IF you see the guy from the future. There’s nothing more frustrating than not knowing where fire is coming from. And that’s if you recognize what’s killing you as enemy fire.
I got no cite for this, but didn’t the horses sometimes throw a few haymakers during battles? Seriously, a hoof to the chops from an excited warhorse would wreck you.
What you did, I saw it.
Have you considered writing scripts for My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic? They love horse-related puns too.
Agreed. It looks a lot more like magic if they don’t know where it’s coming from. But after they run away, what do you do next? Whatcha gonna eat? How many MREs did you bring with you? I don’t think the idea of Future Wizard power is going to get anyone very far. Bringing some communication devices, some gold, and some Bic lighters with you and contacting your allies will get you far more than simple weaponry, IMHO.
Yes, that is why Hans Blunderbus was able to reign over most of Europe as soon as he invented his firearm.
Gunpower and primitive firearms were known in Europe since around 1250. In fact, the grandson of Edward “the Longshanks” I, Edward III used them against the Scots.
In reality, midevil battlefields were loud, crowded, confusing places. I doubt the introduction of a single deadly noisemaker would cause thousands of soldiers to suddenly panic.
A good comparison might be Cortes’ conquest of the Aztecs in 1519-21. A small number of troops wielding early handguns and advanced crossbows, combined with the overwhelming shock value of mounted knights, allowed the conquistadors’ native allies to take advantage of breaks in the Aztec lines. The conquistadors’ technological advantages weren’t enough to win a battle on their own, but they multiplied the force of the native allies enough to prove dominant on the battlefield.
Consider a single Marine trying to stop a cavalry charge. He’ll never be able to kill all of the enemies, especially if they realize that he’s alone, or that he’s an unprotected target. However, if he’s mixed in with a group of foot soldiers, he’ll be able to help break cavalry charges by shooting the horses out from under the knights, causing a massive pile-up and weakening the charge enough that his allies will be able to kill the remainder easily. Likewise, if he can take some potshots at the enemies just before his own allies countercharge, the enemies will be in disarray, their carefully braced infantry formation weakened and disorderly, allowing his allies to break the enemy formation.
Your dismissal hurts me in my heart. Pun aside it was a serious question.
Serious answer - yes, heavy knights on heavy horse would indeed simply run over the enemy lines if they could, trampling men under their hooves. The horses were weapon systems, with everything that implies.
I used to work in the glass trade, we used a lot of Kevlar & ballistic nylon, both worked well vs blade/cut & puncture impacts, so I would be of the belief contemporary armour would work, especially when ceramic plates get added.
Also you don’t need to kill all your opponents, just enough to cause them to break.
Also a lot of assumption on here says well once the modern troops run aut of ammo, they all say well thats us our of it then, as opposed to, right let’s do what must be done to win!
Naturally a soldier equipped with the very latest weapons will defeat hordes of simple savages wielding spears. We are just so much cleverer than those we despise. No-one can outwit us.
I doubt it. It’s not like medieval warriors were unfamiliar with the idea of body armour, and modern tests have shown that bodkin points could penetrate steel plate so it would most likely pass straight through a kevlar vest.
I doubt it would pass through ceramic inserts though.
I wonder if a person wearing modern body armour be able to simply outlast a medieval opponent in a fight, I imagine it would be less tiresome to wear? It would probably be easier to move in as well.
A ballistic vest weighs about a stone but its remarkable comfortable after you’ve been wearing it for a while, especially if its personal issue, and a stab-vest is much lighter again (though ironically less comfortable).
edited to add: it might be amusing to send the modern soldier in wearing full bomb-disposal gear, they’d get him eventually but it would be pretty intimidating at first!
If I can ask two slighty-unrelated but still pertinent questions-how bullet-resistant would a knight be to an M16 or even just a sidearm? And what kind of damage would a cannon do to a tank?
This idea is explored in the short story The Man Who Came Early, about an American GI who is transported to Iceland Viking times. His modern ideas alienate him from his Norse hosts and his is eventually declared an outlaw. He runs out of ammunition - the sorcery fails him, as the Vikings see it - and he is put down after a brave last stand.
^ not very. If Deadliest Warrior is anything to go by (and it isn’t), a pirate’s blunderbuss will go through plate mail, but modern ammunition would go though it like butter. As for a cannonball against Chobham armour? RPG-7s bounce off it!
After going back 750 years and mowing down the bad guys with a machine gun, I’d be worried about melting.