Jun
22nd
2015
Requesting Combat Ideas · 12:26pm Jun 22nd, 2015
So, in the future of the story, some major fighting is going to happen. I have a way of doing fight scenes, and they are honestly one of my specialties. I haven't put a long fight in the series, yet, just sparring matches. The ebb and flow of a long battle is something I think you will enjoy in the later parts of my stories.
As such I am wondering what you guys would like to see in a pony battle. The sorts of moves, weapon types, styles of spells. That sorta stuff. I have my own ideas and I have many things planed out already but there is some room for more stuff, and you guys often have great ideas.
If you want to share those ideas and I like one of them, I just might use it.
My preference, I don't like the use of guns and crossbows, they're too simple and too easy to write if you get what I mean. They make it feel dull to me. Writing a Devil May Cry fic myself would probably help steer that opinion. I prefer a larger use of melee weapons such as swords, spears, scythes, halberds, glaves, so on and so forth. Standard bows are much better than their easy-to-use counter-parts.
But that's just me.
3170180 What's your take on a historically accurate take on crossbows? Where they take longer to reload than a musket, and only pierce armor out to say 30 yards?
I'm a HEMA practitioner, so I agree with your like of melee tools, but I'm thinking you're thinking of the crossbow from Van Helsing, while I am thinking of windlass drawn bows on a stick. Though to be fair, I don't expect to use crossbows. Most combatants will have spell power for ranged solutions anyways.
3170199
Shorter reload than a musket but less accurate and shorter range, but still pretty powerful. When within range, the shorter reload puts the crossbow at the advantage, but when out of range the musket could more reliably hit the crossbow user due to it's better performance.
Armour piercing capability of a crossbow? I'd say max range to about 100 yards if you want to hit anything, but I may be wrong. It'd pierce most armour reliably up to around half that, so yeah, 30-50 yards sounds about right. If you want better stats you may wanna' research it. If you ever go into rifle territory, feel free to ask me about stuff. I'm trained with rifles in both firing and in theory, I could give pretty good info.
3170388 Ah! You sir are thinking of light crossbows which were more of a hunter's tool than a military weapon. The crossbows you could reload by hand do not have much range or power compared to say, a long bow. Their advantage was the ability to stay loaded and ready to fire all day. Sure those weapons could pierce armor at very close range, but I'm talking padded halburks and leather armor. Those bolts commonly would get caught in chainmail or even thick clothing.
The military crossbow required a winch like device to load, took forever to load because of it, and was far more powerful. It was also mostly used in sieges not field combat because it's more of a sniper's tool, great for picking defenders off of battlements and the like. Additionally since a longbowman could loose 12 arrows with ease before a crossbow was redrawn let alone reloaded and aimed, the crossbow was a supplement to the medieval army, not a replacement for the bow.
As far as ponies go... I dont think they would develop a crossbow. If you think of how they are used, meant to be held loaded and ready to fire while you move around, it's not something a pony is capable of doing without telekinesis, and if you have TK you also have a phaser in your forehead. So you don't need ranged weapons.
I think that thrown weapons are much more likely to be used by ponies personally. Earth pony with a chakram would be terrifying.
3170408
What about blades? I know most stories portray pole weapons as the main use for ponies. But again, I think that's mostly a TK thing. With only hooves all that 'pole' is going to get in the way, and While I'm playing DMC3 I want to talk about other blades the might use. What about the two I'm using now in DMC?
Scimitars and Claymores. I think Scimitars are much more liable for a pony, they're more compact and are greatly curved, and would probably be used by the Saddle Arabian ponies. They would also be great for pegasi as they would be able to dual wield two big Scimitars like flurry weapons and hover around slashing their enemies to hell. Not great at armour piercing though. They are also quite short due to such an extreme curve, so an agile pegasus getting close would be a big danger.
A Claymore would be an Earth Ponies weapon as they are more capable of doing things like standing on their hinds and are stronger for swinging large swords. Though Claymores are clumsier and require some thought behind attacks as they have a larger recovery time
3170552 Well we actually see in canon they have swords that are identacle to human ones, as well as kite shields. Since these are in Shining Armor's home in Canterlot, and he's a Knight Captain of the Guard (ranking military commander) we can assume these are not "wallhangers" but parts of his armory. We also see in canon that ponies can rear up and stand on their hind legs and and a little mobile while doing so.
It stands to reason they could train to stand and fight for short periods at a time, which would explain why they have human style weapons at all, and not something like a sythe blade attached to a cuff that slips around the boot. It also implies they can grip and wield a sword with their hoof, lending credence to the tactile telekinesis theory. (I assume if the pony could lift it up by pushing up they can 'grip' it with a hoof and pull or whatever, but their grip is not as good as a hand.)
This has resulted in my AU where, yeah exactly what you say, pony fighters and soldiers will use swords or short blades so they cah easily sprint, rear up, slay a foe, sprint away, ectra. Mind you pole arms have their palace too... but not in one on one combat, in massed formations with shield walls. Seriously, aside from the glave, spears, and naginatas, very few pole arms are meant for one on one, and with a transitory biped (what you call a quadruped that can stand, like a bear or racoon) they would not be able to easily transport them.
3170581
Yeah. Pole weapons are a crowd control thing, I guess. Apart from spears, which are made for causing huge damage in one hit at a 'safe' distance. Then the're stuff like lances and pikes which are ridiculously big for taking out mounted enemies. I'm not sure if they'll ever see use for a pony not just for mount reasons, but for the fact they're huge and won't be very convenient to carry around. I thin the Griffons would use them for punching through a Royal Guards plate armour with a charge.
One of the main weapons for a pony would probably be gauntlets and greaves to be honest, they're just the best for close up general combat. Though if modified, could a ponies malleable hooves wear gauntlets and grip a weapon at the same time? Then they would be a back-up if they were ever disarmed.
3170599 Actually yes! There is a real world medieval invention called the "locking gauntlet" which allowed you to literally lock your hand into a grip so your weapon could not be removed. A similar device would work jsut fine for a pony and for my AU be SUPERIOR to their grip (the average human could wrench a weapon from their grip. Mechanical adhearing vs electron attraction.) Infact, lots of guards used magically animated prosthetic talons to use griffon weapons properly (there are not many left anymore, there was a major war after all).
s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/bd/b8/aa/bdb8aa45a8d6275ad4b65b2829fc0454.jpg
The mechanism isn't visible here but the lower left gauntlet is a locking one.
As far as your point with lances... we see them in the show but they appear to be for sport not war. (Especially because a pegasi dive bombing with a javalin is much more effective than a lance...)
3170624
I still think Scimitars are the best for a pony. The curve is substantial enough compared to the size that their shorter fore-legs could unshoulder and shoulder them efficiently as well as being easy for them to use
georgehernandez.com/h/xMartialArts/media/swords/scimitar.jpg
On the curved note, Katana's would also be quite useful for the bigger ponies with longer legs. The curve is less pronounced.
3170711 THe scimtar is the best choice. A curved blade has many benefits which would suit a pony. The katana however... no.
The katana is a weapon which requires very specific usage or you will break it. The reason the katas are so universal and so important is the blades were total shit. Their steel was cheep, brittle, and you can actually bend one with your hands they they will stay bent or snap. A pony would break a katana as they couldn't get the angles correct. Also it takes AGES to become good with a katana, which was why Samauri historically are famed archers, not swordsman. Thanks Hollywood!
Also, the kilij (a Persian take on the Arabian twular a scimitar family blade) is a much better over all sword. Warning: Brutal destruction of a pig carcase.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikVMXhcjbYc
A kilij can be swung around like a bat if you want and still cut that good. it's the weapon that's doing the work not the refined skill, and it's better than a katana in the hands of a master. Also the kilij is an excellent defense weapon when using the Arabian scimitar techniques. Hey, it was good enough for Vlad the Impaler.
3170741
A pony could, in theory, get angles right in a katana style. They would be sheathed un the underbelly with the blade facing downward, being clipped quite far down the scabbard for ease of use when on their hinds. It would be possible to at least get diagonal angles correct quite easily considering the forelegs of a pony is capable of some pretty radical movements. They shouldn't have any more problem using one then we would.
Also, I've see the video of a katana striking a broadsword. Did not go well for the katana. Took a good 15 mm chunk out of the katana at the impact point and the blade buckled on itself. I agree. If you're going to use a katana, you need to know how to use it or you'll break it. It's a precision tool designed for a specific job, it can't just do everything.
3170960 Fair enough, but still you do not issue a nobles blade to your troops. There is a reason the gladius was issued to everyone in the Roman Empire. I can teach someone how to use one effectively in a week tops.
In terms of more high tech weapons, I dont think we would see guns. Too many small fiddly bits. Can you imagine a pony trying to reload a magazine? Let alone a black powder weapon. They cant have much dexterity of hoof as they write with their moults. I'm faily certain that starves or wands with a preset spell are issued to troops as ranged weapons. Something you can point and hold on a target untill it's out of energy, toss aside and grab another.
3171034
Fair enough. Katana's were pretty hard to make with old techniques anyway. What about, and trust me this is interesting... Nunchuks. They have four grabbing limbs and with the proper training, a pegasus could make use of all four points on their body that they could use to grab them with while in flight. Could be used as a secondary as they can be folded.
And interestingly enough, some sort of explosive launcher. They have fireworks and have the ingenuity to make simple electric appliances and stuff like that. Fireworks+Tube and firing mechanism=Death, right? Like the Chinese did, they could make simple launchers? Too far?
3171286 Well Pinkie has a canon which appears to be designed after mid 1800's field artillery pieces so their millitary tech is probably in line with that time piriod. So no, some simple rockets wouldn't be out of line. Especially not since the ancient Koreans had a rocket swarm firing weapon called the Hawatcha. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yM2NcPwsngU
dramatic, chaotic, intense, lasery, magicy, and swordy...
and bloody
I'm all for the death-mosh pit style of battle
(accurate to the tech and magic levels of battling groups, accuracy would be nice, with a bit of embellishment)
3173142 Accurate tot he tech levels... Hummm...
Eh, Sombra could tank it.
3173207 hell yeah! I always love a good explosion