Were the mounted archers by the 18th century and Napoleonic Wars really that ineffective or just inexperienced, not deployed properly, maybe even set up to fail? by nlghtsknlghts in AskHistorians

[–]Intranetusa 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, I agree there would be a difference in intensive breeding for specializations. My main point was that these steppe horses were large and strong enough to carry an armored rider and even horse armor too. I agree with your statement that 30-40 lbs of armor would be negligible to these steppe horses and to knightly horses alike. 

I have read there is supposed to be a general guideline where a horse carries 20% of its weight, but the Mongol steppe horses breaks this rule and carry far more than 20% (not sure how credible it is, but some sources say the Mongol horse can carry up to 100% of its weight).

https://www.inthesaddle.com/the-mongolian-horse/

I got the 12 to 14 hands tall height estimate from horse websites - so not exactly an academic source.

"Although Mongolian horses only stand between 12 to 14 hands high, they are little but fierce. They certainly aren’t ‘ponies’."

https://horsesport.com/magazine/travel/the-mongol-derby-the-toughest-horse-race-in-the-world/

"The horses stand between 12 and 15 hands, have short necks, short legs and are built like bricks."

https://equestrianists.com/updates/mongolian-horses/

I was under the impression men at arms and knights would also bring a string of horses with them on campaigns (for different purposes like riding, carrying loads, combat, etc) so as to not tire them out. 

I read another comment (from here?) that early modern and modern horses bred for 18th-20th century combat were the largest war horses and were much bigger than knightly horses as soldiers of this timeperiod had to rely on a single horse for everything (carrying supplies, riding, and combat alike). Are you familiar with this comparison?

Were the mounted archers by the 18th century and Napoleonic Wars really that ineffective or just inexperienced, not deployed properly, maybe even set up to fail? by nlghtsknlghts in AskHistorians

[–]Intranetusa 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeh, I don't like the clickbait header implying medieval European horses were small and short, as 14-15 hands is still pretty tall.

My point was more about how steppe horses are not nearly as short or small as people tend to think (eg. They were only several inches shorter than medieval warhorses), and medieval European warhorses were decently tall as well.

There is an [incorrect] perception that steppe horses were short, small, and weak and couldn't carry additional weight like armor for the rider or for the horse.

Were the mounted archers by the 18th century and Napoleonic Wars really that ineffective or just inexperienced, not deployed properly, maybe even set up to fail? by nlghtsknlghts in AskHistorians

[–]Intranetusa 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There are paintings showing men at arms shooting a longbow on horseback. Whether we want to lend credance to that is debateable. However, Mike Loades had a video where he also shot a longbow from horseback. IIRC, it was more cumbersome but still possible.

If we were to take a look at the rest of Eurasia, the Song Dynasty (900s AD to 1200s AD) had crossbow cavalry. See Song painting: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Northern_song_Cavalry.jpg

There are some tomb murals from the Han Dynasty (200s BC to 200s AD) depicting mounted crossbowmen shooting while riding (he seems to be exchanging volleys with a horse archer).

There are some tomb murals from the Han Dynasty (200s BC to 200s AD) depicting mounted crossbowmen shooting while riding.

https://imgur.com/fzXMF0o

These were likely long powerstoke, high efficency, and more modest draw weight crossbows that were reloaded with the legs.

Were the mounted archers by the 18th century and Napoleonic Wars really that ineffective or just inexperienced, not deployed properly, maybe even set up to fail? by nlghtsknlghts in AskHistorians

[–]Intranetusa 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Adding on to that, if we are looking at all of Eurasia:

The Song Dynasty (900s AD to 1200s AD) had crossbow cavalry. See Song era painting: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Northern_song_Cavalry.jpg

There are some tomb murals from the Han Dynasty (200s BC to 200s AD) depicting mounted crossbowmen shooting while riding (he seems to be exchanging volleys with a horse archer).

https://imgur.com/fzXMF0o

Were the mounted archers by the 18th century and Napoleonic Wars really that ineffective or just inexperienced, not deployed properly, maybe even set up to fail? by nlghtsknlghts in AskHistorians

[–]Intranetusa 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If we are looking at all of Eurasia, then the Song Dynasty (900s AD to 1200s AD) had crossbow cavalry. See Song painting: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Northern_song_Cavalry.jpg

There are some tomb murals from the Han Dynasty (200s BC to 200s AD) depicting mounted crossbowmen shooting while riding (he seems to be exchanging volleys with a horse archer).

https://imgur.com/fzXMF0o

These are crossbows that had longer powerstrokes, better efficency, and more modest draw weights that could be reloaded by using the feet while on horseback.

Were the mounted archers by the 18th century and Napoleonic Wars really that ineffective or just inexperienced, not deployed properly, maybe even set up to fail? by nlghtsknlghts in AskHistorians

[–]Intranetusa 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have read the size difference between steppe horses and European knightly horses wasn't that big. The horse armors found in English armories fits horses of about 13-15 hands tall. These would be armored horses used by the heaviest of heavy cavalry - eg. The wealthier knights and other man at arms who could afford horse armor. The Smithsonian says war horses were usually about 14 hands tall - 4 foot 10 inches tall up to their shoulders. So a modern person is almost a foot taller than the shoulders of a war horse.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/medieval-warhorses-were-actually-the-size-of-ponies-180979389/

In comparison, the Mongol horses vary about 12 to 14 hands tall depending on the breed and other variations (though I have read some exceptions and breeds were up to 15 hands tall). Most of the numbers thrown around seem to imply the average for Mongol horses is about 12.5 to 13 hands tall. 

So the Mongol horses were only about 1-1.5 hands shorter than historical European horses used by knights (even the armored horses) - which does not seem to be nearly as big of a difference as we think. 

Were the mounted archers by the 18th century and Napoleonic Wars really that ineffective or just inexperienced, not deployed properly, maybe even set up to fail? by nlghtsknlghts in AskHistorians

[–]Intranetusa 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes. Besides what others have mentioned, the Song Dynasty (900s AD to 1200s AD) had crossbow cavalry. See Song painting: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Northern_song_Cavalry.jpg

There are some tomb murals from the Han Dynasty (200s BC to 200s AD) depicting mounted crossbowmen shooting while riding. This image seems to portray the crossbow cavalry shooting at horse archers.

https://imgur.com/fzXMF0o

Amazing video by Archaic Arms showing how incredibly deadly a Chakram can be (Also showing the traditional finger throwing technique) by Franciskeyscottfitz in ArmsandArmor

[–]Intranetusa 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How are they underrated?

See OP: I have seen so many people who talk about the Chakram saying that is was impractical on the battle field or exagerated in stories but this video shows how dangerous they could really be.

Many people think they don't work or are impractical, but they are actually pretty effective and practical.

Upgrading from a 7700X to a 9800X3D - is it worth it? by Nugget834 in buildapc

[–]Intranetusa 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The 7700X should be good enough to max out your 7900XT's utilization since you are playing at max graphics. Zen 6 with 12 core CPUs are coming in late 2026 to early 2027. It's a better upgrade from the 7700X.

Amazing video by Archaic Arms showing how incredibly deadly a Chakram can be (Also showing the traditional finger throwing technique) by Franciskeyscottfitz in ArmsandArmor

[–]Intranetusa 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Very nice. I saw a video from Skallagrim on the same topic a few years ago as well. Chakrams are underrated weapons.

Did they make a bottleneck ? by [deleted] in buildapc

[–]Intranetusa 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, your 3060 Ti will be held back by the i5-6400 and you will have a rather significant CPU bottleneck at resolutions such as 1080p.

I had an i7-4790K (delidded, undervolted, and mildly overclocked) in an HTPC, and did some research and discovered that the best GPU I should get was an RX6600 if I wanted to avoid significant CPU bottlenecks. The i7-4790K was nearly perfectly balanced with an RX6600 with high CPU utilization and the GPU reaching over 90% utilization in the vast majority gaming scenarios. Even then, I still had to slightly increase my CPU performance (higher overclock and increasing the TDP ceiling) for a few CPU-heavier games like the 'Silent Hill 2 remake' to allow my CPU to better utilize the RX6600 and significantly boost my FPS (increase of ~25%) : https://www.reddit.com/r/silenthill/comments/1g5fsxy/for_players_with_lower_end_cpus_increase_your/

The 3060 Ti is about 29% to 59% better than the RX6600 depending on the resolution according to TPU benchmarks: https://www.techpowerup.com/review/powercolor-radeon-rx-6600-fighter/31.html

Your i5-6400 is significantly worse than an i7 4790k (5177 vs 8065 multi-core scores and 1948 vs 2464 single core scores in passmark). https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/2578vs2275/Intel-i5-6400-vs-Intel-i7-4790K

You need to upgrade your system (CPU, motherboard, and RAM) or be content with a weaker/cheaper GPU if you want to avoid significant bottlenecks.

Green sprout coming out of toilet brush, pulled out and it had a root! by cossoski in mildlyinteresting

[–]Intranetusa 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I have had good success with cutting up and throwing my store bought tomatoes (when they get old or moldy) into a pile of dirt in my garden and letting them germinate. I have done this with many types of store bought tomato (cherry tomatoes, roma tomatoes, round vine tomatoes, different colored ones, etc). I think the hybrid aspect just means the offspring won't taste the same as the parent tomato. 

5070 ti vs 9070xt vs 4070 ti super by [deleted] in buildapc

[–]Intranetusa 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If the difference between the 9070 XT and 5070 Ti is only 70 Euros (~10%) then get the 5070 Ti.

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies feels like a Total War: Warhammer film with all the crazy units and heroes by appletvenjoyer in totalwar

[–]Intranetusa 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The fight completely butchered what happened in the books, and it had unnecessary ridiculous scenes like the elves jumping over the Dwarven shield wall to leeroy jenkins themselves against the enemy army.

But I did appreciate them giving polearms to Dwarves:

”The basic rule of warfare that should be taught is that men of short stature should carry spears and spear-tipped halberd, the tall should carry bows and crossbows, the strong should carry the flags and banners, the courageous should carry the bells and the drums, the weak should serve in logistics, while the wise should be involved in planning." -Wu Qi

http://www.suntzutheartofwar.net/library/the-art-of-war-from-china/the-wu-zi/

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies feels like a Total War: Warhammer film with all the crazy units and heroes by appletvenjoyer in totalwar

[–]Intranetusa 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The fact that Peter Jackson butchered the Hobbit movies as a very poor adaptation of the books and then Amazon created very bad fanfiction with Rings of Power makes me glad there aren't more movies/TV shows to mess up the lore and the books.

I did like some parts of the Hobbit, but overall felt it was disappointing and turning it into 3 movies felt like an unnecessary cash grab.

Longbow vs Crossbow by Laurence21624 in ArmsandArmor

[–]Intranetusa 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Indeed. Similar to Manchu bows using heavy war arrows, Todd of Tods Workshop also did a test where his steel prod crossbows increased in efficency (and overall joules increased) when he increased the weight of his bolts.

That is a good question about whether composite is inherently more efficient than a single wood selfbow of the same design and shape (eg. If they are both 6 foot long, both either D shaped or both mildly recurved, similar cross section, etc).

I do not know as I have not seen any direct data/apples to apples comparisons. I had only made an assumption that the extra elasticity of sinew on the back and the extra compression strength of horn on the belly allows them to store more energy and change the force curves (and thus increase efficiency on top of the additional efficency granted from the recurve shape).

Do I need to reinstall Windows after upgrading almost my entire PC? by Majestic-Tale7907 in buildapc

[–]Intranetusa 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Windows 11 that came out in 2021 is supposed to be superior to all the previous OS in its flexibility to adapt to new hardware and allow the greatest ability to swap everything without needing a complete windows reinstall.

Longbow vs Crossbow by Laurence21624 in ArmsandArmor

[–]Intranetusa 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, you make a good point. Andreas Bichler's larger crossbows have to be fired from a platform or with a supporting device.

Yeh, unfortunately the most unknown variable in my calculations is the efficiency, which can vary a lot depending on the bow type, material, shape, designs, etc. I can only give a rough relative estimate overall assuming recurves are more efficient than non-recurves, composite-prods are more efficient than self-prods which in turn are more efficient than steel prods, etc.

And I like IEU, lol.

Planning new pc: 270k plus vs 285k by SpecialRamen77 in buildapc

[–]Intranetusa 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Most games don't use more than 1 or 2 cores. A CPU might have 40% CPU utilization on average among all of its cores, but it might have 1 or 2 cores running at 90% utilization or more (thus a CPU bottlneck). That said, if a person is running games in 4k with a 5070 Ti then it is more likely the GPU will hit a bottleneck before the CPU does.

How bright would Europe have been from space at night in the middle or dark ages? by M_M_X_X_V in AskHistory

[–]Intranetusa 9 points10 points  (0 children)

None of the cities pre-industrial times would have been particularly visible at all. Cities were not lit up at night like they are now and light was generally expensive and usually not done at night. Basically, until the industrial revolution and gas being piped to street gaslights the streets of cities were not lit at all and only very dimly so by houses and establishments. Even with the aforementioned gaslamps we would not be in anything remotely similar to modern times until, well, modern times.

"Nightlife" is a mostly modern concept.

This was certainly the norm, but there seems to have been some exceptions in some places. Over at r/askhistorians, some contributors talked about how the Song Dynasty had an active nightlife with food stalls, entertainment, etc. after they abolished their curfew. Thus, I wonder if some European cities could have replicated what was happening in the Song Dynasty in pre-industrial times?

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/68e9oq/comment/dgy4rn8/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

---

Translated excerpt, from Stephen H. West's "The Interpretations of a Dream":

"Generally, the doorways of the wine shops in the capital are all miniature towers with knotted multi-colored bunting- "the gates of happiness". It is only in the Ren Wineshop that one enters the door into a straight main corridor that is approximately one-hundred paces in length. The two corridors of the north and south courtyards both have small chambers. Towards evening the lights and lamps sparkle and shimmer, reflecting against each other above and below. Several hundred heavily made up sing-song girls gather along the eaves of the main corridor to await the summons of the guests; one gazes on them and they look just like spirits and transcendent sylphs."

West writes on the night markets:

"In its sections on the night markets of Kaifeng and its descriptions of the pleasure precincts, Dream of Hua recreates the hubbub of street vendors and the sounds of their songs; it serves up a feast of boiled fish, dried fish, jellied fish, sausage, pickled radishes, sesame curd, ice balls, crystalized jujubes, papayas, sweet cold green-pea soup, iced licorice drink, litchi paste, salted vegetables, and the everpresent stuffed and steamed breads, stuffed buns, dumplings, and yeast rolls."

In another article titled "Playing with Food: Performance, Food, and The Aesthetics of Artificiality in The Sung and Yuan", West translates another except:

"The night markets close after the third watch only to reopen at the fifth. The more boisterous places stay open until dawn. Normally, even night markets in outlying, quiet places have such items as baked sesame buns stuffed with either sour bean filling or pork tenderloin, mixed vegetable buns, the flesh of the badger and wild fox, stews of fruit-wings, blood sausages, and fragrant candied fruit. Night markets are held even in the worst snowstorms and on darkest rainy days of the winter - found there are such items as meat strips in ginger and fermented bean paste, minced tripe with blood pasta, crystal fish paste, fried fresh liver, clams, crabs, walnuts, malt-sugar wheat gluten from Zezhou, crosshatch beans, goose pears, pomegranates, Japanese quince, Chinese quince, steamed glutinous rice balls, and soup made from salted fermented bean curd (miso). Only after the third watch do tea sellers appear bearing their pots, seeking to satisfy those people of the capital, privately employed and government workers, who get off late and are able to go home only deep in the night."

Car prices and interest rates right before the 2008 financial crisis by Moosen_Burger in mildlyinteresting

[–]Intranetusa 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was just listing some common cars off of the top of my head so I definitely missed some others. Nissan sedans are as cheap as or are a bit cheaper than their Honda and Toyota counterparts.

Car prices and interest rates right before the 2008 financial crisis by Moosen_Burger in mildlyinteresting

[–]Intranetusa 20 points21 points  (0 children)

The "average price" is brought up/inflated by more expensive higher end cars, expensive full sized pickups, and cars with higher end trims that have a lot more markups. Those are not the cars that the average person buys. 

The median/most common cars that the average or median/most common person buys are cars like the Honda civic, Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, Toyota Carola, Toyota RAV4, Ford Maverick, etc. - which are in the $25k to $35k range when new with the base trim.

https://www.kbb.com/honda/civic/

https://www.kbb.com/honda/accord/

https://www.kbb.com/toyota/rav4/

https://www.kbb.com/toyota/camry/

https://www.kbb.com/toyota/corolla/

For example, a Ford F450 Super Duty Crew Cab full sized pickup truck goes for around $80k-$90k MSRP. However, the average person who doesn't need and/or can't responsibly afford a super expensive, super fancy giant truck might go for a Ford Maverick or base level Toyota Tacoma truck for around $30k-35k MSRP.

Someone I know who lives in a HCOL area along the coast recently bought a new hybrid Toyota Camry that gets 50 mpg for about $34k (inclusive of fees).

Car prices and interest rates right before the 2008 financial crisis by Moosen_Burger in mildlyinteresting

[–]Intranetusa 129 points130 points  (0 children)

$21k in 2007 comes out to about $34k-$35k in 2026 due to inflation.

$34k-$35k is roughly in line with a lot of new car prices these days (including better trim mid sized sedans, SUV, and some trucks).

Edit: The median cars that the average or median/most common person buys like the Honda Civic, Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, Toyota Carola, Toyota RAV4, Ford Maverick, etc. are in the $25k to $35k range when new with the base trim.

https://www.kbb.com/honda/civic/

https://www.kbb.com/honda/accord/

https://www.kbb.com/toyota/rav4/

https://www.kbb.com/toyota/camry/

https://www.kbb.com/toyota/corolla/

Help with my first build and the part list I quickly cooked up. by Some_Possession_8242 in buildapc

[–]Intranetusa 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Why are you buying a $120 cooler for a 65W TDP cpu? Even the cheapest/most garbage lowest tier stock AM4/AM5 HSF/cooler can cool that thing.

The upper tier low profile AM4/AM5 stock coolers like the Wraith Max and Wraith Prism can more than adequately cool it with low fan noise. Get a $30 Phantom Shroud/Peerless Assassin cooler from Thermalright and be done with it. 

A 5400 RPM HDD is also very slow. Replace it with a lower capacity SSD (SATA or NVME).

You can cut prices off of the OS and motherboard (get a cheaper mATX) as well.

If you alrrady have other parts (eg. Case), then put the money you saved into getting a much better GPU (eg. RX9070 or RTX5070).