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[vagel7]

From wikipedia.

That is a war pick and it was used very rarely cause it would get stuck in the enemies body and was very very hard to remove. They were effective of piercing armour though.

[PTTG??]

It's kind of amazing how little RPGs seem to have in common with real swordfighting, replacing boring dodging, tactics, agility, and martial arts with two people standing face to face and slapping each other with swords until one of them suddenly dies.

[Lysabild]

From wikipedia.

That is a war pick and it was used very rarely cause it would get stuck in the enemies body and was very very hard to remove. They were effective of piercing armour though.

No it's a war hammer, although Horseman's Pick and War Hammer are easily confused, that is most certainly a war hammer.

[Shinziril]

I have to say out of maces this one always amused me.  It tapers along its length and has a weighted pommel, so it has a sword-like balance rather than the more typical mace with a heavily weighted head, but that doesn't change the fact that it's basically an angle iron with a handle. 

[Kay12]

It's kind of amazing how little RPGs seem to have in common with real swordfighting, replacing boring dodging, tactics, agility, and martial arts with two people standing face to face and slapping each other with swords until one of them suddenly dies.

It's all in the abstraction, I suppose.

[G-Flex]

I have to say out of maces this one always amused me.  It tapers along its length and has a weighted pommel, so it has a sword-like balance rather than the more typical mace with a heavily weighted head, but that doesn't change the fact that it's basically an angle iron with a handle.

I'm a little skeptical. Do we have evidence that these existed, and were in significant use, from someplace that isn't trying to sell you a replica?

[Eagleon]

I'm a little skeptical. Do we have evidence that these existed, and were in significant use, from someplace that isn't trying to sell you a replica?

Well... this doesn't quite count, but at least it has pictures of an original, and an old painting with something like it. http://therionarms.com/reenact/therionarms_c1189.html I'm surprised they bothered, personally, seems like a difficult weld for that period for little payoff, though I'm guessing it could stand quite a bit of abuse compared to a traditional shaft.

[counting]

I'm a little skeptical. Do we have evidence that these existed, and were in significant use, from someplace that isn't trying to sell you a replica?

Well... this doesn't quite count, but at least it has pictures of an original, and an old painting with something like it. http://therionarms.com/reenact/therionarms_c1189.html I'm surprised they bothered, personally, seems like a difficult weld for that period for little payoff, though I'm guessing it could stand quite a bit of abuse compared to a traditional shaft.

I think it's quite similar to the Chinese weaponry - 鐧

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

It's quite just like a steel bar with a handle. It's used to compliment with longer weapons when you are in a close combat situations, and probably as ancient as 2 thousand years. But it's not a major combat weapons. 雜兵. In ancient time it has sharper edges towards the tip.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[Iapetus]

This is why the Mordhau was a common technique in medieval armored combat. The knight would grab the blade of his sword and bash his opponent with the pommel.

I have to say that if you're a knight, and you're developing techniques like holding your sword by the blade to bash a guy with the handle because you know it will be more effective enough to bother, you're way too fucking stubborn.  Any knight who wasn't a blockhead would be using a mace.  That's what they're for.

If this was actually a common thing, my appreciation of warriors of old has dropped immensely.

But that would require having a mace with you, which might not always be possible or practical.  (When you're running around with 30 kilos of steel on you, and your ability to stay alive and do something useful depends on you not getting tired out, you probably don't want to carry more weight than you have to).

From what I've seen of medieval sword-fighting manuals, and demonstrations, it seems to be more about "how to win a fight when you have a sword, and your opponent has one too", rather than modern notions of swordplay.  And an important part of that is knowing that the handle end of the sword contains lots of hard, heavy projections that can be used to bash (or hook) people with.

(Indeed, this was part of the design; the and crossguard and pommel, as well as having the obvious purpose of protecton and balance, were also intended for hitting people with.  And the ricasso (the part of the blade closest to the handle) was often unsharpened, so you could hold it, either for the purpose of bashing, or for half-swording (what the other guy in the picture is doing: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half-sword).

I wasn't around at the time, but I suspect the good sir knights preferred slaughtering unarmoured peasant levies from horseback and only engaged other armoured knights in melee when no other option was available. A longsword is then a good choice. A quality sword was mandatory bling for a proper knight in any case, a mace is so uncivilized.

Actually, maces were also seen as symbols of authority, and perfectly appropriate for a knight.  Originally, I think, because as a blunt weapon, they were useful for pushing people around with, or giving unruly servants or reluctand soldiers a slap, as well as for pointing

[G-Flex]

I'm a little skeptical. Do we have evidence that these existed, and were in significant use, from someplace that isn't trying to sell you a replica?

Well... this doesn't quite count, but at least it has pictures of an original, and an old painting with something like it. http://therionarms.com/reenact/therionarms_c1189.html I'm surprised they bothered, personally, seems like a difficult weld for that period for little payoff, though I'm guessing it could stand quite a bit of abuse compared to a traditional shaft.

Interesting. It could have always been a very specialized weapon, though, or simply something that never caught on because it wasn't very useful. It's hard to say.

It's also worth noting that despite the overall shape, the mass is still concentrated toward the end to some degree, rather than being completely straight.

[Willfor]

I've found videos like this to be fairly informative on combat techniques people in plate armor would have been using. Or at the very least, the training they went through, and their sparring techniques. Sword combat becomes more complex when both you and your opponent are wearing sword-resistant armor; your sword becomes a short staff-like weapon that can be used as a lever/lethal edge/blunt instrument all at once.

When you stop looking at it for it's very obvious use, and look at it as a multipurpose tool, a sword is fairly versatile. The key to every weapon is all in how you make use of it.

The key to being a knight would be to not carry only a single weapon.

[MonkeyHead]

Dont forget though that in the vast majority of medieval set piece battles, most combatants would not have been Knights in plate armour, and instead bonded serfs doing thier feudal duty.

[MaximumZero]

The key to being a knight would be to not carry only a single weapon.

This right here is basically why the Samurai was a walking armory. Katana or No-dachi, Wakizashi, Tanto, Bow and arrows, Spear of some kind, Tessen (iron fan, for blocking and use as a club), Jutte (sword-blocking truncheon).

[Leafsnail]

The key to being a knight would be to not carry only a single weapon.

Wouldn't you usually get your large entourage of peasants (the ones looking after your horse, helping you into your armour and so on) to carry additional weapons for you?

[MaximumZero]

And your armor. And your supplies for your horse. And extra food and camping equipment if you were going a long way. And they were meatshields.