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Author: TheWanderer

Dec 27th 2011 at 9:53:15 AM

* ''ASongOfIceAndFire'' notes the distinction between tournament lances and lances as a weapon. Tourney lances are about 14 feet long, blunt, and made to break. Lances used as a serious weapon are 8 feet long and reinforced with bands of metal. In one TrialByCombat in in a prequel novel a group of knights defending against an accusation attempt to use the tournament lances against the accusing knights (who are using serious lances) in an attempt to unhorse the accusing knights before those knights can reach them. Naturally, anyone who misses squarely hitting the knights with real lances or doesn't knock them off their horses winds up impaled or seriously wounded.
** In one of the books from the series proper, a sort of CombatByChampion happens. One guy fights with a lance from horseback against a [[GladiatorGames gladiator type]] who's fighting on foot. It gets noted that the rider is putting way too much emphasis on trying to score a perfect hit with his weapon, which the gladiator keeps dodging. If the horseman just tried to ride down the gladiator on the other hand, that would probably be much more effective.