flanged rule

no banana @lemmy.world to 196@lemmy.blahaj.zone – 257 points –
54

Morningstar.

I'm partial to a regular old mace

Nice and simple, very swingy

Honestly mace is just a stick but better at hitting stuff. So simple yet elegant. Best weapon.

Also doubles as a cane for that plausible deniability, just gotta have a tennis ball on hand.

I used to be herdcore Morningstar. More of a pole arm guy these days

Quarterstaff, I like plausible deniability.

That flail is certainly the worst of the lot. Terrible impractical weapon with scant evidence of it ever being used by anyone.

There's a two-handed version of the flail that is basically an agricultural threshing tool with spikes stuck into the head, which is much more plausible as a peasant's weapon (very similar development process as the nunchaku, also a highly overrated weapon). However most weapons that feature a flexible rope/chain part in their design all suffer from the same drawbacks: difficult to control, and limited striking power.

The two-handed version of the flail is definitely real and a reasonably formidable weapon. I study at a Spanish HEMA school and we have one source—Mendoza—which basically says it should be used in the same way as the montante (the Spanish greatsword), except without thrusts. Like the montante, its best value is when against multiple opponents, such as doing crowd control or escorting someone. Mendoza also describes his flail as being made of three separate chains with individual weights on them, rather than one large thrasher-like tool as shown in the headline artwork on the Wikipedia page.

Good for multiple opponents sure sounds like you actually mean "good for putting down peasant revolts where they're both underarmed and unarmored"

More so for defending yourself against multiple people or holding a bridge head

The only time a fighter can be assumed to win with even 2 to 1 odds is with a significant material and training advantage. And they'd still be better off with a weapon that isn't a gimmick.

Oh you so mighty and knowledgeable in the martial arts teach us your wisdom

This post is just making me nostalgic for Diablo 2, but also Bec de Corbin because it's unique

bec de corbin is the best because it can not only do blunt damage, but also the beak is basically the strongest thing you can have

the thing strikes through chainmail like its nothing!

Where the Goedendag? Not only is it a large club with a spike for good measure, but it has a Dutch name that means "good day", or "hello".

I had never heard of this, that is certainly my new favourite

Halberd, despite it's impracticality in general combat

Not very blunt but such a good weapon anyway. Great utility and combat power if you don't have to lug it to another country to fight with.

Half of these are more pointy than blunt

I was just saying the other day to my dad while he was watching reruns, that I wanna see the smiths making flails on Forged in Fire because it would really show their craftsmanship imo. The fact it has a chain as part of it would be an interesting challenge to watch. But mostly I wanna see Doug kill some dummies with one.

Mine is the Morningstar. Unfortunately never gone far enough with medieval stuff to be able to infodump about them.

The lack of morningstar fans is surprising. my fave is the morningstar by a lot, the sheer brutality and devastating capability against armored targets of the thing is just awesome.

quarterstaff or bec de corbin for me. Quarterstaff can also be concealed as a walking stick, while bec de corbin gives many options (blunt weapon, armor piering spike, long poky bit)

holding 30kg staff

You wouldn't part an old man from his walking stick would you?

A quarterstaff is just a big stick, no need for fancy iron parts like the one pictured