Quote:
Originally Posted by Tomsdad
I'm not sure a sword or club is that much* less stiff than an axe or mace (at least assuming your hitting edge on with the sword, but it would certainly be a factor for thrusts with swords). If nothing else the stiffness/flex of an axe vs. club is going to depend largely on the haft.
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The stiffness of the haft isn't really that important; what matters is the part of the weapon that holds most of the energy and momentum of the strike. When a weapon hits a target, the weapon deforms until the force required to deform the weapon exceeds the strength of the target or weapon, or all of the energy of the strike is absorbed. For an axe or a hammer, the amount of force required to deform the weapon rises extremely quickly; for a sword or rod, it rises less quickly.