Most terrifying weapon of the pre-modern era?

[New Chalcedon]

This thread's going to be pretty simple: come up with the most terrifying, most daunting, most intimidating (and hopefully, effective, too) weapon used by pre-modern armies or navies against their enemies. Then wax eloquent here about how awesome it is, and convince us all!

For me, my entry is the Hwacha, a Korean anti-infantry weapon. Otherwise known as the "rocket cart", the Hwacha was comprised of a person-drawn wagon base, with 100+ tubes mounted vertically. These would be filled with rocket arrows (gunpowder-propelled arrows), the wagon would be positioned such that the 500-yard trajectory of the arrows would land them into advancing enemy armies, and then the Koreans got to watch the carnage from a safe distance. Here's a modern reconstruction firing:



And here's the YouTube of the Mythbusters testing the idea out, and being really, really impressed with the results.

Essentially, it's an anti-infantry version of the Katyusha, 500 years early.

Anyone else's ideas?

[Falcania]

Frankly, if it was up to me to pick, it'd be the common, ordinary, or garden halberd: the assault rifle of the 13th century.



Cheap and easy to produce in vast numbers, easy to learn, and deadly in the hands of a master halberdier. Good for a massed army, good for a single combatant. The weapon that claimed the head of Charles the Bold and ended a war in one stroke. Equip your army with pikes and you'll be a happy man. When you absolutely, positively have to kill every last motherfucker in the field, accept no substitutes.

Except maybe a pike, I guess.

[Vareiln]

The crossbow. Damned thing made some people think the world would end because of it.

[Czechanada]

The wrath of God on Sodom and Gommorah.

[Ostroeuropa]

Whatever happens we have got,
The maxim gun,
And they have not.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj3-VkbRSKQ

Remember, this was the first major mechanized weapon. Thats got to be terrifying. (Thats an improved version, but you can see the effect. It's also bullshit in the vid since Japan did have firearms, but other nations didn't when the Maxim initially rolled around.)


That poem by the way, was essentially european foreign policy when dealing with non-europeans. (And america's.)


Any time (except in ethiopia.) someone saw this gun in action, their nation was either QUICKLY beaten in the war with a high death toll, or it was World War One.

[The Huskar Social Union]

Frankly, if it was up to me to pick, it'd be the common, ordinary, or garden halberd: the assault rifle of the 13th century.

(Image)

Cheap and easy to produce in vast numbers, easy to learn, and deadly in the hands of a master halberdier. Good for a massed army, good for a single combatant. The weapon that claimed the head of Charles the Bold and ended a war in one stroke. Equip your army with pikes and you'll be a happy man. When you absolutely, positively have to kill every last motherfucker in the field, accept no substitutes.

Except maybe a pike, I guess.

I second this, Halberds are awesome weapons.

[Falcania]

The wrath of God on Sodom and Gommorah.

Not so much a weapon, as an afternoon.

[L Ron Cupboard]

Bagpipes

[Vareiln]

Whatever happens we have got,
The maxim gun,
And they have not.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj3-VkbRSKQ

Remember, this was the first major mechanized weapon. Thats got to be terrifying. (Thats an improved version, but you can see the effect. It's also bullshit in the vid since Japan did have firearms, but other nations didn't when the Maxim initially rolled around.)


That poem by the way, was essentially european foreign policy when dealing with non-europeans. (And america's.)

That was still 1800s. :[
He said pre-modern. If 1800s counts, then I'm going to say the Dreyse Needle Gun.

[Ostroeuropa]

Whatever happens we have got,
The maxim gun,
And they have not.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj3-VkbRSKQ

Remember, this was the first major mechanized weapon. Thats got to be terrifying. (Thats an improved version, but you can see the effect. It's also bullshit in the vid since Japan did have firearms, but other nations didn't when the Maxim initially rolled around.)


That poem by the way, was essentially european foreign policy when dealing with non-europeans. (And america's.)

That was still 1800s. :[
He said pre-modern. If 1800s counts, then I'm going to say the Dreyse Needle Gun.

It's a boderline case sure

[Risottia]

This thread's going to be pretty simple: come up with the most terrifying, most daunting, most intimidating (and hopefully, effective, too) weapon used by pre-modern armies or navies against their enemies.

The syphon: a ship-mounted flamethrower.
And the catapult... loaded with infected corpses. Biological warfare.

[Ostroeuropa]

If you want a non-mechanized weapon i'd go for...hmm...
The Crossbow is certainly the most EFFECTIVE, but i'll go for the Welsh Longbow as most terrifying.
You can't fight the welsh longbowmen, and it's stupid to try. You can't even see them because they are so far away, and it's still raining arrows.

[Vareiln]

That was still 1800s. :[
He said pre-modern. If 1800s counts, then I'm going to say the Dreyse Needle Gun.

It's a boderline case sure

Eh. I guess. The Samurai were defeated around this time period, so it works.

[Esternial]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkZ7V8LYFaM

[Free Terra]

Does this qualify?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Dreadnought_(1906)

[Esternial]

Does this qualify?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Dreadnought_(1906)

If you've checked the wikipedia page and know what the modern era is then you'd know the answer is no.

[Wabacha]

I'd have to say the Mongol Hordes, armed with their composite bows and horses. Their archers were accurate up to 300 yards and the bows pierced armor better than the english longbow.

[Nazis in Space]

Penises.

Remember kids. For the vast majority of human history, rape was a, nay, the weapon to deal with uppity civilians.

And to keep one's own soldiers' morale high, of course.

[Vareiln]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkZ7V8LYFaM

[Ostroeuropa]

Can we count war elephants?
I mean, they are terrifying. Just not effective if you ignore that aspect.
Or there is this beast.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flail_(weapon)

Your shield and armor means nothing, and even if you kill the person wielding it, so long as they have already swung, you are a dead man.

[Grinning Dragon]

The use of germ / biological devices. What a better way to decimate an opponent without really committing a great number of man power.

[Zottistan]

The crossbow. Damned thing made some people think the world would end because of it.

Fuck yeah. Crossbows are epic.

[Tyrants]

The Trebuchet. It could fling ordinary rocks at city walls and enemy formations. It could also fling diseased corpses into besieged towns to spread plague and, as a bonus, it could fling the decapitated heads of loved ones into a town in order to decrease morale.

[Esternial]

The crossbow. Damned thing made some people think the world would end because of it.

Fuck yeah. Crossbows are epic.

Keep saying that while I bash your face in as you reload.

[Lazssia]

I'd have to say the morning star. Nothing helps a man release his bowls more then 'comin at him swinging a 10lb pound metal bowling ball on a chain.

With spikes.