If you want, feel free to read the information below and then make your vote below to settle this age-old dispute Ninjas: Advantages: - Cheap to recruit and would have their own armour - Had a wide variety of weapons and techniques - Often worked for money or close family ties; no diplomacy required - A rather bizarre depiction of them is famous across the Western world (and probably the Japanese one, but I wouldn't bet on it) - Stealthy, useful for spying, sabotage, and assassination Disadvantages: - Their armour, if they had any, was of bad quality, and with most of them their experience reflected their price - Weapons were impractical and the techniques required more thought than a fleeing assassin would have given - You'd better have more money than your opponent - There is no record of their accomplishments - It is impossible for them to be stealthy in the locations where they do most of their work Gallowglasses: Advantages: - Trained from a young age and experienced through battle; had their own armour and weapons - Many weapons suitable for the battlefield, including javelins, axes, claymores, daggers, and bows - Always worked for supplies rather than money - Almost entirely unheard of despite their legacy; will be underestimated by their ninja opponents - Not that stealthy, but trained in wrestling and boxing, and to use their minds rather than fight as a unit Disadvantages: - Would often go to schools run by professionals for their training, would have tactics similar to those of others - Often preferred one weapon; their kerns, responsible for their weapons, may not be available to give them a new one on the battlefield - They had two kerns to feed. They'd want a lot of resources, especially if they were being paid to fight their own kinsmen, in which case they could charge ridiculous prices - Who are they? What? No reputation. - Not that stealthy
Galowglasses were pretty good front line warriors, and even gave Julius Ceasar's legions a good fight when he invaded Britannia, so in a straight up head to head fight, so in a straight up head to head fight, I'd have to give the edge to the Gallowglasses. Actually, this reminds me, there's this show on Spike TV here in the U.S. called Deadliest Warrior, where they talk to historical experts about the different types of warriors throughout history. They put the parameters into the computer and do a best out of a thousand matchup between two warriors. One episode they did pitted a ninja against a spartan. The Spartan won around 2/3 of the time.
Galowglasses in a head to head fight hands down. The only problem would be when the ninjas crept up on them in their sleep or poisoned their stout. And shield for the win! Won almost all of the fights for the Spartan on Deadliest Warrior. 40g's of force on impact!
That's why you don't screw with a Greek hoplite soldier (particularly a Spartan one). Oh and sorry for the off topic.
Gallowglasses? Julius Caesar? Surely you jest! Now, I'm no expert, but having a bit of Irish and Scottish (O'Loughlin on my father's side and Stewart on my mother's side) floating around in my mongrel American genes, I like to look this stuff up from time to time. Gallowglasses were men of the Isles around Scotland of mixed Norse-Gaelic blood and were famous mercenaries around the British Isles (possibly furhter afield, I've really no clue about that though.) They were famous particularly in Ireland, where they served as possibly the only reliable heavy infantry the Irish had that could mix it up with the English on open ground. They tended to wear heavy armor (though not as heavy as some may believe. Medieval armor, being distributed over the whole body, is actually not nearly as cumbersome as you may expect) and carried large, well-balanced axes and swords as their main weapons; though they also were at least familiar with a variety of other weapons that our resident Gael has listed. And ninjas are poncy gits, so there! Gallowglass by decapitation.
That would probably be the ninjas XD. They're devious like that Never heard of a Gallowglass, but they sound awesome. I always thought Ninjas were overrated pushovers anyway. They're assassins, not soldiers. Put them in a real fight and they drop like flies (Spartan versus Ninja can't be a better way of putting it XD).
Outside of the British Isles there were gallowglasses in the Hundred Years War, the French Wars of Religion, the Italian Wars, the Baltic Crusades, the Hussite Wars, the Dutch Revolt, and the Thirty Year's War. But yep I voted gallowglasses, in case there was any doubt
