And another volley of arrows is loosed. A good archer could put an aimed arrow into the air every ten seconds or so. Maintaining this rate of fire was very strenuous so it would slow after a few minutes. Archers often would have several flights of arrows in the air simultaneously so it could hit a massed bunch of defenders pretty hard. Shields were pretty good at blocking arrows as at a range of 100-200 meters an arrow would not penetrate. At that range it was likely an arrow would deflect off chainmail. But that depended on any number of factors including the type of arrow head.
Berserks were known for not wearing armor. In fact the name comes from Old Norse for bear skin. Ivar, the heavily mustached Norseman, is wearing a bearskin. Arrows at long range could be deflected by heavy animal hide, which enables Ivar to use a two handed ax and not carry a shield.
“May you die in bed” was supposedly an insult to a Norseman during the Viking Age.
There are a bunch of different brands. Barbie a couple of ancient Marx Johnny West I got off of eBay and some from J.C. Penny Christmas catalog ten years ago.
Sleep is good - death is better... Looks like they're resigned to their fates! I suppose Berserking is only a good battle tactic if you can close to melee range!!
The basic defensive tactic was the shield wall. Berserker tactics as recreated today based on best evidence is to break a shield wall. Attack is not an option. On foot they would never cover the 100-150 meters before they were all killed by the archers. Besides all they have to do is delay pursuit and they had hoped to do that against regular infantry. The archers were not expected. But I am getting ahead of myself.
AmeliaP at 10:24AM, Jan. 29, 2018
Bloody!
plymayer at 1:51AM, Feb. 15, 2017
You were not kidding about jumping right in.
plymayer at 1:50AM, Feb. 15, 2017
Cool! A new adventure by Bravo :) Nice horses. Where did you get them?
bravo1102 at 10:19AM, Feb. 15, 2017
There are a bunch of different brands. Barbie a couple of ancient Marx Johnny West I got off of eBay and some from J.C. Penny Christmas catalog ten years ago.
jerrie at 1:46AM, Feb. 14, 2017
Heh...I dont die...I FLEE!!!! I wouldnt make it as one of these soldiers.
El Cid at 1:49PM, Feb. 13, 2017
Shield discipline, fellas! Come on!
KimLuster at 4:48AM, Feb. 13, 2017
Sleep is good - death is better... Looks like they're resigned to their fates! I suppose Berserking is only a good battle tactic if you can close to melee range!!
bravo1102 at 6:22AM, Feb. 13, 2017
The basic defensive tactic was the shield wall. Berserker tactics as recreated today based on best evidence is to break a shield wall. Attack is not an option. On foot they would never cover the 100-150 meters before they were all killed by the archers. Besides all they have to do is delay pursuit and they had hoped to do that against regular infantry. The archers were not expected. But I am getting ahead of myself.