History Main / RockBeatsLaser

* In ''Enemy Infestation'', due to the aliens' AdaptiveAbility, the effects of weapons are unpredictable every missions. There are two exceptions: a [[{{BFG}} rocket launcher]] (primitive compared to the abundant rayguns), and a cook's cleaver.

* In ''[[{{X-Force}} X-Statix]] / [[ComicBook/TheAvengers Avengers]]'', the Orphan fought IronMan armed only with an ''anvil'', of all things, as depicted above. You'll never guess who won (ultimately; both of them eventually lost their armor and were forced to fight naked for the win). Although, arguably, the RuleOfCool is in effect there; When you can descend on an enemy like a vampire while carrying an anvil, you deserve to win no matter what.
* ''{{Daredevil}}'', having failed to defeat Ultron by [[http://the-isb.blogspot.com/2006/05/badass-panels-volume-seven-daredevil.html crashing a truck into him]], knocked the robot's head off with a stick.
* Slightly justified in ''[[JusticeLeagueOfAmerica JLA: Year One]]'' with TheFlash. Snapper Carr complains that the League having a library in their base is pointless, since they also have a computer and can use it to do research much faster. But no internet connection in the world can move faster than Flash, who has a book open to the appropriate page before Snapper even finishes typing. And could probably even run to any library in the world and back in the time it takes Google to load. This was based on RealLife accounts of the series' [[Creator/MarkWaid writer]] answering comic trivia faster than the internet.

* Slightly justified in ''[[JusticeLeagueOfAmerica JLA: Year One]]'' with TheFlash. Snapper Carr complains that the League having a library in their base is pointless, since they also have a computer and can use it to do research much faster. But no internet connection in the world can move faster than Flash, who has a book open to the appropriate page before Snapper even finishes typing. And could probably even run to any library in the world and back in the time it takes Google to load.
** This was based on RealLife accounts of the series' [[MarkWaid writer]] answering comic trivia faster than the internet.

* The woefully underequipped Finnish army destroyed hundreds of Soviet tanks during the Winter War, using such equipment as Molotov cocktails and wooden logs. Hell, the Finns named the Molotov Cocktail after the Soviet foreign minister who claimed that [[BlatantLies the Red Air Force was dropping breadbaskets, not cluster bombs]] ([[IncrediblyLamePun thus, the Finns made a cocktail to go with the bread]]). It's amazing how vulnerable a massive 45-ton heavy tank that the Germans found tough to kill (the KV-1) was to a few crazy Finns with skis and a few bottles of flammable liquid.

** On a similar note, in WWII, Me 262 jet fighters initially had difficulties fighting the more primitive piston engined fighters. Their maneuverability dropped off sharply at low speeds, and they often had trouble dogfighting piston fighters at high speeds because they were going too fast to get an accurate bead on the enemy fighters. Allied strategies to counter Me 262s essentially boiled down to loitering around German airfields and shooting down the jet fighters as they attempted to take off, where they were the most vulnerable.

* Similar to the above post, during the breakup of Yugoslavia, the crossbow manufacturer Barnett sold Crossbows to Serbian paramilitaries due to crossbows not being banned under the UN arms embargo. The Paramilitaries and even some army units used the crossbows as virtually silent anti-sniper weapons. The crossbows also had a terrifying effect on the soldiers who came under attack from them, as they broadhead wounds were often harder to treat than gunshot wounds and the crossbows were so quiet they never knew they were being attacked.

* In [[VideoGame/MassEffect Mass Effect,]] this is actually justified- while laser weapons do exist, kinetic energy weapons are more effective shot-for-shot. Thus even in the future, we're still using guns that fire bullets- although now that gun has nearly limitless ammo and is capable of freezing you, setting you on fire, punching through your armor, destroying your shields, increase their mass... That said, in close-range ship-to-ship combat, lasers will literally melt enemy warships, since point-defence lasers ignore kinetic barriers.

* In one episode of ''MythBusters'', the team was trying to find ways to fool advanced security systems. While most of them didn't work, they did find out that it is possible to fool a state of the art infrared motion detector by holding a large white sheet in front of yourself.

* When TheLosers needed to steal some data from a MegaCorp, they sent [[TheHacker Jensen]] to upload the data. When the network proved too well protected, he resorted to "analog hacking": Grabbing a [[AnAxeToGrind fire axe]] and [[IncrediblyLamePun hacking]] his way into their server room to physically steal a hard drive.

* In [[VideoGame/MassEffect Mass Effect,]] this is actually justified- while laser weapons do exist, kinetic energy weapons are more effective shot-for-shot. Thus even in the future, we're still using guns that fire bullets- although now that gun has nearly limitless ammo and is capable of freezing you, setting you on fire, punching through your armor, destroying your shields...

*** These abuses resulted in the game being massively disputed and actually led to a reprimand of the guy running the OPFOR on accusations he effectively cheated and ignored parameters of the game in order to "win" it IIRC. There were also a lot of questions if what he was doing was even possible in the real world with accusations that he was basically using game mechanics to execute plans that would never have worked in the real world thus ruining the training value. In effect, his conduct wasted the money spent on setting the simulation up and destroyed a valuable training exercise.

* One countermeasure to advanced armor-piercing shaped-charge warheads: "slat armor," also known as a "fence", which is really just the newest version of a technique that goes back to WWII (and the introduction of shaped-charge AT [=RPGs=]): The Sherman, for instance, could have tool boxes all over the hull. Since the plasma jet of a shaped charge is only effective for a matter of several inches, getting it to detonate 2 feet away from the main hull will protect the vehicle extremely well.

** Horsed cavalry proved itself quite useful during World War II, since soldiers on horseback can move quite fast even through rugged terrain without needing a massive logistic tail to support them, with the key limitation being inability to carry a lot of heavy equipment. With the availability of light but potent weapons (e.g. MANPADS and RPGs) and the availability of air support, there is no good reason to believe that horsed cavalry would not make a comeback as an effective military force in the near future, especially in settings (e.g. Afghanistan) where the means to keep a high tech force operational are limited.

** Horsed cavalry proved itself quite useful during World War II, since soldiers on horseback can move quite fast even through rugged terrain without needing a massive logistic tail to support them, with the key limitation being inability to carry a lot of heavy equipment. With the availability of light but potent weapons (e.g. MANPADS and RPGs) and the availability of air support, there is no good reason to believe that horsed cavalry would not make a comeback as an effective military force in the near future.

** Horsed cavalry proved itself quite useful during World War II, since they can move quite fast without needing a massive logistic tail to support them, with the key limitation being inability to carry a lot of heavy equipment. With the availability of light but potent weapons (e.g. MANPADS and RPGs) and the availability of air support, there is no good reason to believe that horsed cavalry would not make a comeback as an effective military force in the near future.

** Underscored by the inversion during late 19th century, when the Chinese clashed with the French in 1880s over Vietnam and then the Japanese in 1890s over Korea. Chinese sent enormous sums of money buying up European arms and equipment but did next to nothing to update their military doctrine, training technique, or organization. Consequently, the Chinese were often actually better armed than both the French and the Japanese, but performed poorly against both.

** During wargames conducted in 2004 the ''USS Ronald Reagan'' was "sunk" by the ''HMS Gotland'' (Swedish Navy submarine, not Royal Navy) A diesel-electric submarine (a design pioneered in 1929 in the US) using a Stirling Engine (originally conceived in 1816) rather than the standard piston engine. The ''Gotland'', BTW was commissioned in 1996, 2 years before the ''Reagan'' was even laid down (and the ''Gotland'' was ''not'' "sunk" by the other ships, as opposed to the subs in the entry below).

** Repeated, to some degree, in Grozny during the First Chechen War, when Chechen fighters occasionally took on T-72s and T-80s with Molotov cocktails. More commonly, the Chechen weapons of choice were more modern RPG's and ATGM's, though.
* In 1940, the Norwegian garrison at the Oscarborg Fortress guarding the approaches to Oslo sank the Bluecher, a modern German heavy cruiser, using guns and torpedoes that were more than 70 years old. Not quite "rocks," but certainly quite old and outdated technology.

** During wargames conducted in 2004 the ''USS Ronald Reagan'' was "sunk" by the ''HMS Gotland'' (Swedish Navy submarine, not Royal Navy) A diesel-electric submarine (a design pioneered in 1929 in the US) using a Stirling Engine (originally conceived in 1816) rather than the standard piston engine. The ''Gotland'', BTW was commissioned in 1996, 2 years before the ''Reagan'' was even laid down.

* Some of the more powerful units in ''TabletopGame/{{Heroscape}}'' are Medieval units or [[TheAmericanRevolution colonial-times]] soldiers who are able to destroy the [[HumongousMecha Soulborgs]]

* Military hovercrafts can be defeated by long nails, hammered through a plank of wood, buried in the sand. These nails rip the vulnerable underbelly airbags of craft, thus making it unable to hover.

* As a result of the predominant SteamPunk SchizoTech universe of ''{{Samurai 7}}'', the only available weapon against a giant floating battlecruiser is... a massive sharpened pike the size of a building, hurled across miles by a giant ballista. [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome And it WORKS.]]