I play an MMORG game (Second Life Gor) that has a strong combat element and we were discussing what the warriors who fought in the battles were equivalent to in terms of Earth athletes.
(The primary weapons were sword and bow, with some spears, blowguns, etc., with Roman type armor if any (some combatants are outlaws and some are primitives).
The winning athlete in the discussion was: NFL linebacker. Big men, strong, fast reflexes, able to run very fast as well, able to read a defense very quickly (akin to reading a tactical situation in battle very quickly).
But there may be other kinds of athletes – decathletes, rowers, etc., the guys who ski and shoot, forget what they’re called, etc., who might be better, and the crew on this message board would be the ones to know better than video gamers.
So, what kind of athlete would make the best bow and sword era warrior? You can propose boxers, sumo wrestlers or MMA fighters if you like, but let’s assume most kinds of athletes are trainable as medieval warriors. If you could pick from any kind of athlete, who would you pick?
I’m sticking with NFL linebacker, it wasn’t my idea in the discussion I mentioned, but I like it.
I would say decathlete. Linebackers are going to run out of gas after a march of any length, and there are no downs in battle.
Decathletes already have the stamina, upper-body strength from discus, javelin, and shot put, they can jump.
If I can mix and match, I have a bunch of bow hunters using longbows, equestrians for mounted cavalry, and everyone else is a decathlete in a pike square. I’d match that against an army of linebackers any day of the week.
Mounted knight? I’d think maybe a decathlete or a running back type would be good- if only to not weigh down the horse much more than necessary.
Archer? Obviously modern-day bow-hunters and competitive archers would have a skill advantage over the untrained.
Knight in dismounted combat? Probably your linebacker or someone like that.
Pretty much everyone else was just there to get chopped up by someone else, or was working in a formation (think Saxon shield-walls, Scottish schiltrons, or pike squares), and individual prowess isn’t nearly so important as being able to form up, stay in formation and not try and bolt)
Decathletes are a definite competitor here, especially in the areas of spear throwing and endurance. And I recall reading somewhere that the ancient Roman legionnaires used to march 20 miles in a day carrying 40 to 50 pounds of armor and gear, and sometimes had to fight at the end of the march with little or not rest. Must have been awesome endurance athletes.
But there’s also the mental game too, linebackers are skilled at quick reads of defenses, which has to come in handy in a less organized melee battle. If I were a Viking raider chieftain I might prefer the linebackers to the decathletes.
Roman-type armour? The Priest-Kings are going to be royally pissed - anything other than helmet and shield is a clear contravention of their laws, and they’re not known for listening to excuses.
Yeah, but 14 year old girls tend to lack poundage. Male gymnasts might be a good candidate but from what I’ve seen of the Olympics, they tend to be small in stature. Certainly they’d be good in a melee fight where quick reflexes and the ability to move in surprising ways would be at a premium.
I never read anything in the books that suggested the Preist Kings had a thing against body armor. They just don’t like gunpowder and dynamite and so forth.
