[Low-Tech/Basic] Pick: War Club or Pickaxe

[Pursuivant]

I've spent entirely too much time using a pickaxe/mattock for gardening, breaking concrete, etc. Admittedly, non-combat uses, but enough that I have a good sense of the tool's balance, reach and heft compared to actual weapons or weapon-like objects I've used in sport melee combat.

For simplicity, treat a pickaxe as a Warhammer. Despite the name, it actually does sw/imp damage and appears to be a weaponized pickaxe with sharper points. (What most people think of as a warhammer is what GURPS describes as a Maul. The warhammer looks like a militarized version of large miner's pick.)

The pick described in GURPS Basic, LT, MA, etc. is a smaller, one-handed weapon which looks a bit like a weaponized mason's hammer or rock pick but with a slightly longer handle.

What most people think of as a pickaxe is actually a pickaxe/mattock or pickaxe/adzes (depending on the exact shape of the non-pick end). It's actually what the Assyrian on the far left is using in the picture that Anthony referenced. These sorts of tools can be treated as a Warhammer which can be turned 180 degrees to do sw/cut damage like a Greataxe.

Due to duller edges/points and design optimized for all-out attacks (strong) against unsuspecting bits of rock or earth, a garden variety pickaxe or pickaxe/mattock can be treated as Improvised (-1 to hit & damage) if you carry it into battle.

If you take off the head, a pickaxe, etc. handle turns into a handy unbalanced club. Treat it as a Round Mace with no penalties for being an improvised weapon.

If you're using an ordinary pickaxe to break rock, it should get Armor Divisor (2) vs. stone and similar materials.