Since a number of people brought up Shad... Believe it or not, I didn't know he had made a video about dwarves. I have very little time to actually watch videos. Making content and managing a channel of this size is just too time consuming. And besides, RUclips would be a rather deprived place if nobody was "allowed" to talk about a topic that someone else somewhere at some time in history has covered before.
I think it's fair because you drew some different conclusions than Shad did, talked more on grappling which I thought was really interesting and isn't always brought up. If you're strong, shorter, and better balanced than your opponent... Yeah, just get in there and throw 'em around like a barrel of honey for your delicious dwarven mead...
Why not just jump on his shield? He may be strong, but I doubt the average dwarf would be able to support your full body weight. It'd probably knock him on his butt and leave him open.
Sleepy 12ft Panda Say goodbye to your ribs in the best case and hello to shitload of broken bones and death. You just gave him the advantage. You are in his reach, he's stronger then you and he is using axe.... You are dead.
Dont you know dwarves are terrified of trees? Trees constantly invade their homes and destroy their land. The roots suck nutrients of of the very soil they live in and trees take the water dwarves drink. More over trees regenerate and live in large numbers on the surface; a single tree can also produce many offspring to replenish the horde. Terrifying.
@Lady Mercy theres an Enemy in sekiro that's like a foot tall that had a wide bamboo-esque hat and they use it to block sword swings and stuff like that. They're a pain, and they work KINDA like how you said.
The same reason all of those "research societies" that believe in and try to prove Big Foot exists don't have the money to put cameras up all over the woods.
Oh this brings me memories of one of my first DnD sessions... A bard viciously mocking a dwarf to death by insulting his size, i was fucking breathless for 5 minutes straight!
Jay Champagne One day they will emerge from their mountain halls to take back what's rightfully theirs. But then they see that people are being born dwarves and elves and start up local businesses that grow into Megacorps.
I think an often over-looked element in the "fighting a fantasy Dwarf" equation is: experience. In every fantasy source I've seen, Dwarves both live much longer than Humans and are further along in years when they begin venturing abroad (outside the shelter of their homeland). So, the Dwarf you're encountering has likely had a lot more time to refine their martial skills. In all likelihood, they literally began their training before you were even born.
Not to mention fantasy dwarves are usually depicted as being incredibly strong for their size, meaning their equipment is likely much heavier, sturdier, and more durable than yours. And their strength would allow them to wield those much stronger weapon without affecting their limited mobility.
If we're talking culture as well as biology... In every fantasy setting I'm familiar with, the dwarf force is always going to be outnumbered by any given enemy force -- potentially even by *elves* -- and they know it. They're also agoraphobic, or at least nervous in open and brightly-lit spaces, because so much of their day-to-day life is spent underground. So the question becomes, not what weapon works best for a short-and-stocky body type, but what weapon works best for close-packed formations and/or restricted terrain, while neutralizing large numbers of enemies at once? I don't know what the answer to that question is...though I have a sneaking suspicion it's "land mines".
In close formations with restricted options for flanking shield wall tactics dominate. Weapons used could be short such as Roman gladius but in a tunnel many ranks of long spears such as with Greek hoplite phalanx would also be a good option.
I Always figured that dwarves Penchant for one handed axes came from Fighting wars against other dwarves, Underground in tunnels that would rarely be very accomodating to larger weapons. And that they would obviously use longer weapons when Fighting against the big folk, while still keeping their trusty axe or hammer at their belt for emergencies. I think it is a reasonable Explanation for why Fantasy dwarves seem to so often have short one handed axes.
Odds are that fighting axes would all have a spike or pick on the back for dealing with armor. Edit, the other thing is that they can carry more armor on less body, so getting in close is a viable option, especially as they would be out ranged by a human with a similar weapon. In a unit longer weapons would be useful, but one on one odds are that the dwarf will never get the range advantage.
I always thought their axe are bigger and heavier, Dwarves are stronger than human so they can bear heavier weight. Imagine them wearing full armor barreling down the tunnel at a fast sprint with their large shield in front. In tight spaces where you can’t evade, they are going to hit you like a ton of bricks, try to defend that.
Yes with the exception of a dwarfen slayer they can run for long periods of time as they tend to fight things many many times bigger then them and all with out armor
Which is kind of true. Crossing distances fast isn't only about leg length. My dog is faster than me despite his limbs are like 10 times shorter. BTW Although not really true for all Dwarves. In _Witcher_ they are great at long-distances, not short.
Matthew Hoots Makes sense. Short, but very powerful legs. It'd be like trying to outrun a dog; certainly doable, but in the short-term(no pun intended), you're going to lose every time by virtue of steps taken.
Neither my 8-yr-old son or I have any training in medieval weapons but just FYI, whenever we spar (with foam weapons) he raises his heater shield up over his head and focuses on my legs. He holds his own blocking a lot of my attacks, and just targets my legs. I’ve found that protecting my legs from attacks is actually pretty hard!
@Hauke Holst Actually, they were pretty similar. Shad felt that the dwarf needed a longer weapon to give him better reach. Although, he was thinking the larger shield. But the problem revealed with that in this video was that such a large shield would be hard to see around. I think he even had the same sorts of ideas concerning armor.
@Kevin Warburton In the warhammer universe they are short, bearded gorillas with ham sized fists and arms longer than their legs. They could basically strangle you with one hand.
Shortsword and small shield, their blood is too sticky so you will hace to use their weapons and always remember: They are not smart but they aren't completly fools
If it's youst one goblin with no spechil training at all faising you in a one on one without a surprise attack you should not have mutch problems winning even if you youst have a long stick or st like it I mean they are mutch weaker than an adult human
I'm around 95% sure that most dwarven armaments woudl be around hammers, warpicks and tower shields. The simple reason for this is that I assume that they fought each other before they start fighting anyone else and that they live inside mountains. (And they are usually portrayed as isolationists, so fighting each other more seems likely). This means that a lot of warfare is fought in tunnels, caves and the such and their natural tool from which weapons can be developed are hammers and pickaxes. Tunnels can be easily blocked off by a good shield wall and short-handled weapons are better in close quarters than long ones. Even so I assume polearms would come in handy in many situations too and especially against larger opponents. And then of course siege weapons since not only can they effective defend a tunnel by themselves. (You don't need to aim your scorpion), but may shoot the cave walls to create localized cave-ins too.
in fiction dwarves mostly fight goblins and not dwarves (if one mine is a city then its unlikely they will meat another dwarven army. so what they use depends on the goblins/orcs which in the tolkien books whear chain mail and use shields (but only the knights of dol amroth are given anyform of plate in the books so thats a mute point) so their main weapon would be swords if they are unarmoured or only partially armoured, spears work too, if they look like the orcs/goblins in Moria from the lord of the rings movie then war hammers and pickaxes as they had plate.
Dwarfes never fight themself. They have enough enemies they must focus. They already have the disadvantage over other races that they can get pretty old, but also have a low born rate. In other words, every dead dwarf is a huge tragedy for their clan.
The problem with long weapons as a dwarf is that since you're fighting in and moving around tunnels, being able to turn around if you get outflanked (side tunnels connecting to the tunnel you're in, for example) is very difficult. Low ceilings, narrow passages etc might mean that it's impossible to turn your spear/long axe etc to be pointy end towards enemy.
I just realized that dwarves have a huge advantage in hand to hand combat against humans in that their defense direction is disjoint from their attack direction. They can keep their shields raised up almost all the time and this would in no way block them from attacking your legs.
To be fair the only time a dwarf uses a tower shield at least in Tolkiens lore is when they are in a phalanx and forming a shield wall which sort of eliminates the problem you presented otherwise they usually use a two handed axe, maul, or one handed weapon/shield combonation
in the Hobbit the dwarf soldiers in Dain's army are described as using large two handed mattocks. I thought that was quite interesting, I dont remember hearing of mattocks being used as weapons before.
same in some other sources. and in some dwarves never get mentioned with tower shields. i usually picture a two handed axe/hammer or a axe or hammer and a smaller round shield. almost viking like in set up.
The idea of a dwarven phalanx should be extremely terrifying as a fighting force. Dwarves, from what I've read up on different lores, are about 120 kilograms on average. Imagine a long wall of thick iron shields with a way lower center of gravity than a normal shield wall. That thing ain't moving! :o
It’s so funny the grass covers William’s legs well enough that if you don’t focus on it, he actually looks like a dwarf with exceptionally short legs and a long everything else.
Dwarves fighting in formation with m,ini-scutum, Roman style. With slashing spears (so like mini glaives). Seems like, combined with their stereotypical discipline, they'd be very tough opponents in mass combat.
It's hard to use a slashing spear effectively with a shield. However, dwarves are often depicted as being unusually heavily armored (it's easy to get the metal when your entire civilization is based around mining, and they have less area to cover relative to their strength) so I would forego the shield and just use polearms as the preferred melee weapons, although my choices for those would be something more akin to a halberd, bill, bec-de-corbin, or pollaxe.
@@alexanderflack566 Agreed. Tho I think he means the style which the front row has the shields and the second row has the spears/ glaives in both hands reaching thru.
@@Hashbeast Yeah, but the dwarves in the front row would limit the back row's ability to wield their weapons effectively. It's difficult to fight around someone else, and not especially necessary with every dwarf in plate armor (plus, they already have a reach disadvantage; an enemy could stab someone in the front row while remaining out of reach of those in the second row).
Perhaps instead of a glaive, a bill hook might be more effective. Its the same forward backwards movement of a spear with some slashing capacity from the hook
7:55 - "Spears are a pain in your butt, or anything really." I say that what you really want to avoid is having to deal with spears being a pain in your crotch.
A very important issue that most people tend to forget Dwarves don’t fight as individuals in most fantasy settings. They fight as a unit. In that case a combo of a tower shield+short axe is extremely viable, as you have to face a basically impenetrable wall of shields that forces you to defend your legs(which are a bitch to guard in a formation) and can simply decimate front lines by crippling their legs without giving an opening to attack. In case of a duel yeah, a dwarf is screwed if he cannot close the gap. But in a formation this issue is basically non-existent, as there is simply less to hit, and a medium sized shield already coveres most of a body, with a tower shield like that in a shield wall you don’t actually HAVE to see you enemy. You need to close the distance and chop off a foot for example or bust a knee. Kind of like the Roman legion tactics, but with axes instead of short swords)
Thomas Mendoza it may primarily depend on what they may be trying to achieve. Of it is holding a specific objective, be it a choke point or holding out for as long as possible, then yeah-spears are an extremely powerful tool for doing just that. However, if your task is to attack, or better yet-outright destroy the enemy, then it is better to have the aforementioned axes to cripple the enemies. Spears are still very viable for anything rather than the very first line-while it chops the enemy’s legs off, their buddies in the second or third rank poke them with spears to create a huge nuisance at worst and a nightmare at best Shame I didn’t think of it earlier) Also, they very well interchange these weapons depending on where they are-it’s not like they can’t sling an axe on a hip or behind the back)
@@crimsonfists6224 True! They could even use halberds! Now that would be a terrifying sight for charging calvary. I wish more fantasy thought of this stuff, cuz it actually is a lot cooler than the normal tropes
Thomas Mendoza well, it would be pretty much an unstoppable force if you think about it) Elves use primarily bows and very light armour and melee weapons, orks prefer somewhat lower-quality(to say the least) gear and have sub-par training, and humans are...well, humans. The only thing I can think of that can mess this thing’s day in a fantasy setting are trolls, dragons and heavy artillery. In melee though... You are figuratively screwed) Especially if the dwarves have halberds) Although I think they would go the Lucerne hammer way-they are dwarves after all, and these hammers are no less deadly than halberds, in the hands of the dwarves with their superior strength though...I would NOT want to be on the receiving end of this thing)
@@thomasmendoza7728 That's a terrifying image for every orc! I think dwarves don't do that because they are used to fighting underground, where spears can sometimes be quite unhandy. Also, a spear from a dwarf's perspective is much bigger than it is from a human's perspective, therefore not as useful. Out in the open, however, a phalanx of dwarves with spears (maybe smaller ones) would be almost unbeatable.
5:10 a dwarf with its mobillity (not a stationary human on its knees) could push the sword up (and to the left) take one or two steps forward and come in with its short axe where as at this point you would have no use for the length of your sword, this could only be defended against by potentially jumping over the dwarf which would be immensly dangerous or switching to a dagger which would still leave you at a disadvantage to the axe, the dwarf could almost instantly be at its running speed because of the momentum so stepping back would put you at an even greater disadvantage.
wouldn't let him? wouldn't let him do what? (if you mean push away the sword, that's not even possible, dwarves are way too strong to let the human resist him, there is also no way to move the sword as any movement that would allow you to maybe hit the dwarf would expose you) If the guy was even able to react fast enough to an immediate reaction and moved to the side the dwarf could, in this case, step to the left as well to counter and stay in close range, and maybe even throw himself at the guy with his shield aimed more to the upper left to assure his opponent can't use his sword, using his weight and low point of gravity agaist the guys torso while while simultaniously swinging with his axe. Once the dwarf gets his shield under the sword and gets up close there are so many things he could do and can counter pretty much anything the human may try. These were just a few of the examples I can give.
to then get the elves jumping over it and not get crushed between the dward and goblin armies like it should have happened because Peter Jackson faps at elves.
I'm actually in the process of writing a fantasy novel and this video has given me a thousand ideas for writing better combat scenes. Thank you so much!
Indeed. With Roman armor as well. The ability to deal with cuts from above will be really useful. The reinforced helmets and shoulders while keeping the lower body relatively free for movement seem suitable for a race that is strong and hardy and usually fighting people taller than themselves.
It would be great for fighting in enclosed spaces like underground tunnels, but on the surface the dwarves relative immobility and small stature would only exacerbate the natural disadvantages of the phalanx.
Indeed. The dwarves would not fight that often in an open field though. In almost all lore dwarves are generally focused on the defence of their holds, mines and fortresses. In an open field I think they would probably fight in a maniple, with a lot of missile support for taking out cavalry and other fast targets.
i am fairly certain that a tower shield should never stand taller then the eyes of the user, thus a DWARVEN tower shield would not have much of a problem
It's a common thing to think if you study medieval fighting and you like medieval fantasy. Both youtubers are into that. Also, the way they made the videos was pretty different
I feel like Dwarves would have much better armor than humans as well. Say a full suit of armor for a human weighs 60 pounds; a Dwarf would be at least as strong as a human so could also wear 60 pounds of armor just as comfortably, but because they're so much smaller, that 60 pounds of armor would be much thicker, but the dwarf would be just as mobile. And that doesn't even address that in most fantasy settings including Dwarves, they are the best forgers and metal workers of the realm, so their armor would be of a higher quality anyway. I guess my point being I see a dwarf in full plate with a two-handed pole weapon being pretty damn intimidating. I think large almost artillery-type pieces like a Roman scorpion or ballista would be the best way to handle a bunch of Dwarves. Even more so considering Dwarves would likely be a slower moving target than Humans given their shorter legs. And nobody grapples a Dwarf!
Skall, that's the type of content I come to this channel for! Keep up the good work and soon the stats analytics gods shall look at you more favourably ;)
wouldnt need to even format it like that, could literally be 2 separate videos that cut between each other with voice overlays to give the illusion of live conversation
I think most interpretations just flat out depict dwarves being master smiths as well so a Dwarf being head to toe in high quality plate armor is right on brand (best example of this is Iron Breakers from Warhammer Fantasy).
They should make Games and Movies based on this, i would love to see "realistic" dwarven fights in fantasy, or any fight actually. In Games Dwarves are usually as fast as anyone else, but this shows how strong in defense they are.
Eh... bear in mind that these are all things the dwarf could _try_ to do. That doesn't mean he'll succeed or that the human will necessarily be hit if he does. Dwarves only have one defensive advantage: shields provide greater coverage. Also a lot of this stuff falls apart once you have groups. A group of humans with spears/spears and shields would annihilate a group of dwarves with spears and shields. Trying to bind and close against a polearm is much harder when the opponent has a buddy on either side. Armour would be something of an equaliser but not entirely. Armoured humans with halberds/pollaxes would still have an advantage over armoured dwarves. Are smaller people more effective in armour? I don't know but a lot of what Skall was saying depends on the small individual being stronger. Smaller humans tend to be weaker than larger humans so it probably doesn't apply.
Sure. The last bit of my comment was about OP's question of whether smaller human are more effective in armour than larger humans and I don't think that's the case.
Robert R I do because of the increased protection while having a smaller target but on the flip side that decrease their overall speed so... it depends on the situation like it does normal sized people
+mini minotuar People always say so and so "depends on the situation", which is true but kind of missing the point. Even when there are contextual factors, one can still be favoured most of the time and therefore be called generally superior. e.g. Reach isn't _always_ favourable but it is often enough that you can call a spear better than a dagger. Similarly, larger humans almost always have an advantage when fighting smaller humans so we can say being bigger is simply better in combat (for a human). (P.S. I don't know about dwarf physiology. As I've said repeatedly, I'm *not* talking about dwarves. I'm answering OP's question about different sized humans in armour.)
Best solution is to have a human and a dwarf fighting on the same side. First, unscrew your pommel and give it to the dwarf. Then pick up the dwarf and toss him at the enemy. The dwarf then ends him rightly. This works very well in a siege situation. A true weapon of terror!
Really big crossbows with poop covered bolts.... leave a pile of loot somewhere... ambush it and fill it with bolts, then wait for it to die of infection. that or small ballistae.
Or you can put out some sheep/any other livestock the dragon is possibly interested as bait and stuff it with sharp metal shards and poison (or shit), as suggested in one of the Witcher novels
Great video! Skallagrim runs a high quality production here with the armor and weapons. As many pointed out, the Shadiversity channel has delivered content on this topic before, and this video is a great addition to this awesome geeky conversation! Shad's video series on fantasy races' optimal medieval weapons is one of my favorites at the moment, and I feel it would be very courteous to pay homage to the concept, even if Skall had not seen the series or doesn't remember seeing it. Shad's channel is much smaller than Skall's, so in solidarity with the RUclips channel crisis, I personally feel it would be in place to give a proper shout out to Shad. Thanks!
Oh thanks for saying what it was, I was wondering what is that thing he's wearing. Looked at some online and they looked not to pretty :l. But that thing is cool
The one thing I’d add is to consider the terrain where dwarves usually fight. Although they would sometimes find themselves in open ground, their most usual battlefields would be narrow, claustrophobic tunnels and caverns, where long-hafted or bladed weapons could prove difficult to maneuver effectively; this is probably one of the reasons why they are usually portrayed carrying one-handed axes, maces, hammers, and shorter swords.
You have to have a beard and be burly and fat. I played rugby and the guy on the other team that I had to go up against was about 5'8 320 lbs with a big dwarf beard. He was certainly hard to move even though I was much stronger than him.
What about dwarves in a formation as opposed to one on one? Basically it seems that dwarves with tower shields and perhaps throwing axes as opposed to regular axes would be an almost roman-style fighting force covering even more of the person than the roman shields would. Combine that with some sort of spear for melee and you can avoid many of the range issues stemming from the short arms. *Edit* Combine with a second row of polearm wielding dwarves that can strike/jab over the head and shield of the first row and I think they would be extremely effective
Another interesting idea from the plate armor discussion, what about having small shield like metal pieces strapped to the forearms? Basically, imagine the bracers have a metal plate sticking out just an inch on either side at the upper side of the forearm. Small enough that it won't hinder movement but still large enough to stop a blade going around it to stab towards face/weak points.
I think that's definitely an interesting thought experiment. Armies in the middle ages did not fight like the Romans. Can't say I know why exactly but I can think of a few reasons at least: heavy cavalry, smaller population, less professional military/lack of discipline. However the dwarves are too small for horses and are known for their personal discipline. Perhaps if dwarves were real they would have fought like the romans, preferring infantry over cavalry.
Dwarves would make excellent pike phalangites, I think. The shortness doesn't matter when you have a 3 meters long pike and the low point of gravity and strength would serve them well against similar formations.
Yeah in the Witcher books it describes a battle where a division of dwarves were in a shield wall formation, they were trapped but they still didn't break formation and eventually pushed through the enemies cavalry
@@deadshepherd666 Yes, they did. Tower shields, such as kite shields, were employed in similar ways to the Roman shield formations. In fact, there were some special formations designed specifically for the midieval kite shield. Shield walls were actually quite effective against shock cavalry when paired with pole arms. Discipline was still, of course, lacking compared to ancient Rome, but midieval armies were far more organized than you may think they were. That being said, these tactics were far more successful in special, more elite units, such as mercrenary groups, but they certainly were employed. Shield walls were only used less during the advent of proper plate armour, which negated the need for shields so much. That being said, you can still find records of their use from those later times.
That was quite fun Skall. Have you plans to do this kind of Analysis also with other Fantasy Species? That would be interesting. greetings from Germany Benny
Sam Williams considering that skall did pretty the same thing but with practical demo and more complete global analysis I think this kind of videos would be actually more interesting by him
I love that youtube has given us a platform where a couple of nerds can make a video about a narrow and super nerdy subject and reach all of us other nerds with their content. Great breakdown of the subject. Going to use some of this in an upcoming pathfinder campaign I'm designing.
Elder Scroll dwarves (dwemer) are just a shorter race of elves. Elves are (in the lore, but not really in the actual game) taller than humans, and dwemers would be just as tall as a short human.
A giant isn't a really tall person though, that would be more akin to an elf. A giant is a human whose overall size is multiplied by 3-15 times(or more) depending on context, and no really tall person can simulate that.
I would like slightly argue your assumptions. I am larper one of my good friends is about 5'2. which makes him a little tall for an average dwarf. He uses a tower shield and a sword. Being that he short and stocky is almost impossible to hit him. I've seen him be attacked by three of the best sword fighters in our game and not land a hit on him at all if he goes full defensive. Mostly because there's no room to hit him. He doesn't have to be that mobile as you think. Small steps for him are extremely more terrifying in than they are for an average person. You have to get a lot closer to get inside his guard. Second lore dwarfs are ridiculously strong. So when they block they can throw your shield and your weapon out of the way, way easier than an average person of average height and weight. which is what happens with my buddy being that he's so short he's ridiculously strong when it comes down to the center of gravity. Which knocking him off the center gravity is almost impossible but him knocking you off yours happens really easily. If you don't know how to guard against him. You can bounce around all day he doesn't have to move stands there with the shield waiting. When we did some realistic SCA fighting. And the same thing pretty much happens with him. He's a very difficult person to fight if you have it dealt with people of his size and stature on a regular basis. And I would agree dwarves and lore would probably be terrifying in full plate mail. The part of the body that would be easily to injure would be minimum.
Christian Martinez TL;DR Friend is 5,2 short usually uses a tower shield and is extremely hard to fight due to lower center of gravity and most of body being blocked.
And, the fact that historically, the best way to kill people in full plate armor was by grappling, now put a dwarven in full plate Good luck humans, (unless you go Dark souls oversized polearms)
For visibility with a shield, how about adding visor style slits? You could stab through the slit, but their head would be pretty far back from the slit, and if they turn the shield it would bind your weapon.
![Noob To Max With DRAGON REWORK In Blox Fruits [FULL MOVIE]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/LnBMOinoOvA/mqdefault.jpg)
Since a number of people brought up Shad... Believe it or not, I didn't know he had made a video about dwarves. I have very little time to actually watch videos. Making content and managing a channel of this size is just too time consuming. And besides, RUclips would be a rather deprived place if nobody was "allowed" to talk about a topic that someone else somewhere at some time in history has covered before.
Skallagrim question, how viable would a dwarf with a war hammer be?
You talked about fantasy so... It comes with the nerds... Just ignore them and don't feed them after midnight. Nice video btw.
Shad went over several different weapons, but some f his ideas.. let's call them lunacy - like the dwarves using bows....
Hammers are mechanically very similar to axes, just heavier. So same idea.
I think it's fair because you drew some different conclusions than Shad did, talked more on grappling which I thought was really interesting and isn't always brought up. If you're strong, shorter, and better balanced than your opponent...
Yeah, just get in there and throw 'em around like a barrel of honey for your delicious dwarven mead...
"So forget about grappling..."
NOBODY TOSSES A DWARF!!!
Zefram Mann I was waiting for that
In realistic fantasy dwarf tosses you
Why not just jump on his shield? He may be strong, but I doubt the average dwarf would be able to support your full body weight. It'd probably knock him on his butt and leave him open.
Sleepy 12ft Panda Say goodbye to your ribs in the best case and hello to shitload of broken bones and death.
You just gave him the advantage. You are in his reach, he's stronger then you and he is using axe.... You are dead.
Sleepy 12ft Panda
That can easily deflected to the side and then he backstabs you while carrying the hornet ring.
An old Dwarven saying goes:
"All trees are felled at knee-height"
-Terry Pratchet
"I'm telling ye, we born fer battle - we slash straight at their knees!"
Dont you know dwarves are terrified of trees? Trees constantly invade their homes and destroy their land. The roots suck nutrients of of the very soil they live in and trees take the water dwarves drink. More over trees regenerate and live in large numbers on the surface; a single tree can also produce many offspring to replenish the horde.
Terrifying.
Sir Terry Pratchett*
Don’t make me break out the dwarf bread...
@Lady Mercy theres an Enemy in sekiro that's like a foot tall that had a wide bamboo-esque hat and they use it to block sword swings and stuff like that.
They're a pain, and they work KINDA like how you said.
@Lady Mercy ruclips.net/video/JELl21T7e-w/видео.html
These guys
Dwarves aren't slow on their feet, they're natural sprinters. Very dangerous over short distances.
Haha thanks for this. Brought back memories
But wasted on cross-country. So I guess you could say...
*Slips on sunglasses*
They've got low stamina. YAAAAAAAAAEEEEEEEEHHHHH! xD
Like alligators
Space Marine they also have better stamina then humans
👍
Why aren't the worlds scholars funding this kind of crucial research?
Nice
Because scholars dont have the money to fund others.
The same reason all of those "research societies" that believe in and try to prove Big Foot exists don't have the money to put cameras up all over the woods.
Lol
@@TheDrexxus someone's done no research..uh oh
6/10 should have used a real dwarf, or at least a bearded child.
i don´t think skall has the necessary gold to pay a real dwarf.
Where would he find one please tell me
A real dwarf, as in someone that really is that short. Not a real live fantasy dwarf.
or maybe a bearded gnome.
does anybody get it?
I'd have been happy to volunteer. I'm 5'0" (5'2" with boots) and a dude. Missing the beard though.
Forget swords, only short jokes can penetrate dwarf armor.
Only the snark can cut deeply
Drake Sigar And pommels.
Oh this brings me memories of one of my first DnD sessions...
A bard viciously mocking a dwarf to death by insulting his size, i was fucking breathless for 5 minutes straight!
Yeah, but then he penetrates your gut with an axe head.
Jacob Furrow end him rightly!!!
Honestly that's the flyest padded armor I've ever seen. Skall lookin dope as fuck.
Jake Engoian where tf can I get that but not armor? it looks clean
Yeah dude I was thinking he looks like Geralt from the witcher. Bad ass looking armor either way.
yeah looks sick af
Jake Engoian LORD SKALLAGRIM
Jake Engoian I think it's from armstreet, their stuff is just awesome.
I love how Skall is just teaching us how to fight a dwarf.
Or more accurately, teaching us why we SHOULDN'T fight a dwarf.
I now feel slightly better prepared for a dwarven apocalypse.
Jay Champagne One day they will emerge from their mountain halls to take back what's rightfully theirs.
But then they see that people are being born dwarves and elves and start up local businesses that grow into Megacorps.
WarMachineBrony I feel like that's a shadowrun reference lol
I'm coming for you beware the dwarves!
slightly
slightly
Nah, our great grandchildren will deal with that...
the tall grass makes it look like he's an actual dwarf
Dude3210123456
i think he went for that with the robes and the grass
@@A-G-F- and the hair and beard
With freaky long arms for his size xD
And the belly.
@What' Ev i meant that dwarfs have shorter arms than an average adult human, but that is ignored in this vid.
I think an often over-looked element in the "fighting a fantasy Dwarf" equation is: experience. In every fantasy source I've seen, Dwarves both live much longer than Humans and are further along in years when they begin venturing abroad (outside the shelter of their homeland). So, the Dwarf you're encountering has likely had a lot more time to refine their martial skills. In all likelihood, they literally began their training before you were even born.
shit, sometimes they began training before the nation our fighting for was founded.
And that little fully bearded, incredibly buff man is just a teenager.
Not to mention fantasy dwarves are usually depicted as being incredibly strong for their size, meaning their equipment is likely much heavier, sturdier, and more durable than yours. And their strength would allow them to wield those much stronger weapon without affecting their limited mobility.
If we're talking culture as well as biology... In every fantasy setting I'm familiar with, the dwarf force is always going to be outnumbered by any given enemy force -- potentially even by *elves* -- and they know it. They're also agoraphobic, or at least nervous in open and brightly-lit spaces, because so much of their day-to-day life is spent underground. So the question becomes, not what weapon works best for a short-and-stocky body type, but what weapon works best for close-packed formations and/or restricted terrain, while neutralizing large numbers of enemies at once? I don't know what the answer to that question is...though I have a sneaking suspicion it's "land mines".
In close formations with restricted options for flanking shield wall tactics dominate. Weapons used could be short such as Roman gladius but in a tunnel many ranks of long spears such as with Greek hoplite phalanx would also be a good option.
I Always figured that dwarves Penchant for one handed axes came from Fighting wars against other dwarves, Underground in tunnels that would rarely be very accomodating to larger weapons. And that they would obviously use longer weapons when Fighting against the big folk, while still keeping their trusty axe or hammer at their belt for emergencies. I think it is a reasonable Explanation for why Fantasy dwarves seem to so often have short one handed axes.
Interesting theory. Along those lines both axes and especially bludgeons like hammers tend to be more effective against layered suits of armor.
Odds are that fighting axes would all have a spike or pick on the back for dealing with armor.
Edit, the other thing is that they can carry more armor on less body, so getting in close is a viable option, especially as they would be out ranged by a human with a similar weapon. In a unit longer weapons would be useful, but one on one odds are that the dwarf will never get the range advantage.
I always thought their axe are bigger and heavier, Dwarves are stronger than human so they can bear heavier weight. Imagine them wearing full armor barreling down the tunnel at a fast sprint with their large shield in front. In tight spaces where you can’t evade, they are going to hit you like a ton of bricks, try to defend that.
I’ve always thought it was the natural progression from the pickaxe. A blade is much handier in confined spaces.
It’s probably a cultural thing
[Viciously takes down notes for future DMing]
But you forgot the most important fact about Dwarves. They're natural sprinters and very dangerous over short distances.
Yes with the exception of a dwarfen slayer they can run for long periods of time as they tend to fight things many many times bigger then them and all with out armor
and sometimes they can be thrown against uruks but you have to dont tell it to the elf
But remember they burn out quickly because of their „genetics“ and not because of their preferred diet of beer and pastry
Which is kind of true. Crossing distances fast isn't only about leg length. My dog is faster than me despite his limbs are like 10 times shorter.
BTW Although not really true for all Dwarves. In _Witcher_ they are great at long-distances, not short.
03:29 Skallagrim is very wrong. Actually the shorter person has better footwork and can catch more distance than the taller one.
That other guys spent such a long time on his knees I actually forgot he wasn't a dwarf
I felt bad for him too..you see him sighing ...I bet hes thinking..man when can I stand up...things we do for a vidio lol
It’s that big beard he was rocking. 🤓
I'm quite proud of the community that in 6 years no one has made a Yo Momma joke out of that set up.
The most practical weapon for a dwarf is a shotgun.
SAsgarters
shadowrun, eh?
Nah. I know next to nothing about Shadowrun. I know a few players, but that's it.
SAsgarters what about pocket-canon? Cause dwarf have lower center grav mean more knockback-force-resistance.
As it is for pretty much anybody.
Actually a shotgun would be better for fishing (dwarves aren't famous for their subtilety)
"Dwarves are natural sprinters! very dangerous over short distances..." LOTR.
Matthew Hoots Makes sense. Short, but very powerful legs. It'd be like trying to outrun a dog; certainly doable, but in the short-term(no pun intended), you're going to lose every time by virtue of steps taken.
sprinting dogs do not have short stubby legs. tolkien fucked up his lore dwarves are not natural sprinters
Omg, the proud bullshitting dwarf of the story told a large tale about his race's feats to a rival?
Tolkien certailny didnt think it through
Matthew Hoots oh Gimili, bullshit is an ugly color for you.
Matthew Hoots Can someone tell me who TF said that? If it was Gimli again... ah well.
I mean, weren't they known to have great endurance etc?
You've entered grappling range.
Your dwarven opponent roars."You're going noooo where. I gotchu for three minutes!"
Three minutes of playtime!
Bonesaw is readyyyy
Roll for strength
"let's talk now" xD
You get just outside his striking range. you fukin kick his sheild
Neither my 8-yr-old son or I have any training in medieval weapons but just FYI, whenever we spar (with foam weapons) he raises his heater shield up over his head and focuses on my legs. He holds his own blocking a lot of my attacks, and just targets my legs. I’ve found that protecting my legs from attacks is actually pretty hard!
Just like in boxing, the shorter boxer has to look out for head shots more, but can slam the taller opponents body a lot easier, and vice versa!
That's extremely cute
Shad's video didn't have real life testing and nobody has a patent on dwarf weapon videos. I'd love to see more stuff like this from Skallagrim.
it would make a nice video series/playlist
Breaking Balance agreed to you both. I'd be ecstatic for a whole playlist
Agreed, that would be awesome!
@Hauke Holst
Actually, they were pretty similar. Shad felt that the dwarf needed a longer weapon to give him better reach. Although, he was thinking the larger shield. But the problem revealed with that in this video was that such a large shield would be hard to see around. I think he even had the same sorts of ideas concerning armor.
I am curious why you use a new friend every time you test armor and weapons...
You know why :)
@DeadlyNeedle ! Yeah that's the joke
@DeadlyNeedle ! You didn't need to explain it
@DeadlyNeedle ! and kill the joke in the process of doing so, wp
@DeadlyNeedle ! You must be fun at parties
In almost every fantasy world, Dwarves are much stronger than men. Sort of a balance to their shortness.
Well, a shorter body tend to have a denser body, so yes they are stronger
@Kevin Warburton In the warhammer universe they are short, bearded gorillas with ham sized fists and arms longer than their legs. They could basically strangle you with one hand.
Not a balance. Physics and environment.
Taller dwarves would have a huge disadvantage travelling, fighting and navigating in tunnels.
Lower center of gravity means that you are more difficult to knock over but your enemy is more easy to topple. Thats why rugby players get so low
@@Technoanima Not if they made bigger tunnels.
Now, do a tutorial on slaying a globin.
I really need that
Go ask goblin slayer for that
Shortsword and small shield, their blood is too sticky so you will hace to use their weapons and always remember: They are not smart but they aren't completly fools
If it's youst one goblin with no spechil training at all faising you in a one on one without a surprise attack you should not have mutch problems winning even if you youst have a long stick or st like it I mean they are mutch weaker than an adult human
Karen's crotch goblin?
Just KICK them.
Pick on someone your own size Skallagrim :P
Tell that to a dwarf!
Don't worry give the Dwarf a box to stand on and they're on Equal standing.
+Heranara Yeah. Gimli actually should've accepted Legolas' offer on that box
BAZOOPER
Dont worry, that dwarf will cut him down to size
oh, i thought your friend was an actual dwarf for a sec
omg ye! me too!
He is
I thought Skallagrim was an actual dwarf
Nope Skallagrim is a viking
I'm around 95% sure that most dwarven armaments woudl be around hammers, warpicks and tower shields. The simple reason for this is that I assume that they fought each other before they start fighting anyone else and that they live inside mountains. (And they are usually portrayed as isolationists, so fighting each other more seems likely).
This means that a lot of warfare is fought in tunnels, caves and the such and their natural tool from which weapons can be developed are hammers and pickaxes. Tunnels can be easily blocked off by a good shield wall and short-handled weapons are better in close quarters than long ones. Even so I assume polearms would come in handy in many situations too and especially against larger opponents. And then of course siege weapons since not only can they effective defend a tunnel by themselves. (You don't need to aim your scorpion), but may shoot the cave walls to create localized cave-ins too.
in fiction dwarves mostly fight goblins and not dwarves (if one mine is a city then its unlikely they will meat another dwarven army. so what they use depends on the goblins/orcs which in the tolkien books whear chain mail and use shields (but only the knights of dol amroth are given anyform of plate in the books so thats a mute point) so their main weapon would be swords if they are unarmoured or only partially armoured, spears work too, if they look like the orcs/goblins in Moria from the lord of the rings movie then war hammers and pickaxes as they had plate.
Dwarfes never fight themself. They have enough enemies they must focus. They already have the disadvantage over other races that they can get pretty old, but also have a low born rate. In other words, every dead dwarf is a huge tragedy for their clan.
Even if they were fighting each other, imagine how annoying would be a guy with 2meters spear when your reach is about half a meter.
The problem with long weapons as a dwarf is that since you're fighting in and moving around tunnels, being able to turn around if you get outflanked (side tunnels connecting to the tunnel you're in, for example) is very difficult. Low ceilings, narrow passages etc might mean that it's impossible to turn your spear/long axe etc to be pointy end towards enemy.
Hammers, warpicks and crossbows. Glad somebody else gets it. Polearms and swords are for humans in their grassy fields.
I just realized that dwarves have a huge advantage in hand to hand combat against humans in that their defense direction is disjoint from their attack direction. They can keep their shields raised up almost all the time and this would in no way block them from attacking your legs.
No wonder orks have a hard time fighting them
To be fair the only time a dwarf uses a tower shield at least in Tolkiens lore is when they are in a phalanx and forming a shield wall which sort of eliminates the problem you presented otherwise they usually use a two handed axe, maul, or one handed weapon/shield combonation
which battle was this, i feel like it was in the Silmarillion,
in the Hobbit the dwarf soldiers in Dain's army are described as using large two handed mattocks. I thought that was quite interesting, I dont remember hearing of mattocks being used as weapons before.
@Tessa Kristiansen
I guess nothing gets more dwarven than attacking someone with a broad-headed pickaxe.
same in some other sources.
and in some dwarves never get mentioned with tower shields.
i usually picture a two handed axe/hammer or a axe or hammer and a smaller round shield. almost viking like in set up.
The idea of a dwarven phalanx should be extremely terrifying as a fighting force. Dwarves, from what I've read up on different lores, are about 120 kilograms on average. Imagine a long wall of thick iron shields with a way lower center of gravity than a normal shield wall. That thing ain't moving! :o
Dayum Skall! You look like a Lord in that outfit! Suits you really well :3
He so Handsome
Chuckle.
It’s so funny the grass covers William’s legs well enough that if you don’t focus on it, he actually looks like a dwarf with exceptionally short legs and a long everything else.
Dwarves fighting in formation with m,ini-scutum, Roman style. With slashing spears (so like mini glaives).
Seems like, combined with their stereotypical discipline, they'd be very tough opponents in mass combat.
It's hard to use a slashing spear effectively with a shield. However, dwarves are often depicted as being unusually heavily armored (it's easy to get the metal when your entire civilization is based around mining, and they have less area to cover relative to their strength) so I would forego the shield and just use polearms as the preferred melee weapons, although my choices for those would be something more akin to a halberd, bill, bec-de-corbin, or pollaxe.
@@alexanderflack566 Agreed. Tho I think he means the style which the front row has the shields and the second row has the spears/ glaives in both hands reaching thru.
@@Hashbeast Yeah, but the dwarves in the front row would limit the back row's ability to wield their weapons effectively. It's difficult to fight around someone else, and not especially necessary with every dwarf in plate armor (plus, they already have a reach disadvantage; an enemy could stab someone in the front row while remaining out of reach of those in the second row).
@@alexanderflack566 Nah, it works fine (source, wielding 9 foot spears behind a shield wall at many SCA events.)
Perhaps instead of a glaive, a bill hook might be more effective. Its the same forward backwards movement of a spear with some slashing capacity from the hook
You gotta admire Skall's dedication,He found us a real fantasy Dwarf,those are quite rare nowadays
perhaps at that height the balls are a pretty good target. so maybe a warhammer so you can call it the nutcracker
papadragon 69 quarterstaf?
" HE HEADBUTTED ME IN THE GROIN "
Edvinas Tamošaitis hahahahahahaha
reinforced codpieces and leg covering shields would quickly stop that tactic
papadragon 69 Or an estoc to the groin
7:55 - "Spears are a pain in your butt, or anything really."
I say that what you really want to avoid is having to deal with spears being a pain in your crotch.
A very important issue that most people tend to forget
Dwarves don’t fight as individuals in most fantasy settings. They fight as a unit. In that case a combo of a tower shield+short axe is extremely viable, as you have to face a basically impenetrable wall of shields that forces you to defend your legs(which are a bitch to guard in a formation) and can simply decimate front lines by crippling their legs without giving an opening to attack.
In case of a duel yeah, a dwarf is screwed if he cannot close the gap. But in a formation this issue is basically non-existent, as there is simply less to hit, and a medium sized shield already coveres most of a body, with a tower shield like that in a shield wall you don’t actually HAVE to see you enemy. You need to close the distance and chop off a foot for example or bust a knee. Kind of like the Roman legion tactics, but with axes instead of short swords)
Tru that. But wouldn't spears be better for that anyways? They could create monstrously powerful phalanxes
Thomas Mendoza it may primarily depend on what they may be trying to achieve. Of it is holding a specific objective, be it a choke point or holding out for as long as possible, then yeah-spears are an extremely powerful tool for doing just that. However, if your task is to attack, or better yet-outright destroy the enemy, then it is better to have the aforementioned axes to cripple the enemies. Spears are still very viable for anything rather than the very first line-while it chops the enemy’s legs off, their buddies in the second or third rank poke them with spears to create a huge nuisance at worst and a nightmare at best
Shame I didn’t think of it earlier)
Also, they very well interchange these weapons depending on where they are-it’s not like they can’t sling an axe on a hip or behind the back)
@@crimsonfists6224 True! They could even use halberds! Now that would be a terrifying sight for charging calvary. I wish more fantasy thought of this stuff, cuz it actually is a lot cooler than the normal tropes
Thomas Mendoza well, it would be pretty much an unstoppable force if you think about it)
Elves use primarily bows and very light armour and melee weapons, orks prefer somewhat lower-quality(to say the least) gear and have sub-par training, and humans are...well, humans.
The only thing I can think of that can mess this thing’s day in a fantasy setting are trolls, dragons and heavy artillery. In melee though...
You are figuratively screwed)
Especially if the dwarves have halberds)
Although I think they would go the Lucerne hammer way-they are dwarves after all, and these hammers are no less deadly than halberds, in the hands of the dwarves with their superior strength though...I would NOT want to be on the receiving end of this thing)
@@thomasmendoza7728 That's a terrifying image for every orc! I think dwarves don't do that because they are used to fighting underground, where spears can sometimes be quite unhandy. Also, a spear from a dwarf's perspective is much bigger than it is from a human's perspective, therefore not as useful. Out in the open, however, a phalanx of dwarves with spears (maybe smaller ones) would be almost unbeatable.
"Can't move very fast" "Can't cover distance very fast"
DWARVES ARE NATURAL SPRINTARS, VEERY DEADLY OVA SHORT DISTANCES!
Aiden Koontz to the top with you good sir
Also: they don't cover distances fast... but they cover them steadily and more enduring than humans
Aiden Koontz These fuckers were a pain in Dark Souls II
And humans are already pretty enduring when steadily covering long distances, so that's saying something.
And humans IRL are the big stamina hunters. Dwarves must be nature's worst nightmare
5:10 a dwarf with its mobillity (not a stationary human on its knees) could push the sword up (and to the left) take one or two steps forward and come in with its short axe where as at this point you would have no use for the length of your sword, this could only be defended against by potentially jumping over the dwarf which would be immensly dangerous or switching to a dagger which would still leave you at a disadvantage to the axe, the dwarf could almost instantly be at its running speed because of the momentum so stepping back would put you at an even greater disadvantage.
DarkValorWolf and the human simply wouldn't let him or would move to the side etc.
wouldn't let him? wouldn't let him do what? (if you mean push away the sword, that's not even possible, dwarves are way too strong to let the human resist him, there is also no way to move the sword as any movement that would allow you to maybe hit the dwarf would expose you) If the guy was even able to react fast enough to an immediate reaction and moved to the side the dwarf could, in this case, step to the left as well to counter and stay in close range, and maybe even throw himself at the guy with his shield aimed more to the upper left to assure his opponent can't use his sword, using his weight and low point of gravity agaist the guys torso while while simultaniously swinging with his axe. Once the dwarf gets his shield under the sword and gets up close there are so many things he could do and can counter pretty much anything the human may try. These were just a few of the examples I can give.
Having the first person perspective with the shield is really interesting.
A great example I found is in LOTR Five armies using smaller shields.
Troommate I absolutely loved the shield wall in that, perfect.
to then get the elves jumping over it and not get crushed between the dward and goblin armies like it should have happened because Peter Jackson faps at elves.
Kevin Lobos could have been more like Helm's Deep, where all of those elves were killed by the Uruk Hai.
I'm actually in the process of writing a fantasy novel and this video has given me a thousand ideas for writing better combat scenes. Thank you so much!
Did you ever finish it?
14:40 "The dwarfs have their mass distributed pretty low" ...Snake was shocked
Huh.... what was that noise?!... argh just a dwarf having a fight
Yes snake was caught and fighting with a dwarf using cqc
beatdeath 99 It ended poorly...
What snake?
Snake?!?! SNAKE?!?! SNAAAAAKE!!
I think a Phalanx of dwarfs with tower shields would be awesome
Indeed. With Roman armor as well. The ability to deal with cuts from above will be really useful. The reinforced helmets and shoulders while keeping the lower body relatively free for movement seem suitable for a race that is strong and hardy and usually fighting people taller than themselves.
It would be great for fighting in enclosed spaces like underground tunnels, but on the surface the dwarves relative immobility and small stature would only exacerbate the natural disadvantages of the phalanx.
Well a phalanx is a tactic just like any other you wouldn't use it in an open field.
Indeed. The dwarves would not fight that often in an open field though. In almost all lore dwarves are generally focused on the defence of their holds, mines and fortresses. In an open field I think they would probably fight in a maniple, with a lot of missile support for taking out cavalry and other fast targets.
Now I want to make a Dwarven artificer than invents a ballista bolt that is a MIRV and sprays magic missiles and fireballs everywhere.
Your "dwarf" looks like Zoltan from Witcher series IRL
YES Imao
"Making it easier to exploit any opening, of which there are many" one of my favorite quotes
😏
i am fairly certain that a tower shield should never stand taller then the eyes of the user, thus a DWARVEN tower shield would not have much of a problem
16:45 for *Aggressively Advances in a Dwarven Manner.*
Thank me later.
You are thanked.
Lol
"Imagine *this* coming at you"
Thank you.
Someone make a GIF out of this.
This video explains so much of what i've seen in Dwarf Fortress, single dwarf shieldwalls, master wrestlers taking down fow after foe...
Theodus Krantz Dwarf Babies are killing machines
1. Topple a guy
2. Rip off his throat with your fucking teeth
3. Repeat untill no foes in sight.
As a long,long time dwarf player. I always wondered how a dwarf would do in real combat. You guys are freaking awesome 👍🤘
This is one of my new favorite videos of yours, Skall. Definitely passing this around my RPG group.
Believe it or not, I've actually not seen that video before.
Did you just assume his inspiration!?
It's a common thing to think if you study medieval fighting and you like medieval fantasy. Both youtubers are into that. Also, the way they made the videos was pretty different
Zoltan? Is that you?
I was thinking the same fuckin thing haha
DEATHMAN1651 my favorite dwarf
*polar tiger roar*
Yeah its me, hi
Your backyard looks like a setting from a fantasy movie. 👍
I feel like Dwarves would have much better armor than humans as well. Say a full suit of armor for a human weighs 60 pounds; a Dwarf would be at least as strong as a human so could also wear 60 pounds of armor just as comfortably, but because they're so much smaller, that 60 pounds of armor would be much thicker, but the dwarf would be just as mobile. And that doesn't even address that in most fantasy settings including Dwarves, they are the best forgers and metal workers of the realm, so their armor would be of a higher quality anyway.
I guess my point being I see a dwarf in full plate with a two-handed pole weapon being pretty damn intimidating. I think large almost artillery-type pieces like a Roman scorpion or ballista would be the best way to handle a bunch of Dwarves. Even more so considering Dwarves would likely be a slower moving target than Humans given their shorter legs.
And nobody grapples a Dwarf!
Dwarves would have their scorpions & ballista for counter-battery.
Skall, that's the type of content I come to this channel for! Keep up the good work and soon the stats analytics gods shall look at you more favourably ;)
14:40 when the guards notice you doing a dwarf fighting tutorial
You're a genius
Looking pretty dope in that Skall :D
He looks like the villain from something.
Darlos9D like the villain from mid 2000s fantasy, or a hero from mid 2010s fantasy.
Ursine armor from witcher 3
Skall saying, “screw you puny human!” as a dwarf is hilarious.
Whatever Skall's wearing looks dope af
Gambeson "padded armor" with mitten style gauntlets.
I want that gambeson.
where did he get it ?
me too. Take my money
Deafidue ikr
armstreet, asian gambeson :)
Try kultofathena
Am I the only one who thinks a Shad - Skall collab would be awesome? Too bad they live at the other end of the globe to eachother.
Well, they can still do video conferences.
wouldnt need to even format it like that, could literally be 2 separate videos that cut between each other with voice overlays to give the illusion of live conversation
Great thing for a dwarf: a good helmet. Their head would be a lot easier to hit than someone who’s average height.
Good thing they have strong necks to carry a heavy helmets.
They grapple you and headbutt you, and that's good night for you
A dwarven army with mithril pommels.
End *THEM* RIGHTLY FELLOW DWARVES!
weapon of mass destruction
"There's like half a knee I can go for."
ODDJOB IS OP.
We need a recruitment campaign to get more dwarves into HEMA
14:48 additionally, dwarves are often depicted as living in caves and mines, so they'd have plenty of access to metal
I think most interpretations just flat out depict dwarves being master smiths as well so a Dwarf being head to toe in high quality plate armor is right on brand (best example of this is Iron Breakers from Warhammer Fantasy).
That gambeson, i must have that gambeson. Where can i get that exact one. It looks amazing
Same thing here, I just spend one hour trying to find it online ...
@@nore11996 Looks like the Asian Gambeson from Armstreet
armstreet.com/store/armor/armor-padding-asian-type-long-gambeson
They should make Games and Movies based on this, i would love to see "realistic" dwarven fights in fantasy, or any fight actually. In Games Dwarves are usually as fast as anyone else, but this shows how strong in defense they are.
Also, does that mean that smaller humans are more effective in plate armor because of the fact that their center of gravity is lower?
Eh... bear in mind that these are all things the dwarf could _try_ to do. That doesn't mean he'll succeed or that the human will necessarily be hit if he does. Dwarves only have one defensive advantage: shields provide greater coverage.
Also a lot of this stuff falls apart once you have groups. A group of humans with spears/spears and shields would annihilate a group of dwarves with spears and shields. Trying to bind and close against a polearm is much harder when the opponent has a buddy on either side. Armour would be something of an equaliser but not entirely. Armoured humans with halberds/pollaxes would still have an advantage over armoured dwarves.
Are smaller people more effective in armour? I don't know but a lot of what Skall was saying depends on the small individual being stronger. Smaller humans tend to be weaker than larger humans so it probably doesn't apply.
Sure. The last bit of my comment was about OP's question of whether smaller human are more effective in armour than larger humans and I don't think that's the case.
Robert R I do because of the increased protection while having a smaller target but on the flip side that decrease their overall speed so... it depends on the situation like it does normal sized people
+mini minotuar People always say so and so "depends on the situation", which is true but kind of missing the point. Even when there are contextual factors, one can still be favoured most of the time and therefore be called generally superior. e.g. Reach isn't _always_ favourable but it is often enough that you can call a spear better than a dagger. Similarly, larger humans almost always have an advantage when fighting smaller humans so we can say being bigger is simply better in combat (for a human).
(P.S. I don't know about dwarf physiology. As I've said repeatedly, I'm *not* talking about dwarves. I'm answering OP's question about different sized humans in armour.)
14:41 - did I hear the MGS stealth broken alert?!
Go Away i did too
I heard that too in another video of his. Probably his phone or something.
Snake in the grass...
yes
that's what I was gonna ask.
I highly respect your attention to both the topic at hand, and proper technique and physical representation
Perhaps a spiked boot would come in handy if the dwarf were to come in grappling range. A few good kicks with a spiked boot could possibly be lethal.
Orange Aeronaut SnapJelly?
Not with full plate armor.
Best solution is to have a human and a dwarf fighting on the same side. First, unscrew your pommel and give it to the dwarf. Then pick up the dwarf and toss him at the enemy. The dwarf then ends him rightly. This works very well in a siege situation. A true weapon of terror!
Thomas M why don't you have 300 dwarves passing a pommel at each other in a single turn?
The problem is that you never toss a dwarf
Thomas M scourge of mankind
Thomas M But don't tell the elf!
Throwing Dwarfs, the deadliest weapon aside from the pommel
The best thing for a dwarf is a flat hat, so that party members can keep drinks on it.
AlwaysReason 'party' members
well played.
I spit out me ale
That's racist!
At the pub maybe. But in a brawl the dwarf will be telling you to hold his ale!
I wouldn't leave my drink anywhere within the reach of a dwarf
I love the idea of a fully armored Dwarf just walking at people and laughing with his Battleaxe a-swinging
*BUT WHAT ABOUT DRAGONS?!*
We are asking the right questions here, I see!
Really big crossbows with poop covered bolts.... leave a pile of loot somewhere... ambush it and fill it with bolts, then wait for it to die of infection. that or small ballistae.
Or you can put out some sheep/any other livestock the dragon is possibly interested as bait and stuff it with sharp metal shards and poison (or shit), as suggested in one of the Witcher novels
Funny, that's how dragons are usually killed in British folklore. That and spiked barrels
what have i done.
7:43 "Thrust the pommel in his face and then try to shank him"
Why would you try to shank someone who's already been obliterated?
Arphemius you mean ended rightly.
Arphemius If your enemy is in less than 3 pieces, he is still a potential threat.
Double tap, bro.
Arphemius for good measure
Pommels have no power if they are not unscrewed and thrown unfortunately.
14:41 NANI?!
Fun fact: Nani is the japanese word for "What" and the italian for "DWARVES" XD
Draentir my thoughts exactly
WHAT!?
DWARVES!?
Mind you, that's not really Italian.
Νάνος (nanos) is a greek word which means dwarf
While νάνοι (nani) is the plural, aka, dwarves.
@@thomaskoutsoukis8976 Nani? Nani!? = what? Dwarves!?
@@thomaskoutsoukis8976 Yes it is Italian: in Italian "Nano" is "Dwarf" and "Nani" is Dwarves.
15:53 How I combat my girlfriends negativity
found this Chanel when looking up weapon handling techniques must say very happy to have subscribed
Take note, Tyrion Lannister.
Tyrion is the 'slur' kind of dwarf, not the fantasy tolkien dwarven race.
@@LetsNeverPlayAgain I thought Dwarf was one of the less disliked terms, compared to midget at least.
@@DIEGhostfish Hence my use of the word 'slur'?
@@LetsNeverPlayAgain you must be fun at parties
@@yarus5889 Most people appreciate non-discriminatory language at a party.
Great video! Skallagrim runs a high quality production here with the armor and weapons.
As many pointed out, the Shadiversity channel has delivered content on this topic before, and this video is a great addition to this awesome geeky conversation!
Shad's video series on fantasy races' optimal medieval weapons is one of my favorites at the moment, and I feel it would be very courteous to pay homage to the concept, even if Skall had not seen the series or doesn't remember seeing it. Shad's channel is much smaller than Skall's, so in solidarity with the RUclips channel crisis, I personally feel it would be in place to give a proper shout out to Shad. Thanks!
*For the KAZAZ ANKOR*
THEY HAVE WRONG US
That's a grudgen.
Warhammer!
hahah I love how you took the advice, good on you - I have a feeling this will do well.
That gambeson (I think that's the right term?) is badass - did you get it from KoA?
It is an absolutely gorgeous gambeson, got me thinking of ordering something looking like this for everyday wear.
Oh thanks for saying what it was, I was wondering what is that thing he's wearing. Looked at some online and they looked not to pretty :l. But that thing is cool
I know I am late for the party but its from Arms Street :)
“Because screw you, puny human!” That had me in fits (of laughter). Also, that axe would be terrifying.
The one thing I’d add is to consider the terrain where dwarves usually fight. Although they would sometimes find themselves in open ground, their most usual battlefields would be narrow, claustrophobic tunnels and caverns, where long-hafted or bladed weapons could prove difficult to maneuver effectively; this is probably one of the reasons why they are usually portrayed carrying one-handed axes, maces, hammers, and shorter swords.
He makes a pretty good dwarf ^^
FRPlayerOne
The beards really sell the whole dwarf thing
FRPlayerOne Bugmans XXXX for the win.
You have to have a beard and be burly and fat. I played rugby and the guy on the other team that I had to go up against was about 5'8 320 lbs with a big dwarf beard. He was certainly hard to move even though I was much stronger than him.
What about dwarves in a formation as opposed to one on one? Basically it seems that dwarves with tower shields and perhaps throwing axes as opposed to regular axes would be an almost roman-style fighting force covering even more of the person than the roman shields would. Combine that with some sort of spear for melee and you can avoid many of the range issues stemming from the short arms.
*Edit* Combine with a second row of polearm wielding dwarves that can strike/jab over the head and shield of the first row and I think they would be extremely effective
Another interesting idea from the plate armor discussion, what about having small shield like metal pieces strapped to the forearms? Basically, imagine the bracers have a metal plate sticking out just an inch on either side at the upper side of the forearm. Small enough that it won't hinder movement but still large enough to stop a blade going around it to stab towards face/weak points.
I think that's definitely an interesting thought experiment. Armies in the middle ages did not fight like the Romans. Can't say I know why exactly but I can think of a few reasons at least: heavy cavalry, smaller population, less professional military/lack of discipline. However the dwarves are too small for horses and are known for their personal discipline. Perhaps if dwarves were real they would have fought like the romans, preferring infantry over cavalry.
Dwarves would make excellent pike phalangites, I think. The shortness doesn't matter when you have a 3 meters long pike and the low point of gravity and strength would serve them well against similar formations.
Yeah in the Witcher books it describes a battle where a division of dwarves were in a shield wall formation, they were trapped but they still didn't break formation and eventually pushed through the enemies cavalry
@@deadshepherd666 Yes, they did. Tower shields, such as kite shields, were employed in similar ways to the Roman shield formations. In fact, there were some special formations designed specifically for the midieval kite shield. Shield walls were actually quite effective against shock cavalry when paired with pole arms. Discipline was still, of course, lacking compared to ancient Rome, but midieval armies were far more organized than you may think they were. That being said, these tactics were far more successful in special, more elite units, such as mercrenary groups, but they certainly were employed. Shield walls were only used less during the advent of proper plate armour, which negated the need for shields so much. That being said, you can still find records of their use from those later times.
That was quite fun Skall.
Have you plans to do this kind of Analysis also with other Fantasy Species? That would be interesting.
greetings from Germany
Benny
Sam Williams considering that skall did pretty the same thing but with practical demo and more complete global analysis I think this kind of videos would be actually more interesting by him
I love that youtube has given us a platform where a couple of nerds can make a video about a narrow and super nerdy subject and reach all of us other nerds with their content. Great breakdown of the subject. Going to use some of this in an upcoming pathfinder campaign I'm designing.
Now get an actual dwarf who is experienced in HEMA and see how he holds up.
I concur.
Lenden Longbeard real life dwarves != fantasy dwarves
CaptBeardie Yes
That would be golden
Elder Scroll dwarves (dwemer) are just a shorter race of elves. Elves are (in the lore, but not really in the actual game) taller than humans, and dwemers would be just as tall as a short human.
14:42 Is that a metal gear alert sound I hear?
It was my phone.
+drofseh I thought that it was like a joke thing when he said the mass is distributed low if you catch what I am sayin.
Kawaii Kid I heard it too came to comments to see if anyone else did
I hope elves, orcs, giants of whatever is next time because this was some good stuff
GargoyleDX how are they going to do giants though?
Get a really tall person...?
TheGamesforreal and a shortie ofc
Alexander Sokolnik They could get someone to stand on a platform or something
A giant isn't a really tall person though, that would be more akin to an elf.
A giant is a human whose overall size is multiplied by 3-15 times(or more) depending on context, and no really tall person can simulate that.
16:49 from the creators of Techno Viking, introducing the newest innovation in the techno norse culture, the Techno Dwarf
Definitely do more like this.
"I'm so hot in this". Yeah you are, Skall. *Cat noise*.
I would like slightly argue your assumptions. I am larper one of my good friends is about 5'2. which makes him a little tall for an average dwarf. He uses a tower shield and a sword. Being that he short and stocky is almost impossible to hit him. I've seen him be attacked by three of the best sword fighters in our game and not land a hit on him at all if he goes full defensive. Mostly because there's no room to hit him. He doesn't have to be that mobile as you think. Small steps for him are extremely more terrifying in than they are for an average person. You have to get a lot closer to get inside his guard. Second lore dwarfs are ridiculously strong. So when they block they can throw your shield and your weapon out of the way, way easier than an average person of average height and weight. which is what happens with my buddy being that he's so short he's ridiculously strong when it comes down to the center of gravity. Which knocking him off the center gravity is almost impossible but him knocking you off yours happens really easily. If you don't know how to guard against him. You can bounce around all day he doesn't have to move stands there with the shield waiting. When we did some realistic SCA fighting. And the same thing pretty much happens with him. He's a very difficult person to fight if you have it dealt with people of his size and stature on a regular basis. And I would agree dwarves and lore would probably be terrifying in full plate mail. The part of the body that would be easily to injure would be minimum.
Red beard Nice ...
Since I'm also 5'2", I like your friend; he sounds bloody impressive ... and tempted to get into LARPing myself by you ...
5'7. Short. All muscle. Faster than expected. Hard to topple. And extremely high endurance.
Too long, didn't read.
Christian Martinez TL;DR Friend is 5,2 short usually uses a tower shield and is extremely hard to fight due to lower center of gravity and most of body being blocked.
And, the fact that historically, the best way to kill people in full plate armor was by grappling,
now put a dwarven in full plate
Good luck humans, (unless you go Dark souls oversized polearms)
For visibility with a shield, how about adding visor style slits? You could stab through the slit, but their head would be pretty far back from the slit, and if they turn the shield it would bind your weapon.
14:46
What was that sound effect for? I don't get it.
My phone got a text message while we were filming.
It was a sound effect saying "Hide in a box! A dwarf is attacking!"
drofseh I have the same sound effect for my phone as well and thought I got a message while watching this 😂
Their mass is distributed quite low. You catch what he is throwin?
You're pretty good
Holy shit guys I gotta say you look so awesome in this video. He looks just like a dwarf and you are badass skall.
What I've learned from this video: don't get close to dwarves!
I like the raw footage of you working through the hypothetical technicalities of fighting a dwarf!