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[atomicwinter]

Well when I refer to knights I mean the use of Calvary as the main fighting force. Those tactics were very popular in the middle ages but the invention of the pike ended their mainstream use. But Calvary resurfaced and were used all the way up to the tail end of World War II by various country's. Oh lets not forget the charge of the light brigade.. British Calvary slam into Russian guns and artillery. Absolute massacre for the Brits, but we have "The Trooper" By Iron Maiden to thank by it.

Edit: Ok I thought the pike was invented later on. I guess to rephrase it, the resurface of pike warfare and phalanx like formations brought the end.

[kuro_suna]

It doesn't take much training to poke things with a stick.

Or as a anti cavalry weapon you just hold your ground and wait for the enemy to skewer themselves.

[atomicwinter]

It doesn't take much training to poke things with a stick.

Or as a anti cavalry weapon you just hold your ground and wait for the enemy to skewer themselves.

Wasn't that scene in Braveheart just beautiful ?

[kuro_suna]

Atomicwinter:  Spears and pikes long, long predated the knight.  Spears predate calvery itself (simple spears and hand-axes are the oldest stone weapons), while pikes came around right about the same time.

spears predate almost everything

Animal use

Spear manufacture and use is also practiced by the Pan troglodytes verus subspecies of the Common Chimpanzee. Chimpanzees near Kédougou, Senegal were observed to create spears by breaking straight limbs off of trees, stripping them of their bark and side branches, and sharpening one end with their teeth. They then used the weapons to hunt galagos sleeping in hollows.[1]. Orangutans have also used spears to fish after observing humans fishing in a similar manner.[2]


Archeological evidence documents that wooden spears were used for hunting at least 400,000 years ago.[3] However, wood does not preserve well. Craig Stanford, a primatologist and professor of anthropology at the University of Southern California, has suggested that the discovery of spear use by chimpanzees probably means that early humans used wooden spears as well, perhaps five million years ago.[4]

[atomicwinter]

Wow thanks for that Kuro! I knew that bones where used as clubs by our very very earlier ape ancestors, but I had no idea they used spears!

[Akigagak]

...Whut.

Did you ever go to a history class?

Because I doubt it.

[Eidalac]

Most animals are, in the short term, very resistant to blunt trauma, unless struck in a vulnerable spot.  Having a pointed object jammed into your flesh is harder to deal with.

Something like a sling bullet moves fast enough to bruise internal organs, but can also penetrate skin.  This is what makes all forms of bullets nasty things when they connect.

[atomicwinter]

...Whut.

Did you ever go to a history class?

Because I doubt it.

? What do you mean

And they refuse to teach that kind of history at my schools. Apparently it challenges creationism.

[Cthulhu]

The Romans used javelins with soft necks, so they bent when they stuck in you.  That'd suck.

[Akigagak]

Also stops people from throwing them back.

[Eidalac]

Barbs.  *shudders*

Also, Roman javelins were designed to stick into shields as well, so a hit or two would force a foe to bend down, just enough to stab over his defenses and into his head.

[Realmfighter]

Also stops people from throwing them back.

Who the hell would throw a javelin back?

I, personally would fall down and cry.

[Akigagak]

Also stops people from throwing them back.

Who the hell would throw a javelin back?

If it missed, or hit one of your mates, what would you do with an enemy javelin?

[Realmfighter]

Also stops people from throwing them back.

Who the hell would throw a javelin back?

If it missed, or hit one of your mates, what would you do with an enemy javelin?

If you knew how to use a javelin effectively you would already have one and you would be trying not to die before you would need a new one.

(i know nothing)

[Eidalac]

A trained solider can take a non-vital hit with something like a javelin and keep fighting - but if he can't remove it his range of motion and mobility is reduced, making him less of a threat.  Not being able to throw it back is a secondary benefit, and even that would be more to keep an enemy from pulling one out of a corpse than himself.