Gregor
Lord of Altera
We tend to have a really romantic image of fighting, where swords cut through armor easily, and people with heavy armor are tin cans who can barely move. Ofcourse, much of this is fantasy but i want to atleast tell how it was in reality.
First off, lets talk about heavy armor.
Knights in full harness were not as slow and inflexible as you might imagine, weighing around 40-60 pounds, lighter than modern soldier's equipment. Knights armor was also better balanced, instead of all of it in a backpack.
People can do cartwheels in full harness, as well as easily jumping off a galloping horse.
People were not stupid, if it didn't work well they wouldnt use it.
Now, lets move onto longsword techniques against opponents with full harness. Plate armor and maille made sword cuts largely useless. Instead, knights would go to the half-sword or to use the sword to help them grapple where the entire sword is a weapon. Or, they may use more-striking which is when the knight would with both hands grip the blade to smite with the pommel or crossguard.
If the knight could get the enemy knight onto the ground, then he may very well use a dagger to finish off his opponent by thrusting at vulernable parts, such as the eye slits of the helmet.
When plate armor became more popular, two handed weapons were used to get through the armor, as well as blunt weapons to break the bones within the armor.
Bows hardly pierced armor, and light crossbows didn't do it either. Heavy crossbows did.
Only the very best armors however, could stop crossbows with a draw weight of a thousand pounds.
Shields became less popular because of the fact that projectiles became too powerful for shields to stop. Also, shields are virtually useless if you are wearing plate armor.
Once plate armour became common, just whacking people with a sword became ineffective. This style is for man-on-man combat or duels. In actual melee combat with multiple enemies, one would use fighting picks, maces or axes against plate-armoured enemies.
Fights between two people with plate armor could last for hours!
TLDR: Knight can move, and your longsword thrust/slash wont do much.
But Greg, isnt plate armor op as hell then?
It had its disadvantages, your field of view was very limited, and overheating was a serious problem.
Also do realize in those times it was extremely expensive to have plate armor, let alone custom made plate armor.
Knights were mostly middclass men and did not have full plate armor. Since you also have to maintain it.
Think of this next time you think "john the lone ranger" can cut through heavy plate, albeit with bow or sword.
First off, lets talk about heavy armor.
Knights in full harness were not as slow and inflexible as you might imagine, weighing around 40-60 pounds, lighter than modern soldier's equipment. Knights armor was also better balanced, instead of all of it in a backpack.
People can do cartwheels in full harness, as well as easily jumping off a galloping horse.
People were not stupid, if it didn't work well they wouldnt use it.
Now, lets move onto longsword techniques against opponents with full harness. Plate armor and maille made sword cuts largely useless. Instead, knights would go to the half-sword or to use the sword to help them grapple where the entire sword is a weapon. Or, they may use more-striking which is when the knight would with both hands grip the blade to smite with the pommel or crossguard.
If the knight could get the enemy knight onto the ground, then he may very well use a dagger to finish off his opponent by thrusting at vulernable parts, such as the eye slits of the helmet.
When plate armor became more popular, two handed weapons were used to get through the armor, as well as blunt weapons to break the bones within the armor.
Bows hardly pierced armor, and light crossbows didn't do it either. Heavy crossbows did.
Only the very best armors however, could stop crossbows with a draw weight of a thousand pounds.
Shields became less popular because of the fact that projectiles became too powerful for shields to stop. Also, shields are virtually useless if you are wearing plate armor.
Once plate armour became common, just whacking people with a sword became ineffective. This style is for man-on-man combat or duels. In actual melee combat with multiple enemies, one would use fighting picks, maces or axes against plate-armoured enemies.
Fights between two people with plate armor could last for hours!
TLDR: Knight can move, and your longsword thrust/slash wont do much.
But Greg, isnt plate armor op as hell then?
It had its disadvantages, your field of view was very limited, and overheating was a serious problem.
Also do realize in those times it was extremely expensive to have plate armor, let alone custom made plate armor.
Knights were mostly middclass men and did not have full plate armor. Since you also have to maintain it.
Think of this next time you think "john the lone ranger" can cut through heavy plate, albeit with bow or sword.
But I suppose that works, too. The name to refer to the misconception of easy-puncture is not important.