16th Century Rajput warrior elephant armor from India
16th Century Rajput warrior elephant armor from India
Absolutely terrifying. 10/10 would not hold formation against
It's undoubtedly animal cruelty, but I can't think of anything much more intimidating on the battlefield pre-industrialization. You can see why Hannibal used them against the Romans. They must have been shitting themselves in terror seeing those giant creatures charging at them.
Fighting an elephant with pre gun powder weapons has to be the closest a human can get to fighting a D&D monster.
I feel bad for the elephants. Trunk armor is really cool, but it's not worth making an elephant miserable.
As terrifying and formidable as this looks, I was reading that one of the often overlooked aspects of war elephants is their logistic and engineering value. Imagine if your army had bulldozers and forklifts while your enemy had shovels and ropes.
I think their value is mostly one of intimidation. Especially for armies that had never encountered elephants before.
The apparently were really good at destroying formations, especially if the managed to make their way behind the front. Also they are highly trainable.