. More flames came and Tim was just able to leap away. He took his bat claw and shot it to the roof of the hut. 

Aang was not willing to let his opponent escape and he shot in the air, wanting to stop this person once and for all. The two met on the roof, where Tim threw his opponent towards the middle. He himself kept on the edge. 'This ends now.' He spoke and just before Aang could air bend, the roof exploded and Aang fell into the hut. Parts of the roof came down and landed on Aang as he groaned in pain but he still managed to keep himself awake. Just as he was about to enter the avatar state again, Aang fell on the ground, unconscious. He had never seen the small capsule with knockout gas near him. 

The red Robin handcuffed his opponent, who had finally gotten down after a incredible fight. He took the boy outside and was just about to call batman when he heard the voice of Oracle in the comm link. 'We know how the arsonist looks like.' She said. 'Maybe that will help you.' she added. As Tim heard the description, he realized that it was the woman who had been fighting this boy. This boy was no criminal, he had only tried to stop one.  As Tim Drake realized this all, the woman who created this mess appeared and after moving her hands, shot a ball of electricity towards Drake.

Winner: Tim Drake

The Numbers

As you guys know, I have given very sort of edge a amount of points. A small edge is 0.5 points, a medium edge is 1 point and a large edge is 1.5 points.

Avatar Aang recieved:

A medium edge in midrange = 1 point

A large edge in long range   = 1.5 points

A small edge in motivation   = 0.5 points

In total                                 = 3 points

Tim Drake recieved:

A medium edge in short range = 1 point

A small edge in special            = 0.5 points

A large edge in tactics             = 1.5 points

A medium edge in experience  = 1 point

in total                                     = 4 points

This means that Tim Drake has gotten one point more the Aang and therefore won the match.

What really saved Drake were the x- factors. These really helped him archieve victory and if the battle was real, I could see how he could win with better tactics and more experience against a foe as the avatar. Because of these, he could really drain the avatar and set up traps that Aang would never see coming. 

Aang himself is no push over and he could hold his own very well in the fight. His long range and the avatar state were his strongest attributes and would help him well but not enough. One thing that cost the match for the avatar was his defensive style and trying to talk to his opponent. If he had fought more offensive and had used firebending more, Aang would have had a better chance of winning the match.

If i had to say how many matches out of a hundred would have been won by either fighter, I would say that Drake would have won sixty matches and Aang would still get a good forty off. i should add that in none of these matches it would be likely for someone to get killed and if so, it would have been a accident.

I hoped you liked this match between these powerful warriors. Please note that i am a fan of both series and adore both of them.

Scottish Highlander Vs. Duppelsoldner Landsknechte

Two powerfull warriors face off in a battle where both opponents use large swords.


The Scottish Highlander Versus the Duppelsoldner Landsknechte










The Scottish Highlander

The background:
Scotland is known for many things. Its nature, the monster of Loch Ness and ofcourse, the Scottish Highlanders. The highlanders are known nationalists who wear their kilts with pride and glady tell you about their heritage.
The Scottish have a good reason to be proud because since long before William Wallace came into view, they were fierce and dangerous fighters.
It all started with the Picts who troubled the Romans and forced the Romans to build Hadrians wall. During the medieval ages, there were the wars of independence with England that showcased some of Scotlands most famous figured like William Wallace and Robert de Bruce.

With this match, I will focus on the Scottish from the early modern period, around the 16e /17e century.
They fought against the English for freedom and against each other for religious purposes. It was during that time, that the Scottish Highlanders seeked their own place and fought everyone who opposed it. Armed with gunpowder weapons and melee weapons, the Highlanders really showed what they could do on a battlefield.

To talk about the reasons the Highlanders lived and fought, I have to get into social, economic and political reasons and writing that would both be boring and would cost a lot of time.

I will therefore keep my story short and only militairy. I will also provide links so that you can read these things yourself if you feel the need.

During the late medieval ages and the early modern age, the Highland clans fought only to protect their land and claim independence. This battle was a lost cause and they soon had to give up.
The British then got the idea to use the Highlanders in Highland regiments and let the Scottish fight for the English in foreign wars.
The Highlanders accepted fighting in English wars because they were allowed to wear the traditional Scottish attire and wield Scottish weapons. They could gain honour in battle and practise their culture.
If you guys wonder why the Highlanders had to join the army to do these things, the answer is that England forbade the Scottish tradition and those who broke this rule were send to prison.
This tactic worked very well and the Highland regiment became some of the best regiments in the British army.

From this point forward, it got worse with the Highlanders. They got treaded poorly by english and some moved to the new america. They got poor, abused and tortured. From the proud Highlanders, nothing was left anymore.


The weapons:
The Highlander carried a lot of weapons and I have chosen four of them that I found most suited for this battle or for the warrior. I will give descriptions of other weapons that I did not choose but were used by the Highlander. Note that the highlander would not carry all these weapons at the same time but thats where squads come in handy.

The short range weapon is the baskethilt sword.
This broadsword has been in Scotland as early as the 16e century and was quickly adopted as one of the main fighting weapons of the Highlander. The sword thanks its name to the baskethilt that covers and protects the swordhand that could be decorated with Scottish motives. The sword is around 35 inches long and weights between three and five pounds. Obvliously a close combat weapon, the sword had two edges to cut and a tip to thrust the sword into a opponent. It was widely used in combat and there are many manuscripts on how to fight with this weapon.
On its own, the weapon was very deadly in the user's hands but many Highlanders combined the sword with the targe for more defence. These combination made the sword even more feared and dangerous.

The Midrange weapon of choise is the Lochaber Axe. The Highlanders used a lot of pole-arms but I chose for the Lochaber axe because it is a real Scottish weapon. This halberd was a heavy two-handed weapon that could be used against both infantry and calvery.
 As most pole-arms, the lochaber axe consisted out of two parts. The first one is the shaft. Made from wood, it was around 5 or 6 feet in total. The other part is the  blade, which was around 18 inches. The blade resembled a bardiche in looks and the point at the top end was usually sharp.
As if this is not enough, the lochaber axe also had a a hook next to the blade to hook a opponent to the ground or take down opponents from horseback. It also had a buttend spike as a alternative weapon and counterweight. The blade itself could be used in two different ways. Ofcourse, they can be used to cut a opponent down, using two hands to deliver a powerfull blow. The other way the sword could be used is in a thrusting motion, using the sharp end of the blade.

The long range weapon is a firearm, the flintlock musket. I have talked about the musket before in my battles and I will talk about it again.
The Scottish musket was a costly weapon and therefore only used by the wealthy Highlanders. This weapon was often decorated with Scottish figures and altough pretty, lethal on the battlefield.
This flintlock weapon shot small lead balls and had a accurate range of 100 to 150 yards.
The musket weighted around ten pounds and could only fire one ball at a time before it needed to be reloaded. I would like to say that because only the wealthy could get this weapon, it was not used much on the battlefield but one of the more powerfull weapons.

The special weapon may be the one most associated with the Scottish Highlander. I am talking about the claymore.
The claymore, or claidheamohrmor as the Scottish named it, is a big one and a half weapon used much by the Highlanders.
The claymore had the size of a one and a half sword, being 55 inches and weighting 5.5 lb. The sword had a  cruciform hilt to protect the hands and a metal pommel to use as counterweight and blunt impact weapon. Altough the sword has had different shapes and sizes, this is the look the sword had while the Highlanders fought in clanwars and against the English.
The sword had two sharp edges and could slash and cut with lots of power when the highlander swung it with two hands. It could also thrust to inflict damage and even the crossguard could be used to attack if the opponent was really close by.
The claymore was the proud and joy of the Scottish and altough it was also used by the lowlander mercenary's, The Highlanders used them up to the 17e century.

Other weapons used by the Highlander were the Bowis bow and dorcholis arrow, the culveringis cannon, the dirk dagger, halberds, glaives, axes and the dag pistol. A lot of weapons that I did not choose but which were all very lethal in combat.


Protection:

You all know the sight of the Scotsman, wearing his kilt but little is known that the Highlander actually wore armour when he went to war.
The brigiantifilis was light armour that looked like a padded jacket and was lined with metal plates. This armour covered only the chest of the user but did its job very well. Not only did this armour protect against the bladed weapons, it is also said that it could protect against musketbullets, flatting the small balls as they touched the armour.
The picture is not the best one I could find but it shows two underofficers.

The other defence the Highlander has is the targe.
The targe is a round shield made out of two layers of wood, leather, hide and a metal boss in the middle. It was around 21 inches in diameter, usually had one or two leather straps on the back and hads either metal studs or other bosses on it as decoration and protection.
Sometimes, the shield could be upgraded with a spike that would be placed in the middle boss. When not used, the spike would be carried in a small sheath.
It is a good protection that could enable a small spike for extra damage but the shield can only be used in combination with the basket hilt sword during this battle.


X-Factors:

The motivation of the Highlander was his Scottish Pride. They fought against each other because they were Scots, They fought against the English because they were Scots and they fought for the English because they were allowed to stay Scot. The Highlanders were really nationalistic and were proud to be Scots.
These battlehardened warriors were proud to wear the Scottish garb as a badge of honour and and loved to play the bagpipes. This loyalty to Scotland was fueled by the clans.
The highlanders in clans of big families. The clans usually fought together in clanwars against others and when they fought against the English, a unit existed out of one or more clans.
Having a heritage to be proud off is one thing but when you are fighting in battle with your family beside you, you will not back down.
This Scottish heritage combined with fighting in a clan structure made for a really good motivation to fight others.

Now for the Scottish tactics.
There was only one tactic the Scottish Highlanders used in battle and altough it was very simple, it was also very effective.
The Highlanders, who fought in clans, would peform a mass charge from as high ground as possible towards their opponent. They screamed loudly and when near the opponent, they would fire the muskets. When these ranged weapons had ben fired, they would throw them down and keep on running to take the opponents down using their melee weapons.
This masscharge would bring the battle in melee very soon and the screaming/yellling men also caused fear in their opponents.
It should be noted that because every clan had a different number of warriors, the groups had never the same number of soldiers and it could differ a lot how much men were fighting.

Finally, there is the experience to take into account. I could not find anything on training but I can assume that each clan trained the warriors in that clan.
The opponents of the Highlanders can be devided into three groups. The first group consists of other Highlanders. Clan warfare was very commen and the clans fought each other a lot, usually to show which clan was bigger and more dangerous but it could also be because of a feud or to take land.
The second group is the English. The Highlanders have fought a lot against their neighbours who seeked to take Scotland. This was the first time that they actually fought against non Scots. They were succesfull in a lot of their fights and the English quickly adopted them in their army.
This brings me to the third and final group. The opponents of the English.
English had a lot of opponent in the early modern age and the Highlanders quickly proved to be lethal units that dealt with the English opposition. They usually fought in America for the English but they also fought against Napoleon, Canada and Australia against English opposition.


Links:
Here a few links for the Highlander

http://www.scottish-history.com/clearances2.shtml
This site gives a lot of history on the Scottish Highlanders and explains the background way better then I ever could.

http://www.tartansauthority.com/highland-dress/highland-weapons
This site gave me lots of info on the weapons and armour that the Highlanders used in battle. If you are interessed in one of the weapons I named but not used, I reccomend that you read the info on this site.

This youtube video I found gives information on the kilt and the weapons of the Highlander. It is a very entertaining little video.




The Duppelsoldner Landsknechte


The Background:
The elite mercenary's from the German empire are known about three things. Their long pikes, their massive swords and their strange clothing. These fashionfighters are blooded veterans of several wars and some of them even got a higer rank and became duppelsoldners.

The Landsknechte first appeared around 1470. The Swabian alliance needed a army and so they created this elite german soldier. Landsknechte means servant of the country.
Partly because pikemen and halbadiers were in need during this time, the Landsknechte found  their way in the european battlefield. With their massive pikes and huge two-handed swords, they were feared by calvery and other pikecompagnies alike.
Altough they are mercenary's, they never fought for opponents of the German empire and those who did were hunted down and killed. This happened to a group of Landsknechte who served the king of France and from the 4000 soldiers, none was left alive.
They fought against many opponents but the most fearsome were the Swiss. These were feared on battlefield as much as the landsknechte were but because they did not improve on technology, they were soon outmatched and beaten by the Germans in several battles.
The landsknechte fought for food, money, beer and religion. They got payed money and were allowed to take everything they could find from their dead opponents.
The landsknechte usually had only one pair of clothing and when the warriors needed replacement, they took it from the dead opponent, which resulted in their brightly coloured rags.
The landsknechte saw a lot of battle while serving the the empire and some of the people who served the Landsknechte were: the emperors Maximilian I, Charles V, Ferdinand I and Maximilian II. The Herzog Wilhelm IV, Albrecht V and Wilhelm V. Others were Georg von Frundsberg and Peter von Hagenbach Goertz.

Within a compagny of Landsknechte, there were a few elite soldiers. Within every four Landsknechte, ine was a duppelsoldner. These were the backbone of the Landsknechte compagny and were called duppelsoldners. They were the most experienced and best fighters of the the group and they took the most risks, hence the name Duppelsoldner (double pay)
The zweihander that most people associate with the Landsknechte was wielded by the duppelsoldner and also the fire-arms that got used were wielded by the duppelsoldner.
Because of the fact that the duppelsoldner was the better fighter and used a bigger arrey of weapons, I choose the duppelsoldner over the ordinary Landsknechte for this fight.

The weapons:

The short range weapon was the Katzbalger. This arming sword was around 33.5 inches long and had a s-shape or 8-shape crossguard. This was meant to form a protection of the user's hand in combat.
As a arming sword, it was a bit broad near the guard and become more narrow near the tip of the blade. Having two sharp edges to cut, it also had a sharp point to use for stabbing.
The Katzbalger was used primarely by Landsknechte as a backup weapon for pole-weapons, bows and crossbows.
Katzbalger means catfur if you translate it and so the story went that this weapon was kept in a scabberd of catskin but this is highly unlikely. Instead, most people now believe that this close combat weapon was like cats fighting and therefore might be more meant as catgutter.

The midrange weapon is the halberd. This might be a odd choise seeing as pike is the weapon most famous for the Landsknechte but I chose another weapon for a few reasons. First of all, the pike was usually carried by the normal Landsknechte and the duppelsoldner would use other pole-weapons such as the halberd.
Secondly, the pike works very well in a army battle but I believe that it does not work that well in a squad battle where the soldiers could easily be surrounded by the opponents.
The halberd also was used alongside the pike to push other pikes away.
Now for the weapon itself. The halberd is a versatile weapon, used in close to medium range to take out knights and fight against pikes.
This weapon could be between 10 and 14 feet long and consisted of a pole and a axe.
The pole usually had a spike on top to stab a opponent or finish a downed opponent. The axe could be used to hack or slash at the opponent and deliver powerfull blows.

The long range weapon is the Arquebus. This fore-runner of the rifle was muzzle loaded and had a matchlock. It had developed from the handcannon and could take out plate armour from a short range while longer ranges only delivered a dent. The weapon had a trigger mechanisme like a crossbow and because of the muzzle, was easy to reload. It had a accurate range between 109 and 130 yards.
The arquebus found its way all around Europe, Japan and Russia around the 16e century and it got lots of improvement. Maybe the most famous improvement was the volleyfire. This technique where the users would stand in a line and step back in the line to reload was created by the Dutch Willem and Maurice of Nassau but I did not find anything that indicated that the landsknechte used that technique and will not factor that in.
Because the arquebus was a heavy weapon, it was usually used with a stand to rest the weapon on but the Landsknechte did not use these stands. They believed that a real warrior should just keep them in his hands. Altough it is easier to shoot that way, it will cost the duppelsoldner in accuracy.
It should be noted that the arquebus was not mass produced and each one was different from the other. That means that there was no real standard.

The special weapon of the duppelsoldner is the zweihander. This two-handed sword was around 6 feet long, had two sharp edges, a sharp point, a straight crossguard and a pommel. This sword was used in a short period of only the first half of the 16e century. It started off as a large sword but later become more like a pole weapon meant to take out spears and pikes. As a sword, it was still very lethal and many manuscripts are written about this sword.
The sword weighted around 5 lb, was sometimes blunted around the ricasso so the user could have one hand on the blade and it had parierhaken. These were small guards on the blade of the sword that would prevent the sword of the opponent slip towards the base of the sword.
The zweihander could stab, slash, cut but also by using all the power of two hands, deliver powerfull blows. If that was not enough, the landsknechte could also use halfswording techniques and they could use the pommel and crossguard as weapons.

Other weapons used by the Landsknechte were the pike, glaive, broadsword, short sword, axes and maces.  All very known weapon types that would include an arrey of weapons themselfs. However, I chose the weapons most commen used by the Landsknechte but they would be dangerous with the others.


Protection:

As for armour, the Landsknechte wore something named Almain rivet. It was armour that found much use by both the Swiss and the Landsknechte mercenary's because this armour gave protection as well as flexibility.
This armour consisted of a breastplate with backplate that included tassets (tightguards) and shoulderprotection.
The metal plates overlapped each other, which gave good protection altough the armour was of low quality because it was a cheap set of armour.
The soldier would also wear a helmet of iron or steel for good head protection. The helmet did let the face free for optimal vision.
Over the armour, the Landsknechte would wear the colourfull clothing, made from all sorts of materials. Over their helmet, they would wear a big hat with feathers on top.


X-Factors:

I have already touched upon the motivation of the Landsknechte. They would fight for money and even take risks to earn more money. Altough the main reason to fight was to get paid, the Landsknechte also fought because of religious purposes and for the German empire.
The Landsknechte were true christans and would have no problem slaying others because they did not have the same faith.
They also found fighting for the empire very important. Its fine to get paid to fight but not as long as it was against the Holy roman empire and those who did got brutally slain.
Finally I would like to say that altough they got paid to fight, honour was important also and they have shown  to keep fighting to the last man, not fleeying when the battle went souer.

As for tactics, the Landsknechte usually used pikes in army battles where a lot of pikemen would stand close together, with some duppelsoldners wielding zweihanders and the arquebus. Now that they do not fight in army on army but in squad level battles, the Landsknechte would keep the same sort of fighting where they would all keep close to each other apart for one duppelsoldner who would attack from another point.

Finally the point of experience.
As with the Highlander, I was unable to find any comment on their training and will go into the opponents they fought.
The Landsknechte fought a lot of battles all over europe. Examples are the swiss, the french, the Italian, the dutch and the Spanish. They would also fight each other on  rare occasions.


Links:

And here are some links if you want to research these warriors any further. I would suggest that because the Landsknechte are very interesting.

http://www.landsknecht.com/html/history.html
This Link goes more into the history of the Landfsknechte and if you liked the tiny little bit I wrote, you guys will like this. It also describes some of the weapons used.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almain_rivet
This wiki entree is good to see the armour without all the clothing over it so you guys have a good idea what the armour consisted off.

A nice german song about the Landsknechte is in this youtube video. For you guys with a nice video and english subtitles.



Edges:
As always, I will jugde the weapons based on three things: Weapon for weapon, weapon against armour and skill. But this time, I will add something else to it. To make it easier for me to decide who wins the match, I will be adding something to the edge given.
There are three sort of edges that I can give. The first one is the small egde. With this, the egde is narrow and the two weapons are very close. The second one is the medium egde. With the medium edge, there is a good difference between the weapons on some points but nothing big. This brings me to the last one, the large egde. As the name says it, one weapon is completely overpowering the other weapon.
Now my judging system works very well when comparing weapons but when I will try to compare x-factors, things won't work out that well. For the x-factors, I will only look at the x-factors and how well they will peform against each other.
Now I have explained all that, I will start with the edges.


Baskethilt sword Vs. Katzbalger
- The Scottish sword is 35 inches and weights between three to five pounds. Its lethal in both cutting and thrusting and has a basketshaped hilt that fully protects the swordhand. To make things worse, the Highlander has a targe to aid him with the baskethilt sword in battle in defence and a small bit in offense because of the spike.
The Katzbalger is around 33.5 inches long. It can both thrust and cut, using its narrow egde it can get into the flesh easily. This arming sword can have either a s-shaped or a 8-shaped crossguard. It gives good protection against slashed to the wrist.
Both swords can thrust and cut with devastating effects. They are almost as long as each other, with the baskethilt being 2 inches longer. The Scottish sword also has a baskethilt that cover the whole hand while the katzbalger does not have that protection and only has a S or 8 shape for protection.
Lets also not forget that the Highlander has his targe to help him in the battle while the German fighter has to only his sword to fight the duel.

- Weapons against armour is the next part to look into. The baskethilt sword is a great sword but I expect that it cannot penetrate the armour of the Landsknechte. This means that the only targets its has are the legs, arms and face. The spike on the targe will not be able to penetrate the armour either.
The katzbalger also has armour to deal with but of a different sort. The Highlanders worde padded jackets studded with metal plates. This armour was said to be very tough and would stop any bladed weapon. I am shure that it would stop the sword as well. But the jacket only covers the upperbody, leaving the rest of the warrior bare. The Scottish warrior does have a shield to help himself. The targe can block any attack, the opponent throws.
To me it is hard. The German warrior is slightly more armoured while the Highlander has a shield to aid him. There is one more thing I have to account for. I found that the almain rivet was in poor condition because of the use of cheap metals. This will make me think that it will break down faster then the brigiantifilis if the fight drags on. If i consider this last piece of information and think about the fact that the shield can block attacks that are aimed all over the body and can protect parts that are not covered in armour.

- Now comes the skill. Both warriors were great swordsmen who had a lot of training. Usually I cannot see much difference in this part but this time, there is a difference. Altough both warriors had training, the Landsknechte used the katzbalger as a backup weapon. This means that the would spend less time training with it then the Highlanders did with the baskethilt sword, as the highlanders used this sword as main weapon. Not only the training is less, but the fighting with the weapon itself will be less then his opponent.

- To conclude this all, I can be rather simple. The katzbalger is a great and dangerous weapon. It is very good in close quarters and will be very functional when the duppelsoldner looses his weapon but the sword of his opponent is just better. The baskethilt sword itself is already better but the combination with the targe is just overwhelming. This first edge is already a large edge and I think I do not need to explain more about that.
Large egde: Highlanders


Lochaber axe Vs. halberd
- The Lochaber axe is a weapon to be proud off. It is around six to seven feet in total and has some lethal potential. It looks likes a big axe and can be used as such. But the top point is very sharp to enable thrusting attacks and it has a hook to take a opponent to the ground. If that is not enough, this weapon has a buttspike as counterweight and backup use.
This weapon could be used to take down both infantry and calvery using powerfull attacks. This weapon is two handed, that allows for striking with more power but disables the use of a shield.
The weapon of the doppelsoldner was the halberd. 10 to 14 feet in total, it was a destructive weapon that could take out a opponent in different ways.
First of all, there is the axe that could slash and hack any opponent down with ease. Then there is the hook on the other side to take somone down or pull shields away. Lastly, there are the two spikes. One on top of the weapon to thrust and one at the bottom to be used as backup weapon and counterbalance.
Altough the two look nothing alike, they are very similair. Both weapons have a axe at one side and a hook at the other. Also both have the buttspike. But where the lochaber axe has a big axehead, which is sharp at the top, the halberd has a small axehead and a spike on top of the weapon. also the hook is completely different in both weapons. Now the halberd is a good 7 feet longer then its counterpart and that is a very usefull advantage. The other good advantage is that the halberd has a spike to stab a opponent. Altough the lochaber axe can use the pointy end of the axe to stab as well, it is not as good as a real spearpoint.
The lochaber axe has its advantage as well. It has a bigger axehead, which means it can give a stronger punch.

- Now for the weapons against armour. First of all, I would like to say that i can see that both weapons will be able to defend as well as attack. Ofcourse both weapons have hooks to take weapon of the opponent out. Not only could the hooks pull weapons away, they can also pull on armour and bring the opponent down.
Both weapons can thrust but I doubt with much effect. However, since the halberd does have a actual spike and the lochaber needs to use the upperpart of the axe i can say that the halberd will be better at thrusting into the body of the opponent. It should be noted that both warriors can hit the face, while stabbing and kill instantly.
Each weapon has a axe head that can deal much damage. Altough I believe the cutting egde will not do much damage in against either set of armour, it is interesting to note that both weapons can deal blunt damage with the great power that is delivered by the hit. I should say that the armour will still protect well and the blunt damage will not kill on itself but it can take out the armour of both warriors after several hits.
Now to ask, which axe head will destroy the armour of the opponent earlier? This question is easy to answer by looking at the axe heads. The Lochaber axe is clearly bigger then the axe of the halberd and therefore, it will have more of a punch behind it and can destroy the armour of the opponent sooner.

- Here comes the skill. Both warriors were good in using these polearms and could take out a opponent with them. However, the halberd was used as one of the many weapons by the landsknechte. And altough they were used a lot, the duppelsoldners tended to use other weapons a lot also. The Highlanders were proud of their Scottish weapons and they used the lochaber axe as one of their main weapons.
Because the Scottish warriors used their midrange weapon more then the Germans did, I believe that the Highlanders have a tiny edge in skill.

- Now for the hard part. I have made a  good comparison between these two weapons and it is very close. The halberd scored points because its longer and it is better at killing, considering that the attachments work better. But the lochaber axe works slightly better at armour and it has more skill behind it.
If I picture a fight between these weapons, I think that the halberd has a slight egde, just because the better hook and the spike work in its advantage. Also, it has more lenght.
Because it was such a close comparison, I think I will surprise nobody by saying that it is a small edge. The reason why it is a small edge and not a medium edge is, because lochaber axe has somewhat more power behind it and nobody will suspect the sharp point on the axe for actually being able to thrust.
small edge: Duppelsoldner landsknechte


Flintlock Musket Vs. Arquebus
- Now for two firearms in this battle between giants. I should say directly that the flintlock musket is the more modern weapon. That it is the more modern weapon does not mean that the musket has the egde.
First of all, the ways of fire. The musket uses flintlock while arquebus used a matchlock. The flintlock is obvliously more modern but that is mostly in the technique. it would fail less then the matchlock. Both have a trigger to fire but with the flintlock, the gunpowder was ignited in the weapon while the match for the matchlock was outside of the weapon.
Both weapons had the same problems though. They could only fire once before being reloaded, they could misfire or fire by accident. Loading each weapon took a long time and everything had to be done carefully, which is extra hard in a combat situation.
The musket had a maximum range of 150 yards while the arquebus had a maximum range of 130 yards. This means that the musket could hit the opponent earlier. The musket seems to be the better weapon now but I will remind you that only very few Highlanders could afford such a weapon and it was very rare in battle. That means that only one Scottish Highlander will be able to use one in this fight.

- Now for the weapons against armour. I can be very short about this because i found some very good sources on this. The Scottish brigiantifilis is a jacket with metal plates and it was meant to stop musketballs. This means that the arquebus has little chance of killing when the germans aim at the chest and that they will need to fire at the head directly for a kill.
The almain rivet was a good defence and if you count the helmet, the plates will protect well. The problem is that the quality of this armour was less then perfect and I'm shure that if the armour would stop one bullet, a second would kill. That is if the armour stops that one bullet at all. The helmet will protect the German against headshots but i suspect that it will work little better then the body armour.

- Now the skill. First of all the Scots with the musket. The musket it a hard weapon to master. Loading, aiming and shooting is very hard if you are not trained enough, especially in a warzone. Now I have said that only the most wealthy of the highlanders could afford this weapon, which means it was treasured and cared for. But that also means that this weapon saw little action on the battlefield and because of its price, I doubt there will be a lot of practice with it. On the other hand, the user of the weapon does have a certain pride with the weapon and will try his best to prove the worth of the musket in battle.
The accuracy of the arquebus is not good either. It does not have a good aim on it and usually, it would be shot from a standard but the landsknechte shot it from the hand, making the accuracy even worse.
Now i do think that the landsknechte practised with their weapons. The arquebus was cheaper and they would have more of them but considering that each arqebus was different from the other, I think that if one warrior had learned how to use one of them and got another one in his hands, he would begin training with it again all over.

- Overall, even though these are the most advanced weapons, they are less then impressive. These early firearms misfired a lot and one small messup in loading or aiming and you can start over again without having fired a single bullet.
Now for these two weapons, it is clear that the musket is the better weapon. It is more advanced and it will do better against the armour of the Germans. There is however one small problem. They were very rare on the battlefield.
Now it is obvlious that the Musket gets the edge but i need to see what kind of edge it gets. Under normal conditions, I would give the musket a big edge but because it was rare on the battlefield, it will only recieve a medium egde.
Medium edge: Highlanders


Claymore Vs. Zweihander
- This may be the battle between the most famous and most dangerous weapons of these two warriors. Both the claymore and the zweihander were big swords that could kill a opponent with ease and may be the most famous one.
The claymore was very simple in design. This one and a half sword was 55 inches long and weighted 5.5 lb. The sword consists of a blade with two sharp edges and a tip for thrusting. Then there is the crossguard that protects the hands and can dish out some damage as well. Finally, we have the grip and the pommel. The pommel was used as a counterbalance but could also be slammed into the opponent for some blunt damage.
The zweihander is a lot the same, with a few differences. The zweihander is around 6 feet long and weights around 5 lb. It also has a small guard on the blade that prevents from the opponent sword slipping towards the handguard. it can also be used to push the blade of the opponent away to create space.
I should also note that because the claymore is a hand and a half sword, it can be used with one hand and even used with a targe. Having said that, I have found no evidence that this sword was used with in combination with the targe but it is possible and I will keep it in mind.

- When we put these weapons against the body armour of both warriors, we see the same results as earlier. Both warriors will be protected against cutting and thrusting but with the power behind these weapons, the sword can crush both pieces of body armour. And again, because the armour of the duppelsoldner is weaker, it will fail first. As for the helmet of the Landsknechte, it will hold on for some time but fail and break in the end.
Now there is the possibility that the Highlander will use the targe along with the sword. The targe is a good defence but will not work that well against the big zweihander.
First of all, If a Scottish warrior would hold both the claymore and the targe, he cannot get as much power behind the blow as when he would use both hands for the swords. Furthermore, the targe is rather small the sword can attack past the targe with ease. It does provide some defence though and it will not break down.

- As for skill, i can be very simple. Both warriors had a lot of skill wielding these weapons. There is a reason why both warriors were famous with these weapons. They trained with them and used them in almost every battle. Both types of warriors would have know how to wield these weapons expertly and I cannot honestly say that one would have mastered his weapon more then the other.

-  Now to decide which weapon gets the edge. Both swords do a great job at that what they are meant for: killing. But which of these great swords does its job a tiny bit better.
Overall, the zweihander has a advantage. It is longer, it weights less and the guards on the blade does not do it any harm either. However, claymore can take care of the armour of the opponent better and has the possibility to be used with a targe.
I have talked about all the advantages and disadvantages, so I will not repeat myself. It comes down to what i think is more important: weapon or armour. For this instance, I will be going with weapon. Armour is great and that the german armour is weak will hurt him badly but these swords are very good at blocking and especially with the zweihander, there are some nasty techniques. If the sword blocks good, then the claymore will not be able to reach the armour. I also have talked about how the targe can get overwhelmed by the lenght of the zweihander.
I will be giving my edge to the zweihander but it is a rather close edge and the claymore follows not close after.
Small edge: Duppelsoldner Landsknechte


X- Factors

Motivation:
Pride, loyalty to Scotland, heritage and family Vs. Religion, honour, money and the German empire
Both warriors have good reasons to fight. Both fight for their country, with the Highlanders fighting for Scotland and the Landsknechte fighting for the german empire. They both have honour and pride while they fighting but where the Highlanders fight with and for their family, the duppelsoldners fight also to gain money.
Now it might seem a bad thing to fight for money, but the duppelsoldners actually got extra money for taking extra risks. Both warriors have clearly good reasons to fight this battle.
As for who gets the edge in motivation, I have to ask who would keep on fighting to the last man. Who would keeps the spirit up when the battle turns souer.
This question is harder to answer then it looks since both groups are known to fight to the last man.
Hoewever, if i take into consideration that the Highlanders fought in clans, which means that they fight with family and they knew that the family back home was in peril if they lost then the Higlanders have a very strong case. The Landsknechte have good reasons to fight but The Scots just have a edge because they fight for their family and the safety of their country.
Medium Edge:  Highlanders


Tactics:
Charge Vs. keep together and surprise
- Both warriors use a totally different tactic when they fight. The highlanders keep their faith in charging ahead while screaming loudly, while the Landsknechte group together and wait for the assault, to counter it and have one man apart from the rest to inflict damage.
Now it is directly obvlious that the tactics of the Highlander will fail when when its facing the Landsknechte.
While the Scottish warriors will charge towards their opponents, the Landsknechte will simply wait and allow their opponents to get closer while keeping in formation. The landsknechte then can start killing while their enemy's are running towards them.
When the Scots are close by, the Germans can keep in formation and support each other while fighting.
Large Edge: Duppelsoldner Landsknechte


Experience:
Clan warfare, English and opponents of English Vs. opponents of holy roman empire
Both warriors fought all over europe and have encountered similair foes. They will know most of the weaponry and know how to deal with it. The same goes for the armour altough the Scottish do get a few pointers extra because they carry two weapons that is not very well known outside of Scotland, the lochaber axe and the targe. This is only a very tiny edge though, because the lochaber axe has similarities to other poleweapons and the targe looks very similair to a buckler, only bigger.
Small edge: Highlander


The fighters

Highlanders:
Malcolm (leader)- Claymore
Bruce (son of Malcolm) -Baskethilt sword, targe
Ewan (son of Malcolm) -Lochaber axe
Alan (Brother of Malcolm)- Musket, baskethiltsword
Angus (Brother in law of Malcolm)- Claymore
Duncan (son of Angus)- Lochaberaxe, baskethiltsword


Duppelsoldner Landsknechte:
Hans (Leader)- Zweihander, katzbalger
Gerhard- Arquebus, katzbalger
Johan- Arquebus, katzbalger
Frederick- Halberd
Herman- halberd, katzbalger
Andreas- Zweihander


The fight:

The rain and thunder came down over the small group of men. These six soldiers had set up camp near the english coast two weeks ago and were still waiting for the strangers to show up. England was close to war with the Roman empire and the king had convinced some of the best warriors of this empire to come and fight for the English. Now the king had send these Scottish Highland warriors to guide the these men towards London where they would be fully installed as new soldiers.
'Will they ever show up?' Alan asked Malcolm as the man entered the main tent. Malcolm had been assigned the leader of this welcoming party because he was the head of the clan of the Flying Swines. 'Not shure.' was all Malcolm could say. 'We just have to wait a few days more and otherwise send word to the king that nobody has shown up yet.' Malcolm disliked sending a negative message to the English king, the Clan of the flying Swines had always furfilled their duty's and shown loyalty to the crown, hence why they got this special job.
Just as Angus was about to say something, the tent got pushed open and the wet face of the young Duncan appeared. 'A man is coming up the narrow pass.' The three men inside the tent quickly got out and allowed Duncan to bring them to the pass. 'Armed?' Angus asked his son. 'No father. I could not see any arms, nor any other men.' At hearing this, both his father and Malcolm cursed, hoping that it was just a lost farmer and nothing else.
As the four men arrived at the pass, they saw a bloodied man in ripped clothing walking towards them. Malcolm could spot a few wounds from away and as the man walked closer, more damage on the man got visible. 'Are you English?' The stranger asked. 'Close enough.' answered Alan with a bitter smile. The stranger got a surprised look on his face and Malcolm decided to add: 'We fight for the English. We are Scottish.' Now the man showed relief on his face and he started speaking. 'I am persued. Our group was towards you when we were ambusss... attacked by some of our former friends.' The English of this man was not good but the Scottish got the general idea. ' They follow me.' The man continued. The stranger then was about to speak again when he collapsed on the ground.
Malcolm saw the unconcious man on the ground and knew they had to take action. 'Alan and Duncan. Bring this man into the main tent and then come back here. I think we have a fight on our hands.' The two highlanders moved to obey orders as Malcolm set a horn to his lips and blew a loud deep sound. This would call his two sons from their guardingposts. The Clanhead knew he would need all his men now.

'Why couldn't they leave for a hot country?' Gerhard asked out loud after he spat some rainwater in the grass. Nobody answered but Hans gave a soft grunt. They were following the last of the traitors and Hans knew that he had to be taken out quickly. Just before their emperor was about the start this war against England, some Landsknechte had decided to turncoat, probably for the money. Hans hated these type of cowards. You either fight for the holy roman empire or you do not fight at all, was his idea. He hated this bunch especially considering that they had belonged to his group and he felt responsible.
After finding out the turncoats had left for England, Hans had collected his five best duppelsoldners and started the hunt against his former friends. Most of these traitors were dead now but one still lived and was trying to reach England.
The group of six walked another few miles without saying anything, when Frederick called out. 'Tracks in the mud.' Hans looked at the tracks that obvliously belonged to a man and considering the blood that was all around the footsteps, he knew they had the last traitor in sight. 'Speed march.' He commanded and the others doubled their speed instantly.
The duppelsoldners ran, following the trail of the traitor when they saw men on a hill above. 'Halt.' came the command and the other stopped. Two men were standing up the hill and neither man looked like the traitor. These men were armed but considering the Landsknechte were with six and these men only with two, Hans was ready to take these down. Then Hans saw how two others joined the first two on the hill and a few seconds later another pair came to join in. It would now be six against six and Hans now knew that it would be a tougher fight.
'Men stand close. Johan, up in the bushes.' Hans commanded. 'Weapons on ready.' he added. If they were gonna fight, he would let those strangers get to him.
(Highlanders 6- Landsknechte 6)

The Scottish charged. A few moments after Duncan and Alan had left, the opponents that the stranger warned aout had shown up and Malcolm had waited patiently for his sons to join and for his brother and nephew to come back before he gave the command. When they were all collected on the top of the hill, he had given the command to run downwards. The Scottish yelled and screamed as they ran down like mad swines. When they were nearly down, Alan stopped and fired is musket at these German opponents. He then drew his baskethilt sword and ran on.
The landsknechte were ready for the attack and they were only a little surprised by the chosen methode of attack that these opponents used. Clearly, running headlong into them was not the best of ideas but Hans did not mind. The Germans stood ready to recieve this attack as a gun was heard and Herman suddenly fell on the ground. Hans saw a bloody mess in the neck of this duppelsoldner and ordered his gunmen to shoot.
Gerhard aimed his arquebus and fired it at one of the young fighters. None of them was wearing a helmet and he aimed at the face but his shot was off and instead hit the chest of this young fighter. The young fighter fell backwards on the grass but no blood was visible.
Before Gerhard could load again, he saw that the opponents were to close and he dropped his gun in order to draw his katzbalger.
The battle then really started as the men clashed against each other. Gerhard immidiatly faced Bruce, who blocked a attack using his targe and slashed the german at the swordarm. Gerhard dropped the sword in pain and could not avoid a thrust that pierced his throat. As the young clansman drew his sword back, a weapon went off and he fell backwards in pain as his face teared open. Johan, who had missed his first shot had managed to reload quickly and keep his gunpowder dry in order to kill one of the opponents. He did not have time to enjoy the kill as he saw that someone with a big sword that looked much like their zweihanders was running towards him.
( Highlanders 5- Landsknechte 4)

Johan dodged the attack from Malcolm by stepping backwards. Another step backwards made shure that the blade only hit the cheek of the duppelsoldner lightly and when he stepped away another time, he hit a tree. He knew he was lost when the Scotsman attacked him with fury and the big sword ended his life.
On the other side of the battlefield, Hans was fighting Angus. The two big beared men fought with all their power. The rain was still pooring down heavily and it clouded their sight.
Hans slashed at Angus but missed his attack. Angus then countered and rammed his sword against the chest of Hans. The colourfull clothing teared away and the dented armour became visible. Angus saw that this armour could become a weak point and aimed another attack. This time he was the one who missed and Hans countered with a blow to the head that the Scottish could block just in time. Both men attacked and the swords locked in a powerstruggle. Neither appeared stronger then the other and the two men tried to force their way into the defence of the other, when Hans suddenly used his crossguard to push the blade of his opponent away and he landed a solid hit in the face with his pear shaped pommel.
Both men heared bones crack in the face of the Highlander and Hans moved to the side. Angus shook of rain and blood and could not spot the german, who then used the zweihander to slash into the back of the skull of Angus. The man died before his face hit the mud.
 On another spot, Frederick and Duncan were fighting for their lives. Both men used polearms and tried to gain on his opponent. Frederick used his longer halberd to get more into range while the younger Duncan moved around and slashed the weapon of his opponent away. Another stab from Frederick was countered by the axe of the lochaber axe and Duncan pushed on, hoping to use the sharp point on his axe-head to finish the fight. Frederick stepped out of range and slashed with his axe but missed completely as Duncan moved away. Duncan then used the hook on his weapon to try to pull the halberd away but he only managed to pull his opponent towards him. As Frederick almost collided with Duncan, he moved his halberd in front of him. He then used the buttspike to stab his opponent in the foot. Duncan screamed in pain and before he knew what was happening, he got pulled down by the hook on the halberd. Frederick then stabbed Duncan with the spike on top of his weapon and ended the life of the young Scotsman.
Frederick was used to killing and did not take a second notice as he stepped over the body, looking for another opponent. That opponent found him and before he knew what was happening, he felt the cold steel of a axe in his neck and his vision became black. Ewan, who had been shot in the chest earlier had stood up, thanking his brigiantifilis for stopping the bullet.
He had then watched the battle unfold and as his nephew was losing, he came into action. He had been unable to save Duncan but at least he had killed the murderer.
As he turned to watch the battle again, Ewan saw how his uncle Alan was fighting a man with a sword that looked alot like a slightly bigger claymore.
Alan knew he was at a disadvantage with his one handed sword and at this point, he wished he had invested money in a targe. The german slashed with the big sword and Alan was just able to block the attack, altough the blade glided over his handguard. He then jumped into the guard of his opponent, seizing the moment to kill his opponent but his sword hit the helmet of the German and before he could land another blow, he recieved a crossguard in his stumach. He stepped backwards, where he had to block another powerfull attack. His sword almost broke in half but it survived. Alan then stepped aside as quick as he could and attacked the German with one of the most powerfull slashes he could pull off. The man simply blocked the attack with the zweihander and turned the block into a stabbing attack. Before the Highlander knew what was happening, the big sword rammed itself into his mouth and throat. He fell on the ground, where he tried to breath but failed and in seconds, he was dead.
( Highlanders 2- Landsknechte 2)

Now only four fighters were left, on either side two.
Malcolm was fighting Andreas. The two men with their big swords kept each other on a distance and hit either each others weapons, armour or nothing at all.
While they were busy, Hans was fighting Ewan. The sword of the duppelsoldner was as long as the polearm of the Scottish and the two kept each other at bay. Ewan attacked and Hans blocked the attack. The then tried to push the lochaber axe of his opponent away with his crossguard but Ewan retreated just in time.
The two looked at each other, both faces having a white colour. The two then clashed again Ewan retreated after this. He swung his weapon around him, which Hans mistook for a opening. Hans jumped in to deliver the final blow while Ewan stepped backwards and used the force of the swing to ram the zweihander out of his opponents hands. Hans looked surprised for a second but reacted as Ewan came to kill the disarmed opponent. Hans stepped away from the axehead and grabed the wooden pole in his hand. The two then started to pull on the lochaber axe but Hans was clearly stronger and was winning. Ewan let go of his weapon and stepped towards Hans. The landsknechte was ready for such a surprise attack and he let go off the poleweapon also. He blocked a punch dealt by the young Scotsman and delivered a vicious blow in the face himself. Ewan felt how his nose broke and he stepped backwards, only to stumble over a rock and fall down.
Hans grabbed his zweihander again to finish this fight as he glanced to the other two combatants. He saw how Andreas slided over some mud and lost his balance. The seasoned warrior fell down on the ground and Malcolm used that moment to kill him. Hans let the young Scotsman be for the moment, planning to finish him off later. He stepped towards Malcolm and as the older Scotsman turned to face this new foe, Hans slashed at his legs, cutting the hamstrings. Malcolm fell on the ground as he screamed in pain and Hans swung his sword, decapitating the leader of the Scots.
Ewan saw how his father died and considered running for a moment. But he knew that with running, the battle was lost for shure and that he had to avenge his family and protect the family at home.
He ran towards the body of his fallen brother and gathered the sword and targe, trying not to look at the missing face.
Hans walked confidently to the younger opponent and launced several attacks that Ewan was just able to block.
Another attack pushed the baskethilt sword out of the hand of the young Scot and Hans made ready for the killing blow. Instead of stepping away, Ewan stepped towards the German and rammed the spike on the targe into the left arm of the Landsknechte, hitting both muscle and nerves. Hans dropped his sword in pain and Ewan drove the spike into the chest of Hans. The armour gave way the spike struck flesh. Enraged and in pain, Hans pushed his opponent away and then threw the targe on the ground. While Ewan grabbed the baskethilt sword, Hans chose the katzbalger. Due to the damage on his left arm, he was unable to use the twohanded weapon anymore and had to fight with his backup weapon, now wishing he had trained more with it.
The two exchanged blows again and it was now Ewan who was superior. He moved around his opponent and dealt some harsh attacks bot recieved them as well. The two fought on for a few seconds, when Ewan managed to get past the blade of his opponent and slashed at the fingers of Hans. The attack worked and Hans lost grip as he lost two of his fingers. He tried to grab the sword with his pained left hand but Ewan put all his power in a thrusting attack that got past the armour and hit the chest, close to the spot where the the targe had hit earlier. Hans fell down in pain, his eyes watery. He struggled to stand up and continue and failed. Ewan walked up to him and spoke the last words that Hans would ever hear. 'This is for my family!'
(Highlanders 1- landsknechte 0)

Ewan walked away from the body of his opponent and made it straight towards his father. 'I will continue our family and bloodline father. People will remember the clan of the flying swines.' After these words, he took the claymore from the ground and walked towards the camp. There was no time to bury the bodies now. He still had to finish the task set out by the king and as new head of the clan, he had to do it.
As he made it into the tent where the german lay, he noticed the man was dead. He had died from his injuries.

Winner: Scottish Highlanders




The aftermath
In this battle, I used a new system of deciding the winner. I have explained my small,- medium an large edges already but what I did not explain yet was that i coupled these edges to a number of points.
A small edge is 0.5 points. A medium edge is 1 point and a large edge is 1.5 points. Then it was easier for me to count the points and decide on a winner.

The highlanders recieved
Large edge:    1.5 points
Medium edge: 1.0 points
Medium edge: 1.0 points
Small edge:      0.5 points
Total:               4.0 points

The Landsknechte recieved:
Small edge:     0.5 points
Small edge:     0.5 points
Large edge:     1.5 points
Total:               2.5 points

This conclusion actually makes sense to me because altough the landsknechte had a far better tactic, they come short in weapons. When they got a weapon edge, the highlander was close behind and when the highlander got such a edge, the Landsknechte could not get close behind enough. What hurt them as well was their cheap armour. If the Landsknechte would have bought good almain rivet, this battle could be completely different.
The targe helped the Highlanders a lot in this battle, as did the baskethilt sword. In my opinion, they deserve the victory.


Next battle:
The next battle will be one of bending versus technology as Avatar Aang faces Robin the boy wonder in battle

More Info

As I have told you guys, I am going to put my energy into writing a story. But I have found out that I need to do projects beside my story to keep myself entertained and my mind fresh.

These projects will be in the form of both historical and fantasy matches. I will describe these matches later in this blogpost and will first describe the things I will add to the battles to improve them.
As everyone who writes battles, I always try to improve my writing and make the battles more believable.
This has let me to include not only more information but also a new categorie in which I will judge the coming battles.

First of all, I will be using squads of six people with one of them being the leader for these matches. I do this because the effectiveness of the weapons can be shown and I can bring a bit of tactical warfare in the match. This will all enhance the battle-experience and make these battles more realistic.

As for the weapons. As you guys know, I select four weapons and judge them weapon for weapon, weapon on armour and I look at the skills.
Now I am not going to change that format because I like it and it works pretty well. What I am going to do is write down and describe some of the weapons that I did not include but that were used by these warriors.

Now for the most important new announcement, the new categories.
I will go deeper into the X-factors and devide it into three different categories.

The first of them is motivation and loyalty. I will look at what drives the warrior to the battles and how well will morale survive when the battle turns against the warrior in question. Will the motivation be enough and hold on or will the squad of warriors break and lose the battle.

The second one is experience and training. I will look at all the training and experience that both warriors have gotten and which warrior has the wider range of experience/training. If possible, I will also look at who faced the more dangerous opponents to give this egde.

The last one is tactics. Because I am writing squad on squad battles, I cannot include large army tactics and some warriors will use different tactics then they would use if it was a army battle but in the end, I will give a egde on which squad tactics proves to be superior.

now I have announced the changes, I will repeat the matches I will be writing and the order they appear in there is the order in which they will be written and posted.

The Scottish Highlander Vs. Duppelsoldner Landsknechte









Two warriors who are very similair. Both have very long swords, both use early firearms and both have a strange sense of fasion. The patriotic Scottsman will fight the most elite among the Landsknechte, the duppelsoldner. When two powerfull fighters clash their long swords, only one will stand to claim victory.

Captain Hook Vs. Captain Jack Sparrow
 










Two piratecaptains cross blades and guns. One who hunts down a magical boy for the rest of his life while the other is born for bad luck. In a battle between two pirates, who proves to be the better captain and who becomes sharkfood or get forced off the plank.

Attila The Hun Vs. Vercingetorix










Two powerfull leaders who rode big warhorses and guided their men to victory. These two ancient warriors battled Rome in different timeperiods and with different results. Vercingetorix battled one of Rome's finest generals and lost while Attila fought decent roman generals and won.
When these two leaders meet in battle, only one can prove his superiority and take out the other.

Avatar Aang Vs. Keyblade master Sora










Two boys who are drawn into action and fight to protect that what they love. Which of the two boywarriors survives when the the forces of good collide. Is it the Avatar and master of the four elements or is it the Keyblade master who traveled across the whole disney universe and uses the keyblade as his main weapon.
I will note that this is battle will be slightly more different then the rest because both boys are cut off of any help and will face each other alone. That means no Sokka, Katara, Zuko, Toph, Goofy or Donald to aid in the fight.

Hassasin Vs. Ninja







The very last battle is also a very special one. This is a battle of shadows where tools and poisons are used as much as weapons and stealth is as important as fighting abilitie. Both groups of warriors were feared and respected. The Hassasins managed to scare even the great Salah Ad-din and almost killed Edward Longshanks while the ninja's took out the famous samurai and spread fear in Asia.
This will be a different battle for a few reasons. There will be squads of ten instead of six warriors, there will be multiple weapons per categorie and the fight will take several days and nights before a winner appears.


I hope you guys will like all of this.

AresHuls