Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
The Mystery of The katana
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Votan" data-source="post: 5347221" data-attributes="member: 18680"><p>I am happy to admit to absolutely no expertise on the subject. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> I just have an impression that Western military expertise, especially in the post-Roman territories, was somewhat underwhelming. It's not based on a careful checking of data but rather an unfocused impression. </p><p></p><p>But you see a lot of interesting things happening in the medieval period. For example, I was always amazed at how successful the Vikings were at raiding and conquest and how ineffective broad chunks of Western Europe seemed to be at stopping them. Given how successful they were in (for example) Ireland despite having no supply lines (or very limited ones), it leads one to wonder why the Irish were not able to more decisively defeat them. </p><p></p><p>So I wonder about martial training in the post-Roman "dark" ages a lot. </p><p></p><p>That was why I brought up Agincourt. By the time of Napolean the French had managed to become an effective military power. But the whole history of the 100 years war seems (to a layman dilettante) to be a series of "grossly outnumbered English defeat the French who lose all cohesion as soon as battle is joined". </p><p></p><p> </p><p></p><p>I have heard of HEMA (from the thread you suggested) and even think there was an example of firearms era Europeans fighting Samarai (which suggests that, in the Colonial period, Europeans could beat a force contianing Ronin Samarai on reasonably equal terms). </p><p></p><p>However, my (admittedly just looking at things on the internet) suggests that there were good fencing manuals around by 1500 but I was always unclear how systematic the training was during the actual medieval period (say 600 to 1100 AD). Even in the 1500's, Machiavelli takes about the European focus on cavalry and the heavy use of mercenaries as being serious deficits in how many states ran their militaries. So I assumed that this reflected a less advanced military culture in general. </p><p></p><p>But I am happy to be proven wrong in this regard. </p><p></p><p>In that case, I would argue the <strong><em>perception</em></strong> of higher levels of training might be the cause. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Votan, post: 5347221, member: 18680"] I am happy to admit to absolutely no expertise on the subject. :) I just have an impression that Western military expertise, especially in the post-Roman territories, was somewhat underwhelming. It's not based on a careful checking of data but rather an unfocused impression. But you see a lot of interesting things happening in the medieval period. For example, I was always amazed at how successful the Vikings were at raiding and conquest and how ineffective broad chunks of Western Europe seemed to be at stopping them. Given how successful they were in (for example) Ireland despite having no supply lines (or very limited ones), it leads one to wonder why the Irish were not able to more decisively defeat them. So I wonder about martial training in the post-Roman "dark" ages a lot. That was why I brought up Agincourt. By the time of Napolean the French had managed to become an effective military power. But the whole history of the 100 years war seems (to a layman dilettante) to be a series of "grossly outnumbered English defeat the French who lose all cohesion as soon as battle is joined". I have heard of HEMA (from the thread you suggested) and even think there was an example of firearms era Europeans fighting Samarai (which suggests that, in the Colonial period, Europeans could beat a force contianing Ronin Samarai on reasonably equal terms). However, my (admittedly just looking at things on the internet) suggests that there were good fencing manuals around by 1500 but I was always unclear how systematic the training was during the actual medieval period (say 600 to 1100 AD). Even in the 1500's, Machiavelli takes about the European focus on cavalry and the heavy use of mercenaries as being serious deficits in how many states ran their militaries. So I assumed that this reflected a less advanced military culture in general. But I am happy to be proven wrong in this regard. In that case, I would argue the [B][I]perception[/I][/B] of higher levels of training might be the cause. :) [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
The Mystery of The katana
Top