Weapons & Warriors: The Scissor of the Romans

Art by TL Jeffcoat

There is much confusion about this mysterious weapon. It’s only known to have been used regularly by gladiators and history is unclear whether the word Scissor refers to the weapon or the style of gladiator. Some historians believe that it is the name of both; some deny the name to either.

The Scissor was a simple weapon in design, with an iron tube and a handle inside topped with a crescent shaped blade. The handle allowed the Gladiator better control of the blade that faced away from the tube and was mounted by a metal shaft. The shaft was most likely attached to the handle, through the top of the tube, to enhance its durability and control. There is some speculation to this, but most weapon specializing historians would agree that the blade would need to be attached to the handle and not just attached to the tube itself or the blade would be impossible to manage when it’s struck by another weapon.

Weapons Update!

Next Monday I'll post the latest Weapons & Warriors article. So for this week, I am presenting 3 more drawings for previous posts. The Urumi of the Rajput, Daneaxe of the Norsemen (Viking), and Shuriken of the Ninja. All three are fascinating weapons; click on their links and check them out if you haven't already.

Weapons & Warriors: The Cutlass of the Europeans

Art by TL Jeffcoat

The most famous sword used by pirates in the 1600’s and 1700’s is often rumored to have been invented by pirates, but my research turns that out to be an unproven legend. The Cutlass has been a common tool for sailors for centuries. Its blade is strong enough to cut heavy ropes and canvas, and small enough to be used in close quarters combat. The blade was short enough to easily avoid getting entangled in various riggings found on a sailing vessel while fighting off a boarding party, or boarding another vessel.

The blade is broad, flat, curved, and about 2 feet in length (approximately 0.61 meters). Only the outside of the curved blade is sharpened, and the handle is usually protected by a hand guard of some kind, either a cup shaped piece of elaborately designed metal, or a simple loop. This gives the Cutlass an additional technique with the backhand or jab using the pommel or guard to strike an opponent that is too close to slash with the blade. The hand guard is also useful in protecting the sailor from losing fingers when a blade strikes the handle.

Makraka Drawn...

Art by TL Jeffcoat

I've been writing my fingers off, but I squeezed in some art time by completing the Makraka, and made some more progress on the Hussite War Wagon. Here is the Makraka, check out the original post it's been attached to for more.

Next week, I'm planning to post a new Weapons & Warriors. When I'm not working on that, I'll be working on the new chapters for Devil Dog. Have a great 4th of July world.

Picture Update

I was trying to hold off posting the pictures for this week till both were done, but the Hwacha is taking a little more time than I anticipated. So instead of waiting any longer, here's the one I did finish. The link to the article it's for is below.

Weapons & Warriors: The Kanabō of the Samurai

I'll get back to the Hwacha and get it done before posting another update next week. Have a great Easter if you celebrate it, and if not, well have a great weekend!

Weapons & Warriors: The Horseman's Pick of the Europeans

Art by TL Jeffcoat

The cavalry of Europe had a variety of weapons in their arsenal. One of the craziest and yet effective against the heavy plated knights was the Horseman’s Pick. The design evolved from a version of the war hammer. The balance for the head was sharpened and stretched to create a long spike that was sometimes curved.

All of the weight of the Horseman’s Pick was concentrated in the head of the weapon. The thin light wooden or steal shaft allowed the wielder to swing the weapon and let the momentum of the spiked head do its damage. This was an easy weapon to generate a lot of force with, but the weight of the weapon required the warrior to pull back before a swing. Any Knight that could see the Horseman pull back would have a couple seconds to prepare for the attack, making it a slow and difficult to hit with weapon.

Weapons & Warriors: The Tonfa of the Japanese

Tonfa Art by TL Jeffcoat

I’ve covered several weapons from Japan that were used by Samurai and Ninja, but the Tonfa was not very common among either. Never the less, it was a common weapon among the common people of Japan during the Shogunate centuries when civilians were not allowed to carry weapons. Sometime around the 1100’s, the Tonfa came into existence in Okinawa. There is a lot of discussion on whether this weapon was first invented in Japan or China, but until that is ever decided, the Tonfa is often associated with Japanese style martial arts schools, so I myself think of it as a Japanese weapon. The use of the Tonfa as a millstone handle did originate in Southeast Asia to grind wheat, but was probably not considered a weapon early on.

The basics of the Tonfa is pretty easy to learn, and is so versatile and effective that many law enforcement agencies in the United States trained their officers to take assailants down with a Tonfa. I used to hear a lot of people call them nightsticks because of their black aluminum materials.

Another picture update!

I completed the two pictures for this week. That's 3 down so far and 2 to go before March. Check out the post on the Katara if you haven't seen it before. It's one of my favorite weapons of all time. The Katara of the Rajput.

I didn't have much else to say this week because I'm still plugging away on the world building. Unfortunately I haven't directed much attention to Devil Dog, but that will change soon. I've almost got all the basic stuff into the World building book. Then it'll just be a bunch of fleshing out details of various things as they come to me. Once I've reached that point, my brain might release me from that world and let me get back to Devil Dog. Apparently my goal of creating impossible tasks has been an absolute success. I have failed part of it, but I've made more progress the last few weeks than I did all of last year. See you next week. For those of you who like the corporate holiday called Valentine's Day, I hope you have a great one.

Writer Ramblings: Impossible Goals

After a recent conversation on Facebook with the witty Anne-Mhairi Simpson about setting goals that can’t be achieved, I am going to jump on that challenge. She already began her impossible goals, so I am going to do something similar.

Photo from Kristin Nador on WANACommons

My first impossible goal is to finish the book of notes I’m currently writing. My first intention was to just gather all my two decades worth of notes into one location so that I can pick up my old fantasy series project again. I wanted to write both the Devil Dog series, which is not a fantasy series, alongside an epic high fantasy series. Since late November, I’ve been compiling notes, trying to uniform ideas, and basically make some sense of the chaos twenty plus years of daydreaming has created. I’ve been world building. This task in itself would normally be what I call my life’s work, but I have a lot of other series, like Devil Dog, that also needs to be written. So, I’ve decided to create a “guide” to the fantasy world which describes everything from religions, cultures, races, magic, creatures, maps, history, etc. I’m currently at 30,000 words, and I’m anticipating it to reach close to 150,000 words (approximately 500 pages). The easy part of this book is it is for my own personal use as a guide to this huge fantasy world. I won’t have to edit it for grammar or anything else. It’s just massive and full of pictures. I want to finish the entire thing by March. That’s my impossible goal. That’s a month and a half away.

Weapons & Warriors: The Khopesh of the Egyptians

Art by TL Jeffcoat

This curved sword was designed with the concept of combining the war axe and the sickle. The Khopesh is probably one of the strangest looking swords ever made. The isolation of ancient Egypt is one of the reasons their culture is so different than their neighbors. They had their own pantheon of deities and their own unique arsenal of weaponry. You can always tell when something is modeled after ancient Egyptian culture as opposed to anywhere else in the world.

The Khopesh was around two feet (60 centimeters) in length. The blade was molded from bronze and sometimes the leather wrapped handle was decorated with electrum (silver and gold mixed metal). The outer curve of the blade was sharpened while the inner side was dull. Overall it was a light weighted weapon which is ideal for carrying around the desert.

Weapons & Warriors: The Lantern Shield of the Europeans

I’ve read several stories about the lantern shield and realized that a lot of historians did not like it much. Some called it impractical and clumsy, some said it was for amateurs, and some claimed that a sword and shield on their own was much better. I disagree with them all. This weapon was never meant to be used by itself. Combined with a rapier (thin bladed fencing style sword), it was a game changer for anyone who had actually trained with the thing. This is one of the most insane weapons I’ve ever run across and I will find a way to get one for my collection someday. It’s truly a masterpiece of mind boggling weaponry.

The Lantern Shield (Art by TL Jeffcoat)

A lantern shield is hard to describe. It has a lot of pieces. All those moving parts are one of the things that make it look clumsy. In Italy during the 1500’s, many duelists practiced using Lantern Shields. The entire thing was made of steel, and bolted together. It was worn on the shield arm. The Lantern Shield was designed to replace the standard lantern carried by duelists when they fought in the dawn hours when sometimes the sun wasn’t up enough. Lanterns made decent shields if the duelist knew how to use them, and if raised at the face of an opponent, would blind them. It was a cheap move, but very effective.

Weapons & Warriors: The Hwacha of the Koreans

The first concept of a multi-firing rocket launcher wasn’t invented by the Americans, the Russians, the Japanese, the French, or even the Germans. Believe it or not, the largest pre-firearm multi-rocket propelled grenade launcher was invented by the Koreans. The design was inspired by a smaller and more portable version the Chinese used, but was not as devastating as what the Koreans came up with. Long ago before there was such a thing as North or South Korea, there was just one Korea that was often oppressed by its neighbors. China refused to trade saltpeter to Korea, Japanese invaded, and pirates raided their fishing villages along the coast. So the Koreans learned to make their own gunpowder and in 1409 they created something the world had never seen before.

Art by TL Jeffcoat

The Hwacha was a two wheeled cart that could be tied behind a horse, or other animal and shipped to wherever it was needed. The bulk of the weight was centered between two wooden wheels that were not attached by an axle to give them freedom to turn individually. This allowed the cart more mobility. Once unstrapped, one or two men could tilt and aim it before securing it into position. The thing was completely made from wood, usually pine. The top was a hollow box with around 200 tubes in it. This was where the arrows were placed.

The ammo was a specifically designed arrow over a meter in length with a tube of black powder strapped to the side. These projectiles were basically bottle rockets with huge arrowheads at the tip and feathers on the rear to keep it straight in flight. Once the rockets launched the arrow it could travel around 100 meters (around 300 feet) to its target. Although a canon had more destructive power and range, the Hwacha was more effective against a marching army which would be generally close together as waves of Hwacha arrows slammed into them. The heavy arrows had enough force behind them that they could completely penetrate an armored soldier.

Weapons & Warriors: The Halberd of the Europeans

The Halberd, also known as the Swiss Voulge, was a very popular weapon among the Swiss soldiers during the 1300’s and 1400’s. It was not as long as many of the other polearms, but was still a capable weapon against charging cavalry. The halberd is a combination of staff and axe, and unlike a lot of the longer polearms, it was very useful in melee combat against most any weapon. 

Art by TL Jeffcoat

The warriors who trained with halberds were called Halberdiers. Unlike pikes and spears, which are best used thrusting or planting against charging enemies, the Halberd could be held like a staff, or even similar to a daneaxe except with less power and more finesse. The axe blade and spike gave it an extra “edge” in fighting against swords and morning stars. The longer reach of a halberd could often deter an untrained opponent. 

Weapons & Warriors: The Corseque of the Europeans

Art by TL Jeffcoat

At first glance, some would think the Corseque was an over-sized fancy spear. It is actually a member of the polearm family. It was very popular in Europe during the 1500’s and 1600’s. There were many kinds of polearms, especially in Europe. Some had small axe blades or spikes, some were topped with a single spear head, and some were shorter and had multiple blades and spikes. The Corseque was around 4.5 to 7.5 feet (or 1.5 to 2.5 meters) and topped with three blades at the tip, but not like a trident. The center blade was long and flat with two slightly thicker but shorter blades flanking either side. All three blades were made as one complete steel piece with a hollow interior at the base so that a long wooden shaft could be wedged in.

Polearms were most often used by infantry to keep warriors on horseback away from them in battle. The reach of most polearms was enough to strike down a horse or the rider before they could get in reach with hoof or sword. The Corseque had two different styles of blades. The center blade had the typical purpose, to puncture anything that charges the warrior holding it. The blade was long enough to completely penetrate the human body or the neck of a horse and strong enough to puncture a breastplate with enough momentum. 

Weapons & Warriors: The Morning Star of the Europeans

Art by Steven DeVon Jones

Many people have always confused the Morning Star with a mace or flail. Even I used to do it when I was first learning about bludgeoning weapons while playing Dungeons & Dragons as a kid. I knew a mace had a metal shaft with a balled end for crushing things, and I knew the flail had chains. When I ran across the morning star, I was lost. Over the years I’ve stumbled across various people calling a mace a morning star, and sometimes a flail.

In truth, the Morning Star is not the same thing. It isn’t anything like a flail because the Morning Star does not have any chains. It is more closely related to the mace in shape, but that’s where the similarities end. Instead of nubs or angles around the balled end, the Morning Star has a large spike protruding from the top and the ball is covered in smaller spikes or sharpened edges.

There is no uniform version of a Morning Star because it is simply a club-like bludgeoning tool with spikes. They vary in size, from small easily held in one hand types to long heavy two handed shafts with a massive spiked head. While the mace evolved into a steel shaft with a rounded head, the Morning Star retained its wooden shaft. The spikes could be made from virtually anything, but in Europe it was generally steel or iron. 

Weapons & Warriors: Talwar of the Sikhs

The Talwar Art by TL Jeffcoat

There are several variations of this curved sword, but none are completely the same. The Talwar was used by both Moghuls and Sikhs in the region of India. It is slightly curved like a sabre but with a wider blade at the end. The British sabre was most likely modeled after the Talwar. They are similar in design but the handle of the British Sabre is different.

The entire weapon is made with iron, and the handle is short and capped with a disc shaped piece of metal. The metal disc had a spike protruding from underneath. The short handle gives the warrior a firmer grip, but can also restrict most stabbing and hacking strikes. The blade is sharpened all the way to the hilt, unlike several other similar sword designs. The sword is not just one piece of molded metal. The blade is inserted into the cross guard with an adhesive. Making the blade a separate piece from the handle gives a sword more flexibility when striking. A sword that doesn't give is soon a broken sword.

Weapons & Warriors: The Warrior Saints

I’ve written about warriors who battled to defend their religious rights, but never about a warrior culture that rose up within a pacifist religion. They took up arms to defend themselves and their way of life from forces that threatened to murder them and destroy their way of life. Then they went on to help save the world from a marauding evil. Sounds like a great story of fiction doesn’t it? Well it’s not. Let me tell you about the Warrior Saints of India, the Sikhs.

Guru of the Sikhs (Picture via Wikipedia)

In the late 1400’s and early 1500’s a man named Nanak Dev Ji was born and grew up in the Punjab area. He was a respected and loved man. He was very intelligent and inquisitive. At some point he became the founder of a new religious group that was unlike the other religions. Guru Nanak preached that there was no Hindu or Muslim because in the eyes of God we are all equal. Guru Nanak traveled all over the Middle East and into parts of Africa before returning to India to settle down. The followers of Guru Nanak became known as the Sikhs, which means “to learn.”

The pacifist group grew over the decades and centuries. At times the religion was respected by all, Hindu and Muslims included. Guru Nanak was known to meet and speak to the leaders of both Hindu and Muslims. He preached about equality and working hard to achieve goals in life. He even taught that women and men were equal because without women to raise good men, there would be no good men.

Weapons & Warriors: The Kestros of the Macedonians

This has to be one of the deadliest slings ever made. Unlike the standard stone tossing slings of the Stone Age, the Kestros was sharp, and capable of penetrating light armor when thrown hard enough. The sharpened and weighted tip can do serious damage to an enemy on the battle field if not deflected by metallic armor. In motion the Kestros looks more like a double sling with straps around an iron tipped dart. The dart was usually around a foot in length or maybe a little more and built similar to an arrow. The entire tip is metal and purposely weighs more than the rest of the dart. This forces the tip to face front while airborne, and allows the shaft and feathers, or something similar, to guide it in a straight path.

The Kestros Art by TL Jeffcoat

Macedonian troops (a nation of ancient Greece) under the rule of King Perseus around 150 BC were known to train and use the Kestros in a few battles. It wasn’t used for a very long time, as technology quickly turned to more reliable ranged weapons. The Kestros was a light weight and easy weapon to carry with a quiver of darts that can be slung over a shoulder. The only downside of this deadly sling weapon is the winding up throw. Just like the sling, it was eventually replaced with weapons that didn’t require spinning it before attacking or used lighter ammo.

Weapons & Warriors: The Tepoztopilli of the Aztecs

This weapon could be considered a cross between an axe and a spear. Its fat head and razor sharp edges made it possible to slash or chop like a pole-axe, but the pointed tip and long shaft also made it ideal for thrusting like a spear. Although it was enough like a spear to be throwable, the wide head made it less reliable than other ranged weapons used by the Aztecs. Most likely, this was used against charging enemies, before the Aztec infantry drew clubs and Macuahuitl for closer combat.

The Tepoztopilli art by TL Jeffcoat

The length of the entire Tepoztopilli is around 5 to 6 ft (almost 2 meters) and is one solid piece of wood. The head is about a half foot long and edged with obsidian shards. Each obsidian razor was glued into slots with a plant resin. Like the Macuahuitl, the obsidian edges are potentially sharper than a steel razor. One of these shards is sharp enough to shave with. The pieces were spaced out along the head so that after they penetrate the enemy, the sides of the shards could catch and either break off into the body or hook the spear and cause even more damage.

Weapons & Warriors: The Tomahawk of the Native Americans

Art by TL Jeffcoat

This little axe is so dynamic that it is still used in the modern American militaryand is currently issued to troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. Many military vehicles have Tomahawks for use in case of emergencies. The original design and concept of the Tomahawk was purely for combat, but the Native Americans were never ones for wasting anything and made use of the Tomahawk for a variety of tasks. They can chop wood, hammer stakes, and perform other survivalist tasks.

The main difference between a Tomahawk and other axes is the weight. In Europe, axes made for combat were generally large. Even the one handed axes had heavier blades and were meant to strike with the weight to add to the blow. They used their weight and momentum to damage armor or dismember opponents. The tomahawk was built for speed. Instead of weight, it relies on its speed to strike faster and with more control. The momentum of greater speeds gives the tomahawk equal deadly force with every strike as any European hand ax against an unarmored part of the body