Why Armor Did Not Make Knights (Fully) Invulnerable...

[@danieledwards3376]

As armour improved, people found ways to propel pommels at it faster and faster, eventually shooting small pommels out of pipes with the expansion of gas from an explosive or fast burning substance ignited behind them.

[@thelouster5815]

Yet as they improved the speed at which the pommel was thrown, they drastically reduced its destructive potential.

[@hebleh5771]

So does that mean millions of people have been ended rightly?

[@hebleh5771]

"No, your honour, i did not shoot him, i merely ended him rightly with my 9mm pommel"

[@VioletDeathRei]

@@hebleh5771 Tank cannons just shoot a giant pommel. "That's a 120mm smoothbore pommel launcher right there, cuts through steel like butter."

[@MaphistosChosen]

Modern Pommelfare.

[@Sk0lzky]

Why crush the shell if you can kill the snail inside - knight edition

[@Red_Lanterns_Rage]

why crack the shell when you can cook the turtle inside?? -Shredder's 101 ways to cook Turtle cookbook which also included such dishes as Turtle soup with side of rat burger and Fillet Minturtle ala carte 😈

[@zedtype5754]

Why respect Knight when my potion can do anything you can

[@Red_Lanterns_Rage]

@@zedtype5754 Knight: your potion? lemme see that....hmm, mm Knight: halt the law has been broken, other Knight: he who breaks the law shall be punished.... man: back to the house o pain!!! Knights along with crowd: BACK TO THE HOUSE OF PAIN!! [minstrel starts playing his lewt in a strange manner]

[@Vlad_Tepes_III]

@@Red_Lanterns_Rage ...I think you meant 'lute'... O////O

[@Red_Lanterns_Rage]

@@Vlad_Tepes_III well it was a very lewd lute.... 😈

[@ОлегКозлов-ю9т]

"commoners were far more disposable" That bit didn't change at all

[@Sk0lzky]

Except nowadays we're the only ones dying in war :v

[@thejfk_experience490]

@ that's pretty horrible. The protests during the Vietnam draft changed a lot, back then a politicians or a rich person's kids couldn't get drafted for war, but that's changed. If there was a draft, there would be an equal chance of a politicians kids getting drafted. I mean for gods sake, elvis got drafted.

[@sharathnavada3645]

"The old men start wars. It's the young that die for them"

[@EvitoCruor]

@Charles Q It used to be that most of the ruling class went to war and the civilians were far less frequently a target for warfare, if you want to capture area it doesn't do you much good to burn the buildings and kill the people that make it valuable to have. With mass democracy, the people by definition (implied) are a part of the conflict giving rise to total war.

[@thelouster5815]

Evito Cruor Even before mass democracy or the definition of total war came to being there was total war tactics.

[@John-doe955]

Statement: Why Armor Did Not Make Knights (Fully) Invulnerable... Answer: Big Hitty Stick Or Speedy Pointy Stick Make Knight Go Ouch. Other Possible Answer Include, But Are Not Limited To: -Long Smoky Stick(Goes Boom Boom) -Too Big Gulp Of Water -Fall Down, Can’t Get Up.(Need Help) -Giant Rock Go Down Slanty Boi. -Boop Head Real Fast, Knight Go Night(aka getting Month Pythoned). -Metal Boi in Sun Get Baked Like Crab.

[@ОлегКозлов-ю9т]

Also Long Smoky stick

[@MM-sx7zs]

Also too big a gulp of water

[@averyretodo8159]

Basically

[@Sk0lzky]

@@MM-sx7zs Can be taken literally too, don't drink water too fast after a long fight in full sun, you can wake up in the ER x)

[@MM-sx7zs]

@@Sk0lzky Speaking from experience? Or just prior knowledge?

[@ArcticK9]

I'm glad you brought up ransoming, because that was fairly commonplace between knights. The captors were usually pretty hospitable and respectful to their captives as well, giving them good food and making them comfortable until they were paid off. After all, you wouldn't want to be a dick and then end up having to fight alongside them in a future war in which you'd be allies. Something I think was somewhat overlooked in this video, however, is exhaustion. Fully armored fights would often be much longer and result in one fighter suffering too much exhaustion from physical exertion and blood loss and passing out, after which the victor would take them captive. I'd speculate having your chestplate dented in might make it harder to breathe as well.

[@notalive5479]

On the topic of exhaustion, being fully armored in and of itself makes exhaustion much more deadly. While armor didn't seriously effect mobility and only had a small effect on endurance, a Knight is still almost fully encased in a metal suit. If they were to exert themselves too hard and/or fight in direct sunlight, they would heat up extremely quickly. Their helmets didn't help matters either, since it would reduce air circulation, and dented armor as you mentioned. If a Knight were to exert himself too hard without taking off his mask, the lack of oxygen would prevent him from making good decisions or from even fighting effectively. He would be a sitting duck, and if it was a hot day he would die of heatstroke before his opponents could kill him. Of course, Knights would be properly trained on how to not overexert themselves, so this probably would only happen to arrogant Knights or ignorant commoners.

[@FedericoLucchi]

Also overlooked is the damage dealt simply by the blow. You'd think that if the armour is unscathed, the man underneath is fine. Truth is, he still got hit very hard!

[@Spuuunt]

From experience doing sparing in a gambeson,mail and, brigindine getting hit still hurts a lot and definitely you quickly start to hate hot Carolina summers even more.

[@Daniel-rd6st]

@@notalive5479 Also often fights either were decided pretty quickly (mounted knights were heavy shock cavallery and there was a time when a single charge routed the enemy and decided the battle) or there was time (when fighting on foot) to regulary replace the front row with fresh fighters from the row behind. Usually a battle wasnt just continous fighting, unless your side was in trouble and the enemy wanted to close it out. No one can fight effectivly for an hour or more without his attacks losing a lot of speed and power. Just watch professional boxers go at each other. They are spent after a couple of rounds, if they go all out and they even get breaks in between.

[@battleb0ng420]

@Catch_Me_If_You_Can well.. kinda. i'm more likely to decide to behead all my prisoners if theyre all wretched poor people that nobody wants to pay ransom for.

[@ОлегКозлов-ю9т]

Jokes aside, let's just appreciate for a moment the fact that we are living in such a time when majority of people never have been bludgeoned and have to wonder why people were hurt with such a good armor

[@jaketheasianguy3307]

Instead we only have to worry about how to avoid turning into swiss cheese or gettin blown to pieces

[@トーキ-g8v]

Every one keeps saying that the world keeps getting worse but the average person at least in first world countries getting raided and killed is so rare that when it happens it becomes top news easily it’s amazing

[@hithere5553]

Jake The Asian Guy or getting totally obliterated by a 2 ton hunk of metal traveling at 100 kms

[@D0G5Coolpat11]

@Ju Ju yeah cant wait for biden to win and doom us all 🤣🤣

[@ivanlupo5922]

@@D0G5Coolpat11 I gonna get popcorn 🍿and watch what's gonna happen next. 👀

[@sirdeakia]

I love it when he makes a noticeable pun and goes: HEAD ON, HUH HUH

[@farkasmactavish]

So much better than when he draws attention to it. I cringe every time.

[@fsmoura]

he didn't even announce it, you're supposed to announce your puns, so everyone can enjoy it ( o.o)

[@supershadow125]

Apply it directly to the forehead

[@GreenEyedDazzler]

William McGinnis what are you? 14?

[@jamesbaggett7223]

@@supershadow125 or where forehead used to be

[@RickardLejonhjarta]

I for one find Skalls evolution rather interesting it started with "dude that sword is pretty cool" and ends with detailed information on soft tissue trauma caused by rotational inertia

[@XSniper74184]

What? Skallagrim is evolving! *music* Skallagrim evolved into Skallmega!

[@joshuahunt3032]

Fun fact: Woodpeckers have adaptations that help secure their brains well enough to avoid giving themselves concussions. Because humans do not, medieval armor doesn’t help humans much against blunt force trauma to the head.

[@jeanladoire4141]

What? Helmets are designed to prevent concussions and protect as much as possible the head. They kinda do the same job as woodpecker's heads. A shell with padding will protect a lot against blunt force trauma, especially in the head. Think the other way, if the head is vulnerable, don't you think knights would have asked the armorsmith to protect it more

[@jeanladoire4141]

@ yes of course, but if the helmet is the skull, our head is the brain. And the padding acts like the fluid. If you hit hard enough (depending in the helmet, you'd need more or less power, some helmets can't be punched trough, like those for tournaments), the padding won't be sufficient, and the helmet would hit your head directly

[@nicolaiveliki1409]

Unless you're Homer Simpson

[@Riceball01]

@@jeanladoire4141 Minor correction. By the Medieval period most helmets weren't padded but had a liner in them not that much different from modern military helmets. ?So you actually have more of an air gap between your head and the helmet, except for where the liner contacts the helmet going around the head above the eyebrows. I don't think that it was until modern times that people figured out ways of making a liner that minimized contact with the body of the helmet. Interestingly enough, current issue US helmets utilize a padding system instead of the old leather or fabric liner that's been used for ages.

[@jeanladoire4141]

@@Riceball01 second minor correction, apparently, beeswax was sometimes used as a padding, as it became soft and could absorb heavy impacts. But heah, a liner was the most frequently used, but as it can give, it has the same role

[@pizzasoldeir2]

The fact the "onion armor" from Dark Souls is perfectly high-tier armor is amazing

[@Minotaur-ey2lg]

HMMMMMMM

[@XSniper74184]

Still closed... Still closed...

[@guts1859]

Hmmmmmm..... Hmmmmmm....

[@mitodrudito5806]

I been in quite a pickle

[@river3583]

I hate that guy, he tried to kill me with trolls

[@harviebirdman2544]

See the thing I got from this video is this: Don't get hit in the head. Don't get hit in the Head! Under any circumstances, don't get hit in the head.

[@eduardomattosalves4940]

You forget the most important part... Donte get hit in the head!!!

[@weswolever7477]

If you were thinking of getting hit in the head DON’T

[@harviebirdman2544]

@@channelforcommentingstuff4960 Basically in real life you will get one-hit killed if you're not careful.

[@Cold_Cactus]

I'd rather take a hit to my helmet than anywhere else on my entire kit....😅

[@theprancingprussian]

Most knights had exposed groin since a codpiece can't be used on horseback so id rather take a hit to the front than a good structured stab in the groin by dagger etc

[@TheBitingBat]

I mean from personal experience the armor may have kept you alive but it still hurt like hell getting hit. I broke a few ribs even in full plate armor and that wasn't even in serious combat

[@benjaminthibieroz4155]

from bludgeoning weapons?

[@davidm1563]

Actually can you explain more about how that occurred? Very interesting real world examples are always good to hear especially considering I doubt your opponent was even attempting to hurt you let alone kill you.

[@TheBitingBat]

@@davidm1563 Sure. In my case it was that my sparring partner had a blunted axe, as all blades are blunted to keep from you accidentally maiming your friend, but the blows from a two handed axe still hit really hard. A hit to the breastplate may stop the the weapon but the force is only absorbed so much. Granted my sparring partner was a behemoth at 220 lb of pure muscle so even without trying to actively harm me blows still leave bruises and sometimes a broken rib or two. I can only imagine what it would've felt like to see real combat as the most serious battle I've ever seen was a small tournament for some money, not literal life and death.

[@davidm1563]

William Castillo wow that’s actually kinda crazy. Would be fascinating if there was an research done on how much Force actually transfers through the armour as I’d imagine it’s no small feat to break ribs with shock force alone.

[@benjaminthibieroz4155]

@@davidm1563 Well, in case of the axe, all the weight is at the tip just like a mace so the concussion force would be quite high, especially with two hands. I'd love to see research as well.

[@ZyTelevan]

3:33 Props for mentioning stretching as the cause of concussions! A very common misconception is that concussions happen because the brain "bounces around" inside the skull.

[@kardoxfabricanus7590]

I never heard of that, like that isn't mentioned ever, so its actually a really good thing to educate people on how concussions work.

[@kelfablob9823]

@@kardoxfabricanus7590 Yeah, i appeciate to learn this, but i dont want baddies learn this.

[@Minotaur-ey2lg]

Half the story. Coup and contrecoup injuries are caused by the brain bouncing and rebounding off the skull. Never heard the stretching thing though. Interesting stuff.

[@lazyconnoisseur3455]

Now i want to see a cavalry charge against armor showcase

[@alinalexandru2466]

Arne Koets did make a video of lances vs armor here, kzbin.info/www/bejne/pX_OfYp4idSqkMk . Though the lances used were not proper war lances as he mentioned there.

[@ArtoriusRex]

1:32 a two hour video of Skall talking armour is EXACTLY what i need

[@iainpearce6379]

Im in 😀

[@VibrioidClover]

Yes

[@JoshuaBenitezNewOrleans]

Keeping the comment alive

[@Hin_Håle]

That elbow push and slide is still used in grappling techniques today. A sneaky way to try for a headlock on your opponent.

[@kevinnorwood8782]

Moral of this story: Armor is very effective, but it's not unbeatable.

[@richtofenillingroth641]

Ahh “unbeatable”? Pun?

[@rhett5058]

“Just beat it” -Bishop Jackson

[@oscuro5362]

What if you have fallout power armor

[@jooot_6850]

@@oscuro5362 Mini nukes. Antitank weaponry. Even HEAVIER hammers. Armor will always eventually be defeated, which then spurs the development of better armor... and thus, the endless cycle

[@jaystone193]

@@jooot_6850 If It Can Handle Mini Nukes Doesn't That Mean Hammers Would Be Less Effective?

[@wesleysale1052]

A great deal of the chaos at Aggincourt was caused by the arrow storms - I just heard your comment on horses. Horses would sometimes throw their riders and sometimes man and horse went down together as the horse was hit by several arrows. The bodies of the living and dead on the ground broke up the following charges and bowmen could pick their targets and drop more people with direct fire. I have no idea where I read it - but a couple Knights got themselves pinned to their horses by arrows passing thru gaps in the leg armour.

[@afremrf9764]

First few mins reminded me of a time when I heard that German Ferdinand tank destroyers in ww2 would take immense artillery and cannon fire, but sometimes nothing would penetrate the tank itself. Later the crew would be found dead inside with blood from their nose, mouth and ears because the concussion from many rounds hitting the tank caused their internal organs to rupture.

[@bud389]

Another important factor was that the quality of armor varied from smithy to smithy, region to region, and armor was expensive to make and repair, so you had already dented up helmets and breastplate and compromised mail being worn.

[@netenes1]

I thought being knight was like having premium account in a pay to win game

[@ОлегКозлов-ю9т]

It is, but then they bring a new patch with bells and whistles like gunpowder and new formation bonuses and your account is basically worthless =(

[@danyheatleyall-star3677]

Олег Козлов the devs don’t listen to the forums now they just let a virus in the servers unfortunately I might quit the game because I was given the asthma debuff at spawn

[@hiimryan2388]

To be fair it is. Steel cost money and the labor and skill required to make amor cost money

[@Loderyod]

@@danyheatleyall-star3677 F

[@aaronjacobamadorsalazar1934]

@@ОлегКозлов-ю9т Gunpowder weapons are terrible back then

[@marka4891]

Something else to consider, regarding being showered with arrows, even if they don't penetrate, it's like getting punched really hard. Once is unpleasant enough, but after 10, 20... 50, your body is going to be hindered due to that damage, even if the armor isn't damaged in such a way to hinder you itself. Much the same is true for impact from maces, hammers and the like. It's painful and difficult enough, say, walking with a charley-horse, now try to fight for your life like that.

[@skipmage]

And remember; if you have enough men you can grapple the knight to immobility and take all the time you need to kill him. You will loose men to this technique.

[@nicolaiveliki1409]

Mostly commoners so who cares?

[@johndododoe1411]

@@nicolaiveliki1409 You might need those for another foe. They're disposable, but not free.

[@nicolaiveliki1409]

@@johndododoe1411 exactly, they're not free. They are my serfs ;-)

[@bmxriderforlife1234]

Why. Just shove the knights into the closest body of deep water. Sorry sire I see you took too large a gulp of water. Allow me to fetch you some napkins. Whoops. They're all dead. Yay. Lol

[@MrBottlecapBill]

It only takes one man to grapple a knight. You just have to avoid being killed while doing it. Though in a pitched battle one on one stand offs would be pretty rare. I suspect they would mostly be caught outnumbered, or after tripping or falling off a horse or just plain being exhausted and surrendering. Stuff happens in battle.

[@davidgarland7736]

One documentary on Agincourt did make a great deal out of the mud and its suction grip on the knight's footwear. Commoner slops did not tend to get stuck as easily.

[@LaughingMan44]

Also good to point out that even in 'Ancient' warfare, very few people died in the battle itself most of the time, they died when their army routed, and got cut down/captured as they fled.

[@benjaminthibieroz4155]

diseases and hunger probably killed more soldiers than battle

[@Sableagle]

Look at how much difference Cromwell's decision to equip his New Model Army with _two_ uniforms each and have them regularly get changed and do laundry made to their post-battle survival rate. Before sterile technique, microbiology and antibiotics, getting shot in the leg with a .177 airgun or equivalent (child's bow with a 10 lbf draw strain and 1' 2.5" draw length) through a pair of trousers you'd been wearing for two months could be a death sentence.

[@leoprzytuac3660]

About the knights drowning in their armors: that's a very interesting factor about armors and weapons that is not paid as much attention as it should. Context. Let's take, for example, the samurai armor. Why didn't they use full plate? Well, mainly because it was expensive af and difficult to make, but an often overlooked reason that is even more important is that samurais weren't knights. They were mainly mounted archers for a very long time. They also had to climb trees, and crawl through mud, and carry a lot of equipement, and many other tasks that didn't suit a more protective armor.

[@GrahamCStrouse]

Asia also tended to get a lot hotter than medieval Europe.

[@somepunkinthecomments471]

Okay, I want a first person medieval/renaissance themed game where you have a sort of dead eye like mechanic that makes the gameplay completely based on attacking certain parts of the body. Heck, you could even put in matchlock/flintlock firearms and give them lock times that allow you to react and dodge the bullet before it even fires, if you so chosed. It could be the ultimate sword based gameplay ever.

[@Red_Karen]

To expand on 5:34, the true name for this type of protection is called "voiders of plate". This type of armor appears sporadically from around 1410s to 1480s before becoming more widespread in the 16th century.

[@zacheray]

This was like a strong morning coffee, thank you Skall

[@Wavemaninawe]

Strikingly concussive and slightly penetrating?

[@Geneolgia]

I see anything Skies of Arcadia related i click like.

[@zacheray]

Quadraxis a brother in arms

[@perthyren601]

The a full armor, lay down in a swamp, easy to get up, no sucktion? In FP you are fertilizing lilies, in best case

[@VossMarionette]

I love the one that talks about how you can cover the eyes of your enemy due to their visor, then use a poleaxe between their legs to trip the enemy since they will naturally back away to see. All that's left is to give em a few good hits to the face with the hammer end or maybe chop the neck with the axe bit. Poleaxes are so cool, I can see why they where so heavily used when plate became very widely used.

[@theclassyxenomorph1301]

0:01 Don't call me a gay master again skal, very unprofessional of you

[@theclassyxenomorph1301]

@that guy, over yonder I suppose you have a point. If rather be a master at it than a mediocre gay

[@mjpMALIK]

@@theclassyxenomorph1301 at least it's not low tier gay

[@Necroxion]

I could only imagine what a gay slave is and do not want to find out

[@conni4518]

That was not very GayMing of him

[@XSniper74184]

Gow does one promote along the Gay trade? Is it number of partners? Longest relationship? Aesthetics og the body? If so with or without clothes? I must know. I know some people who have The Gay and are egar to get a raise in status and/or pay. Teach my your secrets oh Gay Master.

[@oldsnek9625]

Everything is impenetrable unles thee knows how to end thee rightly

[@Vlad_Tepes_III]

*them

[@oldsnek9625]

@@Vlad_Tepes_III ok sherlock

[@oldsnek9625]

@Mordraug :D

[@kuchangko6211]

Putang Ina

[@lukashirmgard4505]

Another thing about the mud in Agincourt. Whenever you walk in mud, there is always some amount of suction that makes it hard to walk through. So imagine that you are a knight of the French army in Agincourt that got knocked off their horse, possibly from arrow fire. If you landed in the mud it would be incredibly difficult to get out of it due to the weight of your body and the army making too much suction, now imagine if you landed face first. You would drown in mud.

[@edi9892]

The skull fractures appear to me as an indication that the helmets were removed prior the lethal blow. Otherwise, piercing or crushing would have resulted in a different pattern...

[@lmaolmoo4147]

Executed?

[@edi9892]

@@lmaolmoo4147 depends how you define it. I'm not talking about a fair trial. It can even be in combat that one pulls the helmet off and the other stabs, though it is more likely that stab wounds are made after the enemy is down and unconscious. Sword slashes to the skull appear to be more something like the enemy being tied up and having the helmet removed (otherwise it's very risky for the person holding him).

[@vaisravana2092]

Your comment about people taking damage even with the helmet intact is really important I think. Humans are both, surprisingly durable and vulnerable at the same time. Is not even only about rotational force, I witnessed a case of a guy who was drunk and basically just fell over. No external force. Due to slower reflexes he didnt manage to properly stop the fall. Got up again and went to bed. That's how they found him. Impact did rupture main blood vessels connected to the brain. You could hardly see any external injuries. That thought STILL creeps me out to this day. Guy stood up and went to bed. Not realizing he was a dead man walking...YIKES... Anyway, point is, we are real squishy inside...

[@AnonYmous-xq4so]

I love how in most movies with folks wearing armor a person hits them with a sword one time and they fly off dead , i roll my eyes everytime

[@llamabing5215]

Was that mass grave the one where they found suspected flamberge marks on leg bones?

[@bernardoheusi6146]

What is that mark?

[@llamabing5215]

@@bernardoheusi6146 if memory serves it was a an interrupted line, like a line made of dash marks, of varying depths across some leg bone.

[@Jelly_Juice2006]

Battle of Visby 1361?

[@llamabing5215]

@@Jelly_Juice2006 yep, you're correct. I think. I remember watching something and I think it was about visby. It was the whole " wearing chest armour" that confused me. Good catch

[@jlan7844]

I know this was supposed to be pointing out something historical, but your comment still leaves images in my mind of Jack Septiceye playing a medieval fighting game and shouting "GIMME DEM TOES!" as he snipes his opponent's legs.

[@warron24]

I remember reading about how in WWII the Soviets were sometimes forced to fight German tanks with anti-tank guns that were too small to do any real damage. If you throw enough fire at the tank eventually you'll do something- you'll damage the tracks and disable it, spalling on the inside will injure the crew, or the crew will just panic and abandon the tank. I don't think anyone can really be invulnerable in combat. Just because tests show it to be completely effective doesn't mean it will be as effective on the battlefield where there are far more variables.

[@jalpat2272]

or just man up and force open the hatch then threw some nades.

[@spontaneousbootay]

@@jalpat2272 no doubt that has happened. Tanks need infantry support for this reason

[@GrahamCStrouse]

Anti-tank rifles were still quite useful against most German armor on WWII. The Soviets used heavy caliber 14.5 mm that could punch through the weak points on most armored vehicles.

[@Daniel-rd6st]

"I can lift his visor in order to thrust into his face. And if this dose not satisfy me, I can apply other stronger plays." Oh my...

[@necrogenesis1981]

Speaking of lances, how accurate was that scene in Game of Thrones? Obviously war lances are totally different from competition lances but was it actually that dangerous?

[@benjaminthibieroz4155]

wich scene?

[@fungus2116]

that scene pisses me off, who would joust with just a sallet and no bevor...

[@necrogenesis1981]

Benjamin Thibieroz the one with the mountain where his lance shattered and killed the other guy, I forgot his name.

[@kevinreiss-coint2353]

I think that yes. Lance were very dangerous and it wasn't that rare for a competitor in joust to be kill of mortally wounded. François 1er, a king of France died during a tournament when the splinter of a broken spear lodged in his eye despite his helmet.

[@Sk0lzky]

@@kevinreiss-coint2353 are you sure it was him? Cuz I'm sure his successor died this way xD

[@supershadow125]

This was very helpful to understand armor and battle tactics. The battle that dealt with mud gave me a really good idea for a battle in one of my stories.

[@kryogenik2073]

"Not gonna turn this into a 2 hour video" honestly I'd watch a 2 hour video on this from you Skal.

[@ОлегКозлов-ю9т]

Can I use this comment to recommend you a video "how to kill a knight" by a channel "mercenary camp"? Guy makes great animations

[@constantinecondor3470]

Everyone knows the best way to pierce armor is with a thrown pommel

[@thrownswordpommel7393]

Indeed.

[@redriot-unbreakable9476]

I agree

[@fsmoura]

Undoubtedly

[@kingofspades1785]

Ah yes a man if culture

[@30035XD]

This is getting old isnt it?

[@nuyabuisness7526]

I always enjoy flavoring hits and misses in my D&D game. I have an orc fighter that wears half plate and enjoy describing small missiles and glancing blows maybe making him stumble slightly but be unharmed. When they score a hit I'll often describe it like "The arrow manages to miss the plate and only get mostly stopped by your ringmail underneath."

[@costinpatru5450]

1:34 'Well made armour is virtually impervious to sword blades BUT...' *pulls out axe

[@water1374]

I read this as "Why Armor Did Not Make Knights" and I think that would also be an interesting video

[@rotwang2000]

I guess that once they are down or cornered a person would still try to use their arms to protect themselves before they were killed, which might account for some of these injuries, a gruelling throught to say the least.

[@TheWoodsman661]

Check out Knights of Valor. They're a full contact jousting group. When talking about and doing tests on armor, you also have to consider the fact that metal used to be less dense than it is now, and it had more inconsistencies and impurities than modern metal, especially when we're looking at steel.

[@fsmoura]

11:58 _i can lift off the visor to thrust into the face, and if it this does not satisfy me, I can apply other even stronger plays_ G I G G I T Y

[@Feeshyenjoyer]

*kinky*

[@steampunkastronaut7081]

taking advantage of the knight unable to get up

[@blankblank5409]

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[@Irond3vil2]

This is one of the most interesting videos you've done recently imo. Very good!

[@TheAtlasReview]

Reminds me of the Deadliest Warrior pirate vs knight fight enactment. After blasting the knight for ages with pistols, a blunderbuss and a grenade, the pirate just tackles the knight, lifts his visor and blows his brains out.

[@Vonstab]

As the design and metallurgy of armour evolved lances became less and less effective against armour. La Noue, who was a veteran cavalry man from the Italian Wars as well as the French and Dutch wars of Religion of the 16th century wrote that it was a miracle if any one was slain with a lance during a charge and instead advocated the use of pistols at very close range to pierce the armour. Likewise we have some graphic eyewitness accounts of the lances of the famous Winged Hussars being ineffective against plate armour. Of course there is more to combat than piercing the armour, taking a blow from a well aimed lance was no joke and the impact could leave you battered and disoriented even if the armour held and in a poor state to fight on. The armour itself could also be damaged and pieces lost as hinges broke or straps tore.

[@runakovacs4759]

Probably even if there was no piercing, a dislocated shoulder/hip could probably occur with decent probability, I would wager.

[@Santisima_Trinidad]

Or your ribs could just end up piercing your spleen with your armor left in prime condition for an enterprising post battle scavenger to pick up and sell to the nearest smith.

[@ChangedMyNameFinally69]

@@Santisima_Trinidad If he doesn't just repurpose it

[@ChangedMyNameFinally69]

So basically guns came about because armor got too advanced?

[@SuperFunkmachine]

And theres what happens to the armour when hit by a lance.

[@farkasmactavish]

9:47 Misheard this as "mask rave".

[@sebastiana2035]

Read this comment right as it came up

[@Luckyleol]

Same

[@Vararx]

How did people even die? "Tis but a scratch!" *dies from wound infection*

[@mrbouncelol]

I like how comments have gone from "anyone can kill a knight just use your dagger" as if they hadn't been trained for years about how to defend their (very few) weak points, to "how did knights even die"

[@Reactionary_Harkonnen]

The thing is if you look at the battlefields back then in the war's casualties were relatively small for a lot of reasons. At most you might lose 20% of your soldiers in a battle engagement and that's when you lose the battle Before you start retreating or whatever. I want to say you lose 20% it doesn't mean all 20% dyed it just means I've been neutralized either captured, ran away, concussed, just beat up in general and they can't really fight, surrendered, and so on.

[@BuddysDIY]

This is a random question I've always wondered but never tried to find the answer 🤣 Great vid!

[@A-G-F-]

Thanks for leaving the sources on the description, they might come in handy in university next year :)

[@KirkWilliams300]

When people ask where did the suplex come from and what it is used for

[@DonutSwordsman]

This was an extremely well said video, I've been subbed for a long time now but it really hit me "wow, he seriously on the level of a college professor". Well thought out, well said, and very informative.

[@DonutSwordsman]

and i loved the jokes that had to be said haha

[@donnieeck3176]

Having done full armor, steel weapon fighting...the biggest killer for my thick boi self was the exhaustion lol

[@iwantlee9510]

The battle of winterfell in GoT depicted trampling very well. Jon Snow almost died by falling and getting crushed by his own soldiers. It was a very unpleasant thing to watch actually.

[@JohnDoe-on6ru]

Can you review a pitchfork as a weapon like you did with scythes? 9/10 angry peasants agree.

[@rhett5058]

Better than nothing

[@InternetDweller009]

Pitchfork=Trident?

[@rhett5058]

@@InternetDweller009 Depends on how many prongs the pitchfork has

[@sboloshis1188]

:)

[@corneliusklassen1123]

Any lord stupid enough to grant his peasants metal pitchforks deserves the inevitable mob!

[@lc6428]

Cool that this video came out right now because I've been fixated on the idea of how horrific it must have been to be surrounded by the enemy while wearing full plate as they slowly pick at you to death or to have been knocked over.

[@jimmyrustler8983]

In Richard III's case; You get crushed inside your armor, and with any luck, someone sticks a stiletto or misericorde into a gap in your helmet.

[@daryslash]

Great video! Helps my a bunch. Also, I hate when you say "so this doesn't turn into a two hour long video"... because most of the time I'd love a two hour long video!

[@costamcostam8961]

The biggest proof that knights weren't invulnerable is that most of them are now dead.

[@warpdriveby]

@3:09 this is why you don't put things like horns or other large projections on the sides of helmets unless they're made of lacquered paper or similarly flimsy/break away materials. The torque could easily injure the wearer severely where the blow would otherwise have glanced off.

[@johnchestnut5340]

"Metatron" is doing a series comparing effectiveness of weapons and armor from different cultures against each other. Example: Japanese weapons against European armor. I think your video addresses things his did not.

[@dimitriofthedon3917]

Imagine being injured and then people start falling on you and then you just drown in mud, that would be terrifying. Or even worse being stuck and then being stuck through the visor

[@TomSpeeddraw]

That was quite interesting, thank you.

[@mafionek3593]

i straight up love your vids man. Best common HEMA or medieval stuff information there is.

[@TheSinsOfAvarice97]

Skallagrim so this doesnt become a 2 hour video Me: "Bold of you to assume I wouldnt listen to you talk about how to kill knights for 2 hours"

[@rembliekain7643]

I love when you analyze the flaws in armors and would like to see more like this please.

[@Tiagabby4]

Do you plan to make a video of polearm sparring in the future ?

[@scottmacgregor3444]

Not many HEMA people spar with polearms. They just hit too hard for safety when moving at speed.

[@SiniStarrlord]

I would honestly pay for an audiobook of skal narrating the manuscripts or ever doing a book review type thing with them

[@LuxisAlukard]

11:25 Drowning? So it is possible to drown because of how heavy armour is? Just like Barbarossa?

[@neonz2712]

Picture falling into some water while having a very large amount of steel attached to your back. Even if the water is shallow, you will drown if you can not get back up.

[@LuxisAlukard]

@@neonz2712 I can't, I never had 30-40kg of steel on my body =) In shallow water, you should be able to get back up - just like when you fall on the ground. Unless you are already really exhausted, because you were fighting hole day

[@s1lverbullet1234]

@@LuxisAlukard that's just the armor, try to imagine the extra weight form the water, both pooling in the armor, and soaking into your padded clothing, it becomes very weighty; add a current, and you'll get thrown down constantly.

[@LuxisAlukard]

@@s1lverbullet1234 I can't imagine, because I never was in water while wearing armour. I don't know how that feels and what problems may happen =) I need to see someone putting full armour and clothes and equipment of any period and going into neck deep water. Some experimental and experiential archeology =D P.S. I just remmembered - Varg Vikernes did that once, but I don't know how scinentific that was...

[@arianaxdr7399]

Finally, a new video of the best Viking youtuber

[@LordRixuel]

Even if they manage to make the best armor, it can't still be invulnerable since some parts need articulations. That's my guess

[@chadgeary2653]

I mean, same thing applies to modern armor, ballistic armor and even vehicle armor.

[@ChangedMyNameFinally69]

He showed armor that was completely segmented to allow the most protection and movement

[@noneofyourbusiness3288]

One thing that shocked me about the penetration of arrows, is how deep the can penetrate into a wooden shield and injure the person behind it: I do not want to be on the receiving end of Tods greased shaft :)

[@davidm1563]

Skal I really need an answer on this as it’s bugging me to hell! How exactly was a knights lance effective in combat? I get it would be able to penetrate or even kill an armoured opponent but what happened after that? Did the knight drop the lance as it’s now got a 100kg meat sack skewered onto it thus rendering it useless or could the lance be dislodged somehow and used in a second charge?

[@nicolaiveliki1409]

The way I see it you basically have a giant armored shishkebab and since we haven't been cannibals since prehistoric times it would be pretty much useless now. Also, even if you did have the time to retrieve it, the structural integrity of the Lance would be so much impaired that you wouldn't want to use it anymore...

[@davidm1563]

Nicolai Veliki interesting! So you think the lance was more of a once off auto delete button for whichever unlucky opponent got in the way of it and then the knights reverted to their secondary weapons being swords or maces / war hammers?

[@nicolaiveliki1409]

@@davidm1563 pretty much, yeah. Once you've crossed Lance charging distance it wouldn't make much sense to use one anymore, anyway. On the way to the next skirmish you might pick up a new one or get the one your opponent didn't get to use on you - because you impaled them first

[@SalvaFiorenza8]

@@davidm1563 exactly, also would be inconvenient keeping the lance after the first blow, because it would be less time between blows to prepare, and aiming with a lance usually required more time and focus than aiming with a sword, warhammer, etc.

[@johnkilmartin5101]

We know that lances would shatter on impact. One of the Kings of France was killed by the splinters of a shattered lance entering his visor. I think it's important to remember that the role of a knight was not to fight other knights just like a tank isn't designed to fight other tanks.

[@t900badbot]

I recently watched "The King" which had an awesome mud pit battle. Which you memtioned in this vid. My question is, once the melee began how did they tell each other apart? I imagine tunnel vision from a fight, the narrow visor on the helm made in difficult but they all looked the same!

[@edi9892]

Fun fact: helmets can increase the number of neck injuries! Adding mass to the head makes trauma from fall more severe and the rim of a helmet can dig into the neck, if designed poorly (which is even the case for WWII helmets!)

[@mjfleming319]

This is exactly why my parents never let me play organized football with pads and helmets.

[@jochentram9301]

Other fun fact: the weight of the helmet can and will actually prevent whiplash-type injuries from blows to the head, mainly because the extra weight makes it harder to cause the neck to overextend. Most modern helmets are too light to have that effect, particularly motorcycle helmets and British "kettle hat" WWI and WWII helmets.

[@edi9892]

@@jochentram9301 interesting. The weirdest thing I've heard in this context was a Sikh with a giant turban that broke his neck due to the sheer weight of it when he got out of balance... However, normal turban do offer a remarkable protection against cuts and even some protection against blunt force trauma.

[@jochentram9301]

@@edi9892 Bear in mind that in full harness, the helmeted head does not have all that much room to move. What gets you whiplash and/or concussions is the acceleration a strike imparts to your head . . . and the heavier the head is, the less a given amount of energy will accelerate it. People who spend a lot of time wearing those sorts of helmets also tend to develop stronger neck muscles.

[@gantzllat]

you forget to mention how suffocating a good helmet can become under duress. All the carbon dioxide you exhale and becomes trapped inside the helmet will, and this is a certainty, cause you to panic and seek a way out of it. So even under constant training and practice I recon you would have half an hour, maybe an hour at best before frantically taking out the helmet to breath, which was the bane of at least two kings I know of who died of an arrow to the face while trying to breath. I imagine at least a couple knights would have died of hypoxia after having their helmets stuck during battle and becoming unable to take it off on time.

[@mitomen2000]

Another question that is somewhat related: Why is it always cutting tests with the new swords? According to what I gather about armors, cutting with swords is the least effective way against an opponent. Is it just for the fun of it?

[@ollimoore]

Cutting practice is about the most fun you can safely have with a sharp sword so I think it's fair to say that's a big factor for the modern sword buyer, and probably why something like an estoc is so rare on the reproduction market. But who said anything about everyone being fully armoured? Why would armoured combat be the only focus? Why would most sword designs have at least some cutting capability in the first place if everyone they were used against had full plate armour? What about all the swords which are clearly cut centric and not designed with heavy armour in mind at all, like Falchions?

[@las10plagas]

and then came guns... I was riding my skateboard once at ~40-50km/h downhill... I fell right on my head... didn't feel anything. not even later in the hospital, when they gave me stitches... the nurses said, they never saw somebody so happy with such an injury. guess I was high on adrenalin or something? the human body is a mysterious thing.

[@smallpp8891]

The question : if armour were so good why did people still die Answer: people die when they are killed

[@patriciusvunkempen102]

as i understood it at agincourt etc the french knight actualy made it all the way through to the english lines but when they arrived all their gens d'arme /men at arms seageants and everyone less protected was kind of gone, and many of the knights and such were not killed by the bowmen but injured, or just extremely exhausted,e tc you have to imagine the horses being hit and slamming down etc

[@boris_bulletdodger9109]

Positive comment

[@ConsoleCleric]

3:17 - This note about concussions is major. Helmets protect the head from external damage, but they seldom protect against concussions. Coup, contrecoup, coup-contrecoup and shearing concussions are from same-side, opposite side, both sides and twisting damage respectively. The helmet may stop a force from externally damaging the head, but the internal forces will still occur, which can damage the brain. Even hockey helmets do little to protect against concussions.

[@30035XD]

Armour is the very reason most polearms are equipped with a hook of some sort. Grab them, drag them down, hit them over the head with something heavy to stun them then pull out your dagger and go for the gaps. People that cannot imagine how it is done are blissfully ignorant about violence. It is nothing like the films and it never were.

[@somebodyputsomethinginmydr1051]

Well, instead of the dagger you could probably go for "keep bashing their head until they die"

[@nicolaiveliki1409]

@@somebodyputsomethinginmydr1051 yeah you could but there's also an economy to violence

[@BigHossHackworth]

I won a match at a Bjj tournament with a variation of that over the shoulder/neck armbar. Thanks HEMA!

[@quint3ssent1a]

> how did a people even die if armor was this protective Simple statistics: if something can happen with at least 1% chance, give it enough tries and it will happen. So if during the course of battle you'll be struck a thousand times, it's inevitable something would break: your bones, your armor.

[@phyoekyawkyaw6733]

Yeah that's the answer what I have been looking for . So much details are described . Can you also make a video about why armor protections are not wearing anymore in musket warfares?

[@ОлегКозлов-ю9т]

Medieval times basically ended when John/Ivan/Johann/Jan realized bluebloods aren't immortal, you just have to flail them really hard, almost like you flail grain Also, these weird flute-like loud smoky crossbows? Top thing, I would rate them if I knew how to read

[@sebathadah1559]

Their called guns. I was going to say just shoot them.

[@2008davidkang]

Will they flail upon your flail and thus fail?

[@eazy8579]

Those tube shooter things will never catch on

[@weldonwin]

HRE Knights: Noooooooo, low born peasants can't defeat their Feudal Betters!!! Hussite Militia: Ha Ha! Hand Cannons Go BOOM!

[@lion-sn7dd]

Plate armour was basically bullet proof and why don't you ask the winged Hussars, which were predominantly blue bloods.

[@tkzsfen]

that instructional book for duel fighting is one of the most brutal things i've recently seen! I need it :D

[@widgren87]

A video about armor and here I was listening to Sabaton...

[@casperthodsen5881]

So was I, funnily enough

[@widgren87]

@@casperthodsen5881 :-)

[@ChangedMyNameFinally69]

Ew

[@EngineerMK2004]

This is why, when I'm hosting a D&D game, I have a special armor rule where as your Dex AC bonus is the one where they don't hit you. Your armor bonus just prevents the hit from being lethal, but you still take subdual damage. Also, critical hits bypass armor. This way, no matter how armored you are, you can still get overwhelmed.