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Pirate vs Knight

April 28, 2009 | Author: Matthew | Filed under: Martial Arts,Opinion,Recent Events,TV Shows

We’ve experienced some crazy matchups before on Deadliest Warrior, but this one offers a very unique spin. Pirate vs Knight – who will it be?

So far your brave host (me!) is 2/2 – two correct picks after two rounds. I selected the Samurai to victory two weeks ago, and the Spartan to come out on top last week. Can I do it again? Can YOU do it again?

Let’s have a look at the contestants.

In this episode, a medieval knight is pitted against a classical pirate. What that means is each fighter will get their most well known weapons put to the test, run through 1,000 simulation battles, and ranked one superior to the other.

You can never be sure which weapons the hosts will choose, but most of the time they cover what is generally considered most popular and most effective. That brings us to the one, big, giant issue that is going to be raised in this episode -

WHAT ABOUT THE PIRATE’S GUN?

In a lot of people’s minds, including mine, the one pivotal factor is going to be the effectiveness of the pirate’s gun. At long range, the knight utilized a crossbow; deadly in it’s own right, but nothing compared to the range and impact of a gunpower fueled firearm.

In order to properly consider the impact of the pirate’s gun, we have to look at both the kind of gun used and the kind of armor the knight will be wearing.

In the picture above, we can see that the knight is given a fairly healthy array of armor. Full helmet, shield, chainmail, and plate seem to be in play. While cumbersome, this will be the only real saving grace the knight has against oncoming bullets.

WILL THE KNIGHT’S ARMOR HOLD UP?

To try and figure out if the armor will hold up, let’s consult some info from wikipedia:

“By the 16th century the handheld firearm became commonplace, replacing the crossbow and longbow in all advanced armies, and known as the arquebus. Most infantry were pikemen[7] Armour 2 mm thick required 2.9 times as much energy to defeat it as armour 1 mm thick.[8] The need to defeat armour gave rise to the musket proper referring to a heavier weapon, firing a heavier shot, which had to balance on a rest. The initial role of the musket was as a specialist armour piercing weapon; it therefore coexisted with the arquebus over the period c. 1550 – c. 1650. who normally wore some armour, especially the front ranks, and gave protection against cavalry to the arquebusiers. The rise of firearms led to thicker and heavier armour, from 15kgs in the 15th century to 25kgs in the late 16th century.”

Very clearly a musket would be able to penetrate armor; however, it is almost certain that the Deadliest Warrior pirate will not be using a musket. The musket needed to be balanced on a rest and used in a stationary fashion – the one-on-one duels inacted in the show are all done ‘on-the-fly’, without either warrior getting a chance to set up before the encounter.

If given an arquebus, the pirate could potentially run into trouble. If the knight is given heavier armor (like in the 16th century), he should be capable of withstanding arquebus gunfire.

That leaves the most likely and most controversial gun – the flintlock pistol.

Easily carried (and concealed), the flintlock pistol was a mainstay for pirates.The good thing about the flintlock is that it has good stopping power. Even as a pistol it has a fair chance at penetrating knight armor.

The bad news is that it’s not terribly accurate and you only get one shot before you have to go through the reloading process. The knight may not be the most agile creature in the world, but if the pirate happens to miss…

IS IT HIT OR MISS?

If the pirate is given a flintlock pistol and it hits most of the time in the simulation, the pirate has a great chance of winning. However, if the inaccuracy becomes a big factor and the pistol misses a lot, the knight has a real advantage.

After the pistol issue is bypassed for whatever reason, the knight is substantially better equipped and trained to fight hand to hand. The knight’s weapons are strong, durable, and effective. The pirate’s cutlass offers little against a shielded and armored knight.

CONCLUSIONS

What a difficult choice! So much is hinging on one factor; this decision is much different than in previous episodes. After all is said and done, I think the knight is going to pull it off. There is just too much emphasis on the pirate’s one shot for him to win the bulk of the 1,000 matchups.

What do you think?

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 28th, 2009 and is filed under Martial Arts, Opinion, Recent Events, TV Shows. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

xygoxen
  • Yeah, that one packed a punch! More Change Body needed!!
  • Dang! I definitely didn't anticipate that blunderbuss. That was the real game changer.
  • haha, sadly I played civ 4 and know exactly what you are talking about.
  • hulkster
    really, i think spike got their ideas from playing a game of civ 4.

    except in civ 4 the knight would have killed the pirate, then proceeded to somehow beat a stealth bomber and 4 tanks.
  • hulkster
    well, the pirate won, although they deemed his pistol ineffective against plate armor.

    we really have to ask, however, why they would ever compare the two anyway. now samurai vs knight, on the other hand, would not only be a good comparison but also settle and age old internet argument.

    then again, i might be taking this show far to seriously. i'm not yet convinced it's not just a really elaborate joke.
  • hulkster
    also, the next episode, mafia vs yakuza, should be pretty hilarious. as will the taliban vs ira episode. i wonder which poor sap will be stuck with the job of sticking up for the taliban?

    they may as well just rename the show "deadliest thug." at least then they could have a biggie vs tupac episode.

    that is, if they don't have one already.
  • I agree largely with Noah L. I'm not sure that the firepower of a flintlock pistol would be truly effective against plate armour. Firstly it's true that armour was rendered obsolete by guns: the battle of Parvia was won by arquebusier and pike power against suited knights. And although both are fairly low velocity, the arquebus (which was only effective against plate armour at close range) has to be greater than a flintlock pistol! As mentioned above it really depends on getting a couple of shots off at very close range but by then the knight may well have clobbered the pieces of eight out of Long John.

    Looking at Youtube a flintlock shooter claims:
    "my smoothy derringer will put 3 balls in 18 inches at 10 yards and thats with a 4 inch barrel with only front sights."

    ...but would it ping off armour like a peashooter? Is the pirate a crack shot at range? That battle mace must have an effective range of about 4 metres (with an advancing step by the Knight)...!

    Go Knight!
  • I have been correct the past two times, and I think that the knight will win. Yes, armor was abandoned because of firearms--large, powerful firearms. The flintlock is most definitely not large or powerful. I don't believe it has the stopping power, but it does depend somewhat on the armor of the knight as well. We shall see :)
  • Bob
    I think this is a tough call. The katana failed against armor and the Samurai still won. If the gun has a 30% kill rate, I think the pirate can win another 20% hand to hand.
  • MikeOliveri
    The gun is the one chance I'm seeing for the pirate, too, though it's going to depend upon what they arm him with and what era of piracy we're talking about. Like Jesse says, armor was abandoned after the advancements in firearms. My assumption is they'll go with Pirates of the Caribbean-style pirates for popularity's sake, and knights were already gone by then, so a good, modern (to that era) bullet may punch the armor.

    I think the opportunity they missed was pirates vs ninjas. Ever been to a sci-fi convention and see the pirate and ninja obsessions? They'd be squabbling for years over the result of the show.
  • Oh absolutely.

    Personally I don't get the whole pirate vs ninja battle...
  • Bob Patterson
    I am leaning towards the pirate. You can't run in armour. You can run and re-load. That firearm is going to be very hard to deal with. Also, most pirates carried more than one
  • Very good point about the multiple guns - I wonder if they will address that. Also I believe the knight will have some short distance running ability, he won't be completely tanked-up.
  • Branden
    I'm just interested what kind of whack job they're going to get in to be the "pirate specialist".
  • The internet thinks the pirate will win because he's a pirate, but my money is on the knight... It's just too bad that they didn't get Johnny Depp to be the pirate.
  • Traditional armor was largely abandoned as a result of firearms. I dunno though, something tells me they're going to make the knight win just to spite me. Then again they might play it toward the pirate because of popular culture around pirates these days. Then again maybe they'll do the exact opposite just to stir up feelings. Sigh deadliest warrior why do you do such silly things.
  • hahaha - stop messing with our heads deadliest warrior!
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