What are the BEST WEAPONS for WEAK and SMALL Characters in Fantasy or HISTORY?!

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What are the best weapons for smaller or weaker characters to use, whether in real life, history or fantasy and sci-fi? Matt Easton of Schola Gladiatoria tackles the question.

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[scholagladiatoria]

🍀New users can get Legendary Sun Wukong through promocode MONKEYKING available for new players by January 7th

[marzcapone]

A toddler with a dagger would be horrifying, at least in normal households.

[craigbob]

About slings: up to 5% of Youth baseball injuries are fractures caused by baseballs. A baseball is a lot softer than a rock. A baseball also does not concentrate force nearly as well. A rock from a sling also moves much faster than the fastest baseballs, 225-240 km per hour. Baseball pitchers are _not even trying_ to fracture bones

[kevinlobos]

Regarding sling stones against armor. Spanish records about fighting the tribes in the new world recount how obsidian tipped weapons like arrows and darts were utterly useless against their metal plates, and they also described how the sling stones REALLY hurt even through armor.
So there's that.

[brandonhughes]

The spear concept was also demonstrated again in"Seven Samurai". The heroic ronin, after getting to the village, start forming the villagers into groups and outfit them with bamboo spears; as such, by the end, they have some effectiveness against the bandits (like when the town coward skewers a guy by himself)

[pichyt]

About Slings: If I remember correctly Caeser described how the Celts used slings very effectively - in the sense of completely obliterating faces of Legionnaires when the got hit.

[silverjohn]

7:20 Reference Native American/First nation tribes and armor they actually did use it prior to the introduction of firearms through the fur trade. Then, just like was happening in Europe, the armor was abandoned in favor of lighter skirmishing tactics. Prior to that though they had heavy armored warriors and lighter ranged skirmishers just like in Ancient Rome and Greece. Check a channel called Malcom P.L. who has done videos of a reconstruction of pre-Columbian Iroquoian armor (I'll link one below).

13:30 Medical journals from ancient Rome talked about having to remove sling stones that had buried into the flesh and modern reproductions by inexperienced modern slingers have been shown to produce foot pound energy levels equivalent to some lower powered pistol cartridges (think lighter .38 Special target loads if you're familiar with firearms). So they weren't equivalent to a rifle or shotgun but certainly capable of killing a man sized target. As a weapon for smaller people they don't require much strength but aiming it properly is more complex than bows and requires a lot of practice to judge distance and adjust the release point as you're spinning the sling. So, just like a longbowman had to train from a young age to build up the strength, a slinger had to practice from an early age to develop that judgement. For a fictional character it would be unlikely that a nobleman would have spent that kind of time unless they were unorthodox and hung out with a mentor with a peasant/poacher class background.

On a general comment about blunt vs sharp weapons, if we're talking about war clubs/hammers the weight would be a legitimate concern but, depending on your setting, blackjack/'lifesavers' (the latter an old English weapon with a small lead weight braided into a short length of rope), nightstick/belaying pins or cudgels like the African knobkerrie and Irish shillelagh were also popular in cities and towns and could be a preferred weapon of a rogue style character.

[Bob_Lennart]

I would argue the best weapon for a small and weak person is a large and strong friend.

[johannestetzelivonrosador]

29:30 Something to consider about armor weight vs person size is that due to the square-cube-law (as an object grows its volume increases faster than its surface) a larger person might actually carry less armor per body weight than a smaller one

[Nikanoru]

When I was younger I made a sling and would go places and throw rocks with them. I'm definitely not a big strong dude and I don't even play sports where you throw things, so I'm probably a perfect test, and I can get those rocks going terrifyingly fast. I eventually switched to tennis balls when one of the rocks broke in half against a surface and one of the halves came back and went whizzing past me an inch from my throat. I can't even imagine how much power you could get behind a lead bullet with someone that had a real good throwing arm. From what I remember of the historical accounts getting hit by one is no joke. Them's that die'll be the lucky ones.

[RonJohn]

"David and Goliath" was my immediate thought when reading the title. You need _practice_ for attacking individual targets, but I bet they're much more effective against armor than you think they are. That's because of the concussive force of high-velocity stones.

[CuriousCrow-mpcx]

For those leaning towards slings, one should consider the stick sling, because it doesn't need as much skill as the original sling, because the stick helps along with aiming. Tod's workshhop channel has a video illustrating it's use, and given the right ammo, it could go far and kill.

[TheSpanishInquisition]

Slings, especially with lead shot, can be devastating weapons. I really think that you underestimate them.

[laperrablanca]

Naginata is a Japanese polearm very popular among women, also in an historical context. Its use relay more in whole body rotation than in upper body strength. It could be the optimal weapon for a smaller weaker character in a fantasy or even in an historical fiction

[jessclark]

Small, weak person here, and my money is on the atlatl. I can wallop with one, and it took me little practice (relative to archery) to get a solid but basic proficiency. It’s really all the best boobs of a spear, with the addition of a force multiplier. The darts also being lightweight gives you the ability to carry many more than one could with a heavier, hand-thrown spear.

[Minty]

i think small but strong characters is an interesting category, dwarves for example, where they lack reach but not strength, making stuff like polearms and spears the most effective melee option.

[joshkappers]

One of my favorite things about depictions of dwarves in fantasy, especially in like Warhammer, is that they often use normal sized shields that are just the same size as them. Also, I'm surprised he didn't mention the billhook, my first blush reaction was spear or similar lighter polearm like the billhook would compensate their reach disadvantage, thrusting can be lethal without a tremendous amount of strength, and a polearm gives you additional leverage if it gives you the option for some type of swinging attack, such as with an edge or a perpendicular spike like a pick.

[btrenninger]

For a small person, the best defense is avoiding combat. So, for me, it'd be weapons that don't immediately set one out as a combatant. This means everyday objects, so a knife, that everyone needs. Or, objects that are concealable or have other explanatory reasons for being carried. So, for me a staff (or walking stick) a sling (which could also be affixed to a staff), and a knife (which could be affixed to the staff to make a spear). Perhaps some sort of cooking or eating dish that could be secretly converted to a buckler. These, plus a secret iron skullcap, and/or light mail that can be worn concealed over the torso.

[PalleRasmussen]

Did you see Joe and Michael train each other with their respective weapons and Tod in awe?

[MsJackle]

A good channel to watch concerning the possible accuracy and effectiveness of a sling is Dash Rendar. Granted he is using cheap armor to test against, but it still shows the possibility of groups of slingers in combat. Used as either skirmishers on the flanks to bunch troops into tighter formations to stop flanking maneuvers, picking holes in the front line or suppressing the opposing lightly armored missile troops. There is a reason they were used in ancient warfare for eons.

As far as fantasy Dwarves are concerned, they may be short in stature, but they also had the same or more body mass as taller humans. Given the reduced center of gravity, a Dwarven shield wall would be difficult to move short of a heavy cavalry charge. Shield and pike with poleaxes and halberd for follow-up attacks would be the most effective weapon systems for them in a mass battle.