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The humble backsword, a Scottish favourite. After the longsword went out of fashion, this became the primary war sword across Europe, but nobody wielded it quite like the Scottish. Contrary to its looks, it's actually single-bladed; there's a subtle wedge shape to the blade's cross-section, allowing it to deliver hacking cuts more deeply than your average one-handed sword. The Scottish system of single combat has particularly nasty footwork to learn, but it becomes very effective for the purpose of circling your adversary, making the Scottish backsword style a bit better than most for one-on-one engagments, whether as a duel, on the street or as a lucky break in a swirling melee.
The basket hilt also makes a great punching tool. Trust the Scottish, eh?
I'm on a bit of a single-edge binge lately, eh? The falchion is Europe's favourite single-edged sword during the Middle Ages, descended from the Saxon seax tool/weapon and the German messer. Like its younger sibling, the backsword, the falchion has a brutal, wedged blade for undoing bone as easily as flesh. You want a falchion when you want a measure of sword versatility combined with the power of an axe, but expect to pay for that. Compared to other European swords, the falchion is somewhat thick and heavy for a one-handed weapon, so make that acceleration count. On the other hand, chainmail doesn't have shit on this.
The falchion's other main advantage is its coolness. Lookatit.
The mace is unfairly considered a brutish weapon, when it is in fact quite clever and was highly considered in its time. Descended from rimmed and spiked clubs, the flanged mace's protrusions carried large amounts of force and condensed them into small areas of impact, thereby making it especially effective against heavy armours. While not particularly versatile, it's a well-tested design that remained popular as long as there were knights to beat into a pulp. You'll also be glad to know that it's especially effective against the undead, setting you up for a potential vampire-slaying, skeleton-smashing future. For added effectiveness, dip in garlic sauce.
I am quite clever.I approve.
The smallsword is what a fencing foil would be, if a fencing foil were truly deadly. It's often erroneously believed that the rapier is the inspiration for that sporting tool, when that is in fact too heavy. Most one-handed weapons are slower and less easily controlled than their two-handed equivalents, but this bucks the trend. Its light weight and excellent balance makes it lightning-quick, although don't expect to cut deep. You'll want to thrust or draw cut your way to victory. No other weapon was so fashionable in its time; even the rapier was somewhat snubbed by the longsword-wielding old guard, but the lack of armour in the barely pre-modern era meant that heavier blades were not necessary. As a result, this weapon flourished as both a fashion statement as a practical tool of self-defense. Just don't think you can take to the battlefield with this, okay, princess?
...
@Kinkajou
The miao dao, East Asia's gift to the world. Sure, it kinda just looks like an oversized katana, but that's not half the story. Wielding this particular weapon is a little complex, even for sword arts. The off hand supports the blade from the back at times so as to most easily deal with the length of the weapon. This means that practitioners of the miao dao often switch between two-handed and one-handed strikes right off the cuff, making the martial art underpinning this weapon some bizarre combination of longsword, sabre and kenjutsu. Indeed, the weapon's original smith, whose name escapes me right now, learned kenjutsu as a prelude to developing the martial art that informs this weapon. He went on to kill very many Japanese pirates.
Go kill pirates, Kinkajou, with my blessing.
Ahh yes, the Falchion. Such a good gut-messer.
Sometimes there are a few further considerations -- Juan's was born as a result of watching The Princess Bride together, for instance -- but that's basically it.
Also, as everyone's probably observed, I'm not doubling up on weapons (unless it's a set of two, where you might share one element with another poster).
^ o u
Medieval IJBM A-Team with over a dozen members. We fight crime.
<_<
Go killing pirates and whatnot in the name of the
EmpraKhorneThe Queenfor the sheer hell of it.Fuck. Yes.