[Zaluk]

Knight vs Samurai

Knight



vs

Samurai



Location:


Rules:
Knight during the Crusades, armed with a Longsword.
Samurai during Feudal Japan, armed with a Katana.
Both wear their typical armour.

So who do you think would win based on their training, equipment etc?

[Rick]

I think Samurai would win the battle. Crusaders without horses lose their advantage. Location is imo neutral. Katana in trained hands is unstoppable. Poor knight.

[Frog]

Since I am in a geeky mood, I will go on and write my opinion like I would a story. Except, it's like a minute. Here is what I think would happen:
The Samurai would advance first, thrusting his katana at the joints in the Knight's armor. The Knight would bat it aside with his long sword and shove against the katana, using the leverage to land a solid kick against the Samurai's rib cage. The Samurai would pace back a few steps but dart straight back in, They would exchange intense, fast strikes, each evenly parrying and clashing. The Samurai would duck under a swing and use as much force as he could to jam his katana into the Knight's armor. Amazingly, it penetrates his skin, but the Samurai is now at a disadvantage; crouched, he is immobile. The Knight slams a fist into the Samurai, though helmeted, it dents the material and forces him down to the ground.

The Knight tries to jerk the katana out, but he is at an angle which keeps him from applying correct strength. The Samurai rises quickly, seizes the hilt, and snaps it in half, bringing the now shortened blade to slice the Knight's sword hand. However, the thick armor easily handles the strike, and the Knight grabs the back of the Samurai's head, and plunges the blade straight through his throat.


The issue with this is that the Knight is simply too apt to defend himself, as opposed to offensive movements. The Knight's thick armor and chain mail underlayer keeps him from harm most of the time. The Knight can be beaten, just not by the Samurai, almost every time I would say the Knight if they were pit up against each other again and again. The Samurai could put up a decent struggle, but in the end I'd say the Knight would be dominant.
+1

[Fluffy]

Never thought I'd pitch into these discussions, but here's an opinion.

The knights of old typically used swords that weighed... heaps. I don't know the stats and am not in a position to look it up. But that much steel couldn't be less than 10kg (about 22lb for you imperialists). The katana weighs less than 5kg.

In terms of sheer speed the knight has nothing on the samurai. Not to mention the samurai has far better accuracy through training and lighter weapon. Going for the soft spots is their specialty.

I'm not convinced the knight has any chance on foot and one-on-one.

[MasterM]

I remember seeing an episode of a history channel show where they tested a katana and longsword under the same conditions. The katana performed far better, so the samurai would at least have the edge there. I am not sure about armor and training, etc. I would imagine that the knight would be at a disadvantage not being on horseback as Rick said. The knight would probably have stronger armor, plus the shield which he would be trained to use, so that might cancel out the katana's advantage. Might come down to training

[Zaluk]

Just some things I wish to address.

The legendary godsword Katana...

Here's how it does against chainmail. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFu11mSutd0

Also, I want to add that during the time Katanas were used, only the edge was made of quality material, the rest was of poor material.

On the otherhand, the Knights longswords were entirely made of quality material. The Katana would likely break if it were to clash with a longsword.

I believe what MM was referring to was this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDkoj932YFo
Just read the comments on why the video is dubious.

As for speed...

Not saying anyone thought this but Samurai weren't uber acrobats who could pull off sommersaults mid combat.

Samurai would actually likely be slower than a Knight, at least a crusader knight. Samurai had metal plates under the typical leather/chain.

Also, Knights were trained to grapple and wrestle with people in close quarters combat, whereas Samurai would have been fairly small folk. If it got to hand to hand combat, the knight would win unquestionably imo.

Of course, don't just take my word for it. This is what I've gathered during hours of research. Do ye own research if you wish :>

EDIT: I remember hearing that the full plated armour knights would typically wear only weigh as much as a modern fireman outfit.

[Frog]

[MasterM]

I believe what MM was referring to was this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDkoj932YFo
Just read the comments on why the video is dubious.

Yeah, specifically I was thinking of the test on the block of ice. I know it's far from scientific, but there's a large difference in what each weapon did.

[Frog]

What with so many technological and training related feats, I really don't see how the Samurai could ever manage a victory. Even if the Knight didn't have his shield, or sword, I still do think he could handle him. It's just a simple matter of what he has, and how he is trained.

[Mnsomc]

http://medieval-castles.org/index.php/h ... e_middle_a
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/inde ... 209AAFjuTw

Seems like there would be a significant difference in height, which would likely translate to significant difference in reach. If we only consider the most skilled samurai vs knight the result might be different, but it would appear for an average samurai vs knight, knight has a physical advantage to say the least. Quality differences aside, if two swords with different weights collide, I'd assume lighter weapon is morel likely to break. That said, unless samurai has a far superior agility, I think knights have a better chance. Just a wild guess from me.

[Uscari]

I actually think a knight would win easily, for two primary reasons:

1. The Samurai's sword is rendered useless against near full steel plate coverage + chainmail.

2. The Knights sword can reasonably circumvent the semi-covered pigskin-steel plating of the samurai.

Skill is almost not a factor when the armor quality and coverage is so vastly tipped in the Knight's favor.