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| SFReader Forums > SFReader > Ask The Expert > swords on horseback vs foot? | Forum Quick Jump
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Hearthweru
Neophyte
      
Date Joined Dec 2005
Total Posts : 127
| Posted 12/13/2007 8:43 AM (GMT -5) |   |
Dragon Angel said...
Hamstersbane said...He pulls out his +12 Wand of Oh No You Din't from his Bag of Keeping Stuff In and turns them all in to bunnies! Sorry, I know it doesn't help, but I was inspired by the other post about RPG fiction.
I'm a little behind in the rules, but I thought the pluses were only supposed to go up to 5.
Must be a houserule or an invocation of Rule 0
'Haiku Short' at Liar's League...
'Grimble' at Southern Ocean Review...
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Dragon Angel
Lord Dragon
Date Joined Sep 2004
Total Posts : 1066
| Posted 12/13/2007 10:38 PM (GMT -5) | | | | |
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Rob Mancebo
Adept
Date Joined Jul 2005
Total Posts : 987
| Posted 12/14/2007 12:07 PM (GMT -5) | |
Keralen said...
I really do love this forum.
Let's make it interesting. He misses the bad guys at the massacre site, but later finds out where they live. By now he has four good fighters with him. The bad guys have kidnapped his little sister. Hero wouldn't mind slicing off a couple of pieces'a villain, but finding her is his fixation; he's willing to die to save her. The baddies' place is a normal, unfortified farm on a fjord. Hero doesn't even know for sure the sister is there. 11th century Europe; no military or military weapons. The baddies are sadistic raiders: one of them is a berserker, the rest just fight dirty.
Strategies? I do have a kind of complex idea, but just wanna see what you all come up with.  - Egil would have just tossed burning brush onto the roof when they were having supper and killed whoever rushed out that wasn't his sister. (Remembering that dwellings weren't big on windows or multiple doors.)
- Others, less huge and violent, would've probably used the old stand-by of waiting till they were drunk and went to bed. After a successful raid, a celibration was in order. Lots of Iron Age folks hit after hours when no one was prepared. It made for a very simple raid. I know it seems simple and you'd think they'd be ready for it, but history says not. The Apache were counter-attacked in the same manner numerous times. Everyone's got to have a party when they get back from a raid. It makes following them closely a wise tactic.
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MattDempsey
Neophyte
Date Joined Dec 2007
Total Posts : 57
| Posted 12/14/2007 1:39 PM (GMT -5) | | If the primary concern is the sister then the attack has to be quick enough so she cannot be killed or used as a hostage and capture at least one of the baddies to interrogate in case the sister is elsewhere.
A secondary goal would be to remove the mobility of the nasty folk by denying them their horses either by stealing or killing them.
One problem with waiting until those inside the farm are drunk is the potential for harm to any innocents inside, the longer she is in the clutches of savage villans and all that that might entail. Perhaps an attack as soon as the farm comes into view is appropriate?
If the plan was mine to make, I would wait until dark. The enemy would not be wearing its heavy armour and tend not to have weapons to hand. At some point in the evening, someone is bound to leave the farm, to check on the horses or to empty a bladder. This would be my target for the prisoner. With someone from the inside leaving the farm door would probably be unlocked. Once one of my comrades takes the weak bladdered baddie in hand I, with the rest of my merry band would storm in and kill as quickly as possible.
Assuming the farmhouse is small then how many people can realistically fight inside it. I might send another of my helpers to do the horses. That would leave 2 well armed and ready warriors against 5 ill prepared, drunken bandits without weapons instantly to hand within a confined space.
Just a few thoughts anyway.
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Jaqhama
Adventurer
Date Joined Oct 2007
Total Posts : 530
| Posted 12/17/2007 8:53 AM (GMT -5) | |
crystalwizard said...How about giving him a crossbow and a couple of bolts?
A long bow, some distance, shoot the guy on the last horse first.
So the ones in front don't know they're numbers are being depleted.
As the lead horse approaches, shoot it, and any remaning horses.
Now either shoot the riders on foot, or hack and slash with your sword.
An Uzi and a dirt bike would probably not go astray either? 
You can read some of my stories here: Swamp Story. Down South. Florida Haze.Wild Justice...
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Rob Santa
Sage
Date Joined Apr 2004
Total Posts : 1485
| Posted 12/17/2007 9:42 PM (GMT -5) | | Your guy is screwed, glued and tatooed. Really, if you assume your riders have any mounted training whatsoever, there's no contest. Speaking of Bruce Lee earlier, I'm reminded of a few scenes where he's standing in a circle fighting dozens of men. It's impressive, but he's fighting them one at a time. Had two gone it at the same time, he's toast. One need only bear hug him and drag him down (that's how it's taught to teachers in schools, by the way) and wait for someone else to jump in.
So your first mounted soldier runs him down; it's what horses do best. If the first horse doesn't succeed, the second guy is right there to finish the job (with that oh-so-effective backhand passing strong with the saber). And there's still four more horses behind him.
For laughs, about three years ago, I asked my cowboy buddy (well, as much of a cowboy as you can have in Rhode Island) to let me use him for mounted target practice. I was armed with a simple staff, about a six foot length of bamboo. He had a three foot length. Of the few dozen shots I took at him (and I've got some skills, mind you) I hit him maybe three or four times. He easily landed blows to my shoulders and head (hooray, Bell bicycle helmets!). And the horse pushed me around and stomped me twice; nothing serious, just on the top of the foot. A trained horse would have bit me, knocked me down, and so on. I'll never try it again, but I'm glad I have the personal experience to use in my writing. And all for the price of a bottle of Jim Beam. Go figure.
However, all that aside, this is a fantasy you're writing. You get to make up the rules. It doesn't have to be realistic; it only has to be believable. If thre average reader thinks a guy can take on several mounted soldiers with your tactics, then go for it.
Rob Santa
Hopelessly Addicted Writer of Speculative Fiction
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Rob Mancebo
Adept
Date Joined Jul 2005
Total Posts : 987
| Posted 12/17/2007 10:57 PM (GMT -5) | |
Rob Santa said...
For laughs, about three years ago, I asked my cowboy buddy (well, as much of a cowboy as you can have in Rhode Island) to let me use him for mounted target practice. I was armed with a simple staff, about a six foot length of bamboo. He had a three foot length. Of the few dozen shots I took at him (and I've got some skills, mind you) I hit him maybe three or four times. He easily landed blows to my shoulders and head (hooray, Bell bicycle helmets!). And the horse pushed me around and stomped me twice; nothing serious, just on the top of the foot. A trained horse would have bit me, knocked me down, and so on. I'll never try it again, but I'm glad I have the personal experience to use in my writing. And all for the price of a bottle of Jim Beam. Go figure.
- For research purposes, that was an excellent drill. Good idea!
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erazmus
Master
Date Joined Jul 2005
Total Posts : 4557
| Posted 1/2/2008 4:03 PM (GMT -5) | | Its the "balls" factor. Sure, they horseman know they can take him, eventually. Its the eventually that has to pause them.
The same theory applies to the lone lawman standing down an angry mob. Two rounds in the shotgun and six in the pistol, any descent sized mob can run him over, but who goes first?
Establishing that the next guy in line is toast, no matter what his buddies do afterward, can take the enthusiasm out of the group. So spectacularly slaughtering one, as in Unimanus's example, could work.
Or, in the other nine times out of ten, you get a couple and the others turn you into paste.
Mike
Michael D. Turner
"Psyched Up" in _Turn the other Chick_-ed. E. Friesner-Baen books
www.baen.com
"Dutchman Rescue"in Continuum SF #6
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"An Incident at Black Tongue Tavern" in _Bash Down the Door and Slice Open the Badguy_ from Fantasist Enterprises:
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erazmus
Master
Date Joined Jul 2005
Total Posts : 4557
| Posted 1/3/2008 1:49 PM (GMT -5) | | | | |
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Nik
Adept
Date Joined Feb 2007
Total Posts : 780
| Posted 1/4/2008 1:18 AM (GMT -5) | | Rob Santa said...
For laughs, about three years ago, I asked my cowboy buddy (well, as much of a cowboy as you can have in Rhode Island) to let me use him for mounted target practice. I was armed with a simple staff, about a six foot length of bamboo. He had a three foot length. Of the few dozen shots I took at him (and I've got some skills, mind you) I hit him maybe three or four times. He easily landed blows to my shoulders and head (hooray, Bell bicycle helmets!). And the horse pushed me around and stomped me twice; nothing serious, just on the top of the foot. A trained horse would have bit me, knocked me down, and so on. I'll never try it again, but I'm glad I have the personal experience to use in my writing. And all for the price of a bottle of Jim Beam. Go figure.
Picturing this whole scenario is making me laugh.
Nicholas Ian Hawkins
Forthcoming
"Knowledge and Dust," in Magic & Mechanica, from Ricasso Press, Winter 2008
Published
"Relativity," in FLASHSHOT, September 28, 2007
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muskrat
Humble Creator
Date Joined Jan 2008
Total Posts : 26
| Posted Today 7:42 PM (GMT -5) | | I'm new here, but have had horses most of my life, have trained horses to bow and rear and have worked with some great trainers. I would fear more six guys on the ground than on horse back. There is a white band near the top of the hoof called the coronary band, which is very sensitive, and stepping on that will definitely provoke a response. Also, downing a horse, with or without rider is not that hard, grabbing a rein and pulling back on it or even grabbing the bit and pulling on it in the right way will down a horse with one hand, rider and all and it would be difficult to defend against that from up top. You also have to bear in mind that swinging a sword, a big sword, on a horse is difficult, horses move where the weight moves (or away depending on how they are trained but I think it would be safe to say that a warhorse would move under weight). And six after one, would be easy to get them tangled up in each other while you scoot under and away. A horse coming down on a rider might injure a leg, if armored, then the armor would likely dent, and the injury be worse. Also, you never see it because its so cruel, but one guy could take down six horses fast with leg or other sword inflicted injuries, provided they are not barrelling down on him, they'd have to be circling. And it would be hard for more than one mounted person to charge a single person without running into each other. Maybe two could try to catch the guy in the middle, but even so, they'd have to make sure they didn't kill each other. I say, if he's quick and smart, he can get out of it.
Muskrat
"Brain? What is brain?" --Kara, giver of pain and delight, Spock's Brain episode 61
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