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[Quietust]

Don't forget Maces. I had a Macelord with an Artifact silver mace... he kicked ass.

Heavy like a hammer, pointy like a spear. ( at least kind of ). Plus a hammer with spikes on is much more Dwarfy IMO

Maces don't have spikes on them - they can have flanges or knobs to pierce armor, but they're otherwise blunt. If you're picturing a spiked ball on a stick, then you're thinking of a morning star.

[Cheveux]

I just realised that I've been imagining maces wrong this whole time. They were merely a sphere on a stick until now.
Anyway, is it me or maces are pretty suckish? What avantage do they offer compared to hammers?

To prevent further confusion :

Spoiler: Maces (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Hammer* (click to show/hide)

* That's actually a horseman's pick, but they're pretty similar and look much more badass.

[hjd_uk]

Don't forget Maces. I had a Macelord with an Artifact silver mace... he kicked ass.

Heavy like a hammer, pointy like a spear. ( at least kind of ). Plus a hammer with spikes on is much more Dwarfy IMO

Maces don't have spikes on them - they can have flanges or knobs to pierce armor, but they're otherwise blunt. If you're picturing a spiked ball on a stick, then you're thinking of a morning star.

Ah, yes. Thought the distinction between a morning-star and a mace was that a morning-star was on a chain... i guess thats a Flail that happens to have a morning-star on the end.
Still, maces are kinda pointy:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

*edit* Ha, Ninja'd

[Cheveux]

Looking at the raws, I saw that maces are twice as big as hammers and have twice the contact area.
I know that the contact area helps to penetrate armor, but what will the size augmentation do? Is it worth the augmentation of the contact area?

[hjd_uk]

Looking at the raws, I saw that maces are twice as big as hammers and have twice the contact area.
I know that the contact area helps to penetrate armor, but what will the size augmentation do? Is it worth the augmentation of the contact area?

Im not familiar with the mechanics fo the game but i would assume that the 2x Size and the same contact area would mean 2x the penetration as the pressure per cm^2 is doubled, but as the contact area is also doubled the pressure and therefore the penetration is the same, except the weapon does more overall damage (due to having more weight). Being twice the size I assume it can be used at half the rate of a hammer?

[MadocComadrin]

Ah, yes. Thought the distinction between a morning-star and a mace was that a morning-star was on a chain... i guess thats a Flail that happens to have a morning-star on the end.
Still, maces are kinda pointy:

Errm, sortof. A mace, as previously mentioned, is blunt. A morningstar has actual sharp points, and is described as going through armor like prunes through an old woman. The flangs (as in the image you posted), spikes, or knobs on a mace while "pointy" aren't all that sharp.

A flail, on the other hand, is pretty much any weapon with at least two sections attached with a chain (there are exceptions of course, such as the kusarigama, kunai-with-chain, kyoketsu-shoge, etc (I can't think of any western exceptions, tbh)). The head could be a mace head or a morning-star's head, but it can also be a wooden shaft (studded, spiked, or plain), or a metal shaft.

Some other tidbits of information. The flail itself has agricultural origins, and in general also includes the nunchaku and the three-sectioned staff.

[Befenismor]

You'd think it'd be easier to smash bronze or glass with a hammer than with axes and especially swords.

[MadocComadrin]

In real life, I'd go with a pick for either...or maybe a bec de corbin or Lucerne hammer for the best of both worlds.

[Jake]

In real life, I'd go with a pick for either...or maybe a bec de corbin or Lucerne hammer for the best of both worlds.

Funny you should mention that.

Spoiler: Modded-in "crow's beak" (click to show/hide)

[ITEM_WEAPON:ITEM_WEAPON_CROWSBEAK]
[NAME:crow's beak:crow's beaks]
[SIZE:500]
[SKILL:HAMMER]
[TWO_HANDED:47500]
[MINIMUM_SIZE:42500]
[MATERIAL_SIZE:4]
[ATTACK:EDGE:100:1200:strike:strikes:point:2000]
[ATTACK:BLUNT:10:200:bash:bashes:poll:2000]
[ATTACK:BLUNT:100:1000:strike:strikes:pommel:1000]

I sat down and made that just after I picked up The Dwarves by Marcus Heistz, as there's a prominent dwarf character in that book whose preferred weapon is apparently a bec de corbin.

[BeforeLifer]

Thought once about halberds, anyone tried out? In adventure mode they are quite great.

Dont know if this has been talked about but anyway.
I fine halberds to be a fairly good alaround weapon(keep in mind that I did some weapon modding to make 2h weapons worth it as well as giving most of them to the dwarfs XD) and I also gave it a Hammer like some halberds of the middle ages did (it was a PAIN to make it usefull but not as good as hammers though). Also for maces I find that there better than hammers. Basicly your appling the same force per whatever unit DF uses over 2 times as much area. I have shattered bones with maces that hammers of equal quaility and materal would only frature. Thoughts?

[dr_random]

I like the halberd because it's versatile. It's got slash and stab which might not be as good as the pure axe or spear but it makes up by being useful in many situations. There's a set of weapons that provide some dual use aspects. War hammers came with a pick-like shape opposite the hammer-head, pole arms came with different blades, points and hooks to deal with armoured riders.
Mr. Blunty is surely a lord among medieval weapons because you can always bruise the head inside that helmet - *gong* - but he often would struggle to disable the foe, even if he hurt him. Comrade Slashek and Sir Stabby get things done quicker, I suppose, once someone had cracked that armour first or of they were wielded by crack users knowing exactly where to point them.

So basically, there is no all-round super weapon and a mix will do better than concentrating on just one type.

There are just too many different enemies to face, which is a letdown only to those of us who like to set up neat professional teams of specialists in shiny armour and so. I conclude it might be better to regard them as a kind of ad-hoc militia where the recruitment goes like 'bring whatever you can grab'.

Still, I like neat and clean and in this game of slash, pierce and blunt I go for picking two of them and form two squads plus a squad of marksdwarves and maybe the ceremonial watch. I'll have to force myself to mix them all up (course not the shootaz) but I figure I'll not be seeing spear and shield walls any time soon.

[scriver]

I just realised that I've been imagining maces wrong this whole time. They were merely a sphere on a stick until now.

It's not wrong - a spherical or cubical head-on-a-stick is the original/basic form of the mace. Flanged and knobbed maces are just more refined.

[Eddren]

I like the halberd because it's versatile. It's got slash and stab which might not be as good as the pure axe or spear but it makes up by being useful in many situations. There's a set of weapons that provide some dual use aspects. War hammers came with a pick-like shape opposite the hammer-head, pole arms came with different blades, points and hooks to deal with armoured riders.
Mr. Blunty is surely a lord among medieval weapons because you can always bruise the head inside that helmet - *gong* - but he often would struggle to disable the foe, even if he hurt him. Comrade Slashek and Sir Stabby get things done quicker, I suppose, once someone had cracked that armour first or of they were wielded by crack users knowing exactly where to point them.

So basically, there is no all-round super weapon and a mix will do better than concentrating on just one type.

There are just too many different enemies to face, which is a letdown only to those of us who like to set up neat professional teams of specialists in shiny armour and so. I conclude it might be better to regard them as a kind of ad-hoc militia where the recruitment goes like 'bring whatever you can grab'.

Still, I like neat and clean and in this game of slash, pierce and blunt I go for picking two of them and form two squads plus a squad of marksdwarves and maybe the ceremonial watch. I'll have to force myself to mix them all up (course not the shootaz) but I figure I'll not be seeing spear and shield walls any time soon.

Something I always like doing is militarizing all of my Forts, and having each Squad have its own weapon.
The Honor-Guard is a bunch of Danger-Room Trained Halbardiers whom I send to kill an FB or Titan, and came back alive..AND with the kill.

[Hyndis]

I prefer swords in my fortress.

They're a jack of all trades but master of none, and this is deal because swordmasters can easily handle nearly almost any threat a fortress will ever face. They may not be specialized to handle any particular threat but their strength is their versatility.

[Wannazzaki]

My rag tag bunches of misfits carry whatever the hell they feel like using. Eventually my armies are diverse and capable of dealing with anything! Except loyalty cascades, tantrum spirals and certain syndromes which melt's only faces giving me a fortress made of little bearded Ghostriders.