Update! The Aspis, the Tomahawk and Writing

Click here to check out the post for the Aspis

I have completed the art for the Aspis, it looks pretty simple, but even with an art program drawing circles are a pain. I spent more time the last couple weeks on world building than I did with anything else so I haven’t finished the Tomahawk art, or the Weapons & Warrior post that was supposed to go up this week on the Tonfa. I’ll be focusing on that this week and have it ready by Friday. I’m also going to try getting that Tomahawk drawn up and ready before then too.

Now for an update on those impossible goals I made:

Task 1: I have 108,000 words in the World building book, which is still short of the 120,000 word goal, but that’s huge progress compared to all the words I wrote last year not including the blog. I may have written 50,000 words in all of 2013. I spent the year reading and editing.

Task 2: I did not get any chapters of Devil Dog written, but I edited the first chapter a little. I’ll need to get that back on track after this coming week. I want to send it back to the editor by June. Clock is ticking!

Task 3: The D&D campaigns are waiting on my world building to reach a certain point so that I can use my own settings. I’ve also been toying with the idea of creating my own Role Playing Game game like Pathfinder did when D&D veered off into the 4th edition abyss.

Task 4: I almost succeeded with 5 drawings a month. I got in about 3, 4 if you count the Aspis.

So that’s where I’m at, and see you next week. June is coming fast so I am going to dive right back into these tasks. Have a great week!

Weapons & Warriors: The Kanabō of the Samurai

Art by TL Jeffcoat

Although the Katana and other smaller blades were the most famous and most common weapons a Samurai used, they weren’t the only weapons in his arsenal. The Kanabō was probably the heaviest of the weapons a Samurai trained in. This two handed monster varied in actual length and weight, but there were those made that were the length of a man and were heavy enough that when swung down in a chopping motion they were powerful enough to destroy what they hit.

The thick club-like shaft was usually made with a very strong heavy wood, and sometimes with iron. Then one end was studded with iron spheres. The studs were inserted in rows along the length of each side of the shaft. Once completed it looked like a giant baseball bat with iron balls lined along its length.

There is a saying in Japan that goes “Like giving a Kanabō to an Oni.” What is an Oni you ask? It is basically a mythological Japanese demon that was supposed to be very strong. Strong enough that artistic depictions of them often had them wielding the Kanabō with only one hand. So the saying basically means giving someone an advantage while they already had the best chance; never a good idea.

Weapons & Warriors: Spartan Phalanx, The War Machine

Art by Steven DeVon Jones

Part 2 of the double header finale for the Spartans. The conclusion to yesterdays post about the warrior culture that made the Spartan Phalanx the most elite hoplite formation in history.

If you read some of the previous posts on Sparta, you’ve already got a grasp on what a phalanx is. Simply put, it’s a rectangular formation of heavily armed infantry. They move as one and fight as one. The key item of the phalanx was the Aspis. This large round shield was large enough to protect a man fully if he crouched behind it. The trick to using it with a unit of men is by holding it slightly to their left so the wielder could see around the edge of the right and stab his Dory spear at anything that crossed his vision. Not only the Spartan holding the shield in the front was wielding a spear through the opening. The rows of soldiers behind the front row would stick their spears out as well, creating a layered porcupine effect. The shield would protect the entire left side of the Spartan and offer some protection to the right side of the Spartan on his left.This allowed the men in front to focus on killing what was directly in front of them, and the fewer angles you had to worry about, the more focused you could be on what was in your path.

This second row held their shield up overhead and angled to where it added a higher barrier to the one in the very front row to block arrows, spears or other projectiles from penetrating into the phalanx. Therefore protecting the men not involved in the combat yet. The rows behind these other rows would also hold their shields high, to protect themselves from any projectiles from above. Their shields were made so thick and solid, that no matter how many arrows an enemy could fire, the shield would never be rendered useless.

From a distance, the phalanx would appear as a bronze wall with many spears protruding from the front, either slowly marching toward the enemy or digging into a defensive position. They could literally wait all day when they were defending their place. For example, the Spartans at Thermopylae defended a narrow valley against a tremendous land army. It only took three hundred to defend the pass.

At that time, most nations bowed to Xerxes without even putting up a fight, in fear of being crushed by his massive army. It could possibly be the biggest army to ever be assembled in those times. Yet, despite their numbers, they still had inferior training, and relied more on their ability to overwhelm opponents facing them in open ground. When they came upon the single phalanx in the valley, they assumed they would just crush it with numbers. What a surprise it must have been to Xerxes when not only did they fail to crush it on the first push, but they were repelled. They continued to repel the Persians until scouts found a secret path through the mountains to allow them to flank the Spartans. The seven to eight hundred Greeks protecting the Spartans flanks never stood a chance, because they were not raised like Spartans. They were from places like Athens, and had come to help King Leonidas, but they were nothing but farmers and blacksmiths. None of them were soldiers.

Moving and fighting in unison is not easy, especially without radios or bullhorns to shout over all the screaming in mid combat. The Spartans spent time every day by lining up in their formation and practicing marching and fighting as a unit. Each was trained to fight the correct way no matter where they stood in their formation. This way, if someone fell in front of them, they could immediately close the gap and the phalanx would hold tight. Whenever an order was given by the commander of the phalanx, it was passed on by those around him so that all of the phalanx would know their plans. The video in yesterday’s post about Spartan Culture also shows great examples of the Spartan war machine in action.

The Dory was the main weapon used by the Spartans as the enemy stepped into range. The spear tips would spring out from the small gaps between shields with deadly accuracy and then retract as fast. The double tipped Dory was designed exactly for this purpose. When the tip was broken on one end of the Dory, the Spartan would flip it and use the bladed rear. If both ends were broken, the Spartan drew his Kopis. This meat cleaver usually meant more motion and closer enemies, but this is what the Spartan lived for. Even down to their swords, the Spartans would hold the phalanx and rarely break formation, hacking away their enemies from behind their impenetrable shields.

The secret to the Spartan’s phalanx that allowed this temporary victory against such impossible odds was more than the formation of the bronze wall. It was the Spartan culture, their military training from youth. The entire nation was built for war, and as the war raged on after the battle at Thermopylae was over, the Spartans took command of the united Greek nations to stand against the Persians and not only expel them once and for all, but then advanced into the Persian borders and claimed several key areas that made sure that the Persians would never return. They invaded their invaders. I bet Xerxes never expected a tiny blip on the map to ever do that to his vast empire.


Next week I will start an in-depth look at the ingenious and rare weapons of the Rajput.

I hope you enjoyed this edition of Weapons and Warriors, click here to view the entire catalog of weapons and cultures. Thank you, see you next week.

Weapons & Warriors: The Dory of Sparta

The first weapon an enemy faced when fighting a Spartan was his spear, also known by the Spartans as a dory. These spears were very long at about seven to nine feet in length and were used primarily while the warriors were in phalanx formations. The phalanx is when the warriors lined up in a square or rectangle. Those in front would hold their shield in front of them a little to their left and covering their fellow warrior’s right side. This created small windows that they would poke their spear out of. Not just the first row of men either. They usually set up the formation about eight rows deep. So those behind the front line would hold their shields high to block any incoming arrows or rocks and poke their own spear out of any space available. This is quite a formidable site if you were facing this on the battlefield. It was the equivalent of a Bronze Age tank. Invincible and deadly to anything that tried to face it head on, except for maybe another phalanx.

Doesn’t sound effective you say? Ask the Persians at Thermopylae. They had an army of three hundred thousand including ten thousand of their most elite warriors called the Immortals. Three hundred Spartans used this formation to bottleneck the Persians into a valley and stop them in their tracks. The only thing behind the Spartans was a few hundred farmers from the neighboring regions, untrained for war and scared out of their minds. Even the Immortals were defeated when they marched against the Spartans. It’s not just a movie storyline, this was a historical event. The heavy shields and armor forced enemies to close in for melee combat to break the phalanx. This was not an easy thing to do when the broad leaf shaped blade of the dory was protruding several feet from the impenetrable bronze wall and wielded by a lifelong disciplined warrior. Most of the enemies of the Greeks had not adopted shields or using metal to coat them, making their front line extremely vulnerable to the dory.

Spartans trained with the dory all their lives and they had no equals on the battlefield when it came to the accuracy of how they used this weapon. The spear made an excellent ranged weapon as well. They were built to be well balanced, straight and sturdy so that it could be thrown as easily as jabbed. The leaf shaped blade was designed so that if anyone was pierced in the torso by this spear, it didn’t matter where, they would soon be dead because it was wide enough that it was nearly impossible for it to miss an organ. It could also be fatal if it struck a limb because the odds of slicing through a major artery was pretty good. Unlike a sharpened stick that could miss vital organs or be deflected by armor, the wide blade was made of bronze so it could pierce armor as well.

The dory wasn’t meant to be a close ranged weapon, but when it was in the hands of the well trained Spartans, it was as deadly as a sword. The rear end of the dory was often tipped with a bronze spike to be used in melee if the Spartan desired to do so instead of drawing his sword.

Here's a bonus pick just because I had requests to see the alternate and wildly popular Spartan apparel from the recent movie 300. I'm sorry ladies, but according to history, most Spartans actually wore a bronze muscle cuirass over their chests. The armor was usually designed for the man wearing it, however and it more than likely did not do justice to what was underneath it. Keep in mind I said most. I think read somewhere at one point the Spartans had removed the cuirass to allow more flexibility and agility.

The Spartans exercised and practiced combat as part of a daily routine. The movie probably did not exaggerate the physique as much as it did the violence. The Spartans were the champions of the ancient Olympics year after year in their time for a reason. That wasn't because they let any part of their body become imperfect. Some historians have said that the Spartans even disposed of any newborns who had any form of imperfection. They took strides in perfecting their genetic lines. They're daily combat routines also weeded out their week, who were even killed in practice if they were unable to protect themselves. That is a topic for a different post however.

Hope you have enjoyed another post on an ancient weapon. See you next week.

I hope you enjoyed this edition of Weapons and Warriors, click here to view the entire catalog of weapons and cultures. Thank you, see you next week.

Weapons & Warriors: The Aspis of Sparta

Art by TL Jeffcoat

You think Captain America was the first hero to ever wield a shield as a weapon? Guess again. A shield not only used as a very deadly weapon, it was built ahead of its time. The bronze shield of Sparta was one of the earliest shields that were as dangerous a weapon as much as it was protection. The shield is known as a Hoplon by historians, which is a Greek word for weapon or tool of war. Some people believe Spartan Hoplites took their name from the shield, but that is debatable since the Greek term for weapons and armor was hopla and that the Greeks themselves called the shield an Aspis.

This shield was unusual compared to a lot of ancient shields. It was first designed by the Greeks in around 700 BC or possible a little before that. Like many shields it started out as wood, which was cut into a disc in the shape of a shallow bowl. The Spartan shield was also rather large compared to many shields, but designed to not slow down or impede the warrior using it. They averaged around three feet in diameter. After the wood was prepared, the outer layer of the shield was coated in bronze. Then the Greek letter Lambda (which appears as an upside down V) was painted red across the outside.

What makes this shield ahead of its time was the fact that this wooden and bronze layered disc was light enough to move around a battle field and it was strong enough to stop a blow from a steel sword. Keep in mind that steel wasn’t even invented in the time of the Spartans. So other than a well-aimed arrow fired directly into the shield, nothing was getting through that thing. No spear, sword or mace in 700 BC would break through it.

Deadliest Warrior did a special where they compared Samurai and Spartan weapons and armor, and Samurai steel was unable to penetrate the shield. The 30lb kanabo (huge mace) was ineffective in breaking the arm holding the shield or ruining the shield itself. The show is a bit campy and unbelievable as far as their comparisons to warriors, but they use a Mythbusters style method of testing a weapon's capability for carnage. The results for the Spartan shield were mind blowing.

You could certainly say the Aspis was the glue to Sparta’s elite warriors. Not only was it virtually impenetrable in its time, but if a Spartan was forced to engage in close combat with his sword it wasn’t uncommon for him to swing the shield after his follow through from a sword swing. It was like a one two punch, and the bronze coated shield was like a blow from a  mace, that was capable of shattering an unprotected skull. Even with a helmet on, the shield was capable of delivering a blow that would render the victim unconscious. Think about that for a minute. Hundreds of cultures used shields, and either used them to push enemies or block an attack. How many ever thought to use it like a hammer, bringing me back to the “ahead of its time” comment. Not only did many cultures never think to swing a shield edge at an enemy, they weren’t usually expecting it either.

There’s a reason 300 Spartan’s held back the 2,00,000 warriors of the Persian army of Xerxes at Thermopylae. The movie was a little over the top, but the basic story is pretty spot on as far as history goes. They held their ground in that little niche of a mountain pass without any loss until they were betrayed and flanked.

I hope you enjoyed this edition of Weapons and Warriors, click here to view the entire catalog of weapons and cultures. Thank you, see you next week.