Weapons Hum Assignment

Types Of Weapons

Sword/Hilt Weapons

These weapons mostly incorporate different types of swords and daggers, which are held by the bottom handle, or "hilt".

Blunt/Trauma Weapons

Weapons that have more blunt ends that cause more bruise-like wounds AND can implant themselves into an opponent. These include maces and hammers.

Cleaving Weapons

The word cleaving means to cut or split. Cleaving weapons are ones that can be used to cut down the enemy, or were previously used to cut something. Examples include axes.

Spears/Polearms

Usually described as handheld weapons that have a long gap between the point and the user of the weapon, from a pole/handle. Weapons under this category include spears, pikes and lances.

Ranged Weapons

Weapons that launch an arrow or another dangerous object at an enemy. These include crossbows, longbows and throwing knives.

Siege Weapons

They were used mainly to raid castles. These are large machines that can do a lot of damage. Some examples are battering rams, trebuchets and ballistas.

Sword/Hilt Weapons

Arming Swords

Also known as knightly swords, the blade and hilt combined were 70 to 80cm long and normally double edged. They are one of the most known, "stereotypical" medieval swords. The small size allowed for the weapon to be one handed, allowing for a shield in the other hand.

Long Sword

It is usually known to have a cross shaped hilt, and is longer than the arming sword, having a blade of around 85 - 110cm and a hilt measuring 16 - 28cm. It was made longer to increase range. The weapon is wielded with both hands.

Combat Knives

Combat Knives were small daggers that were generally used as a last resort weapon in case a soldier was disarmed or lost their weapons in battle. They were small and were mainly in the late stages of the Medieval Ages.

Blunt/Trauma Weapons

Mace

The mace is a blunt weapon with a heavy ball or cylindrical metal head at the end of the shaft. The head also had other additions, such as spikes. It is made of iron, but was also made out of copper, bronze or wood because of the price or lack of materials. It was effective as it could damage armour and could inflict damage without penetrating the armour. It became common throughout the middle ages, but different versions became popular in the 12th century.

War Hammer

The war hammer consists of a handle and a head. The handle's size varies in size, spanning from the distance of a smaller sized spear's handle down to the size of a normal hammer. The longer hammers could be used as polearms to fight cavalry and other opponents from longer range, and the shorter ones were used as close combat weapons, which was effective against armoured opponents.

Cleaving Weapons

Battle Axe

Battle Axes are axes specialised for war. They are very light, from the range of weight from 1 kg to 4kg. Different axes could be wielded differently with either one or both hands. It measured from a range from 30cm to 1.5 mtrs. It usually had a gap in the head of the axe to put wood in to make it more deadly and some had langets, which were big strips of metal to stop it from being damaged.

Horseman's Pick

A horseman's pick is a weapon used mainly by cavalry. It is a type of warhammer with the other side of the head having a spike on the end. It resembled a mining pickaxe, hence the name. It was used to penetrate armour of other cavalrymen and to rip them off their saddles. The weapon was rarely fatal immediately after a blow.

Spears/Polearms

Lance

It is a long spear like weapon wielded by cavalry. There are jousting lances and 'military' lances. Jousting lances were for entertainment and training. They had blunt ends and sometimes were hollow to make it less dangerous. Military lances were more spear like, with a sharp tip. The lance was effective as it was often used on a fast horse, increasing speed and impact damage, as well as having a long reach to avoid the opponent harming himself or the horse.

Pike

The pike is one of the longest polearm weapons. It spans from 3 mtrs to 7.5mtrs. It is 3 - 6 kilos heavy. It has the same uses as a spear, but is especially effective against cavalry when used properly. It is made up of a wooden shaft with a metal point at the end. It is similar to the spear, but much longer and a slightly different head shape.

Ranged Weapons

Bows

A bow is a ranged weapon with an elastic string and an arrow or hard/sharp object. The elastic string is loaded with the arrow, pulled back and let go, releasing the arrow. This principle lies behind the mechanism of most types of bows. The crossbow was slightly different, as the shooting process was easier and the ammunition changed from arrows to bolts. The longbow is a taller version of the normal bow. The increase in height allows for less effort and more power for every arrow used.

Siege Machines/Weapons

Trebuchet/Catapults

Trebuchets and catapults are both large ballistic weapons that throw large round rocks. They rely on elastic energy from rope to sling rocks at enemy castles and walls. The trebuchet is slightly different as there are two types. One is a traction trebuchet, which requires manpower like a catapult, and a counterweight trebuchet, which uses weight from other heavy objects on the other side instead of manpower.

Battering Ram

A battering ram is a wooden structure with wheels which has a large wooden log which swings and builds up energy which is used to break into enemy doors. The wooden frame around it is to make it more powerful and less tiring for the men to charge.

Dis/advantages of Medieval Weapons

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They are very easy to use and effective in close quarters combat. With training, they can be used as a tool against many kinds of enemies. They can be used defensively to parry and use as a makeshift shield.However, longswords give up the abilty to wield a shield. They are not very effective against archers or cavalry.

Hilt Weapons

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Very effective against non armoured and armoured opponents. They can make dents in armour and can cause serious physical damage. However, if implanted hard enough, it can be hard to take it out of a corpse, leaving you vulnerable. Some weapons are not very good against long range battles.

Blunt/Cleaving Weapons

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Some can be used as both close and long range combat weapons. They are very effective against cavalry and important in structured/arranged formations. However, it is hard to fight back if an enemy has past the tip of a spear or if they have avoided bolts/arrows.

Polearms/Ranged Weapons

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They are very useful in castle sieges. Some can also inflict heavy damage on enemy ranks if missed the target(the castle). They are very heavy to carry and take lots of manpower to be useful, and if the projectile misses, it can be a waste of work.