Greatest Warriors

[Ronin]

The greatest warriors in history ( sans firearms).

Who do you think was the best, mano-a-mano.

[drunkenj]

celts and goths are fairly unrelated, they shouldn't be together.

there isn't really any good evidence for spartan warriors, most of the sources on sparta are from the second century ad.( for example plutarch) and suffer from what Ollier described as 'la mirage spartiate' .

[m4949]

I'll go with Spartans.
I they had a dicipline that went beyond the anything in history..
Besides...Thermoplolye.

I might add Zulu's in that list.

[drunkenj]

did you read my post m4949 - there is no reliable evidence for the spartans being fantastically great warriors, it is all external propaganda.

Yes, they were good warriors, but evidence is paramount

[drunkenj]

zulu's man they were fucking sweet, and where are vikings in this poll..... ?

[Ronin]

Dude, I can only put 10 posts !!!
Cut me some slack !!

[Ronin]

Celts and other gothic warriors like the Visgoths, had similar styles of combat.
And Vikings preyed on innocent women and children.
Zulu's ???
African bush man humping elephants, really ?
( before I get flamed, I am only kidding).

[taichinoob]

If you're taking the group as a whole, I'd have to say the Romans, maybe the Mongols. Both did an awful lot of conquering in a relatively short period of time.

As individuals, that's a lot more difficult to answer. I'd have to go with either the samurai or swordsman based on speed and refinement of technique. Not that other techniques weren't refined, but those are commonly held to higher standards.

I know nothing about macedonian warriors, got any good references?

[blankslate]

My first though was Shaka and the Zulus...but still debating.

Spartans, samurai,,,,don't know yet...

[Ronin]

Notice the thread: mano-a-mano, one-on-one.
Individual warrior skills NOT group warfare.

[taichinoob]

Wasn't the Zulu's strength superior numbers and aggression rather than better individual technique? Or have I been watching too many late night movies?

[drunkenj]

macedonians basically had better cavalry and light infantry than the greeks

the goths are culturally distinct from the celts

[Ronin]

Originally posted by drunkenj
macedonians basically had better cavalry and light infantry than the greeks

the goths are culturally distinct from the celts

Their individualistic style of combat was similar enough that they can be included in the same group.

[Te No Kage!]

Tough question, had to vote samurai for one on one even though they may not have been as tested as the other groups, but as far as groups go the mongol horde was definetely a force to be reckoned with. Didn't the Mongols kick everyone's ass back in the day? Romans, Huns, Goths, etc... But I believe that had to do more with their group tactics on horse (man I love the history channel, and I hate being a dork)

[blankslate]

Originally posted by ronin69
Notice the thread: mano-a-mano, one-on-one.
Individual warrior skills NOT group warfare.

OH! Well, I'm still smarter than you anyway.

Samurai it is.

[albert]

Dumb samurai nutriders. While the samurai would be busy bowing, flower arranging, and reciting haiku, the Mongol warrior will have riddled him with 30 arrows (including ones with flaming tips), raped his wife (and children), burned teh samurai's pagoda down, killed the emperor, and ridden away faster then you can say tanto.