Yesterday's Battle

Author: PaulBog

  • Trebuchet

    The trebuchet is an amazing war weapon created to function using multiple simple things in a complicated, combined way.
    Throwing a rock has always been a very dependable and simple way of doing someone harm. It can knock you out and, if strong and precise enough, it can kill you. The trebuchet was just someone thinking “What if rock REALLY BIG”.

    OK, it is unfair for me to say that. The catapult was the big rock thrower while the trebuchet was the needed upgrade. Big C appeared in ancient Greece around the 4th century BCE. Early Greek catapults, such as the gastraphetes and later torsion-powered devices like the ballista and onager, were developed for siege warfare and quickly spread throughout the Mediterranean.

    Big T originated later. The traction trebuchet, operated by teams pulling ropes, first appeared in China around the 4th century BCE. The more advanced counterweight trebuchet, which uses a heavy weight to power its arm, was developed in the Eastern Mediterranean or Byzantine Empire around the 6th to 7th centuries CE and spread to Europe by the 12th century.

    The first uses an arm and rope to push
    while the second uses rope, weight, and gravity to swing.

    Great Successes and Failures

    Successes:

    • Trebuchets were renowned for their ability to hurl massive stones, incendiaries, and even diseased carcasses over castle walls (fucking cool), making them highly effective during sieges.
    • Notable successes include the Siege of Acre (1189–1191) during the Third Crusade, where trebuchets played a crucial role in breaking the city’s defenses.
    • The Siege of Stirling Castle (1304) is famous for the use of “Warwolf,” a massive trebuchet built by the English, which reportedly forced the defenders to surrender due to its overwhelming destructive power(COWARDS).

    Failures:

    • Despite their effectiveness, trebuchets had their downsides. Their construction was time-consuming, requiring significant resources and skilled labor.
    • At times, poorly constructed trebuchets would collapse or malfunction, causing injuries or failing to breach fortifications.
    • In some sieges, defenders adapted by reinforcing their walls or using countermeasures, reducing the trebuchet’s effectiveness.

    Conclusion

    The trebuchet stands out in medieval siege warfare for its innovative use of counterweight mechanics, enabling armies to breach formidable defenses. While it achieved legendary successes, it also faced notable failures due to its complexity and the evolving tactics of defenders. Its distinction from the catapult lies primarily in its power source and resulting capabilities, making it a symbol of both medieval ingenuity and the relentless arms race of siege technology.

  • Basics of Spears

    Spears: The Original Killstick

    The spear is what happens when a human sees a stick and thinks, “What if pointy… and fast?” It’s the perfect mix of simplicity, deadliness, and “I don’t need to get close to you to ruin your whole day.” Before bows, before swords, before trebuchets yeeting rocks the size of bathtubs, we had spears—and honestly, they never went out of style.

    Origins

    Throwing a rock is good. Throwing a pointy stick? That’s better. Early humans figured this out fast. You take a sharpened stick, add fire-hardened tips or stone heads, and suddenly you’re not just surviving—you’re hunting mammoths and fighting off anything foolish enough to step into your arms range.

    Over time, spears evolved. In ancient Greece, we got the dory, carried by hoplites in tight phalanx formations, forming what was essentially a giant murder wall. Alexander the Great made it better with the sarissa, a pike so long it probably had its own postal code. In medieval Europe, knights hated running into spear walls because you can have all the armor in the world, but if twenty peasants with sticks are aiming at your horse, you’re basically a metal pancake.

    Types of Spears

    • Thrown Spears (Javelins): Great for the “stab from a distance” crowd. Romans had the pilum, which bent on impact so the enemy couldn’t throw it back. That’s petty. And brilliant.
    • Pikes: Absurdly long spears used to keep cavalry at bay.
    • Lances: Because charging on horseback with a glorified tree branch at 40 km/h is how medieval warfrare worked.

    Great Spear Moments in History

    Successes:

    • Battle of Marathon (490 BCE): Greek hoplites with spears made short work of Persian invaders. Moral of the story.
    • Battle of Gaugamela (331 BCE): Alexander’s phalanx used their freakishly long spears to shred Darius III’s much larger Persian army.
    • Zulu Wars (19th century): The Zulu iklwa (short stabbing spear) turned close combat into a terrifyingly efficient display of murder

    Failures:

    • Spears don’t always win. Against ranged weapons like longbows, crossbows, and eventually guns, they can be useless
    • Overconfidence was a killer—standing in a spear wall only works if everyone holds formation. One guy sneezes and the whole front collapses.
    • Narrow spaces make using a spear impossible.

    In Summary

    The spear has remained a classic solution in battle. It’s simple, deadly, versatile, and made every culture that used it just a little more dangerous. Whether you’re hunting dinner or holding the line in a desperate last stand, the spear is a great tool.

  • Basics of Armour

    Armor: Humanity’s Answer to “Please Stop Hitting Me”

    From the first time someone picked up a stick and swung it at someone else, the second person probably thought, “Yeah, I need something between that and me.” That something became armor—one of the most enduring symbols of protection, status, and technological evolution in warfare. Whether it’s a leather jerkin or a full steel suit, armor has always been about buying time, saving lives, and tipping the odds—just a little—in your favor.

    The Origins of Not Dying So Easily

    Armor has existed in some form for thousands of years. At first, it was as simple as thick hides or layered cloth—anything that might soften a blow or deflect a glancing strike. As weapons advanced, so did armor. From the bronze breastplates of the ancient Near East to the iron chainmail of Roman soldiers, humans kept improving their defense game to keep up with the escalating offense game.

    By the medieval period, armor design became a precise science. It wasn’t just “put on metal.” It was: What kind of metal? How thick? How flexible? Can you still breathe, see, and swing a sword in it?

    Types of Armor: Protection with Personality

    • Leather Armor: Lightweight, cheap, and flexible. Worn by scouts, archers, and anyone who needed to move fast and quietly. Better than nothing—but not by much.
    • Chainmail: Thousands of interlocking metal rings. Excellent at stopping slashes, decent against stabs, and surprisingly mobile. Used for centuries across cultures.
    • Plate Armor: The peak of personal defense in the medieval era. Full suits of articulated steel plates could shrug off swords, arrows, and even early firearms.
    • Brigandine & Scale Armor: A mix of leather and metal plates, offering a balance of mobility and protection. Worn by soldiers who couldn’t afford full plate but still wanted to be harder to kill.

    Notable Moments of Glory and Frustration

    Successes:

    • Battle of Agincourt (1415): While longbowmen dominated the headlines, English knights in plate armor were impressively hard to kill once they closed in.
    • Samurai Armor (Ō-yoroi and later dō-maru): Combined elegance, protection, and mobility. Designed for mounted archery and fast, deadly combat.
    • Milanese and Gothic Plate (15th century): Masterworks of engineering. Armorers created suits that covered every inch of the body and still allowed a man to mount a horse and fight effectively.

    Failures:

    • Weight vs. mobility. Even the best armor was tiring. A knight in full plate could fight—but not forever. Fatigue could be a killer.
    • Heat and exhaustion. Long campaigns in hot climates turned heavy armor into a furnace. Many soldiers collapsed before a sword even touched them.
    • Firearms. Once guns became widespread, traditional armor began to fail. Bulletproofing was attempted (and even worked, briefly), but soon it became impractical to carry enough metal to survive a musket shot.

    More Than Just Protection

    Armor was also a statement. Kings wore gilded plate, generals had etched cuirasses, and samurai painted theirs with clan symbols and lacquer. Armor told stories—about wealth, rank, culture, and identity. In many cases, it was as much psychological warfare as physical. A gleaming knight on horseback or a samurai with a fearsome kabuto (helmet) was designed to look invincible.

    But behind all the glamour was a very real purpose: survival.

    Final Reflection

    Armor represents the eternal struggle between destruction and defense. As weapons evolved to punch harder, armor evolved to block smarter. It was never about being untouchable—it was about giving yourself just a little more time, a little more safety, a little more hope to come home alive.

    Today, we still use armor: in the military, law enforcement, even sports. The materials have changed—Kevlar, ceramics, carbon fiber—but the intent remains the same: protection, resilience, survival.

    Because in the end, whether it’s the battlefield of the past or the uncertain ground of today, armor has always been about one thing: standing up when others fall.

  • Basics of Bows

    Bows: Because Sometimes You Just Want to Kill Someone Over There

    The bow is humanity’s ultimate middle finger to the idea of “fair fighting.” Why run up and stab someone when you can ruin their whole week from across a field, behind a tree, or—let’s be honest—while hiding like a smart coward? The bow is elegant, silent, deadly, it’s the original sniper rifle, but made of sticks and string.

    Origins

    Bows go way back. We’re talking 10,000+ years ago. Early hunters realized that running after your target is energy consuming so the creature would get away, or they would be noticed and the animal would leave long before they could even attack. While the javelin (throwing stick) predates the bow, the former comes with numerous advantages. From there, it was all uphill for the hunting parties.

    What makes bows different from, say, spears or swords, is the safety. Being able to attack from distance while also hiding your presence if skilled enough, as civilizations got smarter, so did the bows. From simple self bows to terrifying composite bows made of wood, sinew, horn, and probably the crushed dreams of enemy armies, humanity made the art of archery. In hstorically rich location you can find many bow practitionars who not only perfected the art of hitting a target, but the movement of their feet, waist and arms are all instructed and graded by their teachers.

    Types of Bows That Ruin Someone’s Day

    • Longbow: England’s favorite medieval war crime. It’s tall, it’s deadly, and it turns French knights into war decorations(see: Agincourt, 1415).
    • Recurve Bow: Shorter and packs a punch. Used by Mongols, Persians, and anyone who wanted to shoot from horseback.
    • Composite Bow: The iPhone Pro Max of ancient warfare. Smaller but stronger than your average wood stick, with more killing power per inch.
    • Crossbow (honorary mention): The Crossbow was invented because the bow, while an amazing tool, required years of practice to master. When your army is filler with peasants or anyone who hasn’t studied a bow you need a different solution.

    The many hits and few misses

    Successes:

    • Battle of Agincourt (1415): English longbowmen turned an entire French army into modern art.
    • Mongol Conquests (13th century): Horse archers with recurve bows literally ran circles around everyone else. Fast, precise, and terrifying.
    • Japanese Samurai Archery: Before swords took the spotlight, bows were the weapon of choice—graceful, honorable, and deadly.

    Failures:

    • Weather. Rain and humidity were the mortal enemies of bowstrings and morale.
    • Armor eventually got too thicc. Once knights turned into walking tanks, your average arrow just bounced off.
    • Reload time in panic mode. You try stringing an arrow with shaky hands while a screaming man with an axe is 20 meters and closing.

    Final Shot

    The bow is poetry in motion—and death in flight. It’s silent judgment from afar. Whether used by a stealthy hunter in the forest, a battlefield tactician picking off enemies before they even arrive, or a nomad galloping across open plains like a wind-blown nightmare, the bow was—and still is—a symbol of human ingenuity.

    In the end, bows are for those who value precision, patience, and the priceless feeling of watching your enemy realize they’ve been hit before they even heard the shot.