So how exactly do people fight with scythes?

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by sjard

Having used one in real life, the only possible way I could see it working would be to try and chop the feet out from under the enemy.

I find your lack of vision disturbing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_scythe

It is most definitely a cinematic weapon.

On the contrary, it is most definitely an historical weapon. For example, at the Battle of Sedgemoor the rebel infantry consisted of "five great battalions, each of which had one company of at least one hundred scythemen, instead of grenadiers;" (according to the official (victor's) account).

[Mailanka]

Originally Posted by Brett

On the contrary, it is most definitely an historical weapon. For example, at the Battle of Sedgemoor the rebel infantry consisted of "five great battalions, each of which had one company of at least one hundred scythemen, instead of grenadiers;" (according to the official (victor's) account).

...

Yeah, but these are clearly plowshares someone has beaten into swords, not an original scythe that someone is dominating the battlefield with.

[The Colonel]

Originally Posted by Brett

I find your lack of vision disturbing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_scythe

On the contrary, it is most definitely an historical weapon. For example, at the Battle of Sedgemoor the rebel infantry consisted of "five great battalions, each of which had one company of at least one hundred scythemen, instead of grenadiers;" (according to the official (victor's) account).

That's not an agricultural scythe though, anymore than the English Brown Bill was the same as the foresters bill it developed from. At a minimum, what you have there is the blade of an agricultural scythe re-mounted on a spearshaft at 90' to it's original configuration...

[sjard]

Originally Posted by Brett

I find your lack of vision disturbing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_scythe



On the contrary, it is most definitely an historical weapon. For example, at the Battle of Sedgemoor the rebel infantry consisted of "five great battalions, each of which had one company of at least one hundred scythemen, instead of grenadiers;" (according to the official (victor's) account).

This is what I'm referring to.

The farming implement, though the version shown here has its catch basket removed.

[Johnny Angel]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scythe

[Dalillama]

Here
is a 16th c manuscript on scythw fencing. The implements used are straight handled, unlike most modern scythes, making them more weildy as weapons, but less useful as agricultural implements. Note that scythes of this type are/were used as agricultural implements in areas where the curved handles haven't taken off. It's my understanding that the curved handles are more ergonomic for harvesting purposes, but not verty good in a fight.

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by Mailanka

...

Yeah, but these are clearly plowshares someone has beaten into swords, not an original scythe that someone is dominating the battlefield with.

The blades look more like scythe blades than plowshares to me.

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by The Colonel

That's not an agricultural scythe though, anymore than the English Brown Bill was the same as the foresters bill it developed from. At a minimum, what you have there is the blade of an agricultural scythe re-mounted on a spearshaft at 90' to it's original configuration...

People ask "how do people fight with a scythe". I answer (in Post #9): "First step, you take it to the village blacksmith and get him to straighten the tang, then you fight with it like a fauchard". This answer is responsive, correct, and concise, and everyone ignores it.

Originally Posted by sjard

This is what I'm referring to.

The farming implement, though the version shown here has its catch basket removed.

I know what you were referring to. Same as what I'm referring to. You say that fighting with 'em is definitely cinematic. It isn't. They were used quite often in peasant uprisings, using the trick I described in post #9.

The last time there was a pitched battle fought on English soil, at least 500 scythemen fought. Their weapons were scythes, improvised from the agricultural implements. They were contemporaneously referred to as "scythes". That is not "definitely cinematic", it is "definitely historical".

[NorphTehDwarf]

The thing is, once you've turned the blade 90 degrees, it's no longer the kind of scythe that, say, the grim reaper would wield. What was a scythe becomes simply another funny-looking polearm in a world full of funny-looking polearms.

[Rocket Man]

Originally Posted by Brett

.

The last time there was a pitched battle fought on English soil, at least 500 scythemen fought. Their weapons were scythes, improvised from the agricultural implements. They were contemporaneously referred to as "scythes". That is not "definitely cinematic", it is "definitely historical".

Exactly. I think the only thing "cinematic" about this is the old D&D suggestion that someone could fight with an unaltered scythe, like something out of a Grim Reaper portrait. In that instance, you definitely get the Terry Pratchett problem mentioned above.