Post by Keith Heitmann on May 6, 2003 23:38:11 GMT -5
Warrior Challenge aired its first episode tonight on PBS. The first installment was about the Roman legionary.
Two teams, one from the British military and one from the US military took part. Four man teams.
They were outfitted with real armor and weaponry which they had to sign for just as the legionary did. They were to portray a auxiliary cohort, and were outfitted with differing types of armor from the chainmale to the segmenta lorica style.
They trained in marching and weapons handling and mock combat with wood swords and were taught the basics of Roman legion hand to hand combat...go for the face first... and how to fight in close quarters melee, etc.
Daily living included sleeping on rock hard stone surfaces in, cooking your own meals, and sharing a communal sponge for cleaing oneself after a visit to the lavatory. Then they were taken on a long road march in full armor and kit to simulate the marches made by legionaries manning the mile forts of Hadrian's wall.
Then they trained on throwing the pilum. contrary to some belief that the pilum was meant to break off and weigh down a enemy's shield, it was actually meant to pierce through that shield and get at the man behind it, hence the lenght of the iron shaft at the tip of the weapon.
The next was a small competition between the two teams to search local peasants for contraband. The team that found the most contraband would get a extra pilum in the next competition. The US team won.
The next competition involved throwing the pilum at a straw figure. The team that hit it the most wins. Neither team did very well, and the US team won that with the last extra pilum they were awarded from the last competition.
The final competition involved storming a enemy fort. First each team had to carry a ballista up to the fort, then simulate storming the castle. As a reward for winning the pilum toss, the US team got to assault the castle without the archer attacking them. The UK team had to pause to forma testudo and let the archer fire one blunt arrow at them and then they could carry on with the assault. The assault involved breaking through a group of men with shiedlds blocking the gate entrance, then attacking a straw figure at a doorway, one man would then gather the ballista bolt on the parapet wall and drop it to the rest of the team manning the ballista which then had to be fired at a straw figure. The whole thing was timed. The US team did it in one minute sixteen seconds, and the UK team despite being delayed by the archer did it in on minute twenty seconds.
I only caught the program by accident and nearly missed it since none of the ads on tv gave a starting date for the program. I'm going to do a better recording of it early thursday morning at 3:30am when it is repeated.
Next show is about medieval knights. At least one episode will be about gladiators.
Two teams, one from the British military and one from the US military took part. Four man teams.
They were outfitted with real armor and weaponry which they had to sign for just as the legionary did. They were to portray a auxiliary cohort, and were outfitted with differing types of armor from the chainmale to the segmenta lorica style.
They trained in marching and weapons handling and mock combat with wood swords and were taught the basics of Roman legion hand to hand combat...go for the face first... and how to fight in close quarters melee, etc.
Daily living included sleeping on rock hard stone surfaces in, cooking your own meals, and sharing a communal sponge for cleaing oneself after a visit to the lavatory. Then they were taken on a long road march in full armor and kit to simulate the marches made by legionaries manning the mile forts of Hadrian's wall.
Then they trained on throwing the pilum. contrary to some belief that the pilum was meant to break off and weigh down a enemy's shield, it was actually meant to pierce through that shield and get at the man behind it, hence the lenght of the iron shaft at the tip of the weapon.
The next was a small competition between the two teams to search local peasants for contraband. The team that found the most contraband would get a extra pilum in the next competition. The US team won.
The next competition involved throwing the pilum at a straw figure. The team that hit it the most wins. Neither team did very well, and the US team won that with the last extra pilum they were awarded from the last competition.
The final competition involved storming a enemy fort. First each team had to carry a ballista up to the fort, then simulate storming the castle. As a reward for winning the pilum toss, the US team got to assault the castle without the archer attacking them. The UK team had to pause to forma testudo and let the archer fire one blunt arrow at them and then they could carry on with the assault. The assault involved breaking through a group of men with shiedlds blocking the gate entrance, then attacking a straw figure at a doorway, one man would then gather the ballista bolt on the parapet wall and drop it to the rest of the team manning the ballista which then had to be fired at a straw figure. The whole thing was timed. The US team did it in one minute sixteen seconds, and the UK team despite being delayed by the archer did it in on minute twenty seconds.
I only caught the program by accident and nearly missed it since none of the ads on tv gave a starting date for the program. I'm going to do a better recording of it early thursday morning at 3:30am when it is repeated.
Next show is about medieval knights. At least one episode will be about gladiators.