alucardbarnivous wrote:A little bummed the ninja lost, but the Spartan was certainly a worthy opponent. I called the ninjato, shuriken, torinoko (eggshell bombs), fukidake (blowgun), metsubishi (blinding powder), and chain weapon (kusarigama).
I was surprised tetsubishi (caltrops) didn't make it on, then again it already seemed ridiculous they got three long range weapons to the obvious gimme of the Spartan javelin (to even get close to a damaging shot, the dude was a good six feet away). I was also surprised they combined torinoko and metsubishi; often, blinding powder was thrown by hand from a pouch, blown from a tube, or filling the spare room in the scabbard of the ninjato though surely it was put into eggs or other apparatus for distance (which made it strange for all instances it was used close range). Often, torinoko were smoke bombs, thrown at the feet to create a burning cloud that ninja used to position armored opponents.
Further, shuriken were generally used for means of escape which made it strange in the scenario the ninja stood still and tossed them instead of not running to force the Spartan to keep his shield up blocking his view and vanish (and/or tossing down caltrops, considering the Spartan wore sandals would've impeded movement and targeted a weak spot).
Though I took issue with the scene where the combatants played tug-of-war (the Spartan was completely open, I can't wrap my hand around him not getting a face full of glass and a rain of stars), the biggest shock was a seemingly unaffected Spartan when he did receive a face full of glass. I mean, the ninja would've appeared a blur and I think it unlikely he would've detected the shuriken or able to dodge the blowdarts.
Test wise, I was quite shocked they never tested the ninjato tip against the armor. Reportedly, the tanto tip could penetrate steel plate. If true, it should've eaten through the bronze armor. I mean, the ninjato was designed as a straight blade with tanto tip for the expres purpose of armor piercing, something that went untested.
I have to question if the right men were chosen to represent ninja. The one guy seemed rather out of shape to me even though he appeared to be proficient with the sword. The other guy was like a kung fu fighter whom didn't strike me as being very bright. Both of the Spartans were lean, strong, seasoned fighters.
All that said, that shield really made the Spartans' case. The spear could be rather easily avoided by ninja. The javelin was a joke to give the Spartan another weapon. The sword was a glorified knife. That shield was a freight train from Hell. I can only wonder how it would've went if the ninja could've taken out the shield. I mean, torinoko into a distraction, weighted chain around the shield arm or shield, and a game of chess between the two specialty weapons. I think the ninjato could've penetrated the armor, I doubt the shield if not for its curved surface alone to restrict it getting a good bite.
Disappointed, but this was really a close one imho. Which brings me to what Joshua said: I don't think, at least in this instance, the program could really account for all of the ninja's tools. It was made for weapon vs weapon, it maybe incapable of calculating the ninja's craftiness into its estimation. I think army vs army, it's 65 to 35% Spartan. One on one, I'd say more 55 to 45% Ninja.
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