Smack talking is a huge part of this thing, especially when the opponents come from completely different regions, times, and backgrounds; e.g., Europeans vs. Asians or Africans. For example, an interesting thing I've noted is that the African warriors always have a battle cry *before* the fight is closed. At least, the two they've shown--Zende and Zulu--had cries. Sometimes the opponents laugh at that. Others like the Spartans only utter the war cry *after* the battle's won.
One of the oddest battles I've seen to date was Alexander the Great against Atilla the Hun. I'm not so sure that, given how their abilities were presented, the fight was all that convincing. I could easily see some argue it goes the other way. The oddest to date--which I missed--was Jesse James vs. Al Capone. Given the weaponry involved, I'd think Capone would have the advantage, even if he wasn't a fighter. I guess in that case it'd depend on the terrain and how they could use tactics to use it to their advantage. Oh--and speaking of the Zulu's, the battle of William Wallace against Shaka was interesting. They felt that Wallace's six-foot long Claymore sword was too much of a barrier to be overcome. But I'm not sure just how quickly a man can swing a Claymore. Given how fast Shaka was, I'd think he might be able to dodge it and get inside it's swing. My understanding--movies notwithstanding--was that the Claymore was actually used a lot simply to sweep and amputate the legs of the enemy's horses as they charged by. You can watch all the eps you missed online: http://www.spike.com/show/31082?tabId=31138&fxn=getTabMembers ----- Original Message ----- From: "Martin Baxter" <martinbaxt...@gmail.com> To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Sent: Wednesday, May 19, 2010 6:25:57 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] "The Deadliest Warrior"-- SS vs. VC I'm so sorry I nodded off on this one. I'm going to Autotune it the second it comes up in my listings, for exactly the reasons you quoted, Keith, wanting to know how both sides' reps would express their viewpoints. In the "Aztec Jaguar vs Zonde Warrior" ep, the Aztec guy was talking much smack. On Tue, May 18, 2010 at 10:21 PM, Keith Johnson < keithbjohn...@comcast.net > wrote: Wow, "The Deadliest Warrior" is really ranging far afield for the contests they're staging this season. Tonight it's the Nazi SS vs. the Vietcong. This ought to be interesting because the guys that represent each side always express pride in the combatants they're representing. Wonder how the Germans who model the SS fighting methods will handle that potential delicate situation? To that point, the show's narrator specifically called the Viet Cong "evil". I'm sure there are those who'd dispute that label... ************************************** Blood On the Sand: Nazi SS vs. Viet Cong http://www.spike.com/blog/blood-on-sand-nazi/95670 Geoff Desmoulin here to give you "the bad" and "the ugly" on our next controversial match-up involving two classic American enemies and describe the science behind getting shot in the head. Separated by two different wars, the WWII-era Elite Guard from Germany named Waffen-SS are taking on asymmetrical warfare experts from the jungles of Vietnam, the Viet Cong. The Warriors Out of the need for a German commando unit ( Sonderkommando ), an elite group was formed by Josef "Sepp" Dietrich in 1933. The regiment quickly grew to over 800 men and unfortunately, also quickly swore allegiance (obedience unto death) to Adolf Hitler. The group evolved into over 38 divisions of what is known as the Waffen-SS. Waffen meaning "the armed version of" and SS meaning "Schutzstaffel" (Protective Squadron). While some divisions served alongside the regular army, others were used as Hitler's body guards. As is well known, after WWII the Waffen-SS was condemned as a criminal organization due to its involvement in war crimes. The Viet Cong (VC) on the other hand was comprised of a conglomerate of regular army, guerrilla fighters, and organized peasants that fought against US and South Vietnamese forces during the Vietnam War. Many of the men recruited to the VC were given military training in Hanoi and then sent south along the Ho Chi Minh trail to fight the "American Imperialists." The Tet Offensive is their most known assault where the VC attacked over 100 South Vietnamese centers including the US embassy in Saigon. After North and South Vietnam were unified in 1976, the group was dissolved. Machine Pistol (Mauser C96) Trivia: Remember Han Solo's blaster from Star Wars ? If you thought it looks surprisingly similar to the Waffen-SS Mauser C96, that's because it was. On to the pistol specs: the 7.63x25 mm could be fired semi-auto or full-auto at about Mach 1.5 and had sights that were graded for 1000 m, although it was most effective at less than 200 m. If you know anything about firearms you will agree that those are very impressive numbers for a pistol. However, keep in mind that it got a lot of help from the forward-placed magazine and attachable buttstock that essentially turned this pistol into a small rifle - since the magazine became a handle and the buttstock provided amble stability and recoil absorption. On the show you'll see just how effective it is in both semi and full-auto modes. -- "If all the world's a stage and we are merely players, who the bloody hell wrote the script?" -- Charles E Grant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik
