I've had this debate with my friend a few times, so I'd like to know what /his/ thinks is more important to the development of warfare: the sword or the spear?
>>63336
first 3 rules of warfare
range
range
range
>>63336
Spear...duh. Warfare has always been dominated by 2 things. Numbers and range. If you can reach your opponent, but he can't reach you...you'll probably win. This is why we ditched spears for guns as well, and why we're now destroying our enemies with robot aircraft that the enemy can't see or hear.
I posted this vid in another thread, but it's relevant here too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIxEJxky0Ls
Pike beats bill.
Bill beats sword.
Spear.
Even the Roman legionnaires, with their sword&shield combo, still depend on the range and shock of their pila
also against knights- err, cavalry.
Without question the spear, though I'd go further and specify the pike and it's variants.
>>63336
Spear.
Not only range, but the fact that it's pretty easy to use, make it GOAT
>>63336
the katana obviously. forged in kishin belly fire from the finest nippon steel and folded thousands of times, the katana was capable of cutting through inferior western swords like butter. legend tells of a samurai who was so proficient at wielding his katana that once he drew it on the battlefield and cut the wind. all the enemy soldiers immediately dropped their arms, knowing that they couldn't possibly hope to defeat a man capable of severing wind.
i've never heard of a spear cutting wind.
katana-1
spear-0
>>63391
>Pike beats bill.
your video is battle of flodden. Im not gonna watch it, but you know thats an exampe of bills BTFOing pikes?
>>63336
The spear, obviously. The vast majority of all pre-gunpowder armies (except for those of nomadic horse-archers) was made up of spearmen. The spear was the most widely-used weapon on the planet. Swords were more luxuries of the nobility, generally speaking.
>>63802
> but you know thats an exampe of bills BTFOing pikes
The billmen beat the pikemen because the pikemen had their formation fucked up by marching through a small creek. Pikes are extremely effective as long as a formation is maintained. At the start of the battle, the pikemen did extremely well until that mistake with the terrain.
>>63850
Oh no doubt, pike is clearly superior.
I just think that battle being your example is funny.
>>63336
the spear, we literally only stopped using it after we worked out how to turn our guns into spears
>>63336
The Spear by far, though I love Swords far more.
The reason Philip of Macedonia so easily conquered Greece was through the spear, he made his Spear almost double the length of the Greek spear and therefore could kill without even being touched by the Greek phalanx
>>63871
I only post that video because they give a demonstration where it's shown just how fucked a billman is against a pikeman undernormal circumstances, and then do the same for a swordsman against a billman.
>>63336
Spear. It's cheaper.
>>63391
Robots sure win wars. Like... and...
/tg/ tier thread
[spoiler]I like it, thought[/spoiler]
Sword is useful for indicating high social status, and when you can't hold a formation (indoor, disorganised fighting, skirmiches).
Spear for everything else.
>>64540
Sure. It's not like Rome used swords. Or viking nobility or early knights.
>>64494
They're new, but the US is relying on them more and more.
>>64729
>Roman soldiers and early knights didn't use spears
and
>for-may-schions
>>63391
>This is why we ditched spears for guns as well, and why we're now destroying our enemies with robot aircraft that the enemy can't see or hear.
Anon, terrorism isn't war
>>64887
Rome lost ability to maintain formations? One advantage of not fighting in formation is that you can break enemy formation.
