Blade on a Stick: Difference between revisions

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** The poleaxe (also known as pollaxe; there is still much dispute about whether its name actually referred to the fact that it was on a pole) was one of the most versatile melee weapons ever seen. Its head had either an axe blade or a hammer on the front, a hook on the back, and a spike on the top. Depending on the variant, the main tactic was to either chop with the axe blade or crush the enemy's armor (preferably his helmet) with the hammer. A secondary tactic was to hook the enemy (preferably between the plates to cause a painful wound) and knock him to the ground, then use the spike to kill him before he can get up (as the weight of his armor would make that difficult to do). Many poleaxes also had a second spike on the bottom of the shaft. Oddly, despite being both effective and impressive-looking, poleaxes are rarely seen in fiction.

*** The whole darn contraption is a weapon. Heck, you get an axe, spear, can opener, tripping hook and hockey stick for cross-checking at price of one. Small surprise knights favoured this thingy while fighting on foot.

* In at least one manuscript on personal combat from the Middle Ages the author listed weapons in a sort of [[Rock-Paper-Scissors]] fashion. The halberd was listed as the best weapon of all ~~and~~ no ~~surprise,~~ all polearms combine several ways of hurting people (facetiously described by one historian as 'prodding, slicing, hacking and thumping') with a 6-foot reach, ~~halberds~~ combine all of them into one nasty package.

* In at least one manuscript on personal combat from the Middle Ages the author listed weapons in a sort of [[Rock-Paper-Scissors]] fashion. The halberd was listed as the best weapon of all. No surprise there: all polearms combine several ways of hurting people (facetiously described by one historian as 'prodding, slicing, hacking and thumping') with a 6-foot-or-more reach. Halberds combine all of them into one nasty package.

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** The halberd is ''often'' considered the greatest polearm of all time. There were two main types — they shared an axe blade on one side and a spear-like point on top. The difference is the other side — the version for dealing with unarmored opponents had a hook to trip the opponents or pull away the shield, while the one for dealing with armored opponents had a hammer for smashing armor and crushing helmets. This versatility let it hold out or win against any type of weapon, from the sword to the pike.

* The Polearm was so effective, halfswording was invented so that a sword could be wielded like a very short spear. Though the technique didn't afford the benefit of the spear's length, it did give the sword the spear's superior point control and thrusting capabilities, which were very useful against armored opponents.

** Half-swording is also much faster than using any polearm and the thrusts can be made with much greater accuracy and precision.

** This troper has found half-swording to be the most effective greatswords technique to fight against an opponent with sword and shield.

* [[Oda Nobunaga]]'s favoured weapon on the battlefield was the [http://www.freewebs.com/toufuushogunate/Nagamaki.jpg nagamaki], which is similar to a katana with a handle as long as the blade, apart from it counts as a polearm, not a sword.

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* The halberd is often considered the greatest polearm of all time. There two main types- they shared an axe blade on one side and a spear-like point on top. The difference is the other side- for dealing with unarmored opponents~~, it~~ had a hook ~~for~~ ~~tripping~~ the opponents or ~~pulling~~ away the shield. ~~For~~ dealing with armored opponents~~, it~~ had a hammer for smashing armor and crushing helmets. This versatility let it hold out or win against any type of weapon, from the sword to the pike.

* The Chinese had a large variety of polearms. Students of Chinese martial arts are generally encouraged to start with the staff and spear when learning weapons, as they are considered to be the best for training body coordination, since a practitioner must utilize all parts of their body in equal amounts of complexity in order to properly wield the weapon. Some schools may go as far as making them compulsory before learning other weapons.

** The most eponymous are the usual longspear (fixed with a tassel behind the blade which, in expert hands, can help distract the opponent and interfere with his/her ability to judge where the point is going, as well as preventing blood from running down the haft and making it slippery)

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*** The last weapon has a spade-like or axe-like blade fixed to one end and a crescent-shaped blade on the other.

** There's also a weapon known as Bandit Sword which is like a Guan Dao with a much shorter pole.

* Some sadistic ~~Flemming~~ comboed this trope with [[Carry a Big Stick]] to create the ''goedendag'': a pole several inches in diameter, reinforced with iron bands or studs, and with a spear or pike point on top. The idea was to spear your ~~opponenent~~ off of his horse with the pike, and then bludgeon him to death with the pole. All the effectiveness of a halberd or poleaxe, none of the extra manufacturing time.

* Some sadistic Fleming comboed this trope with [[Carry a Big Stick]] to create the ''goedendag'': a pole several inches in diameter, reinforced with iron bands or studs, and with a spear or pike point on top. The idea was to spear your opponent off of his horse with the pike, and then bludgeon him to death with the pole. All the effectiveness of a halberd or poleaxe, none of the extra manufacturing time.

** An important design feature was that the point was smaller then the shaft. Thus you can stab a horse and easily recover your weapon. Boar spears have sort of a sidebar design under the blade for the same reason. The tactic for boar hunting consists of letting a big furious animal with mean tusks charge at you ~~fullspeed~~, catch him on your spear, pull it out and quickly kill or immobilize it before it rips your bowels apart. If your only weapon is the one you're using to stop charging horses with, you need a decent of being able to use it against the angry knight in full armor ~~that's~~ sitting on said horse. A simple pointy stick or point on a stick will likely get stuck deep in the horse.

** An important design feature was that the point was smaller then the shaft. Thus you can stab a horse and easily recover your weapon. Boar spears have sort of a sidebar design under the blade for the same reason. The tactic for boar hunting consists of letting a big furious animal with mean tusks charge at you full speed, catch him on your spear, pull it out and quickly kill or immobilize him before he rips your bowels apart. If your only weapon is the one you're using to stop charging horses with, you need a decent chance of being able to use it against the angry knight in full armor sitting on said horse. A simple pointy stick or point on a stick will likely get stuck deep in the horse.

* [[Older Than Dirt]]: Spears tipped with stone, bone, and antler points are among the first weapons ever used by humans, going back thousands of years to the Ice Age.