ALEXANDRETOURNE'S PROFILE

author=Crystalgate

author=alexandretourne
About the purity and strength of the Japanese blade, I must disagree with you. I don't know where does come from the rumors that Japanese swords and their iron/steel generally were impure or weak, but this is inaccurate. There are already some tests who have been done by specialists, and if the Katana is not better that the long sword, it is at least equal in term of quality, purity and strength. You can check this video about it : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqY-K6v53pA

Interesting. The video tests what I assume is a high quality Katana and the results indicated decent quality steel. I'd assume a high quality longsword made for a knight would have better than decent quality steel and if a high quality Katana has a decent quality steel, then lesser quality weapons would have less than decent quality steel. I still think the Japanese steel was a bit weaker, but not as much as previous. The video doesn't compare Katanas to longsword though, so I can't really tell for sure based on only that video.

My point was not that the Katana had weak steel (although it definitely was that it was more impure than European steel), rather it was that all the elaborate and laborious forging was needed just to make the Katana a good sword, this due to inferior smelting technology.

Speaking of which, I have some ideas of where the rumor that the swords are made of poor steel comes from. Now, at the start of the forging, this is actually true. The steel does have a lot of impurities. However, the forging process gets rid of a lot of them. The forging does not only gets rid of impurities, it also gets rid of carbon. To compensate for it, the Japanese swordsmiths started out with part pig iron, which is steel with way more carbon than is ideal. Then during the forging, the excess carbon is removed. Now, if you say were to have negative feelings towards the Katana, it's very easy to, upon reading that the steel starts out with a lot of impurities and too much carbon, go "aha, so the Japanese sword steel was actually crap!" and not research further and therefore never find out that this will no longer be true once the forging is complete.

As for why people would have negative feelings towards the Katana, it's likely a backlash from the Katana hype. It kind of reminds me of Final Fantasy VII hype, when it started to wear out, it became rather popular to, at some message boards at last, declare FF VII a crap game. The good news is that this eventually passed and I assume that the "the Katana is crap" rumors will do so as well.

Anyway, thanks for the link. There's some interesting in-dept information about the Katana there and in the links provided by that video.

You are welcome... It is interesting to see you passionate about it.
I have nothing to say more :) I think everything has been said :)

author=Crystalgate

author=alexandretourne
I am clearly considering the Katana as one of the most effective weapon ever create specially during the medieval time. It is not a question to be a fanboy. First the process to make a Katana is very different compared to the European medieval weapon. This process is only known by Japanese who succeeded to make the katana's blade very strong and effective. Just saying that the effectiveness of katana is not a myth. But I will not enter into the debate of... who will win between a knight and a samurai?For the reason it does not only depend of the weapon and the armor but also of the individual's background and skill. I think both of the samurai and knight could kill each other (After all, the Vikings were able to defeat the knights several times and there armors and weapons were different). I am well aware that the long-sword was also a very effective weapon.Many people seem to forget that the Samurais succeeded to defeat twice the Mongols and Chinese army who tried to invade their land in 1274 and 1281. The Mongols hordes were probably the most powerful force on earth by the mid-thirteenth century. The samurais also invaded Korea (1592-1598) and succeeded to occupy the south of Korea for six years, despite they were outnumbered by the Chinese and Korean army.

The forging of the Katana was far more labor intense than that of the longsword. However, that does not make the Katana a super weapon.

The Japanese were not able to smelt their iron properly. This meant that it had a lot of impurities in it. The laborious forging process had two important effects here, it got rid of a lot of the impurities and it distributed the impurities that still remained (which was a lot more than a properly smelted iron would have) evenly. Further, the Katana was then shaped in a way that the best took advantage of what they had. If they had forged something like the European longsword, it would have bent too easily.

In short, the complicated and laborious forging process was a way to get around the inferior steel and still produce a great sword, not a way to produce a super sword. If you take properly smelted iron and fold it the way as the Japanese sword-smiths did, it would not improve the quality at all.

Now, some Europeans did buy a Katana. It was considered a great sword and excellent at cutting. However, the same was said about the Indian Tulwar and while great at cutting, it was less good at stabbing (though it can do that too just fine). The Katana also has a shorter range than the longsword, but is easier to draw quickly. Every sword has its trade-offs. In European environment, the Katana would probably do less well than in Japan due to the enemies carrying different equipment.

Ultimately, while the Katana is a great sword, it's still just a sword when all is said and done.

Good call about the knight vs samurai. Other than what you said, if those two meet, it would reshape how they fought. The Europeans would look at what equipment and tactics the Japanese use and then make changes to their own equipment and tactics to best exploit their enemies' weaknesses while the Japanese would do the same against the Europeans. Neither side in that alternate history would have ended up using the equipment and tactics they used in the real history.

As far as the Japanese military prowess goes, that argument only makes sense if you already consider the Katana a super effective weapon. If you do, then it makes sense to assume the Katana played a big part in it. However, if you don't, then you start to look at other factors as well such as tactics, training, other equipment and so on. Heck, history is full of armies prevailing against superior numbers and the Japanese are the only ones who had the Katana, which to me indicates that you can't really give the Katana too much credit for it.

I should also mention that the Katana was not the primary weapon of the samurai on the battlefield in the first place. It was either a bow (later musket) or a polearm, most likely the bow. Their secondary weapon was whichever of their bow or polearm that wasn't their primary weapon. The Katana was their tertiary weapon.

This is also a thing for swords in general. They were usually not the primary weapon on a battlefield. Prior to firearms, the spear or other polearms was the king of the battlefield.

The sword was however very popular outside the battlefield. It's rather easy to carry (imagine lugging around a spear all day) and can be drawn quicker than say an axe. The sword is also great against unarmored opponents, which is almost every opponent outside the battlefield.

Really, there is no most effective sword period. All swords have trade-offs and they are designed to work against the opponents you expect to use them against. Against opponents with vastly different equipment and tactics than designed to combat, they will not work so well.

Hey there,
Thank you for taking your time to write and express your arguments. Obviously I totally agreed with most of them,I do not have much to say more, everything has been said about it.

I am totally aware that the Katana was not the only weapon that a samurai possess. The Bow played a great role before the arrival of the musket, and they improved it after they fight against the Mongols. The spear was a deadly weapon specially against the Katana due to his long range and facility to use, that's why many Ashigaru (peasantry) used it. The musket imported by the Portuguese completely changed their tactics and the way of making war. They even created a better version that the European musket. There was a moment where Japan even overtook every European country in the producing of the weapon.

About the purity and strength of the Japanese blade, I must disagree with you. I don't know where does come from the rumors that Japanese swords and their iron/steel generally were impure or weak, but this is inaccurate. There are already some tests who have been done by specialists, and if the Katana is not better that the long sword, it is at least equal in term of quality, purity and strength. You can check this video about it : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqY-K6v53pA

I have no doubt that Katana was quite deadly during the battlefield with some units like Samurais on horse or during a duel.
Let's not forget Miyamoto Musashi and his undefeated record of 60 duels.

author=Crystalgate

author= alexandretourne
If you want to learn more about the most effective weapon ever created, I suggest you to check those Wikipedia articles:

What?

Other than that, you seem well-informed. It's also a hell lot of options for the sword. Does the character still have a large set of equipment slots like weapon, armor helm, etc. or are they more or less merged into the sword? I'm wondering since the guy doesn't exactly look like he's wearing a samurai armor and it also significantly affects what I think of this system.

Hello there and sorry for the late reply.
As a rōnin, you are not any more considerate as a samurai, which mean you don't have the right to wear an armor like them. In the Japanese society a rōnin were considerate as a pariah. So in the game you will able to improve your Katana which replace the traditional system of armor equipment. Since your Katana is your most valuable equipment and a samurai never separate from his weapon, you will not be able to replace it, instead of that you will have access to different Technics to improve your Kenjutsu's skills. However, you will still have the possibility to equip your character with divers accessory like belt for your kimono (Obi). You have also a menu allowing you to spend some points in the main characteristic of your character.

author=Nedras
Incredible art

author=Kyoui
Looks great, it gives off a bit of a Seven Samurai vibe being monochome and all.

Thank you for your feedbacks.
Yup the Akira Kurosawa's movies clearly inspired us.

author=purplehills
A great and beautiful project that i've discovered on oniro! Subbed +1

Continuez c'est magnifique !

Thank you so much for your support purple hills :)
We are preparing a kickstarter for the end of October :)

Merci beaucoup pour ton soutien purple hills :)
Nous sommes en train de préparer un kickstarter pour fin octobre :)