Total War SAGA: Thrones of Britannia 1vs1: Berserkers vs Mailed Huskarls

Описание: Total War SAGA: Thrones of Britannia 1vs1: Berserkers vs Mailed Huskarls
Faction: Norse vs Norse
Battle Difficulty: normal

Berserkers - Howling like animals at their enemies across the battlefield, the Berserkers of Viking armies often took on the semblance of wild animals, entering battles in an almost trance-like state. They would work themselves into a frenzy so intense, it is said they bit on the edges of their shields and could even ignore the pain of wounds. Their apparently feral appearance is alluded to in the Old Norse etymology of their name – ‘ber’ meaning bear, and ‘serkr’ roughly translating to shirt, thus literally, ‘a bear-skinned warrior’. Indeed, they had little protection other than the skins they wore, and were utterly convinced of their invulnerability against fire, blade, or any blow that came their way. The roots of this mentality came from the old Norse religions, in which many warriors clung to the belief that Odin, the God of War, gave them both protection and superhuman powers, so that they would have no need of armour. To encounter these enraged warriors on the battlefield was to face crazed men who were defying the standard logistics of battle at the time – it is no wonder that some who did so and lived to tell the tale thought them to be shape-shifters that actually became the animals whose skins they wore. Other, more rational views suggested that they were simply carried along by a wave of group euphoria.

Mailed Huskarls - Much like the Roman ‘comes’, in the Viking world there emerged a culture of heroic champions flanked by chosen companions. The ‘hirdman’ was the highest rank amongst such warriors, and in later times the rank carried with it a seat on the king’s council, enabling them to advise their rulers on non-military aspects of government. In Old Norse and Old English, the term translates to ‘household man’, originally referring to an armed retinue for a warlord but eventually morphing into ‘housecarl’ or ‘huscarl’, specifically referring to a royal guard. Following the ninth-century Danish settlement of England, huscarls also became an integral part of Anglo-Saxon armies, famously defeating their Norwegian counterparts at Stamford Bridge and protecting King Harold's body to the very last man at Hastings. Hirdmen and huscarls were undoubtedly warriors of elite status, reflected in their superior weaponry and armour. Perhaps the most emblematic and imposing of all weapons they used was the two-handed broad axe, also known as the Dane Axe. As was the case for many who took axes into battle, it was often chosen for being a readily-available domestic tool, and it is certainly feasible that larger adaptations existed for chopping the bulkiest bits of wood. The shield-less warriors who wielded two-handed battle axes had a specialised place on the battlefield, entering the fray as part of a later wave to strike when enemy defences were down, causing skull-splitting damage to the opposition’s breached battle lines.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Please join me to get access to membership perks:    / @totalwar1vs1  
My Discord channel:   / discord  
#totalwar1vs1 #totalwar #thronesofbritannia #totalwarbattles