How would the Vikings fare against the Romans?

>>33943818
>Land ship in anticipation for raiding a village
>Run smack dab into Roman infantry unit
>get killed through superior tactics and javelins

>>33943838

Vikings are
>bigger
>stronger
>1000 years more advanced
>have knowledge of Roman tactics since they are later in time

Vikings take the day

>>33943818
OP thumbnail kinda looks like a bunch of red bic lighters with gold moth designs.

most of the time the vikings got BTFO by any sort of organized resistance.

>>33943818
Complete decimation. Vikings are glorified pirates

>>33943818
Doesnt it reall matter only if they are able to get inside the formations? Romans only really fell apart to one-on-one fighters when they were able to strip the first rank of their shields and break up for the formations. Then you have to take into consideration Vikings were only hit and run fighters that used large round shields and axes, that would be fighting against square shielded short sword wielders.

Vikings stomp in beautiful fashion.
>better equipment
>knowledge of roman tactics
>well trained
This meme of Vikings being half naked and big dumb bruisers needs to die

The Romans steamrolled over hundreds, if not thousands, of local tribes many of which were just as nasty as the Vikings.

The Vikings would have gotten their asses handed to them.

>>33943992
>>33944024
Such a media understanding of Vikings.

>>33943853
>have knowledge of Roman tactics since they are later in time

no.

>>33944044
>Such a media understanding of Vikings.

vikings are not an ethnic ppl. viking is a job description that very much overlaps in the venn diagram with our modern idea of pirate/slave trader/trader

>>33943853
Vikings are
>bigger

no the are not, vikings usually were nothing more than pagan peasants - underfed, underequipped village raiders
in fact they were rather small and malnourished, short summers and shitty farming weather had alot do do with this

>stronger

no they were not

>1000 years more advanced

hardly, viking age ~700-100 was rather primitive times for north europe

>have knowledge of Roman tactics since they are later in time

amazing that they had aces to viking wiki

>>33944058
>Viking siege of Paris (845)
>Vikings used the testudo to approach the city
>France gives up and allows them to settle France and created the Normans

>>33943818
very badly
vikings never did well against an organized army they were like
>huh you got soldiers?
>we are merchants! we got warez and shit see?!
>you only woman and children and a few priests?
>we are piraeeets harr!

>>33944081
A number of contemporary sources describe Norsemen as being large and strong. This is a natural consequence of having more varied diets and higher protein intakes than people from societies that could rely almost entirely on bread.

>>33944160
can you give me one?

because i think you are describing some borderline norse examples that are not what op shitposts about - a viking raiders

>>33943858
I see it

>>33944183
>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_ibn_Fadlan
>"I have never seen more perfect physical specimens, tall as date palms, blond and ruddy"

Did the Vikings ever win against actual armies? I'm pretty sure they were massive bitches

File: Varangian guard.jpg (286KB, 788x675px) Image search: [Google]

286KB, 788x675px

>>33944340
Vikings were good enough warriors that Byzantine emperors employed them as royal guards / shock troops.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cimbrian_War

This was well before Rome standardized her legions too. Couple this with the fact that Romans crucified pirated as a weekend hobby.

>>33944317
so borderline example, its describe Varangians, mostly merchants who were settled in area for good 300 years, they are hardly an example what your typical viking would look like

File: weaponizedautism.webm (2MB, 500x281px) Image search: [Google]

2MB, 500x281px

>>33943818
Individual warriors are no match against the might of weaponized autism that is Rome.

>>33943853
Didn't help the Kimbri.

>>33943853
>1000 years more advanced

Yeah, into the dark ages.

>>33944683
Dark Ages is a meme

File: pilum5.webm (1MB, 720x720px) Image search: [Google]

1MB, 720x720px

>>33944683
Shield wall! Heh! We're invincible like if we hide behind our shei-

Which would have the best chance of beating the Mongol Empire?

File: 1298920291645.jpg (1MB, 2846x2185px) Image search: [Google]

1MB, 2846x2185px

Where is the Viking equivalent of this?

>>33944750
Parthia is Mongolia lite and the Romans got wrecked by them (battle of Carrhae). So no, they would not do well against the Mongols.

>>33944798
They also had victories against the Parthians, so it would be possible for them to last. I would still bet on the Mongols though.

>>33944798
>Mongols are Hun lite and Rome BTFO of them

>>33945276

Mongols are far more harcore than the Huns, they were better organized, better equipped, and if they really needed to, can employ a hundred thousands Chineses/Armenian/Russian auxiliaries.

>>33944715

that's an atlatl

a literal prehistorical weapon, also used by the Aztec

>>33944798

>Romans lose a fleet to a storm in the first punic war
>"Rome clearly would get wrecked by the sea, they could never sail"

>>33943853

>bigger
nope
>stronger
nope
>1000 years more advanced
fall of Rome created the dark ages m8
>have knowledge of Roman tactics since they are later in time
read above, it was called the "dark ages" for a goddamn reason
>this nigger needs some serious history lessons

Vikings were on average, no bigger than the Romans were. They did have a bit of a size/strength advantage over many Europeans, but that was mostly due to the fact that the northerners were much cleaner, drank antibiotics (read: mead) and generally lived healthier lives compared to the average peasant. Their tactics were nothing compared to Rome's mastery of war, and their equipment was nothing compared to what the legion had. Roman shields were bigger, their armor thicker and much more advanced in design, etc.

>>33945517

>atlatl

no it isn't.

>>33944035
>used large round shields and axes, that would be fighting against square shielded short sword wielder
What does that mean? Just indicative of formation vs loose fighting?

File: IMG_4328.jpg (33KB, 393x440px) Image search: [Google]

33KB, 393x440px

>>33943853

>>33944160
Being big also means you're a bigger target. Their size won't stop a pila or arrow

>>33944538
>Romans
>Out-autisming the Vikings
Have you ever MET a Swede?

File: 71.jpg (33KB, 640x480px) Image search: [Google]

33KB, 640x480px

>>33944077
nice digits

>>33945631
vikings are pagan not muslim

>>33944041
literally wrong on all counts.

try again

>>33945642
Epic XD lol!!

File: IMG_4851.png (226KB, 552x333px) Image search: [Google]

226KB, 552x333px

>>33944213
Thanks, anon.

>>33944024
>>33943992
Movie Vikings are ruffian raiders wearing bear skins. Actual Norse armies are well equipped and armored. They'll have thick clothing, chainmail, helmets, shields, a sword, a seax, an axe, and a spear. They also have archers. They're as well equipped as any other fighting force from the same era, and they generally have a better, more varied diet.

Also the viking shield has been tested time and time again in modern day (check youtube) and it does really really well.
>>33944035
Their shield is great, they don't just have axes, they have swords, longer than the gladius, and they also use a hewing spear, which is basically a 14" sword, double edged, on he end of an 8' pole.

>>33944340
They took over like 90% of the isle of Britain, then got backed off to about 50% but kept control of the North, look up the "Danelaw."

They also sacked Paris so hard that Paris gave them a bunch of territory (They have land to the Northman, Normans, hence Normandy) and they never gave it up, rather birthing several great kings and leaders, including WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR, First Norman King of England.

File: IMG_4397.jpg (558KB, 1920x1200px) Image search: [Google]

558KB, 1920x1200px

>>33944035
That's when you send the gladiator units

>>33945517
It's not an atlatl, an atlatl is a dart and a throwing stick. The video shows, and is labeled as, a pilum, which is a Roman javelin. The entire idea behind it is that when it strikes a target it collapses or breaks like that so that it can't be thrown back.

File: ^DE03107759EBBD9F7324ED5E816AAF019EAF4229C818B8DB8F^pimgpsh_fullsize_distr.jpg (105KB, 1200x675px) Image search: [Google]

105KB, 1200x675px

Are you referring to raiders that would go around raiding in Europe? well, it would depend. Typically since local kings wouldn't be able to amass armies quickly enough to counteract the vikings, they were pretty much free to rape and pillage and just take their ships back home up north at the first wind of an approaching army. Being that the roman empire tended to be very organized military wise, they likely would not have been able to fully rape and pillage as they did to the European kingdoms for a few odd centuries.

File: 1400190140213.jpg (10KB, 192x187px) Image search: [Google]

10KB, 192x187px

>>33945908
>Gladiator Units
What is this. It's a mod right? It's a mod?

File: Caballería_legionaria.jpg (242KB, 1280x853px) Image search: [Google]

242KB, 1280x853px

usually vikings dont use horses.
/thread

File: 1463690894575.jpg (153KB, 720x1280px) Image search: [Google]

153KB, 720x1280px

ITT

>Describing a round shield as a "viking" shield despite the fact this type of shield was in use by virtually every celtic, german or slavic culture since well before the viking era

>Treating testudo as some kind of exclusively roman SO ADVANCED NEVA BIN DUN BEFOAR when dozens of cultures use similar slow projectile defensive formations, albeit not no as wide a scale as the romans

>treating single victories or defeats as representative of hundreds of years of history

>treating "romans" as a single homogenous unchanging culture when it existed for >1000 years

>mistaking """""elite""""" guards as space marines instead of politically reliable warriors who were well-equipped (due to status)

>treating normans like they're vikings when their bloodline, equipment and era is so diluted, different and distant from the quintessential viking era that there really is no comparison

desu senpai

>>33946031
It's not a mod they're a unit you can recruit

>>33946096
>shields on horseback

for what purpose

>>33943818
Well as Rome fell to the Goths who were from Gotland in Sweden so i guess we all know how that goes

File: 0625d7a79701f3a3505d5b870da48d76.jpg (457KB, 2592x1508px) Image search: [Google]

457KB, 2592x1508px

Pretty much the same way Roman faired against the Gaulls

File: 41b87294-a25c-479a-d484-d433f8936ca5[1].jpg (28KB, 335x500px) Image search: [Google]

28KB, 335x500px

Not as well as the Zulu would

>>33943818
Vikings would most likely charge them and get fucked

t. Vikingfag

But in the end, the vikings would die happy

>>33943853

The Romans existed the same time as the Vikings did you know, the OP is just asking what would happen if they ever fought each other (which they didn't.)

>>33946440
to protect hrose

File: 800px-Viking_Expansion.svg[1].png (193KB, 800x524px) Image search: [Google]

193KB, 800x524px

>>33944430
>its describe Varangians
It's describing "Rus", which is what Norsemen were called in or around Byzantium. Varangian translates to something like "oathbound" and specifically relates to the ones who served in the Byzantine emperors' royal guard.

>mostly merchants
Merchants were vikings.

>who were settled in area for good 300 years
The description is from 922. The first mention of Norsemen establishing a presence in eastern Europe is from 859.

If you want another example, there's what the Franks wrote in the Annals of Fulda about a viking raiding party they defeated in 884:
>"In that battle such men are said to have been killed among the Northmen as had never been seen before among the Frankish people, namely in their beauty and the size of their bodies"

>>33946711
If you want to lump the ERE into OP talking about ancient Romans, they most certainly fought each other. Hence the creation of the Varangian Guard.

>>33944041
Vikings treated nudity in battle like medieval knights treated chivalry. It would be cowardly to wear any more armor than a shield and pants, to them.

>>33944715
>Romans throw pila that break through shield wall
>Vikings throw angons that break through testudo
>They both die

>>33944077
The term viking refers to norsemen who raided along the coasts of France, Ireland, England, sometimes Spain and even North Africa. There were some raids along the Dneper and Dnester rivers, but that is another story.
The term viking originates form a name of a norwegian district called Viken.

>>33943818
Vikings consistently got wrecked almost everytime they stopped raiding and started trying to fight big battles.

>>33946813
>The term viking refers to Norsemen who raided or traded along the coasts and rivers of most of Europe and sometimes even as far as North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia.
ftfy

>The term viking originates form a name of a norwegian district called Viken.
That's one theory. Another theory is that it comes from the word vika, meaning the distance that one set of rowers would row before changing shifts. A viking would then originally have meant someone who goes on a sea voyage that is long enough that rowers would have to work in shifts.

Never enough Vikings at their height.

legions would overwhelm and salt the earth. or become their friends.

>>33943818
Depends on the fighting field. If its in a forrest or anywhere where the romans cant do their formations, the vikings will win. (remember Teutoburger Forrest)

If its on an open field, the vikings will get fucked.

>>33946792
American education everyone

>>33944160

Yes, AFTER they established themselves in Europe. Not before 900 AD.

So if youre comparing early Norsemen, then no. If youre comparing late Varangians, sure.

>>33944715

Ok to everyone who doesnt know this.

The pilum was designed to bend upon impact for 2 purposes:

>1. The enemy cant throw it back
>2. It bends into the enemy's shield and renders the shield useless.

File: fat people.jpg (98KB, 1920x1080px) Image search: [Google]

98KB, 1920x1080px

>its a "fat American or Slav thinks of himself as a Viking" episode

What do poor fat bodies mean by this?

>>33945451
>>33945276
Weren't the Huns the ones who sacked Rome? Anyway, Mongols are like turbo-Huns not Hun-lite.

File: 1492815769137.jpg (138KB, 1005x1440px) Image search: [Google]

138KB, 1005x1440px

>>33945276
>mongols are hun lite.
wat?
Mongols were literally in a different league than everyone else at that time.
They were fighting the Chinese and learned how to btfo much richer civilizations really fast.

>>33947481
Plus they had trebuchets

>>33947141
>Projecting

File: formationNS.webm (2MB, 720x405px) Image search: [Google]

2MB, 720x405px

Depending on what time period, the Roman Legionaries are professional soldiers. They train every day to fight, that's all they do. Vikings on the other hand are farmers with part time raiding as their profession.

>>33947124
>Not before 900 AD
See >>33946734
The Franks describe vikings as being extraordinarily large in 884. Vikings were always larger than the peoples of the more densely populated areas of Europe, because their diets included more protein from fish and livestock than what was common at the time.

>>33943818
badly. the vikings would get their asses kicked

>>33947523
>Vikings on the other hand are farmers with part time raiding as their profession.
nope, Vikings were strictly raiding, viking was their word for raider/sea rover/pirate. That was their jobs, they whole civilization became known as vikings simply because the world only had contact with the raiders.

Vikings were professional and they werent just pillagers. The ruled alot of europe had a decent sized empire.

>>33944750
USAF

>>33947523
Just read a fucking book. Earls and Kings definitely had standing armies and professional armies. And the king paid to equip them.

>>33945908

Lol

>>33949449
Implying the Vikings can field 50,000 men in a matter of days.

>>33944362
Came here to say this. There's viking rune graffiti in some of the oldest Mosques (Churches back in the day) of Istanbul/Constantinople. They were up in the equivalent of sky boxes. Shit like "Ingvar wuz here" and shit like that.

While evidence exists proving they were the body guards of important Byzantines (contracts, mention of them in texts, other shit) this is kinda a hilarious bit of evidence to me .

>>33943818
How about this
>Romans begin conquest of the Britain.
>Have a shit of a time putting down the Picts
>Get mid way up the island, get BTFO by Scots
>Build a wall
>Still leave like 50 years after, can't hack it.

Vikings come
>Rape and pillage so hard all up and down the island.
>Get bored of raping Britain
>RAPE ALL OF EUROPE.
>Trade far into India
>Become the ruling elite of Russia
>Poke around and see what's up in African and NORTH FUCKIN' AMERICA.

Sure, Romans were better organized. They had administration on their side. But fighter to fighter, hell even equally matched units- Vikings would tear Romans up.

>>33944764
WHERE ARE THEIR STIRRUPS?
>Oh wait, dumb fucks didn't invent them yet.
Guess who had this miraculous technology that allows you immensely more stability for throwing spears, shooting bows and swinging a sword?
>Vikings
Stirrups are one of the hugest leaps in military technology of all time and the Romans didn't deign to use them. Even though the Huns WOOPED THEIR ASSES BECAUSE THEY HAD 'EM

Roman logistics alone made the Imperial Roman Army better than pretty much any European army until the Renaissance. They'd probably have very little trouble dealing with the Vikings, who were similar to the Northern tribes Rome fought with and managed for a millennia.

>>33950279
I know of what you speak and I've actually been there and seen it. It's on a balustrade in the Hagia Sofia and from the 9th century. You can only make out half the text, but they think it originally said "Halvdan wrote these runes".

>>33947498
And rockets

File: Zulus.jpg (598KB, 1024x639px) Image search: [Google]

598KB, 1024x639px

>>33946663
Zulus didn't exist or have any of their military doctrine or bearing until the 19th century in response to Europeans moving in on the area. Shaka Zulu was a rudimentary tactician at best.
>"ok guys. So I want 1/3 of you to go to the right, a 1/3 of you to go to the left, and the rest of you just run at 'em"
>Battle #2 "same thing guys"
>Battle #3 "same thing"
>Battle #4 "you know what to do"
>Battle #5 "So I'm gonna change it up.... JUST KIDDING GOIZ!! : DD"
>Battle #6-last battle the SAME DAMN THING.

They could run really far, and fight after doing that- so they're amazing in that regard. But that's more just how you are if you live in that terrain all your life without cars or horses or anything.

File: 1490283008429.jpg (344KB, 1400x933px) Image search: [Google]

344KB, 1400x933px

>>33950320
Except the Romans did end up BTFO the Scotts and everyone in Britain but decided to leave the highlands cuz there's literally nothing of value there.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mons_Graupius

>>33950420
I'm always amazed that people are amazed at the bull horns tactic. Like seriously isn't that what almost ever battle goal kinda of is? outflank and surround enemy or break through center and divide em up into manageable chunks to be surrounded?

>>33950674
>cuz there's literally nothing of value there.
its as if you think thick wool isnt perfect for every enviroment.

>>33950674
Cont.
>Romans leave the isle
>literacy drops
>stone architecture? What's that
>pottery somehow turns to Paleolithic tier shit

>>33950710
> 1000 denari to keep the Highlanders in check
> Lazy ass Scotts make 300 denari worth of tax and goods
Hence, fuck this place, lets build a wall to keep these low life out of Southern Britain which we will end up controlling for 400 years.

File: fuck.jpg (19KB, 253x271px) Image search: [Google]

19KB, 253x271px

>>33950674
> ywn experience the thrill of hand to hand combat with your brothers in arms anymore
why even enlist

>>33944362
They weren't good enough to stop the crusaders and the ottomans

much like the pretorians they would betray their emperor for a few pieces of gold

Vikings are literally a meme Byzantines even more

>>33952975
By the time the Byzantine empire died, the viking age was long since over and there hadn't been a Varangian guard for generations. In fact, the Varangian guard was only Norse for the first century or so of its existence, then it started filling up with Anglo-Saxons and others. One could reasonably argue that the Varangian guard were vikings up until 1071 when they were wiped out nearly to a man while making a stand around the emperor in the disastrous battle of Manzikert. After that, Norsemen made up a minority of the guard.

>>33947498
correction, the CHINESE had trebuchets. The mongols stole them. And the rockets.

I don't think any of you spastics have an idea about what vikings even were let alone their strengths and weaknesses

I'm a danefag who has done numerous studies about viking lineage, lifestyle and warfare at least for danish vikings (and to a smaller extent the southern swedish)...

Numerous museum visits around denmark & Sweden, numerous trips and consultations with an acquainted friend working in the national museum seeing first hand shit they don't even display to the public..

For the most part vikings we're NOT some savage army to be reckoned with, they were for the MOST PART (some instances differ, research yourself which vikings went where and did what) were simply glorified farmers, huntsmen and handymen who relied on shock tactics during a raid.

Yes in large numbers they were batshit insane against any resistance but a single landing party could easily have been thwarted by well organized militia. England wasn't invaded in 1 day nor did they reach the middle east via the Danube overnight.

A sword was in "viking" terms a symbol of wealth and power - steel in Scandinavia back then was horseshit. From one arabian forged sword they would break it down and produce 4 because of the superior quality of steel. Most vikings fought with axe, knife and spear because they were CHEAP, the axe being a farmhand tool was more versatile than a sword.

I'm not calling you guys dumbasses, but I am going to say that from reading this you guys have a romanticized idea about who and what vikings really were. Do a little research and you'll be pleasantly surprised, socially they were pretty damn advanced - very communal people.

>>33944378
Yes, but the Cimbri lacked several advantages the 8th century Nordic raiders will have.

First is technology, the Vikings have a more advanced iron and steel industry than the Cimbri did, so they've got steel helmets and more, higher quality mail.

Second, the Vikings had better ranged weapons, the archers of the Great Heathen Army used bows in the 100-130 lb draw range, and every warrior usually had javelins or francisca in addition to his sword, spear, and shield.

Third is mobility. The Vikings have faster, more weatherly ships than anyone in the Roman era Mediterranean, and will make use of their ability to land, strike, withdraw, displace faster than a land based army can, and strike again.

>>33945561
The Avg nordic male is like 6.0 tall
The avg Roman(itai's) was 5'5


yes nordics were bigger and stronger

>>33954310
>I'm not calling you guys dumbasses
trust me, you should be.

>>33943853

Movies aren't historically accurate, m8.

>>33954554

That's historical and realistic fact, not movie

>>33954310
Wrong.

>>33944111
magnificent get

>>33950337
I find that hard to believe honestly. in the thousands of years of horseback riding, you'd think someone would figure that being able to virtually stand up while riding the horse would make things 100x better.

>Its a /k/ discuss Vikings episode

It always end up in these people thinking Northern people were super humans with uber steel

its scary how delusional people are sometimes

>>33946803
One was more widely used than the other

>>33954407
Most sources say they were shorter than 6'0

>>33950401
It's great when you compare the graffiti of Pompeii as well and you can see both how strong the desire to tag something is in people, and how utterly unoriginal we are as a species.

>>33956714
I believe studies of Norse graves put the average Norseman of the viking age at around 175 cm. It's a little bit shorter than their modern descendants, but quite a bit taller than their contemporaries in southern Europe.

>>33956683
They did have "uber steel" in small amounts. Crucible steel ingots were produced in a few places in central Asia and brought to northern Europe through the extensive viking trade network.

>>33956771
>graffiti of Pompeii
It's stuff like penises carved into the street guiding you to the nearest brothel that reminds you that the ancients had the maturity of a middle schooler
Anyone have screenshots of that thread from /v/ or something where they were discussing the graffiti on a roman wall and it was all "Marcus was here" and "I made bread"?

>>33947481
>golden horde got rekt by chechens

why are the vainakh so underrated?

>>33944058
>what is De Re Militari
You fucking nonce

>>33956662
Romans did not use stirrups

>>33957713
Shit the romans only even used Equites at all to lure enemy cavalry away.

>>33946792
Just
Fucking
NO

The meme of unarmored vikings needs to fucking stop.