Who would win: a Tyrannosaurus Rex or 50 dismounted late-medieval knights in plate armor?

[Lifthrasir]

^^ I think they are called serfs

[Ngugi]

"Esteemed manservants".

[Kyriakos]

They were called 'peasants' in Medieval: Total War (the original). I am not accepting deviance from what is canon

[Roma_Victrix]

They were called 'peasants' in Medieval: Total War (the original). I am not accepting deviance from what is canon

MEDIEVAL TOTAL WAR HAS SPOKEN! PEASANTS SHALL OBEY! ALL THOSE WHO FAIL TO COMPLY SHALL BE FOOD FOR THE DINOSAUR!

It's very Machiavellian of you, Kyriakos, but your plan could potentially work. The T. rex was a clever predator when it came to ambushing its prey, as Saxdude was keen to stress, but I don't think it would hold a candle to the cleverness of humans scheming and setting up traps for it. Especially those that encourage the T. rex to follow its instincts and attack. A T. rex wouldn't understand what a ballista was or how dangerous it was, because it wouldn't understand advanced human tools and weaponry of that size. It would certainly assess a poleaxe, halberd, and longsword as a threat, but you could really catch the T. rex off guard by firing a ballista bolt at it, especially if he was busy trying to eat a bunch of peasants.

[saxdude]

There is also the question of location. If they are fighting on plains, rexy has the advantage. But if the knights ambush him in dense vegetation, wouldn't they have an advantage?

Actually quite the opposite, in the forest numbers are virtually negated and T. rex has the advantage both in numbers and in ambush capabilities, it has better eyesight, better smell, and camo to boot.

I might allow crossbows, but I'd still like to exclude late medieval hand cannons and matchlock firearms. I think that would pretty much give the knights way too much of an advantage, because gunpowder weaponry would pretty much wreck the T. rex from a distance.

Ya know, I think crossbow's would be more unfair to the T.rex than handcannons and matchlock firearms. I mean don't you need special, high calibre weaponry to take down an elephant, or even a water bison? Hell, wasn't there an indian tiger that took a musketshot to the face and still wound up killing the hunter? Perhaps 50 armed men would be enough to take it down but how does one compare to modern hunting weapons?
I reckon a ballista would do much better than gunpowder weaponry, but at that point why not shift the equation since you guys are just piling up advantages upon advantages against the rex?
How about this, who wins: a herd of 500 or so centrosaurs or pachyrhinosaurus rampaging towards twice as many knights with lances? Keep in mind that Ceratopsian skulls (If triceratops is anything to go by) Were also almost entiretly covered in keratine (the same stuff that makes up the upper layer of a horn.

Also, what in the hell game is that screenshot from?

Dude, you literally, point for point, to a tee, to the smallest descripction, described Warhammer Total War II, don't expect me to believe you didn't know this game existed. Aztec dinosaurmen vs pike and shot humans, it's the best.

[Lord Oda Nobunaga]

I'm just assuming that the knights are all elite landsknechts.

[Diamat]

Unfortunately they were English. They all died.

[Roma_Victrix]

Ya know, I think crossbow's would be more unfair to the T.rex than handcannons and matchlock firearms. I mean don't you need special, high calibre weaponry to take down an elephant, or even a water bison? Hell, wasn't there an indian tiger that took a musketshot to the face and still wound up killing the hunter? Perhaps 50 armed men would be enough to take it down but how does one compare to modern hunting weapons?
I reckon a ballista would do much better than gunpowder weaponry, but at that point why not shift the equation since you guys are just piling up advantages upon advantages against the rex?

Of course a ballista would be more potent and pack a more powerful punch than a bunch of matchlock firearms. However, the cloud of smoke and noise made by them would probably frighten the T. rex and catch it off guard if anything. If you concentrated enough volleys onto him with men rotating to fire then he'd be severely wounded, allowing the knights armed with melee weapons a better chance to hack and poke at his legs.

Hell, gunpowder artillery would be far more dangerous and powerful than a ballista. Even early bombards of the 14th century would be very dangerous for a T. rex, let alone the larger cannons that were made during the 15th century. Imagine the 15th-century Dardanelles Gun being fired at the T. rex. The knights would be enjoying a feast of T. rex barbecued ribs and stew for weeks to come.

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

The problem, however, is that these huge cannons took a very long time to load and reload, so ostensibly only smaller pieces like mortars and tiny bombards could be set up in time to fire at him.

How about this, who wins: a herd of 500 or so centrosaurs or pachyrhinosaurus rampaging towards twice as many knights with lances? Keep in mind that Ceratopsian skulls (If triceratops is anything to go by) Were also almost entiretly covered in keratine (the same stuff that makes up the upper layer of a horn.

The centrosaurs would probably scare the crap out of the horses and cause the knights to fall and break their necks and/or be crushed by their own horses. They'd probably have a better chance fighting on foot to be honest.

Dude, you literally, point for point, to a tee, to the smallest descripction, described Warhammer Total War II, don't expect me to believe you didn't know this game existed. Aztec dinosaurmen vs pike and shot humans, it's the best.

Heh. I played Attila Total War a little bit, the same with Rome II Total War, but I only own the first Rome Total War, Medieval II Total War (Kingdoms expansion), Shogun II Total War, and Empire Total War (played the Napoleon expansion on a friend's computer but don't own it). I'm not a fan of the Warhammer universe and I never have been. I'm only interested in actual historical games and mods, with the exception of Third Age Total War (with the MOS mod) for M2TW. I feel nerdy enough having all of these titles and their mods. No offense, but spending money on Warhammer would only increase the nerdiness to unacceptable levels.

[Lifthrasir]

Unfortunately they were English. They all died.

For once, they weren't French

[♔atthias♔]

For once, they weren't French

because the french tried it too only to get killed too

[Roma_Victrix]

because the french tried it too only to get killed too

Peter Venkman: the French and English, dogs and cats, working together, mass hysteria!

Seriously, though, if you had to choose a crack team of well-armored knights to face this monstrous T. rex, then which medieval country would you choose for the job?

I refrain from saying "European country", because you could ostensibly choose men from the Crusader States in the Levant...although Gothic style plate armor existed well after the last Crusader state fell to the Mamluks. The Knights Hospitaller still held onto territories in Anatolia into the 14th and 15th centuries, though!

[LaMuerte]

Peter Venkman: the French and English, dogs and cats, working together, mass hysteria!

Seriously, though, if you had to choose a crack team of well-armored knights to face this monstrous T. rex, then which medieval country would you choose for the job?

I'd look with full disdain at the knights before I send them home. Gimme a squad of those guys who capture and transport rhinos and elephants for the powerful. I'm sure they can come up with a cost effective means of disposing that pesky T. rex .O yeah, I need some peasants too to dig trenches and build an enclosure or a huge pitfall. Except for that beast, no-one else needs to die. No expensive hard to replace knights need to die. Shovels, not swords, will win this one. Sweat saves blood.

Of course history will only remember me. None of the lowborns will ever makes it into the annals. I'd be known as the penultimate badass, the last true warrior from a mythical age, the slayer of the last monster to roam this planet. I'd probably spend the rest of life enjoying the fruits of 'my' labour , and probably end my days suffering from gout, if not syphilis.

[Kyriakos]

Byzantine Kataphraktoi

[Godfrey I of Leuven]

because the french tried it too only to get killed too

I spit on this atrocity of a joke. All of the french knights would have survived easily, since they would have quit the field at the first hint of conflict.

[Roma_Victrix]

I spit on this atrocity of a joke. All of the french knights would have survived easily, since they would have quit the field at the first hint of conflict.

The medieval French were actually quite arrogant and foolhardy, eager to rush into battle. Napoleon's armies conquered most of Europe. The French fought hard and admirably in the Franco-Prussian War and the First World War. I think the initial surrender to Nazi Germany in World War II has irreparably damaged the reputation of the French for the rest of eternity.

That being said, French knights would perform about as well as any others I suppose, or we could just draft the Byzantine kataphractoi as Kyriakos suggests.

[Emperor Arcturus Mengsk]

So I read the 1st 3-4 posts of this thread and then I switched to the last page to spoil my self to the end and I'm confused.

Damn you guys now I have to read this whole thread.

Edit: ok, I'm all caught up now and I understand why the franco-prussian war was mentioned!

That said, if it's a random encounter like 50 knights walking and sudden T. rex(in italics) attacks I'm putting my money on the lizard, but if it's an organised fight where the knights have time to concoct a battle plan then they should have the advantage.

[♔atthias♔]

Peter Venkman: the French and English, dogs and cats, working together, mass hysteria!

Seriously, though, if you had to choose a crack team of well-armored knights to face this monstrous T. rex, then which medieval country would you choose for the job?

I refrain from saying "European country", because you could ostensibly choose men from the Crusader States in the Levant...although Gothic style plate armor existed well after the last Crusader state fell to the Mamluks. The Knights Hospitaller still held onto territories in Anatolia into the 14th and 15th centuries, though!

byzantine cataphracts like kyriakos suggests

I spit on this atrocity of a joke. All of the french knights would have survived easily, since they would have quit the field at the first hint of conflict.

true sorry

[Lord Oda Nobunaga]

No one would win because the meteor would hit anyway.

[Kyriakos]

There was no meteor. The ark with all the dinosaurs was torpedoed by the ark with the humans and lesser animals.

[Frunk]

Thoroughly enjoyed this thread. My money is on the knights. While it's interesting to know that the T. rex would not waste time chewing each knight, I still wonder whether it would become easily target fixated on one or a couple of knights. Even if it's quick to dispose of the knights each time, eventually a group of knights is going to be able to outmaneuver it and cripple it. Would a T. rex realise that its best chance of victory is to use its tail as a giant fly swat, or would it default to its jaw and maybe even arms as weapons, which aren't enough to counter such a significant number of knights at once? I think it'd be likely that any knights taken out by the T. rex's tail would be more by accident than by design.