«12. . .3,2923,2933,2943,2953,2963,2973,298. . .5,5095,510»
I'm going to with an incarnation of Togeria being an African superpower via confederation.
Alrighty. A really weird idea popped into my head a few minutes ago.
Tell brosky.
I had a thought:
Roman Era to High Middle Ages.
Except, it's the apocalypse, possibly a zombie apocalypse, possibly something else supernatural. But probably zombies.
The world wouldn't survive something like that.
It could, and would. Zombies are pretty stupid. Further, people are trained and armoured specifically for melee combat. I would say that while it would be catastrophic, but livable.
Zombies don't need to be well trained they just need to be spread the disease, and melee means all sheit when you have a group of three or more charging into you as all hell.
Posted.
You see though, people in pre-WW2 periods fought in line formations, so you have to breach a shield wall in many cases. Depending on the period, spears may be VERY common as well, giving you a reach advantage.
Also, zombies spread it usually by bites, and the most common type of armour is chainmail, so good luck. Zombies wouldn't stand much of a chance against a well trained soldier, especially someone like a Knight.
Those are warriors and in that time a trained soldier is in he cast minority when compared to the general population. It's not like a zombie is just going to wait for a country or city to train itself. You castle as other fortification but that too will only help so much because you can only fit so many people. Plus weapons of that quality and armor are really only in Europe and certain areas of Asia. The rest of the world wore light armor due to their environment. Which again will lead to mass death in a zombie apocalypse.
In many parts of the world, especially in Northern Europe, while there wasn't any sort of standardized training, there was a sort of Martial culture that pre-disposed members of said culture towards combat without specialized training. Additionally, Zombies, again, are very stupid. Chainmail, or even a simple gambeson, will stop teeth. The main threats are to your limbs, which will be covered by that and your shield. Even if you have neither, you may still have a spear, and it is very hard to attack someone with a spear when you don't have a shield. A zombie isn't smart enough to try and hit the gaps in armour, they'll bite wherever. They'll walk into trenches, or formations, or straight into spears. They know no fear, but they also know no intelligence. You could, essentially, just dig a hole in the ground, fill it with spikes, and leave some bait on the other side. They'll just go through it until it's filled enough to climb, so just layer a few deep trenches and place spikes at the bottom, and then put some guys with shields and spears on the other side to get any stragglers.
Castles aren't needed; you only need a hole in the ground, or a wooden palisade. You don't need "weapons of quality", you just need a pointy stick. This is also unfair to the rest of the world, which did produce effective weapons, especially against unarmoured targets. Even in extremely hot places, people still would use heavy armour if they could. There are even sort of "knights" in places like Ethiopia during the Middle Ages. North Africa was, overall, essentially equipped like the Islamic forces in the Middle East, who had more lightly armoured troops, but those who had heavy armour wore very heavy armour. This is also not a problem during the Roman Era, in which the area would be, of course, Roman, who also liked heavy armour. In Asia, mail and lamellar were common, and this is the same in Africa. But the point is moot, because all you really need to stop a zombie eating your arms is this
https://www.medieval-market.com/img/gambeson_type_2_0.jpg
Even if you don't have any armour, a shield can still save your arse. One guy with a shield and a pokey stick can hold off a zombie, and if you get a bunch together then their abilities are amplified.
Again that's pretty moot because it's zombies. You can't expect to take on a horde of zombies in open field especially if they manage to get their way into a city then doesn't matter how heavy your armor or well your training is you're screwed. A zombie can't be considered completely mindless because as soon as they find a target they go completely after it like a rabid animal. Spears would be the best tool but how effective is that going against multiple? You can have a line of men with shields but how many waves can they hold back especially against something that won't simple feign if it's stabbed. They'll just keep pushing till a opening is forced open. And lastly with armor, a group of zombies will force a door open or find an exploit in a structure to rip it open so what's to stop them from taking down a knight or someone with chain mail and trying to rip it away when they have them pinned?
The best forces to handle a zombie horde is archers and cavalry and the best place to be is an island.
My last point before I go to bed is that all this would likely happen just assuming it happens to humans. If the disease has the ability to accept wildlife too then it'd be even more deadly to the unaffected race. Further cities were cramped back then or at least the major ones. Assuming it spreads into an area like Rome or Constantinople then the population is screwed especially in denser areas with bigger population like China or India.
Or, if your, you know, and advanced nation, use arty, preferably around the 130-155mm range, with a good firing system, and HE-FRAG shells, from a position similar to that island. Granted you would also need the materials to produce shells, filler, and replacement parts.
Volk has a point though, Zombies be stupid, and yes, their numbers are their main advantage, but if you null that advantage, you can use chainmail, sticks, and shields to hold them off.
Hell, 300 Spartans with some 100 or so extras held off the Persians for 3 days (and only lost because of a malformed traitor) Yet still mauled them so badly they retreated back to Persia.
Where the hell would you get HE-FRAGS in medieval times? The best you have is canons and those take time to load.
And also we're not talking Persians. We're talking about humans in general which will get tired and back off after losing numbers. This is melee combat combat and you're getting tired after killing a few zombies it's bound to happen. Your best option would be to retreat into the back of another line and catch your breath. But if you're going against horse that keeps pushing into your line it's going to break down especially against something that doesn't get tired or lets up.
Sorry I've been gone, been sick out of my mind and looking at more colleges
I can, actually.
Here's what you do.
You dig a series of trenches before your lines, they'll run into it, and be trapped, especially if you fill it with spikes. Eventually it will be filled up and they'll pass over it, so you layer it up. A zombie can go after you like a rabid animal all it likes, but it is not smart enough to try and get through unarmoured areas. They'll just bite whatever piece they grab, and if you wear any kind of armour, they can't even get through it. It doesn't have to be expensive, or advanced, it just has to be thick enough to stop teeth, which is easy.
Medieval people weren't stupid. Once they figure out, hey, just stab them in the head, they'll do it. Line formations can hold up against cavalry, so what is a mass of idiotic beasts going to do about it? Especially when they know no fear. When you get a line formation, you're packed tightly, so there's little chance of you getting singled out and shredded, because you're surrounded by comrades, so the risk is low. The only occasion this would happen in is if you have scattered individuals.
A spear is an effective weapon. You stab it in the head, move on. You don't have to fight several at once alone, as you will likely be with others unless you are taken by complete surprise. In which case, it would be better to take a sword or an axe and a shield.
Now, chainmail is tough. It would take many, many individuals to get through it, and while it could be done, it would be difficult. It would have to be a pretty big horde. A Knight is a man who lives to kill, and has been trained in the art since he was seven, and never stopped. It would be extremely difficult to take down a knight, considering that normal soldiers considered the safe ratio to attack a knight would be, at least, six to one. And that's intelligent, armed humans. It would have to be an enormous horde to do it.
Now, on to cities. You may have problems if it goes undetected, but if they know zombies are coming, it's easy to deal with. A zombie plague isn't like the black death. It's something medieval people could easily understand, because it doesn't require any advanced knowledge to grasp. Plague daemons are here! If the plague daemon bites you, you become one. If you knock it in the head, it dies. Therefore, in many instances, one could order a district to be quarantined once you ascertain where the plague is. Just send in a bunch of soldiers, keep them in line, and have them kill anything that tries to leave.
An individual city may be lost, but it's not something that will spread rapidly. People will adapt and react, and will eventually learn how to minimize its spread. Once a ruler knows the plague is in his kingdom, all he has to do is figure out where it is, and, again, establish a quarantine.
There were a few medieval pitched battles that lasted for days. Your frontline troops are exhausted? Send them to the rear lines, send more troops up to the front. Morale is low? That can be remedied. These things would look like the spawn of hell, so send priests in amongst the rank and file to fill them with zeal. These were religious people, and while a crusade was viewed as a holy war, this would be a literal holy war in their eyes, a war against the armies of Lucifer.
Cavalry is actually bad, because the point of cavalry is shock tactics, which is useless against foes who feel no fear. You'd be driving your horse into a horde of suicidal monsters that want to shred you to pieces, at any cost. Infantry is a better option.
There's no way you're going to convince me. The idea of a zombie outbreak in medieval times would wreak the small population earth had at that time. It's easy to say isolate it in a city and exterminate it, but that can happen too in literally any other period. I also say the assertion that zombies are mindless creatures who stalk around like "Creatures of the Black Lagoon" is stupid. They're just humans who've lost the majority of their cognitive process and some of their motor function. Further, the biggest factor in a zombie apocalypse isn't even the zombies but the fear they can induce. If this is big multicontinental apocalypse that's ravaging major population areas then what's to stop major hysteria from breaking out. If the infection spreads by mouth then all that tells me is that the bacteria from a zombie can induce an infection either from spit or blood, and doesn't have to be spread by bite either it take something as simple zombie ooze getting into a cut. I know the majority of soldiers would have armor to block against this but it's still a factor.
Which brings up another point, an infection isn't something that's instantaneous it can take days for symptoms to become prevalent. Which brings up two other points. The first being not everyone is a trained soldier or capable of killing their own kin, it's easy say "Oh yeah bob started showing some signs he wasn't all human the other day, and the king told me I should kill him so I did." It's not going to happen, and further what's to stop someone from using them as a weapon? We've seen throughout history people will use disease and illness to weaken an enemy, and the threat becomes more under control what's to stop a lord or king from saying,"Maybe if we aim these pest at our enemies it'll give us the opening we need to win?" And you can't deny it either because it's human nature. People are going to see it as a weapon and then aim to utilize it as such and this is the medieval era so it's not like a major plague like this will happen and everyone will be buddy buddy. I mean what's to stop a kingdom from moving the threat onto another kingdom or a lord to aim them at a population that's burdensome and then send his soldiers in to kill them, leaving room for his own men and people?
There wouldn't be a way for the Medieval world to face a mass zombie apocalypse and come out without massive casualties because zombie murdering wouldn't be something that's just instantaneous, it just wouldn't. And this only increases as the time period moves backward, yeah the Greek and Romans had excellent battle formation to break against the shock of the horde attack, but they also wore armor that exposed their arms and legs and especially in the Roman Republic era the more green the soldier the lighter the armor further increasing the chance of infection. We could take the period up to Late Roman Imperal era, but would be the difference between that and early Medieval era?
I'm just saying I believe there's a chance the world population could survive but there's no way you can convince me it would be with minimal casualties.
Some might try and use it as a weapon, however, more likely than not, they would be labeled as unholy creatures spawned from Hell, and so it would have a religious incentive not to do it. If the Pope or the Ecumenical Patriarch in Europe got wind that you were using that sh*t, you would have something equivalent to a crusade on your ass, and I'm quite sure the Islamic world would react similarly.
Further, people usually didn't just attack eachother without cause or without notice, in the Medieval World. While it did happen, you would typically require a Casus Belli of some form, a claim or a reason for war. And again, if you used these tactics, you would have a crusade on your ass stupendously quickly.
The initial reaction might be fear, but once people realize how childishly easy they are to deal with, it may subside to a degree. Further, the alternative reaction may tie into what I stated above, it may result in a the fervent hatred of a crusader, which will result in greater zeal to dispose of them. While uncommon and scary as hell, the Muslims fought against the Knights of Lazarus, a Knightly Holy Order of men afflicted with Leprosy, who had all the advantages of being a Knight with the extra factor that they felt no pain and had no reason to live save for the destruction of their enemies, which, compared to zombies, are a much more dangerous opponent.
If you believe Bob is now possessed with daemons, you might be more inclined to do it. Further, if you were ordered to do it by the King, you do not want to disobey that order if you want to keep on living. Some cultures, again, were very much inclined towards warfare by nature, which makes it less of a problem. Warfare was also a lot simpler and easier to grasp, and while most people were not professional soldiers, if they think that hey, if I don't kill this man here, he's going to turn into a demon and try to kill us and make us into demons, then you might change your mind.
It is true that the Greeks and Romans wore much lighter and less covering armour, but all you have to do is put on a thick padded suit, nothing that they couldn't have made. The Roman Scutum is also very large, and so actually getting to limbs would be difficult anyhow. With Greeks, you had the Phalanx, and so they had VERY LONG spears in very high numbers, something zombies would struggle to bypass.
«12. . .3,2923,2933,2943,2953,2963,2973,298. . .5,5095,510»
Advertisement
