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Inspired by an issue of Usagi Yojombo, when an arsehole representative from Spain makes mincemeat of various Samurai in duels. Usagi only
Wins through guts and determination, and a surprise attack with his short sword.


So lets take the average Samurai of an era, against an average Spanish swordsman of the same era.

Originally posted by cdtm
Inspired by an issue of Usagi Yojombo, when an arsehole representative from Spain makes mincemeat of various Samurai in duels. Usagi only
Wins through guts and determination, and a surprise attack with his short sword.


So lets take the average Samurai of an era, against an average Spanish swordsman of the same era. Spain fencer stomps. The ability to poke your opponent from afar is far more valuable than the ability to slash stuff really good.

What about a Japanese pikeman/spear vs same?

Does the Samurai have armor? If so, the fencer won't stand a chance with a rapier.

No armor.

Even if they had armor, isn't it fairly weak, with a lot of exposed areas?

Japanese armor is good enough for a rapier, please don't downplay Samurais

Originally posted by cdtm
No armor.

Even if they had armor, isn't it fairly weak, with a lot of exposed areas? No, a samurai with armour would be virtually impervious to a rapier. Their armour isn't as effective as a knight's plate mail, but they are still clad head to toe in iron and leather plates which would be fine for the purposes of this thread.

Rapiers are essentially worthless against an armoured opponent. The samurai could be wielding a moderately-sized stick and he'd probably beat the fencer to death before the fencer could kill him.

Both without armour and the fencer probably wins. The one-handed dexterity of the rapier combined with its reach make it very good 1v1 as far as swords go.

Stupid hypothetical, way too many variables go into something like this.

no armor = advantage to the fencer. It's speed and quickness win out, and by a fairly wide margin. In armor = exactly what neme said. Rapiers are not very good against armor.

Originally posted by cdtm


What about a Japanese pikeman/spear vs same? Spear/pike user stomps HARD. Watch the below video and watch dudes consistently get destroyed. Spears are objectively better weapons all around. Unless you've got a good sized shield, your best bet is to run away.

afqhBODc_8U

Originally posted by emporerpants
no armor = advantage to the fencer. It's speed and quickness win out, and by a fairly wide margin. In armor = exactly what neme said. Rapiers are not very good against armor. Armor can't be pierced by conventional melee weapons anyway.

Whether it's iron or steel, it's not getting through.

Originally posted by Dark-Kenshin
Spear/pike user stomps HARD. Watch the below video and watch dudes consistently get destroyed. Spears are objectively better weapons all around. Unless you've got a good sized shield, your best bet is to run away.

afqhBODc_8U One-handed sword, yes.

But that also isn't a fencer, and a one-handed shortsword and a rapier are 2 different things and both are used very, very differently.

It also depends on what rapier it is, how good the samurai is, and how good the fencer is.

For example, someone like Miyamoto Musashi would absolutely demolish any fencer you can think of.

Just as well, Sir William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, armed with his one-handed sword would decimate most spear users, guy is no joke, won over 300 duels in his life-time, which, safe to say, is a lot, for sure in the top 5 most duels won for any type of person, even those who dedicate their life to dueling.

There's too many variables that go into this, and it depends on what era you're talking, what century, hell, even what DECADE.

www.badassoftheweek.com/index.cgi?id=14584301105

William is a badass

Originally posted by XLR87T3
www.badassoftheweek.com/index.cgi?id=14584301105

William is a badass Shit nvm, it was 500, not 300, jesus ****in christ.

The point is which equipment has the advantage. Skill being equal, the fencer wins in an unarmored duel. A rapier is to fast and quick. In armor samurai has the advantage. Yes, a katana isn't going to do jack against armor, but it's got a better chance than a rapier. A katana could at least provide SOME concussive force, which is what is needed against someone in armor.