An even better way to fight elves: FANTASY RE-ARMED Follow-up
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 ก.ย. 2018
- This is a part 2 in my analysis of the best historical medieval weapons to use against the classic fantasy elf?
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Weren't the Roman legionaries' sandals stubbed on the bottom to increase friction? Also for their time they were relatively heavily armored? And they have a big shield? Tight formations to negate elven prancing around tactics? Roman legions confirmed to have evolved as they did because they had to fight elves?
In fact, they have two pair of shoes, some with nails or stubbs for a better grap on muddy terrains. And one without that, because the stubbs make you fall if you try to walk on pavements with that, so they have to change shoes to walk on roads or in towns ;)
@Krankar Volund, better grip on muddy terrain? Obviously just a post event cover story to hide the Elves' existence by the Elven Illuminati. (actually really nice to get some more info on the sandals)
Hobnails
Roman Legions also used the Scorpio light ballista, which would be an ultimate elf killer. I believe you're on to something.
Everything makes sense now... Exept all the things that still make no sense.
Can't we simply agree to the fact, that a DRAGON is the best way of fighting everything. A giant, armored, flying reptil armed with talons, teeth and an inbuild flamethrower. Having a DRAGON is like cheating you into godmod.
until Dragonborn come :D
Don't forget to add a balista on the dragons back (for anti-dragon and snipin' purposes).
@@czarus_the_sniper9924 Stop.
My Hentai Girl
Or run Vaulters like any same person and stomp before they even have the economy to beat you back.
Until the AH-64 Apache comes and crushes it like a twig ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
In the Silmarillion, there's an epic duel between the dark lord Morgoth and a mighty Elven king. The elf has the advantage at first with his speed and agility, and gives Morgoth seven wounds; however, he eventually gets tired and Morgoth starts knocking him over with his shield. The king falls down several times and finally can't get back up. He saves his life by stabbing Morgoth in the foot and being rescued by an eagle, but he dies from his wounds soon afterwards if I remember correctly. Anyway, this tactic is canon in Middle Earth. Cheers!
yes Fingolfin King of the Noldor and possibly the strongest elf to ever live in the tolkien universe, he basically fought against a god alone, wounded him seven times with his sword, beaten thrice before falling dead,disfigured his face and lacerated his feet with his last strike, Morgoth never recovered from the Wound and walked with a limp forever in pain, Thorondor the king of the eagles rescued his body before Morgoth could use it to feed the wolves
OP! Should be Nerfed!!!
aside from the Noldor of the first/second age most elves in tolkien middle earth's seem just a bit above average humans, on the contrary Numenoreans are leagues above silvan elves and regular humans so not really that OP, just some heroic characters through the history, Fingolfin and Feanor being the top of the elves and Turin and Beren for Humans(Turin was admired even by the elves)
Of fucking course a fucking eagle rescues him (sorta of).
Fingolfin might be mighty, but his half-brother Fëanor was even stronger.
He was also super intelligent and the most crafty being ever.
Not to mention that he was crazy and aggressive as fuck.
His life ended when he stood his ground against an army of Balrogs, alone... For eleven days...
Looking back on this series, I think we've learned a few big things.
1 Fear the fairies.
2 Outfitting any military is a much more expensive endeavor, and requires a lot of forethought. Do you anticipate giants spend money on seige weaponry? Or do you outfit your frontline with full plate? Do you invest in spikes to help fight Elves and Dwarves or keep your soldiers light on their feet?
This could keep me occupied for days figuring out the crossplay alone. Cultural impact would be massive too, different groups would outfit differently depending on their neighbors. As an aspiring author these thought exercises really help my world-building ideas start going, so thanks a ton for these videos
Don’t fear the fairies fight the fairies you fight those fairies
@@cralixthegameking4408 Fly swatters.
But what about dragons???
@@Mr_Fish10 zappers
Human Commander: "Form Shield Wall!"
Elf Commander: "Basic formations and tactics? MY ONLY WEAKNESS!"
elven commander: predictable. Section 1. Suppressing fire! Section 2. wreck their supply caravan! poison their food and water!
ik right -
it makes you think though, why would elves even fight with standing armies? they are stealthy and basically bow snipers. They could just wait until their opponents are camping without helmets and then kill a few of them and go away; every night, creating paranoia at camp and breaking their morale. If they scatter you pick them off one by one, if they stay together you wait until they fall asleep or just keep the suppressive fire until they yield or starve, because you ahve to lift your visor to eat and drink...
Well, in the initial video Shad, quite eloquently, noted that it seems likely that Elves would be reluctant to engage because of their long life cycles. I would expect that would contribute to them generally making deals with larger armies and acting as ambushers, skirmishers, and or cavaliers, since that would allow them more prove legend battlefield positions where their inherent abilities can shine. Along with that, it prevents them from ending in a position where they are the targets of extermination by larger majorities, such as human populations.
Daniel those are exactly my thoughts
War against elfs looking like an american football match but with daggers, cool
Rafael Castor BLOODBOWL!!!
Your fantasy rearmed series is required watching for anyone writing a realistic fantasy series.
Why do you think I'm here? Lol, and countless others I'm sure.
Wait... Then Dwarfs are really OP against elfs in this scenario?
Only if the dwarves manages to negate the elf reach advantage.
No wonder they hate each other
I imagine the elves just jump over the dwarves if they charge at them. And now i picture Dwarves with spikes on their helmets to stop elves from just running across their heads in the middle of a battle.
Imagine this too: Dwarfs in tortoise formations with spiky shields all over. Good luck penetrating that.
Tai Prev
Or an Astartes. I remember in a Dawn of War comic, Diomedes headbutted an eldar into paste.
Well if you have spiked shoes then once you knock off the elve the only thing you gotta do is to march and stomp'em with your pointy, nasty shoes.
Would spiked shield help too?
Question: If elves are significantly lighter, doesn't that mean they would have a lot more options available in terms of animals to ride for mounted combat? I'm no expert, but I've been told that being lighter and shorter is a huge advantage in horse racing.
Would this translate into fantasy combat? Perhaps, for example, making the WoW Night Elf tactic of riding giant cats into battle more viable than it initially appears?
there still is the training problem, predators are rather unreliable and dangerous mounts if magic training is not involved. Also, i really would not want to use lighter steeds for charging and the reasons are quite obvious. Mounted archers could make use of it though
@@raptorjesues1445 Predators being harder to train would probably be news to dog owners... but I agree with the rest of your points. And they're definitely harder to feed, so there might not be as many of them.
Dogs are domesticated, giant predatory cats are not.
Although if selective breeding can produce the wide varieties we see in dogs, horses, cows, house cats, etc. I imagine that would apply here.
You wouldn't even necessarily need to move away from equine animals, though. Being lighter might just let you ride smaller breeds of horses, making you a harder target to hit when using mounted archery.
+Brentticorn, dogs are a bad example because they're domesticated. Wolves, while wild, are social animals, so once they accept you as part of the pack, you're good. Tigers, on the other hand, are mainly solitary, which probably is going to pose the much bigger problem. Just compare training dogs vs training (domesticated) cats.
So on top of "make more babies" and "run" we can now add "be fat" on the list of tactics against elves
"Diabetes cannon" As you slowly charge at the mocking elf
also fans... elves are super light so fans would just blow them away like leaves....
Yeah he really seems to be doing it all. Isn't that funny?🤔
Lots of fat makes You slower and bigger, easier target for elfish arrow or spear.
Muscles are better, makes You stronger and faster, muscles are also more dense, so You can get more weight out of lower volume of body, hence smaller target.
Elves would just avoid open battle against human "armored roller" and use guerilla skirmish tactics - by attacking foraging small human units with overwhelming force.
But, where would the food cone from. It's not like the had McDonald's back then
;-)lol
If we lived in a fantasy world shad would be the equivalent of sun tsu
Wars would be fought with dragons and castles to gain his favour.
He Already Is!
@@amitabhakusari2304
Castles ON Dragons
Vauban
Yes!!! 😁😁😁😂😂🤣🤣
So elves would be terrible vs dwarfs--->dwarfs are storng ang their point of balance is very low
No wonder they hate each other :D
You wanna try that again, buddy?
Reach.
@Remove Talos both dwarves and elves have the same issue with tactics and that is they are too set in their ways, dwarves would win against an army of elves led by an elf but an army led by a human will beat any army led by by an elf or a dwarf (so long as they are not extremely outnumbered)
I guess elves wouldn't be outright terrible against dwarves: Being so (relatively) small, the dwarfs would tend to be at a range disadvantage, and their advantages in terms of mass and force would be considerably smaller (if at all?) due to their smaller size (as compared to a human-sized opponent with the more heavy dwarf body shape) as well.
And, maybe a minor effect but still, striking downwards against a smaller opponent makes gravity aid your strike, striking upwards against a taller opponent has the reverse effect.
The dwarves' high "durability" and preference of heavy, well-crafted armour and quite impactful weaponry (axes, maces), often combined with big shields as well, would still make them quite decent and tough opponents though, that's true.
In D&D 5e (the books you depicted) Elves, on a base level, have the same movement speed as humans, but Wood Elves (a subrace) have 35ft movement speed, as opposed to the standard 30. So in this case certain kinds of Elves ARE faster than humans, and other races.
Maybe they are just less hindered by obstacles. Elves should be pretty talented in parkour.
Movement speed is referring to one's physical ability to travel at a certain speed. Being "less hindered" is the ability to move through Difficult Terrain without being affected by it (Difficult Terrain being a place where parkour would be necessary, or there are lots of bushes and thorns in the way, so you're forced to move slowly).
A person in 5e would move 30ft on flat, even ground, as they would through a forest, provided said forest didn't have difficult terrain.
Parkour was just the logical extreme, it doesn't necessarily have to be "difficult" terrain. Better balance, no stumbling, less momentum to correct when turning, easier jumps, better senses, effectively sturdier ground and so on should give you a movement advantage in any terrain that's not a straight, even road.
But I can see what you mean, i guess I was wrong.
Not only this, but D&D 5e monks also get a movement speed bonus starting at 2nd level that improves with level, making a wood elf monk that maxes dexterity and high levels wisdom (the key stats for a monk) incredibly fast, kind of like a hill dwarf totem barbarian with their racial health bonus and resistance to pretty much all types of damage while raging is incredibly durable/tanky.
Yeah, wood elves get that as a separate ability, in addition to their faster base movement.
Shad Facts: Shad won his fight with Goku by cutting off his head while Goku was "powering up". He then cast Lesser Resurrect on Goku. He then turned to Gohan and said "Now stop wasting Wishes on something that simple!" He left them with 99 Phoenix Downs.
Resserect?
I just cast death, it worked like a charm, after using full life i then proceeded to inflict the zombie status and then threw a phoenix down at goku. Used full life again and lived peacefully thereafter.
Why not just poison some food? Goku can't help himself around food.
Do you really think poison would be able to kill Goku? He harnesses enough power to destroy the planet a dozen times over, and nuclear radiation is practically what powers him. Kinda feel like Destroying Angel fungus or ricin oil would amount to a case of indigestion for him
Everybody forgets that Goku survived an existence-erasing attack.... And universal busting attacks that he couldn't react to... Just because he powered down and got shot by Sorbet, why Goku why!? But if you want to defeat him just stab him with a sleep inducing drug like Frost did (without him noticing of course) and even that may not work, like when he wake from hypnosis-induced sleeping by someone shouting about food!
I’m currently building up my own fantasy world with elves and other such beings. Videos like this are a really big help in writing certain combat scenes. Awesome video man. Thanks a bunch ^^
What's it called
If it is a book then when will it come out?
Likewise this kind of videoes are gold for us writers and dm's
Bro, same! I plan to type a book about mine, well, not an official one for say, like publishing it and all. Maybe just for fun.
Yea I use these as a dm
So you are telling me, that you need two chubbies charging in full plate armor and tracked shoes with a thick shields and wielding heavy one handed lever weapons to knocking down, then tackling in place and final crushing would effectively dominant in combat against an elf...
*All Dwarves in All Fantasy looks at Shad and together say* What does it look like we been doing!?! And grow a Beard while you're at it!
The problem with that line of thought is that dwarves are.. well... *dwarves* They're short, they lack the leg length and reach advantage to make full effect of their weight and leverage. They would certainly be a pain to fight but with how dexterous and mobile elves are by the time the dwarves get up to speed the elven armies have moved into a new position and they're now trying to keep up. Honestly an elven army fighting a dwarven army would mostly be the elves kiting the dwarves into disadvantageous positions and traps, picking them off with arrows where convenient. Dwarves have and always will be better on the defensive, their homes, their nature and their armaments lend well to horrifically long and drawn out slogs of a siege as they crush and demoralize any and all people trying to attack their homes.
Dwarves are still disadvantaged and lose against Elves, Ogres are where it's at.
So Minotaurs would utterly destroy elves then? Neat. Come to think of it, a phalanx of Snakeman would also do well.
Speaking of which, Lizardmen video when?
Yes please on the lizardmen!
I love the excited tone when Shad says "pull out a dagger and knife them in the face."
You know it’s a good day when you get two videos in a row from your favourite TH-camr on one of your favourite fantasy races
My pleasure ^_^
I love Elves and Dwarves equally, so nothing in the universe beats the Dwemer from The Elder Scrolls. Seriously, combining the awesomeness of elves with the technological prowess of dwarves is so genius I'm surprised more series haven't done it.
Remove Talos Our race? Are you an elf in disguise??
+Tsarist Imperialist
Their name is 'Remove Talos', they're obviously with the Thalmor. Personally though, I'd like to follow the Dwemer's example and give the middle finger to all the so-called 'gods'.
Remove Talos LOL my bad I didn’t process the name or read the bio
Ah but don't forget that elves have super hearing and general senses in most fictions. Imagine a dog whistle for elves. A noise that's casual to a human can be painfully deafening for an elf; which be a major distraction at the least. Also a mid-evil equivalent of a stink bomb or pepper spray (though that would impact humans too). Turn there snobby strengths against them. It would be terrifying to be an elf in an elf army vs a human army. Imagine suddenly the humans start pounding on their war drums (or more likely elf-whistles) and war horns and you cant hear anything. Your elf ears are bleeding but you cant close them with your hands since you'll be dropping your guard yet the mighty humans are uninfected. Your dizzy from these overpowering sensations and your fellow troops ahead of you are being knocked down like bowling pins. Then the battlefield reek sulfur and pestilence. What are elves going to do plug their ears and nose with wax? If they do that they lose their sencery advantages and cant follow orders or can be snuck behind; the nose plugs could limit stamina. Elves (even the Op ones) would be done for.
I thought the same but I was more the line of a flash bang, but do not know how to make one with low tech. I guess a dwarves might know how and might give a discount.
lol the elves are screwed. I feel they will be enslaved by every other race.
How about using mirrows to reflect light? Make everything really bright. Or just set something on fire at nighttime. preferably the woods they are living in...
That's another frontier; overpowering their superior sight. Though It will be hard with med-evil technology. Maybe were some really flamboyant colors on armor (If they can make neon pink or something offensive to like at. Again hard to make with mid-evil tech unless "Magic". If there was magic there would probably be a light beam spell or something the human can use.
Well, lenses could do the trick,( and they are pre-medieval tec.) depending on weather/setting. I'd rather go for wellpolished armor/shields to rob them of their ability to aim shots at 500kmiles.
Or use mirrows and place large amounts of ranged units (slings, projecties are fast, have decent range and are hard to see anyway due to being really small) behind those.
That's what I'd thought.
In a 1 on 1 situation that's probably not going to work that well.
That being said, an elfhunter would have the following equipment: 10kg dried beans, oldsocksarmor drenched with 90%(+)Alcohol (using weight to their disadvantage), trumpet and polished buckler.
The elfhuntermissiletype would go for something like Alcohol buckets and maybe a breadsword (unfolded spring bread, at least 2 years hardened. can stick it into the bucket and set it aflame or force the elve to eat it when succesfully subdued) for backupweapon.
Would also require a lit candle or torch...
So in other words, what we concluded to be an "optimally armed" Minotaur would be quite the nightmare for an elf. They're huge and heavy, are fast runners on top of that, and likes to charge at you with a huge shield.
The answer still is a high wall with......
MACHICULATIONS!!!!!!
But what about dragons?
Liam Fosdike a non-flammable roof.
Dragons await anyone daring to climb the macchicolations!
Elves would just shoot you through the machiculations. One of the few cases where they are a hindrance.
@@MrSpartanspud simple if they get that close have shutters and barrels with boiling oil.
You should be the advisor to Titus Mede II
FOR THE DOMINION!!!!!
Disgusting long ears! We got you on the run
@Remove Talos Hah! You're a funny one. Guess those long elven years affected your mind. But worry not, after the empire has restored order and peace you shall have a place as a new entertainer in our halls.
Your tribes rebellious natures however need to be quelled
You burn their tree down and then make changes to the game to make playing an elf unfun. At least thats how Wow is doing it.
the new elves are hawt.
what?!
Thanks. It might prove useful someday. You'll never know.
Expecting Shadowrun to become a reality? =P
I would like to point out that Legolas and the other Lord of the Rings elves can walk on snow because the are blessed beings, not because of any significant difference in weight with humans.
It’s also why they can see so far. They’re blessed and therefore able to ignore the curvature of the earth
I don’t get why you need to be so snarky about it. I’m just pointing out that there is something otherworldly and supernaturally graceful about then that sometimes makes them able to play fast and loose with the rules of physics
In basic fantasy for sure. Im very specifically pointing out Middle Earth.
Just another kinda popular series by Christopher Paolini, the person who wrote Eragon which somehow became one of the worst movie adaptions from a novel, has Elves being just better humans and from the lore a weak elf can overpower a strong human. To match that they used magical swords as their primary weapon along with magic.
@Dragon50275 ya. Like vulcans in star trek. The creators made them to represent what humanity COULD be if it wasn't so foolish.
Gotta say I really like your Fantasy Re-Armed series. It is probably my favorite that you do...although I'm a fan of most if not all of your vids. The work arounds you come up with are awsome. As a fellow fantasy/sci fi/weapons nerd that tends to over think things..lol I salute you Sir! If you ever find yourself in North-central Montana I would happily reserve a seat for you at our weekly table-top rpg session. Although then the party would more easily destroy my carefully crafted adventures than they usually do...but such is the curse of being a DM with an intelligent group.
For a genre that is supposedly inspired by Tolkien, I've got to say I find modern fantasy to be pretty insulting to his works. the biggest "development" is elves inheriting the need to be "balanced" compared to other species from D&D game mechanics. Typically this materializes as turning physical and (hard won) moral superiority into impotent arrogance. Most works also lack proper world building and have only blind aping of (usually pitifully recent) earlier works, so elves along with numerous other superfluous critters appear in settings without being a fundamental part of them.
Considering this rose from what was awful game design in the first place, it's a wonder this kind of thinking continued to carried along like a tumorous package even to works completely unrelated to games.
In LOTR Elves look at the achievements and failings of mankind and their reactions are "yeah, we've been there". Particularly in Ñoldor terms, Elves have already made every major mistake you can possibly make, and know in the case of Faënor that assholes gonna asshole, and as a result are hesitant to involve themselves in anything shortsighted no matter how seemingly righteous. Even worse with Dwarves, a race who seemingly continue to repeat the same mistakes for stupid reasons (from an Elf perspective) and wonder why Elves never want to get involved
When copying Elves from Tolkien, many writers kept these truths but without explanation as to why, making them seem irrational and alien in their settings. For example without a history of Faënor screwing everything up, Elves just come off as douchebags for not wanting to join a great war against evil, and without literally being taught by mother nature itself how to create a civilization the tree-hugging stuff is just a dull trope without justification
more you know thing really. but then again no one or very few can pull off what Tolkien can do and he is a ww1 vet to boot so that gives it extra creditbility to his works.
In the Inheritance Cycle there is context for their existence and limited involvement and beliefs.
Wouldn’t it make sense to poison your weapon when fighting elves? Of course it would almost always be smart, but considering that (Lotr) elves seem just superior, making that one hit you might land count could easily prove essential don’t you think?
Depends really some elves are immune to poison or are better at resisting the negative effects but i guess it would make the elf stay on guard and alot more thoughful in their attack
I think it would be far more likely for them to use poison. Also, poisoning weapons always carries a risk of harming yourself. Best used by ranged weapons
I don't think that this would help more against elves - It would help if you can deal small wounds easily, therefore if you are faster than the enemy, but not fast enough to land a killing blow. But (as also said in the last video) you are slower than elves and can't move around as good as them. Therefore you need raw power - either with axes or similar weapons or with shields like here. Of course poisoning would help - but you try to crush their body with one hit, as it is not as easy to hit them multiple times as it is for the fight between two people who are equally skilled/fast.
I'd have to disagree. Poison would be pretty useful if they're capable of evading the larger part of the damage in combat
I think the best tactic is just to be a dick towards them. Throw sand ,rocks etc. to goat them to attack. There you will have a chance to hit. Worst case call more friends them him/her and strike them down with might.While that may not be enough to bait them taking hostages(elderly or young) and using that as bait will force the elves into your range.
I am ,funny enough playing a Half-Elf in 5e as a Paladin(Oath:Conquest) who hates elves for killing his father. He hunts down elves with a battleaxe and using a human god divine energy to do so. Also being a pretty mean boy to the elves or enemy of the party in general.
It makes a enjoyable game.
I was in the conversation that led to this, I didn’t make the original comment, but I replied to it. that’s the first time that’s happened.
I literally just watched the first video when I got this notification. It's like Christmas!
Your videos are so informative! This is helpful for writing elves in my stories!
Shad, if someone is lighter but is very strong (not technically an elf what I am thinking off) would giving them very heavy, but well distributed armor help to mitigate the mass advantage their opponent has? SO they are technically both armored and have more weight well distributed on their body. Is such a thing possible?
I think that would work.
Thank you Shad!
This is my D&D character in a nutshell. I play a halfling with ludicrous strength. On his own he weighs only 65 pounds, but with all the armor and equipment he carries, that goes up to 270 pounds. Add in the armored boar mount and you’ve got over 1000 pounds charging at you, and all that momentum is delivered on the point of a spear. This halfling is not one to be taken lightly.
Eli Parker was that pun intended?
Theb wouldn't stamina disadvantage come to play even more? Their stamina is supposed to br bad even when they are light
I have a lot of respect for you Shad, for being so open to correction or suggestions in your videos! So many people these days are stubborn to a fault when it comes to ego and accepting when they missed something or were wrong about something. This is definitely one of the best channels of this type.
This is why we love you shad !
Again, Kyle Hill once calculated how light Legolas had to be to walk on snow and it was just ridiculous. Even half the human weight wouldn't cut it because of the small surface area his feet provide against how much force snow can take before it gives. We're talkin airborn-on-breeze numbers here
Him walking on snow had nothing to do with his physical weight.
I don't know if there's a magical explantaion for it, I've only seen the movies. I'm not including magic influence and the like. In realistic circumstances, weight is everything
LoTR isn't a realistic setting. He can walk on snow because Elves are blessed beings. He can sleep and walk at the same time, see beyond the curvature of earth, tie a tie which unties itself when needed, stuff like that. I don't know how to leave this comment without sounding rude (Which I'm trying not to) but looking at his weight is just wrong.
Also, I'm a 65 kilogram man from Finland, snow with a thin layer of ice on it doesnt break under my weight if I balance my step correctly.
In defense of the movie/book, Tolkien's elves are only "half in this world." Their amazing physical abilities are the result of not being fully and completely material beings.
While, magic aside, weight is most, it is not everything... I mean, snow shoes are an obvious example, larger area for same weight = less pressure per area.
Besides, some advantage can be achieved by a more "graceful"/gentle walking style as opposed to hard, "stamping" steps which produce higher pressure temporarily due to heavier impact.
Having said that, though, more gentle walking and better balance alone would probably not be enough for a small-footed elf without magic or snow shoes, even with a bit less body weight, to be able to walk across snow Legolas-style, unless for hardened/crusted snow maybe (which the fresh snow in the heavy snowstorm from LotR is not).
My brain has expanded to the point that I fear any more knowledge will make it burst.
_help_
Ironically, even if someone did know how to help you they wouldn't be able to tell you about it.
Great video Shad. I thought of a couple ideas for future fantasy re-armed videos. Best Fantasy Weapons and armour For:
1. Skin-Changers/Laguz: People who can shapeshift into one specific animal form; often with strengths beyond that of the animal.
2. Monster Hunters: people who fight fantasy monsters for a living.
3. Best fantasy weapons for the Fae (not the butterfly-winged fairies, the original fairies of Celtic Folklore that are becoming increasingly popular in fantasy).
Wait a minute: If Legolas is light enough to walk on snow without sinking in, couldn't the trilogy have been cut short by putting the ring into his pocket and having Gimli sneeze at him, thus hurtling the elf all the way into the fires of Mount Doom?
Hi, shad. I love your videos.
How to fight elves 101: use Machicolations!!!!!!
I can't even begin to describe how useful these series (plural) have been in worldbuilding. Thank you so so so so so much. If you begin expanding on some basic concepts mentioned here, you can extrapolate all sorts of statistics and data, basically turning you into an anthropologist (but on fantasy races)
Awesome Video Shad!! 👍
I can't help but feel proud and excited that you made another video based on my Elves' reduced weight comment, thanks :)
I actually ran into the issue of 'elves are invincible in forests' in my own writing. So the leader of the Malcarion Empire (a kind of roman-y kind of medieval-y faction) just gets sick of their raids and launches a campaign of deforestation and genocide. Some of the elves get really pissed at him (and are promptly slaughtered in a battle i had too much fun writing) for burning down the forests while the others flee across the sea or hide undergound. So yeah, burn the forsts down and slaughter anything dumb enough to engage lancers and legionnaires in the field.
Also you may be confusing density, strength, and weight. You're sort of using them interchangeably and you may not wish to do that.
why did the elves loose? the elves (normaly) use tactics that the real life roman army struggeled against (mass archers and hit and run tactics), also why were lancers so effective? lancers are also bad against spears and missile weapons (things established as typical elvish weapons. i feel you may have been a bit biased escially since in real life the only armies that rome every slaugthered were disorganised barbarians, skirmisher armies massecred them at worst and lightly defeated them at best, phallanxe/spear armies were about even (its where we get pyhric victories from), roman on roman was equal (and since spanish used the same type of fighting so was roman on spanish mercinaries in the cartheginian army), roman forces were infact so vulnerable to archers in the field that they adapted the testudo (a seige formation) to create a shield-wall testudo hybred in the later empire (when archers became more common). also elves tend to live along time and thus would know how the empire fights (especially if they have been raiding) and thus would have known not to engage if they were so out matched (like the picts did every time the roman army marched into theri land).
Because the elves weren't militant arseholes with a vast military capacity or the begginings of a staff college. They were relatively peaceful and yet highly egotistical people that were simply in the way of an expansionist empire. They didn't have a full army anymore, since that had already been baited into a field battle years prior and the main body of the elves were well aware they couldn't win a field battle anymore. Also small thing, being older doesn't make you more capable or give you a better understanding of anything inherently. My grandad is four times my age and knows jack shit about war because he likes lawn bowls and gardening and hates war because he was in London when the Germans were bombing the shit out of it. If you put my grandad in command of a platoon he'd have to do and no idea what to do or if he was outmatched.
In regards to the capacity of an army to skirmish, you may want to try outrunning a horse on foot in a field, because the elves don't really have domesticated horses and the Emperor had already figured out that going into the forests was a poor idea. Hence, deforestation and genocide. The Malcarions aren't retarded or poorly led. They're actually very well led. And very well equipped.
In terms of Rome struggling considerably, that's in the pre-Augustan period and then towards the later Empire the biggest issue wasn't an inability to win battles. It was an inability of the command structure to make use of those battles or the civilian command to do anything with winning wars. The Romans were also incredibly poorly led with very few exceptions, incredibly corrupt, and flooded with civil strife.
Archers also didn't become more common in the later Empire. The capacity of damage you could do with a bow went up as poundage increased, but bows didn't become more common on the battelfield. And even then, I can't think of a single battle in history that has been won by archers. And no, not even Agincourt. Agincourt was decided by the infantry battle that people tend to forget about. Mongols and Huns are best known for their archers, but their battles are almost all won by their infantry or their cavalry engaging in melee. Nor were the Romans that vulnerable to them in the field. Roman shields were very effective against archers so long as they could maintain their rear and their flanks, which is why the only disasters in later Rome (at least when the Romans aren't outnumbered 20-1) happen when the flanks completely collapse or they're ambushed.
In regards to raiding, the Malcarions like forts. Have fun raiding a fort with a garrison of 160 trained men with your highly inexperienced band of angry lads that know fuck all about humans or human society. I bet that'll go well. In the next few years you'll be able to get so much experience while sixty odd thousand men burn your home to the ground. Did you just expect there would be Malcarion farms lying around inside the territory that was, up until recently, more or less unoccupied because people thought it was haunted? It's a long fucking way back to Malacarion home territory and the Malcarions know how to guard their supplies properly. You don't have an army. You have no soldiers. You don't have armour. You don't really have any weapons. You can't just win purely because you're an elf.
I’m interested in writing medieval fantasy novels, any tips in writing large scale battle scenes effectively?
Depends on your character's perspective. If you're writing about someone caught up in the melee have a clear plan of what happens and where your character will be in the battle or you'll write utter chaos and throw continuity to the wind. If you're writing from the perspective of the commander, maybe don't do that. Realistically commanding a battle in this period would either be pointless (because you can't communicate) or incredibly dull because itd be a lad in a tent reacting to commands or on a hill handing out orders and not really worth reading. You could make it work but by god does it ruin the epic nature of a battle you're probably hoping to create. If you're writing about a unit commander, make sure you focus on his role in the battle and make sure that the people in the battle aren't robots. There might be an egotistical knight on the other side of the battle who decides he's too important to hold a flank and charges into the enemy flank. This might require your unit to be re-routed to take compensate. If nothing like that happens and your character completes his mission then decide if you want the battle to end there or keep going.
Bear in mind though, battles should be major parts of the plot and should advance the plot or be an important part in developing your characters. Use battles to do things in your writing.
Field battles are actually not that hard to write though. Sieges are. Field battles go as long as you want them to go because you can have units hold or break or act out. Sieges have set times and you need to take those into account. You can't batter down a gate in five minutes. You can't batter down walls in an hour. You can't starve out a city in the time it takes you character to do a fetch quest. Plus unless you develop a simple siege design you're going to confuse people.
Laurie thanks. That helps a lot! Planning on having the main character as a nobles son so not the commander but more of an officer (he will command a small division of 40soldiers plus 10 of his honor guard/ shield men)
Great film shad, im a fan of your chanel and i think that you are doing a great job by making a second film to make your content beter , i would olso realy like to see film about floating island and castels.
Loving the levels of nerdiness this series is hitting :) A few thoughts from me: 1. spikes on your armour as well like the bear-hunting armour so you cannot be grappled at all 2. weighted net 3. water cannon
Shad, why did you do this? I can only consume so much knowledge in a day, please don't make my brain explode.
Idk if you purposely chose those shoes but the spikes look waaaay to big. I thought the whole point of ramming them was to stop them from dancing around you, if you plant yourself in the ground in a one on one or a skirmish you will have no chance to catch them. I get what your saying but with those shoes you may as well tie rocks to you feet and hope for the best
Thanks for sharing!
What whould be interesting, is to contemplate how larger scale warfare vs elves would evolve. Since both sides are going to adjust their strategies and tactics according to own disadvantages and enemies advantages. Like elves deploying balistas to break down heavy shield formations and using extensively cavalry - shock and skirmish.
4:00 my issue with all of the "Why You Wouldn't Want X Power" on "Because Science" is that you would assume that if someone had a power, they would have some way of dealing with those limitations.
For example:
*Why You Wouldn't Want Strength - because you'd break your own body. Unless you also had super-durability to counter it.
*Why You Wouldn't Want Speed - friction, going faster than light and running into things. The Flash had the Speed Force which negated all those problems. (Someone else might have different ways of sensing things and dealing with friction).
*Why You Wouldn't Want Invisibility - because if you make a light barrier then you can't see. Unless you can sense the light you're manipulating.
Damn, after all these years I just realized Legolas was walking ON the snow in LOTR, not through it like everyone else.
He probably just noticed that the snow was really shallow on the edge of the path and decided to be an arse to the others trying to force their way through the waist-deep snow in the middle. That's why everyone hates elves!
What I got from this is Captain America would be great at fighting elves. Thank you for that mental image. :')
2:47 is one of my favorite Hulk one shots (pun fully intended) of all time.
Thanks Shad
10:00 i needed these in february so much!!!
High momentum isn't good against agile opponents, because its harder to stop and change direction, if the elf dodged it would get an open attack.
When you talk about grappling armored opponents you're not taking into consideration that the elf doesn't need to stop the opponent, the elf doesn't need to take the opponent down before it kills it, the elf just needs to hold onto the opponent and strike an opening, being light even helps in those situations as there is less weight pushing the elf down.
In 1 on 1 combat against someone using heavy weapons the elf just needs to dodge and to climb on the opponent to stab, the elf could even try to get distance at start to make the opponent think the elf is scared of close combat, making the opponent more reckless and predictable.
Weight can be used both in favor or against people.
High momentum can be used with a big sword or polearm with high reach and 'hitbox". This means it will be harder to dodge from a faster opponent.
Items lik big shields can counter that too
Have You Heard Of The High Elves?
The Very Good Guy, Also known as Very Smug Elves
You mean drug addict elves?
Great vid!
Elathar was nervous. He was a young elf, only 120 cycles old and this was his first battle against the dreaded humans who had been pushing back the elfs further and further back for the last few months. No one returned who faced the human army. No one had an idea what tactics the humans were using. Today the humans had to be crushed before they could burn down the sacred forest. The only access to the sacred forest was through a narrow ravine which was fortified as well as possible in such a short time. The humans progressed faster than anyone could imagine, disregarding wounded soldiers or casualties. The humans that were once so frowned upon by the elves now were marching to the sacred forest without mercy or fear.
The ground began to rumble softly, as Elathar noticed, but he wasn't the only one and everybody knew what was coming: human battle formations. Elathar quickly put on his helmet and grabbed his bow with shaky fingers. He was stationed more at the back as an archer, while more experienced elves would try to stop the humans in melee. Elathar too was training to become a wardancer, but he was not experienced enough. But what he had seen from his mentors seemed unbeatable from the humans' slow reflexes.
Horns rang, echoing across the ravine, hurting Elathars ears. The humans were probably 500 meters away, but he could see every detail on their giant shields. He gulped. Shooting any bearer of such a giant shield would be useless, so he would focus his fire more in the back, where the humans seemed to have no shields. They were approaching slowly, not tiring themselves out before the battle started. "They seem to have a little brain at the least", Elathar thought to himself.
Suddenly they stopped. They were well out of range of his bow, so he wondered why they did that. Maybe to send someone to negotiate? The answer followed soon, as a rain of arrows cleaved huge gaps into the ranks of the wardancers. Thyron, an old friend of him grabbed his shoulder and fell to the ground with empty eyes, an arrow stuck right in his heart.
Commotion broke out in the elven ranks, as shieldbearers ran to the front to protect the unshielded wardancers, but not until a second volley decimated the front line.
Now the human formation moved forward. A giant shieldwall, with shields almost as high as the one carrying it, leaving no gap for arrows except a small slit for the humans to look through marched in unison towards Elathar. A few arrows were fired off, none hit their mark. "Aim at the humans in the back", an officer shouted, breaking the spell of horror on the defenders. Elathar pulled his bowstring back and released, hoping that his arrow put the human it hit where it belonged. In the dirt. It seemed to work, holes appeared in the human formation but were quickly filled up. For every human that fell, another one was there to take its place, but every hole in the elven formation was a grave loss.
They were close now, and the stream of humans didn't cease. Elathar could feel the desperation of his fellow archers. But certainly they wouldn't be able to defeat the wardancers, how would they do that? "Those shields would be too heavy even for a human to lift with one arm, so they had to use both, so what would they do, when they came to close quarters? Open up the ranks and let their pathetic soldiers face wardancers? In this ravine they can't use their numbers against us, and a wardancer will be able to slaughter hundreds of the worthless humans coming at them one at a time."
But the shields didn't open up. 30 meters from the elven line they just charged. And no wardancer could withstand that charge. There was no place to dodge. Elves were tossed back and knocked to the ground as the shields kept charging while the unshielded humans behind them took efficient care of the now helpless elves. One wardancer managed to get back up and gut a human in a single fluid swing only to be struck in the head by an axe from behind.
The first line of the elven defense was obliterated in mere seconds. The second line was trying to form a phalanx as the humans crushed into them, butchering them without hesitation. Not a single spear found its mark.
And the shields didn't stop charging. Before Elathar could realize what was happening, he felt a mindnumbing pain in his foot before a shield crashed into him, pushing all the air in his lungs out of his lungs, breaking his arm, three ribs and flung him backwards. A sharp crack announced that Elathars ankle broke for the human had pinned Elathars foot down with his spiky shoes before he sent him flying. The human grinned, slowly twisting his foot as Elathar was struggling to both breathe and scream at the same time.
"Mate, stop bein' a sadistic cunt and just end him, aight?", said another human to Elathars tormentor. "Nah, tis too much fun. Ya hear tha sound this one's makin'? Not so stuck up now, are we?" A warm batch of spit landed on Elathars face but he lacked the strength to move his arm. "Aight, if you won't do it, I'll end him. I just wanna go home, yknow?", was all Elathar could hear, his mind completely blank from the pain. The axe swung from the second human left no time for last thoughts.
I am sorry but I don’t see the spiked shoes idea working, at all.
Combat is more than just landing blows. You have fought a few swordfights as well and for how long during those fight were you standing still?
I get that grip is important but the last thing you need in a fight is to anchor yourself to the ground. Something like that would impair your movement and on solid or uneven terrain those spikes might be more of a hindrance than a aid, because the cant grip anything properly.
Could be better for a formation though.
When elves are too op and you need a second vid to explain on how to kill them
Shad, thank you for spending so much time reading our comments on every video that you post. And to the rest of the commentators, thank you all for not turning Shad's videos into the typical TH-cam verbal cesspit
-- a frequent commentor
This series is really good for me. I’m an author, so I use this information for my novel. Especially the dragon ones. I use the weaker principle for a few races including one I created.
If elves are just lighter, then why don't we just make a really huge fan to blow them all away?
That or fight them on a windy day.
*Shields too OP*
Please nerf.
Great Vid, I'd love to see a fantasy re-armed on how to fight fantasy vampires, supernatural speed, strength and toughness, maybe keeping in mind the idea of vampires using necromancy or dark magic
For some reason. Everytime i see the sparta slamming the guy down. I dwear i can hear him say: MACHICULATIIOOOONN!!!!!
actually to a degree that legolas walking is accurate in the winter to some degree by stepping carefully to a point you can stay on top of the snow so no magic needed.
Additionally if OP Elves like in Lord of the Rings or Inheritance Cycle, they can punch through Armor.
I love your videos
I would love to see a movie in a fantasy setting with elves, angels, giants, and fairies all fighting in the ways shad suggests in these videos.
More eye opening info.
One thing about Legolas walking on snow, is that if the snow has slightly melted, then frozen over, you can walk on top of the snow while leaving little to no foot print. (Even though this wasn't the case in the book) Everyone else could be plowing through the snow as it'd be safer/less dexterous, etc.
Shad, I agree with you 100% on the first two types of elves. However when it comes to Tolkien's Elves there isn't much one can do besides throwing overwhelming numbers in pitched battles at the elvish ranks. This is because Tolkiens Elves are the same size as Numanorians(the big tall humans) 6-7ft and inherent magic of the Eldar, or what we humans call magic, for the elves it's as natural as breathing. However elves would never willingly fight pitched battles against overwhelming numbers unless they prepared for it
I am just thinking of the elf that made the mistake of jumping up in combat and falling down slowly, then seeing the knights looking at each other with a smile. Next scene the commander come up looking with a wtf face seeing three knights bounding an elf like a beach ball with the elf screaming profanities.
Unexpected part two fantasy rearmed for the win!
@Shadiversity there is more to the spiked shoes and shield push. Once you push them over you step on them with the spikes! That will really reduce the elven agility. It can even be done in formation. Stomp stomp squish squish. Oh what a relief it is.
In the Hobbit movies there is a dwarf charge at an elven infantry formation that works pretty much like you describe. Also they use goats and wild boars as cavalry - now those are OP :)), and "twirly-whirlys" to break incoming arrow volleys.
An interesting thing I thought of was that you mentioned in the previous episodes that elves had better vision and hearing so would a flashbang type device be even more effective on them than us? I don't know if such a device would be possible in the time period but it also opens the conversation to other ways to keep them off balance by turning their strengths into exploitable weaknesses.
in a well organized and diciplined shieldwall you would'nt even need plate armour. just good interlocking shields to close the gaps. maybe a rectangle shield whit two rows where front row cowers their feet while back row holds the shield upside down and shields their heads.
Can you make a video about what weapons 'mushroom people' should use? Like the Dark Souls style anatomy walking mushrooms with arms. I think it'd be interested to see how the big cap on their heads and the typical slow speed limit them, and maybe how they can make use of being heavy (or spongy) and how their super strength would help them.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on the best weapons for them.
I’ve been requesting this for a year now, but I’d love a fantasy rearmed video on dullahans or headless horsemen.
The maneuverability of a dagger paired with its size means it's much easier to get around even a big shield. The coverage of a shield beats the speed of wielding something bigger like a sword or spear - spears are fast at the tip, due to the leverage offered by their length, but their size makes it harder to get around an obstruction like a shield.
With the topic closely to Legolas, have you seen Larz Anderson and his bow skills and theories? It’s pretty amazing to watch. I’m surprised we don’t see more of him or hear more about him on YT.
Hey Shad, what about making a video about traveling? Like dangers, time spent , common errors and that kinda thing
Excellent!
Elves also tend to be shown as fighting on foot. I'd say a good Mongol Tumen or two might be a good way to beat them; their bows should be comparable to the elves', so they could wear them down with hit and run attacks before sending in the lancers, or using them to cut off any sorties against the horse archers. Might work.
but since elves are lighter they will domesticate horses first and thus their culture would be better horsemen AND their natural agility and stuff would make elves the perfect horse archers.
HAHHAAHA Legolas face when on the ground shows exacly an expression of someone loosing all his advantages :D
First few rows of your army are the bashers and stompers in heavy armor who hold formation, behind them come the stabbers and grapplers to finish the elves off.
I've never seen Legolas walking above snow as light but rather as a skill he had. He knew how to walk in a gracious way, just like walking over glass.
Yes he would need magical assistance but then again he's already a magical creature! he sees beyond what any eye would be able to (not even the camera can see what he sees).
Concirning the walking on snow thing... .
If the top layer of snow has melted and then refrozen, even a normal human can sometimes walk on it.
But if you are to heavy, this top surface breaks suddenly (and the breaking point is usually pretty consistent).
Under the right condisions a 70Kg human might be able to walk around on the snow surface without problems. But a 80Kg
Kg person will sink in.
So Legolas doesnt need to be mutch lighter, just a little bit.
Also it would probably be way easier for an elve to walk very carefuly and evenly.
Glad I could help.
I never spotted that Legolas snow thing. Even jack rabbits leave tracks in the snow, and they only weigh about 10 lbs or less. (generally speaking)
10:00 they go over this in the Emberverse series, the knights in that wear hobnail boots into battle to increase their ability to keep their footing in the muddy blood soaked ground.
spiked shoes won't work in some cases. If used on loose turf (ground) they can become usless due to clogging up and thus you will lose any advantage they gave you unless the dirts removed.
See scrums in rugby games on dew covered fields for an example:
The damp top soil gets loosened during play and collects between the spriggs and inturn the boots sprigs (spikes) can no longer effectivly make contact with the ground.
Whats held between the sprigs is damp so less traction between the boot and ground is possible so when the scrum occurs the players feet can slip out from under them and down the scrum goes.
You should do a video on the best way to fight hunters/rangers/animal companions. Because in fantasy there's plenty of characters that fight alongside beast companions like war dogs, wolves, tigers, boars, bears, and maybe even dinosaurs depending on the story. So it would be interesting to see a video that explores the strategy to fight against these savage creatures.
This video cames 20 years late. I've used to play a troll sky raider in the EARTHDAWN rpg, with exactly that setup. XD good video.
Just thought that I would point out that in the most recent edition of dungeons and dragons, (5e) wood elves do indeed move further that humans do each round, (35ft versus 30ft). So precedent does indeed exist for elves being faster in a general sense.
That scene from Hellboy 2 comes to mind "You slippery bastard... I gotcha now."
Hey Shad! Have you heard of a show called "The Dragon Prince"? There are a couple topics I think you might like to explore if you'll indulge me. You could analyze the design of the castle, or the design of the many weapons the elves use in the series. I especially like the design of Rayla's switchblade-sword-things and Runaan's bow (it can be broken into two swords). There's also a dagger in the later episodes that can melt through other peoples' swords (perhaps you could determine what type of metal would be able to hold the shape of the dagger at that heat and/or the design of the sheathe which holds that dagger while not burning the wielder's trousers). And, while you're studying the topics, you're watching a great show with a unique animation style!