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General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Medieval weapons: why so many? And how do they differ?
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<blockquote data-quote="Ulfgeir" data-source="post: 7909591" data-attributes="member: 7015719"><p>A lot of weapons will come from farming implementations. (staffs, knives, clubs, flails, scythes, sickles, pitchforks etc). Sometimes the peasants were not allowed to own weapons, so they were stuck with using their farming tools for defence. Spears and bows for hunting. </p><p></p><p>Then those with money buy something more fancier (like a sword) to show off how wealthy they are. New ways of fighting ensue from that. For example you fight differently with a Longsword if the opponent is wearing (metal) armour than you do if he does not. Also you will need different weapons depending on how you wage wars.</p><p></p><p>And then you get the increments of time. Person A wants to inflict bodily harm to Bastard B. B does of course not want to get his head bashed in or be slashed open so he gets something to protect him. A finds that his weapon of choice doesn't work so well, so modifies it to overcome the weakness of B's armour. B in turn modifies the armour to better protect against the new weapon. Rinse and repeat... <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /></p><p></p><p>Standardization of weapons and armour will not come unless you have a large need for it. If your tribe goes on a cattle-raid against the neighbouring tribe, you grab whatever you have. Once you start having standing armies, then it makes sense that you want everyone to have similar equipment (differences for size might factor in of course), because if everyone has the same weapons then if your weapon or armour breaks, then it is easier to replace or repair, and you can probably make the manufacturing of the equipment easier as well..</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ulfgeir, post: 7909591, member: 7015719"] A lot of weapons will come from farming implementations. (staffs, knives, clubs, flails, scythes, sickles, pitchforks etc). Sometimes the peasants were not allowed to own weapons, so they were stuck with using their farming tools for defence. Spears and bows for hunting. Then those with money buy something more fancier (like a sword) to show off how wealthy they are. New ways of fighting ensue from that. For example you fight differently with a Longsword if the opponent is wearing (metal) armour than you do if he does not. Also you will need different weapons depending on how you wage wars. And then you get the increments of time. Person A wants to inflict bodily harm to Bastard B. B does of course not want to get his head bashed in or be slashed open so he gets something to protect him. A finds that his weapon of choice doesn't work so well, so modifies it to overcome the weakness of B's armour. B in turn modifies the armour to better protect against the new weapon. Rinse and repeat... ;) Standardization of weapons and armour will not come unless you have a large need for it. If your tribe goes on a cattle-raid against the neighbouring tribe, you grab whatever you have. Once you start having standing armies, then it makes sense that you want everyone to have similar equipment (differences for size might factor in of course), because if everyone has the same weapons then if your weapon or armour breaks, then it is easier to replace or repair, and you can probably make the manufacturing of the equipment easier as well.. [/QUOTE]
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Medieval weapons: why so many? And how do they differ?
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