Quote:
Originally Posted by Flyndaran
Compared to swords for versatility, picks and maces against armor, axes were horrible
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Compared to maces and picks for versatility, and compared to swords against armour... this is not just me being silly, but referencing axe/pick combination weapons, or longaxes having their uses.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tomsdad
Polearms we're exceptionally versatile, and came with other advantages such as being cheap, relatively easy to drill with and allowed dense formations etc (although this later depends on what polearms and how they were used).
All of which is demonstrated by the fact that nasty things on the end of long sticks (which includes spears) were basically the pre-eminent battlefield melee weapon for thousands of years. However...
... the same can not be said of axes, despite their relative cheapness and wide spread use and availability outside the battlefield. The oft cited John II at Poitiers preference for an axe only goes so far in a wider context.
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I was under the impression that purpose-built military axes persisted across centuries, at least during the medieval period – not to the same popularity as spears/polearms or swords, of course, but there's a lot of ground between “less awesome than spears/polearms” and “horrible.” I also get the feeling that purpose-building war axes would have faded away if they were clearly inferior weapons.
A grey area that muddies the waters further is axe-polearms, like pollaxes or halberds.