Danger Dave
New member
Skorzeny, I thought the Mongolian short bow, although much more powerful than other short bows of the time, lacked the range and penetrating power of the longbow. Unfortunately, I can't back this up right now, as all my reference materials are at my parents (new house, no bookshelves yet!). The Welsh longbow was definitely a weapon fired from a stationary position, though - I don't think I've ever heard of a longbow being fired from horseback.
Matt, to the best of my knowledge, the samurai made little if any use of shields. Their primary weapons were two-handed (halbard, bow, katana) and that precluded the use of a shield. Their armor was designed with extra pieces to help deflect blows, however. It's kinda hard to describe - they looked like little venetian blinds attached to the arm pieces of the armor.
I think there was a bit of a difference in philosophy between the equipment of the knight and the samurai - a knight's accroutements were geared towards defense first, then offense, while the samurai seemed to take the opposite approach.
This has been/is a great topic, with a lot of insight and good questions!
Matt, to the best of my knowledge, the samurai made little if any use of shields. Their primary weapons were two-handed (halbard, bow, katana) and that precluded the use of a shield. Their armor was designed with extra pieces to help deflect blows, however. It's kinda hard to describe - they looked like little venetian blinds attached to the arm pieces of the armor.
I think there was a bit of a difference in philosophy between the equipment of the knight and the samurai - a knight's accroutements were geared towards defense first, then offense, while the samurai seemed to take the opposite approach.
This has been/is a great topic, with a lot of insight and good questions!