Speculation and Worldbuilding; Pegasus Combat and Weapons (Again, With Notes from Shadiversity) · 3:04am Nov 16th, 2017
Followers of mine may remember the series of blog posts I did covering pony weapons and combat; one each for pegasi, unicorns, and earth ponies. (And the rant that started it all, about how dumb it is for ponies to use human guns.) To this day, they are some of my most-viewed blogs.
One YouTube user I occasionally watch--Shadiversity--does analyses of various fantasy topics, with an emphasis on concessions to realism and with medieval history as reference. YouTube recommended one of his videos, discussing winged humanoids and the weapons and tactics they might use (angels and demons are the main examples).
Obviously, this doesn't translate directly to ponies. As I've often complained about discussed in the past, ponies have wildly different biomechanics and physiology compared to humans (even before we get into things like magic and flight). But there is some overlapping discussion to be had here.
There are two major ideas that Shad discusses. The first is the way that wings might disrupt or impede a lot of weapons types, and how one would need to tailor their weapon to that idea. The other is how utterly overpowered flight is in combat, and how one needs to capitalize on that to avoid counterattacks and deal the most damage possible. He mentions spears and dropping flechettes/metal darts or burning oil on targets as viable options.
In particular (starting at 13:57), he discusses the idea of how an attack naturally uses the limb closest to its target. This means that the legs/feet are actually the most efficient way to attack ground targets from the air. He proposes a spiked/bladed boot and swoop attacks might be the most effective and realistic option, in that case.
This last idea is actually easily translatable to ponies. And during my own post, I also noted the idea of using dropped objects (though mine were less directly lethal).
Overall, I think there's some interesting ideas here worth discussing, so I decided to share the video. Shad is not always the most charismatic fellow and he can sometimes ramble. But the video made me think, and I am always on the lookout for an interesting discussion starter.
Ive always been fond of Katars, or "Hoof-blades" as weapons for Pegasii.