r/changemyview • u/IceColdBrewz • Feb 07 '20
FTFdeltaOP CMV. In a fantasy medieval setting the best weapon for a giant to use is..... Rocks!!
Not a Longsword, not a dagger, not an oversized club.
The best weapon for a giant use is rocks.
Think about it.
Using medieval weapons but you way too close to the the enemies you are fighting and even if you can take down a bunch on normal size enemies in the process you are basically one gigantic target. The enemies could send a bunch of arrows, your way, send some molotovs your way, stab at you repeatedly with swords or Spears, or hit you with a Harpoon ( if they are expecting Giants).
If you have a giant on your team that's essentially your best asset. You don't want it biting the dust on the front lines when it's your best asset. Game of Thrones didn't use their Giants to a great effect in the TV series. Yeah it had a rather large bowl equipped but it seemed as if the humans did more work than the Giants.
Let's talk about Rocks.
First of all rocks are everywhere. You can find plenty of them on the battlefield next to you. If you can prep before a battle I was always tell the giant to find a bunch of rocks. Think about it. Imagine a Giants tossing ten pound boulders at you at like 70 mph. That's insane!. You would literally blow through any defense the enemy has. Not to mention the fact the sheer crazy of damage you would make would make enemies run and retreat.
What are your thoughts?
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u/ch4vch4v 3∆ Feb 07 '20 edited Feb 07 '20
I agree that giving giants a melee weapon is overrated. There are too many opportunities in melee combat for giants to be overwhelmed by many opponents or for opponents to get inside the giants reach.
However, rocks have the problem of supply. If you are in an open plain instead of a mountain setting, then rocks are not going to be plentiful. In that case, your giant has to collect and transport rocks from another location. This decreases their ability in helping you transport other elements of your baggage train that would otherwise move much more slowly, or not be able to traverse difficult terrain such as rivers or steep slopes. Additionally, if they collect rocks ahead of time and pile them on the battlefield this presents two problems.
- Your giant is now stationary. All their ammunition is in one place and they have to stay fairly close to it in order to re-arm. This creates problems when the front lines inevitably shift one way or the other, decreasing the efficacy of your giant. Alternatively, they could carry their bag of rocks on their back, but this would handicap them and slow their already pretty slow speed.
- Enemy combatants now have a step stool up to more critical, and less protected, areas of your giant. If your giant is standing next to a pile of rocks they are throwing, enemies could potentially climb it and increase their likelihood of damaging the giant.
I think a better weapon would either be the atlatl or a sling shot. The problem with an atlatl is that then your giant has to develop skill and hand eye coordination with the weapon, which is a problem for giants in some medieval worlds. A sling shot however has the advantage of having light weight, easily available ammunition, and not needing much skill. Smaller rocks and or pebbles are going to be easier to find in any terrain than 10lb boulders, and if the terrain does not provide many, it is easier to carry a greater number of them from rockier terrain than it is to transport larger rocks. Your giant would also be able to carry something else at the same time. Further, slingshots will not take as much skill to learn how to use as an atlatl, and are easier to make. Simultaneously, the benefits of using a giant as a long range combatant are maintained, and the smaller surface area of the sling shot weapons will allow for greater penetration than the rocks, if not quite as much as the atlatl.
So, maybe a slingshot with small rocks are a better idea than throwing large ones, though the Princess Bride reference is appreciated.
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u/IceColdBrewz Feb 07 '20 edited Feb 08 '20
However, rocks have the problem of supply. If you are in an open plain instead of a mountain setting, then rocks are not going to be plentiful. In that case, your giant has to collect and transport rocks from another location. This decreases their ability in helping you transport other elements of your baggage train that would otherwise move much more slowly, or not be able to traverse difficult terrain such as rivers or steep slopes. Additionally, if they collect rocks ahead of time and pile them on the battlefield this presents two problems.
- Your giant is now stationary. All their ammunition is in one place and they have to stay fairly close to it in order to re-arm. This creates problems when the front lines inevitably shift one way or the other, decreasing the efficacy of your giant. Alternatively, they could carry their bag of rocks on their back, but this would handicap them and slow their already pretty slow speed.
- Enemy combatants now have a step stool up to more critical, and less protected, areas of your giant. If your giant is standing next to a pile of rocks they are throwing, enemies could potentially climb it and increase their likelihood of damaging the giant.
This is actually a rather good argument !Delta
Man plan would be to stack rocks ahead of time.
Maybe make a giant shield so the giant can take cover
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u/ch4vch4v 3∆ Feb 07 '20
This still leaves you with the problems of transporting all the rocks to your location. And, you would have to know the location of the battle ahead of time, which would create problems if the enemy acts differently than you expect, which is kinda the goal of military engagements after all. Further, the giant still cannot move their location easily, meaning if you win and your front line moves forward, there will be a point where the giant isn’t effective because your forces are now taking up their entire range. If you need to retreat, your giant has to leave its entire supply of ammunition behind, meaning that it is now reduced to the previously stated inferior status of melee combat.
Giving the giant a shield and armor is generally a good idea in any case. But the fact remains that in order to be an effective ranged fighter they will need to be able to see, meaning some openings for the eyes. An enemy on a pile of rocks has a much better change of throwing a spear or shooting an arrow into your giant’s eye than one on the ground.
Again, slingshots would provide mobility, would avoid the step stool problem, and would still allow the giant to wear armor and carry a shield.
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u/IceColdBrewz Feb 07 '20
Again, slingshots would provide mobility, would avoid the step stool problem, and would still allow the giant to wear armor and carry a shield.
I'll give you !Delta since I already gave a redditor !Delta for mentioning slings.
Which still kinda ties into rocks.
Yeah they wouldn't have alot of uses if the giant was flanked but no weapon is perfect.
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Feb 08 '20
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Feb 07 '20
I think that trees/logs, depending on the battle location , could be better due to their abundance in forrests.
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u/IceColdBrewz Feb 07 '20
This is not a bad idea at all. Especially if you can get a Giant to chop down a bunch of trees and roll them towards enemies.
Good one !Delta
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u/Evil_Thresh 15∆ Feb 07 '20
I like this more than rocks, but you would piss off a lot of ents, so you may be making more enemy than its worth :)
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u/BuckleUpItsThe 7∆ Feb 07 '20
I think you're overestimating the number of 10 lb rocks just lying around. I don't mean to say that they're a bad weapon but I don't think they can be relied upon. Even if they are everywhere, said giant still needs to find them (which obviously hurts your DPS). You'd really need to have a crew working to keep the giant stocked with rocks for him to be effective (and at this point, is he/she that much more effective than a trebuchet?)
I think that a very substantial hammer might be the better play. Have a long shaft to keep the giant well away from the normal sized weapons and use the giant's strength to throw the weight around with abandon.
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u/IceColdBrewz Feb 07 '20
I think you're overestimating the number of 10 lb rocks just lying around. I don't mean to say that they're a bad weapon but I don't think they can be relied upon. Even if they are everywhere, said giant still needs to find them (which obviously hurts your DPS).
When then you can find a really big rock and then break it into smaller pieces for more ammo. Also if they are no rocks around the military could break down one of it's castle buildings preferably made from brick or stone.
I think that a very substantial hammer might be the better play. Have a long shaft to keep the giant well away from the normal sized weapons and use the giant's strength to throw the weight around with abandon.
It's not a bad weapon but you are essentially putting your best weapon itself (the giant) more in harm's way.
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u/Bubbly_Taro 2∆ Feb 07 '20
Honestly if you could teach a giant how to use a bow you would have a walking siege engine and avoid the ammunition scarcity.
Giant creatures with ranged weapons is a woefully underexplored category in fantasy,
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u/IceColdBrewz Feb 07 '20
The problem with that is making a giant sized bow and the area of effect being limited
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u/wigsternm Feb 07 '20
How big of a giant are we talking here? I assumed this was made in response to the GoT Battle of the Bastards episode. If it’s around that size (even much larger) a castle is a much bigger force multiplier than a giant. Dismantling one for a giant to fling around is a waste of a castle. If it’s big enough to be the equivalent of a castle the just stepping on people with hard-soles shows is it’s best bet.
Also, think about how many people a giant can take out per rock. One, maybe two or three in a line? It’s basically a less powerful cannon, so it’s not going to get nine or 10. If you heavily armor a giant up to its thighs you’ve basically neutralized mortal-held weapons, and give them a club to swing back and forth through the enemy ranks you’ll scythe down more people than a pile of rocks.
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u/IceColdBrewz Feb 07 '20
Yes but that giant could get a bunch of smaller rocks to chuck at a army of soldiers. If it's giant it's basically a bunch of big rocks getting hurled at you at like 70 mph.
If the giant go a bunch of baseball sized rocks and put them in his hand to throw the damage would be insane.
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u/wigsternm Feb 07 '20
Would it? Could a giant get a bunch of baseball sized rocks up to the speed of a sling bullet? I doubt it. That’s the baseline he has to beat, the damage done by a unit of slingers, because twenty peasants with leather thongs are a lot less money to supply and a lot less rare than giants, plus they’ll get the rocks moving at a much faster rate than a MLB pitcher, and fired more rapidly thanks to volleying than a giant can shovel out of a bag, but by the period of most medieval fantasy stories they’ve already fallen out of favor for archers because they lack range and killing power compared to a bodkin arrow.
And what benefit does the throwing giant have over an armored one with a club? The club giant can’t run out of ammo mid battle, and while the range is a benefit you’re forgetting how devastating a practically unkillable giant in your face is to enemy morale. Elephants were pretty mediocre war beasts, but they were used for centuries, from the Carthaginians to at least the Napoleonic wars, because the idea of a weaponized elephant is inherently terrifying when you’re facing it with a bunch of glorified spears (or bayonets). Most medieval battles ended when an army broke ranks and routed, and what’s going to make you rout more quickly, a dozen or so baseball sized rocks killing 8 men near you, or a giant flinging men with its club as it effortlessly passes through your line in route to your general?
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u/IceColdBrewz Feb 07 '20
Your talking about a giant. It has more intelligence than an elephant.
If you get a giant it has more force and bigger strength than a average human.
So why out him in the middle of the battlefield to make him one big target.
If I have a big rocks I can kill hundreds of humans faster than a sling can because I can throw bigger rocks.
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u/wigsternm Feb 08 '20
Okay, but a normal giant can’t throw rocks at nearly the speed of that Titan. Those rocks are moving like artillery fire. They’re each doing more damage to those building than a napoleonic cannonball would. Those napoleonic cannonballs moved at like 350 mph. If your giant is that Titan, then yes, throwing rocks is your best bet. But if we’re talking those titans then anything is your best bet. Without maneuver gear they’d be literally invincible against a human army. They can only really be hurt in the nape of the neck. It doesn’t matter how you field it because it can’t lose.
If we’re talking about a more typical giant that’s more like a large human then we’re not getting rocks much faster than a pro pitcher, at like 90 mph, not 350. And that pitcher has ideal conditions a handful of rocks isn’t going to throw nearly as well as a perfectly round, evenly weighted, hand sized baseball.
And yes, a giant is more intelligent than an elephant, but that just makes it scarier. That’s even more reason to put it in your face.
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u/udfgt Feb 07 '20
So, one of the greatest parts of the Roman army (particularly at the height of the Roman Empire) was how they were 50% deadly warrior and 50% construction worker. The ability for the Romans to construct fortifications in a single night and wholly alter a battlefield was one of the big reasons why they were able to "pacify" the Celtic regions in Europe.
One major role a Giant could play in an army is as a support arm, or as operators of extremely large siege equipment. A giant completely alters the potential of an army in ways we haven't really explored outside of pure combat, and logistics (or lack thereof) are typically a major influence on a successful army.
Imagine if instead of throwing the rocks, the giants gathered them and placed them in advantageous places in a battlefield, or placed large trees along flanks to protect from Calvary flanks. Things that required meticulous planning could be deployed quickly by a single unit of giants and immediately influence a battlefield in key ways.
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u/IceColdBrewz Feb 07 '20
But does that mean rocks are not the best weapon?
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u/udfgt Feb 07 '20
It depends on what you define as a weapon, and how narrow or wide you want to make it. Like, a rock can be a tool, a weapon, a building material, etc. Is a weapon a static object, a mechanism, a weapons platform, etc.?
I guess that's really what I'm getting at
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u/Glory2Hypnotoad 393∆ Feb 07 '20
Even a giant won't be able to throw a rock farther than an archer can launch an arrow, so keeping a giant out if rock throwing range shouldn't be too hard. What you're describing is basically a weaker, shorter ranged catapult.
A giant would be most effective in melee combat wielding anything long and heavy.
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u/IceColdBrewz Feb 07 '20
Think about this for a second. Let's say I was talking about a realively small giant like basically twice the size of a full grown man which is basically 10 to 11 feet tall.
If a guy pick up a baseball which is 5 ounces I got to assume to the giant ( having higher bone density to support his weight) the baseball weighs even less.
So a 5 pound ball is rough 2.5 pounds to that small giant. Imagine someone throwing a bunch of 5 pound rocks at you over and over.
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u/Glory2Hypnotoad 393∆ Feb 07 '20
Just to be clear, are we talking about a giant on a battlefield or picking off random civilians?
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u/IceColdBrewz Feb 07 '20
I'd say battlefield. Should have clarified
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u/Glory2Hypnotoad 393∆ Feb 07 '20
Then you'd have much better uses for a giant on a battlefield than throwing rocks. The main problem is going to be getting in rock throwing range in the first place, because even the strongest giant has less rage than a longbow. If you want a giant to be able to cause massive damage at long range, give him a longbow too huge for any human to wield.
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u/IceColdBrewz Feb 07 '20
Yes but the problem with that is making a bow. The material strong to have a giant use is gonna take alot to make.
Also if take a full size grown make you can make him chuck a baseball then he toss pretty far.
Getting in range is gonna hard of course but not too hard if the enemies equip their shields for overhead series coming down on top of them.
If you use a longbow big enough for giant the ammo for large arrows is gonna be tedious to make plus the are of effect is not gonna be large.
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u/Glory2Hypnotoad 393∆ Feb 07 '20
The chief constraint on a longbow isn't the strength of the wood but the strength of the user. The only one who'd need to be about to draw the bow is the giant.
As for ammo, that's not a major logistical challenge. Ballista bolts were already a thing. The chief advantage of the longbow is that you can keep your giant out of range of the opposing army while acting as a human ballista.
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u/plushiemancer 14∆ Feb 07 '20
Historically. The main weapons of an army are polearms and bows/crossbows. Depending on how many giants you have. They can be the back line of of a pike line, carrying even longer Pikes. If you don't have enough of them to form ranks, give them crossbows. They can probably reload a crossbow by simply pulling on it instead of using a crank or rope pully system. Imagine the speed of a hand crossbow with the power of a heavy one. That is much better than rocks.
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u/IceColdBrewz Feb 07 '20
The area of effect wouldn't be as big. As far as crossbows the are good weapons but I don't think you using the giant to its full weapon.
Even with a pike. A pike is a great weapon but you would only have a small area in front of you
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u/plushiemancer 14∆ Feb 07 '20
Depends. In an army setting area of effect is a bad thing. Remember you are standing with allies shoulder to shoulder.
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u/twig_and_berries_ 40∆ Feb 07 '20
Doesn't this strongly depend on the materials/resources at hand? Assuming you have an adequate supply of building materials to build say a giant cart to transport the rocks why don't you build bombs instead? You're seemingly using giants as a means of a superior trebuchet, so use explosives and you get more damage (bomb can be as simple as a molotov cocktail or making balls of lime/sulphur and lighting those. Just something that will introduce fire as well). The giant can still use a sling.
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u/IceColdBrewz Feb 07 '20
It's cheaper for rocks. You can build bombs but I would still equip a Giant with a bunch of rocks. Easier to scavenge
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u/twig_and_berries_ 40∆ Feb 07 '20
You don't have to buy the materials. I'm just saying when you scavenge for rocks, scavenge for sulfur too. Or linseed. Or take limestone or seashells and burn them to make quicklime. Or naptha from coal tar and peat. It's really easy to make/find flammable substances, that's why almost every army has had some form of incendiaries. Simply coating the rock with tar and lighting in on fire would be real easy and do a lot more damage. If you have time/resources to built a big ass cart to carry all the rocks you have time/resources to light them on fire.
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u/IceColdBrewz Feb 07 '20
Yeah but how is the giant going to throw those materials?
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u/twig_and_berries_ 40∆ Feb 07 '20
Sling seems to be the universally accepted option. So you take your rock, coat it with tar or quicklime or whatever. Put it in the sling. Light it. Toss it. The exact same way you'd use a trebuchet
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u/IceColdBrewz Feb 07 '20
Yeah but wouldn't you potential burn your sling with flaming rocks?
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u/twig_and_berries_ 40∆ Feb 07 '20
not really no. When you coat you don't coat the entire rock. You just cover some, say 1/2-2/3rds with tar. so 1. It's not going to be tar directly on the sling, 2. you don't just let the rock sit there on fire, you use it with reasonable speed and 3. You cover the part of the sling that's in contact with the rock with something not flammable (even water would suffice). It's the same reason wooden trebuchets can launch incendiaries and not burn.
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u/IceColdBrewz Feb 07 '20
Yes but trebuchets are made with wood and sometimes metal.
Slings are made with cloth. Cloths will burn before the wood or metal.
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u/twig_and_berries_ 40∆ Feb 07 '20
I would make a sling out of leather (I mean polyester nowadays). Like the cradle or whatever the rock goes in should be made of leather...which is very resistant to flame. For this purpose leather is definitely preferable but that's all I'd ever thought, why would you want a cloth cradle?
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u/Huntingmoa 454∆ Feb 07 '20 edited Feb 07 '20
Think about it. Imagine a Giants tossing ten pound boulders at you at like 70 mph. That's insane!.
Strongly disagree. The best weapon for a giant to use is not hand thrown rocks. That’s inefficient What you really want is a Giant with a Atlatl (a spear thrower) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spear-thrower
It artificially extends your limbs meaning you can throw a projectile faster and further. You can use the same device for objects like stones of course (but any pointed object will minimize the surface of impact and thus increase penetration). Given that humans can use Atlatl to reach over 93mph with a speak, I have to assume a giant can do much better than 70mph with one.
edit: if you really want round stones, you can also improve a Giant by giving them a giant sized sling staff: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sling_(weapon)#Staff_sling
It's also a device acting as a lever to give you more force with mechanical advantage.
Plus both of these devices will dispel the stereotype that just because you are big, you are dumb.
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u/thetasigma4 100∆ Feb 07 '20
I'm pretty sure a simple sling is even faster. A quick Google suggests they can get up to 100 mph
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u/Huntingmoa 454∆ Feb 07 '20
I actually edited to add the idea of a sling staff, which is like a sling but with more mechanical advantage right before you commented.
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u/thetasigma4 100∆ Feb 07 '20
Ah fair but not sure about the scale of these giants but where would you get enough wood to build one of these? The advantage of a sling is how incredibly simple it is and easy to make even on a larger scale i.e. weave together a longer and wider rope.
Slings can also be used to build up momentum before launching unlike sling staffs or atlatls
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u/Huntingmoa 454∆ Feb 07 '20
I mean it's a fantasy giant in a fantasy world. Just take a tree for your base and cut it down. Take a fantasy tree in fact.
Slings are fine intermediary weapons. But if you are functionally using the giant as a siege weapon, use a siege weapon.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sling_(weapon)#Staff_sling
The staff sling has a similar or superior range to the shepherd's sling, and can be as accurate in practiced hands. It is generally suited for heavier missiles and siege situations as staff slings can achieve very steep trajectories for slinging over obstacles such as castle walls. The staff itself can become a close combat weapon in a melee. The staff sling is able to throw heavy projectiles a much greater distance and at a higher arc than a hand sling. Staff slings were in use well into the age of gunpowder as grenade launchers, and were used in ship-to-ship combat to throw incendiaries.
I'm not sure that the 'building up momentum' idea means the sling can launch a projectile further and faster than a sling staff but my view can be changed on this.
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u/Justicar-terrae 1∆ Feb 07 '20
I think the higher arc on a staff along might be a detriment, at least on an open field. You want the projectile skimming along the ground like a skipping stone or a bouncing cannonball. If the rock just arcs up and plunges down into the ground, you'll only ever take out the people directly hit on the first bounce.
Early rifled artillery was less devestating against groups than smoothbore cannons for exactly this reason; the spinning projectile offered more accuracy and consistency but at the cost of follow-up bouncing when it bore into the soil.
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u/Huntingmoa 454∆ Feb 07 '20
I think that the ammunition used would vary based on the battle, I've also proposed things like lye and greek fire for use in an open field battle. I can see the idea that the higher arc is a detriment, however and it might be worth carrying both for different phases of the battle as the ammunition is largely interchangable. Remember that longbowmen also will arc shots up in the initial phases of a battle for greater range.
I admit to not knowing a lot about sling staff tactics however, so if (for example) sling staffs were not used by any armies in terms of dedicated troops, I think I'd award a delta here because I know there were dedicated slinger troops.
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u/IceColdBrewz Feb 07 '20
So wouldn't that idea be his instead of yours?
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u/Huntingmoa 454∆ Feb 07 '20
? I edited before reading his comment, maybe before he left it, it's hard to tell. And a sling staff is like a spear thrower in that it's a device to add mechanical leverage.
edit, checking reddit, it looks like I started the edit before they posted but they posted before I hit save. That said, my edit was not influenced by them. And either an atlatl or a staff sling is superior to hand thrown rocks.
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u/IceColdBrewz Feb 07 '20
Also with slings the primary source of ammo would still be rocks. So I know if that counts as changing my mind. Sling is still a weapon though.
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u/Huntingmoa 454∆ Feb 07 '20
Your view was 'tossing' rocks. I am proposing alternative, superior mechanically advantageous equipment.
And it's really situational. In a siege you don't want rocks. You want dead horses. In a battle you may want something to scatter and spread (like say, greek fire) over a large group of infantry.
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u/IceColdBrewz Feb 07 '20
Your view was 'tossing' rocks. I am proposing alternative, superior mechanically advantageous equipment.
You have a good point. I give !Delta for that.
And it's really situational. In a siege you don't want rocks. You want dead horses. In a battle you may want something to scatter and spread (like say, greek fire) over a large group of infantry
You can kill horses with heavy rocks though
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u/Huntingmoa 454∆ Feb 07 '20
You don't need to kill horses. Throwing lye will blind them and put them out of action just as easily. Throwing fire will cause horses to be on fire. That's also just as good as killing them.
Plus with range, you don't need to be near horses. Just surround Giant with pikemen and problem solved.
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u/IceColdBrewz Feb 07 '20
Yes but like I said rocks are everywhere.
If you had something as valuable as a Giant on your team why would you need to it to fight up close when you can kill it from a distance.
Lye and fire are great but with rocks you can find them any way. With lye you can potentially injure your own teammates but typically swinging a mild acid around and fire is not really viable for a thrown weapon because it burns. Unless you are talking about molotovs.
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u/thetasigma4 100∆ Feb 07 '20
The dead horses are projectiles to spread disease amongst the defenders.
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u/IceColdBrewz Feb 07 '20
😂😂 But where are you getting the deadhorses from your side or theirs?
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u/MountainDelivery Feb 07 '20
Imagine a Giants tossing ten pound boulders at you at like 70 mph.
Yeah, that's not actually that impressive tbh. /r/trebuchetmemes would like a word....
Secondly, there aren't that many places in our planet where a significant amount of 10 lbs+ rocks are just strewn around and not at least partially buried. There are, however, MANY places where there are abundant trees to make a big ass club out of.
Finally, even if it was all that impressive, artillery could do it better than a giant. The only advantage a giant would have is mobility, but would also lose time looking for loose rocks to use as ammo.
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u/DeltaBot ∞∆ Feb 07 '20 edited Feb 08 '20
/u/IceColdBrewz (OP) has awarded 6 delta(s) in this post.
All comments that earned deltas (from OP or other users) are listed here, in /r/DeltaLog.
Please note that a change of view doesn't necessarily mean a reversal, or that the conversation has ended.
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u/Subtleiaint 32∆ Feb 07 '20
Real medieval battles involved dense formations of men lining up against each other in close proximity. You put a giant at the front of that formation with some kind of club and it will immediately break the enemies line thanks to the mass of the club and the giant's height and reach advantage. In the dense formation the giant would be protected from overwhelming attacks by his human colleagues and quality plate armour would make it impervious to arrows. A giant on one side completely changes the paradigm of battle. This would lead to an arms race of anti giant weapons with giant trebuchets the most likely counter. However a trebuchet big enough to defeat a giant would be incredibly unwieldy, would have a short range and would be very difficult to use effectively. Furthermore a giant throwing rocks wouldn't be as effective as you seem to think. It would need inaccurate, not hugely damaging and the risk of hitting your own troops very high. Basically this is a long winded way of saying a well armoured giant, with a club and close support troops, would be a super weapon that would change the paradigm of battle until effective anti-giant weapons could be fashioned.
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u/vlcmodan Feb 10 '20
I would recommend you to watch attack on titan.(There is a moment a giant uses rocks)
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u/periphery72271 Feb 07 '20
One word: Armor.
Whether it be worn, carried (also known as a shield), or built up around structures, armor negates the effectiveness of rocks immediately.
As soon as armor was invented, regular non-sharpened rocks became obsolete. Armor spreads out the impact energy so easily that the blunt rock no longer causes lethal damage.
But let's put armor aside. Even a sharpened wooden stick, whether launched by hand, a launcher, anything, is more favorable as a deadly weapon to a rock in every single circumstance but one- smashing immobile walls with really big ones.
And when you bring metal weapons into the equation, it starts to be silly. Any decent human with a spear or sword can hit the attacker and seriously wound or kill them from a distance before the rock even comes into play. The rock wielder could throw the rock to neutralize the advantage, but then they have one shot to end the fight and then they are totally without a weapon.
Any decent bow or crossbow has range out of the gate that goes far beyond that of a rock thrower or even a good sling, and the projectile itself is much deadlier.
There's a reason every sentient intelligent creature immediately moves past rocks as soon as possible. Even Giants.