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Author Topic: Effectiveness of Medieval weapons  (Read 12844 times)

Sir James A

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Re: Effectiveness of Medieval weapons
« Reply #15 on: 2014-03-13, 02:32:21 »
A short scientific video on the "cleaving" of steel and iron:

Nice! It's a shame the text speed is so varied, I had to rewind and pause half of it. Great info in it.
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Sir Nate

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Re: Effectiveness of Medieval weapons
« Reply #16 on: 2014-03-13, 02:55:37 »
A short scientific video on the "cleaving" of steel and iron:

Nice! It's a shame the text speed is so varied, I had to rewind and pause half of it. Great info in it.

Agreed.
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Sir Edward

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Re: Effectiveness of Medieval weapons
« Reply #17 on: 2014-03-13, 13:04:30 »
I love how the artist chose to illustrate the intestines spilling out. They just don't illustrate Bibles today like they used to.

So true, so true. Books in general would be so much better if they were illustrated like they were in the 13th century. :)
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Sir Robert

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Re: Effectiveness of Medieval weapons
« Reply #18 on: 2014-03-21, 04:27:05 »
Highly unlikely, not just as its steel vs steel, but the amount of force needed for such a blow, and speed at which it would have to be delivered would be in the 400 m/s @ well over 100 tons if modern stamping is any indication of sheer force. But considering that kind of impact would also move the person as well I think it's less likely. Shearing through maile is possible, but I think in tha case of a helm it would crush/deflect first. I have a Kevlar helmet from Desert Storm that was hit by shrapnel and was tore off my head by the force rather then penetrated not the same but it demonstrates force of impact. A axe with a spike will certainly pierce, but that's not cutting through.

Sir William

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Re: Effectiveness of Medieval weapons
« Reply #19 on: 2014-03-21, 16:11:20 »
I see it as being used for entertainment purposes- we all need our heroes to be larger than life, don't we?  Although I have often wondered, with adrenaline dumping gobs of go-juice into the bloodstream along with the very real fact that one could die that day if one did not commence with the killing- with that sort of cocktail, would it be so far fetched to see such feats in such a battle?  Even in these tests, there is no fear of reprisal or backlash, no one is fighting to the death (something that, I think, changes a man, at least in the moment) - when the exercise is over, everyone can sit down and talk about it, expound on theory but overall, it lacks the requisite punch that would be associated with real battle.  Maybe not necessarily cutting an enemy (or a helm) in twain but who knows?  We're used to a uniformity in armor due to modern materials and workmanship but would all warriors in period be dressed in similar quality armor?  Wouldn't an old, cheaply made pot helm be less likely to maintain structural rigidity than a well forged one?  Wouldn't a rusted, old hauberk be more likely to fail than one of higher quality?

Having never been in such a life or death situation, I can only speculate but I'd be willing to bet that those of us who serve or have served in the armed forces in wartime could expound at length in greater detail.
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Sir James A

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Re: Effectiveness of Medieval weapons
« Reply #20 on: 2014-03-21, 18:33:32 »
We're used to a uniformity in armor due to modern materials and workmanship but would all warriors in period be dressed in similar quality armor?  Wouldn't an old, cheaply made pot helm be less likely to maintain structural rigidity than a well forged one?  Wouldn't a rusted, old hauberk be more likely to fail than one of higher quality?

Given my basic understanding of metals, and having hit them with a hammer a bunch of times, I would say:

All warriors were not in similar quality armor: varied by region, maker, price, etc
A helm made with more slag, or less proper heat treating, would certainly be less protective
Rusted mail would certainly fail easier and much more quickly since the surface area of mail is so tiny on each individual ring

What I think would happen when slashing heavily into a slag-laden poorly made helmet would be that the helmet would deform and crumple, rather than split or shatter; the helmets I've seen from BotN that are cracked were heat treated modern materials. There's a "line" with heat treating where it is better to a certain extent, and beyond that extent, becomes more fragile and likely to crack instead of deform. Especially poorly done heat treating or material with too much slag, which won't take heat properly.
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Thorsteinn

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Re: Effectiveness of Medieval weapons
« Reply #21 on: 2014-03-22, 18:02:32 »
Remember the helm from BOTN fro the Italian team that failed so bad there was a huge hole in it?

BTW this could easily kill someone if it happened with a sharp sword at Hastings (no cups remember), and this was just a stick fight for fun:

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« Last Edit: 2014-03-22, 18:05:13 by Thorsteinn »
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Re: Effectiveness of Medieval weapons
« Reply #22 on: 2014-03-22, 18:08:46 »
Yup. Looks about right. LOL
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