Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="mlund" data-source="post: 6496029" data-attributes="member: 50304">Eh, that's going a bit too far. Swords are quite good at what they are designed to do - they just aren't designed to kill people covered head-to-toe in Mail, let alone Plate armor. The overwhelming bulk of troops in medieval armies did not have those luxuries so the standard arming sword did a fine job killing those sorts of people. It was a very flexible weapon in those cases too - balanced to strike quickly, recover quickly, parry, and it could often inflict a crippling or mortal blow without getting lodged in someone's body or shield in such a way that it couldn't be extracted easily (a huge deal in a melee). It had the right degree of reach to kill infantry from horseback too. Compared to an ax, spear, or a pure bludgeon is was a great weapon in most battlefield situations against most opponents.It's just not the correct weapon to receive a charge, form a pike block, hit someone from 100' away, or slay a noble / wealthy man-at-arms wearing the best armor.- Marty Lund</blockquote>