real world weapons vs. armor

[AxeMental]

This question is directed at P&P or anyone else into Medieval / Late Medieval weaponry.

I have heard alot about certain weapons having been designed to combat certain technological advancements in armor like plate, chain etc. (cutting vs. smashing vs. pointed). For instance, Iv'e heard that flails and maces were more effective against plate compared to cutting the blade of a sword (but is this true or myth?).

I have seen paintings and wall hangings of guys in metal armor getting their arms and legs cut off in Medieval paintings etc. with sword, which would suggest a sword is effective against metal armor. Of course this may have been embellishment by the winning side, but then again perhaps not.


If such an advantage was given by one type of weapon over another against particular armor, how much of an advantage was it (slight, great)? For instance, if you were a knight fighting infantry in light armor and you used a sword effectively to penetrate there armor, would the knight typically also carry weapons more useful against heavy armor (like a fluted mace) to battle an opposing well armored knight? or did they typically stick to one weapon type?

A follow up on that question: is it known how many different types of weapons your average medievil knight carried on himself and his horse into battle.

[PapersAndPaychecks]

axemental said:

This question is directed at P&P or anyone else into Medieval / Late Medieval weaponry.

I have heard alot about certain weapons having been designed to combat certain technological advancements in armor like plate, chain etc. (cutting vs. smashing vs. pointed). For instance, Iv'e heard that flails and maces were more effective against plate compared to cutting the blade of a sword (but is this true or myth?).

Armour divides into three approximate categories.

First, there is the leather or cloth padding worn beneath the armour. Its function is to absorb the impact (or crushing effect) of the blow.

Second, there is mail, or other flexible linked armours. The purpose of mail is to absorb the cutting effect of the blow.

Third, there is plate, which is usually shaped to deflect spearpoints and other piercing weapons. This should explain why plate is usually quite globular in appearance.

A hafted weapon such as an axe or mace has its centre of balance closer to the head than a sword. Therefore, when swung with full force, it generally hits a bit harder. A sword compensates for this by its superior cutting power - except against a guy in mail or plate, in which case that's lost.

So there is a benefit for maces and axes against a fully-armoured foe, which is significant but not decisive.

A follow up on that question: is it known how many different types of weapons your average medievil knight carried on himself and his horse into battle.

There's a depiction of a Norse warrior with spear, axe, sword and hunting knife. It was also common practice for a knight to carry a spear or lance and two hand weapons (one as a backup) plus his dagger or poniard.

Because the knight would tend to have a hand weapon on each hip, the dagger or poniard often hung down from the centre of the belt. This kind of dagger was called a "bollock" dagger; and the name of the sheath was a four-letter word beginning with C, which rapidly acquired an alternative meaning...

Edited to add: The point of a flail wasn't to pierce armour - it was to get around your opponent's shield. You would try to hit him such that the chain part of the flail impacted on the rim of the shield, so the head would swing round and break his arm. Shields were a lot more effective than AD&D would have you believe, so this made flails very useful until shields went out of fashion, despite the fact that they're hard to control.

I can't comment too much on flails because the safety regulations of every steel weapons combat society of which I am aware, include a blanket ban on articulated weapons. This is for good reasons of safety (even a very skilled user can struggle to control them) but it makes articulated weapons very hard to experiment with.

[AxeMental]

Thanks P&P, you still have it.

Thats interesting about the flail, had never heard that. I had always assumed thier was some advantage in force created or perhaps speed.