• meyotch@slrpnk.net
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      1 year ago

      I keep a pitchfork handy as a wall decoration but I live in an apartment. It is my reminder of the need to fight back in the class war.

    • JohnDClay@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      Swords look cooler. Almost no one used a sword on the battle field throughout history. Everyone used pole arms of some sort. But swords seem cool, so get much more attention.

    • I Cast Fist@programming.dev
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      1 year ago

      The only downside is that it’s not good for slashing (unless you count some variants, like halberds, as spears), but the extra range makes it usually better for 1-on-1

      • _haha_oh_wow_@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        You can definitely slash with most spears, there’s just less surface area to cut with compared to a sword.

        • Chocrates@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          You can bonk them on the head with the haft too. Every part of the spear is dangerous. If you are trying to get in under a good spear user it is so scary. They are so dangerous you can’t really practice with them at full speed.

          • GoodEye8@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            Worth pointing out that long sticks in general are pretty OP. Low cost, low skill floor, high skill ceiling, lightweight, works well one on one and works well in a formation. It’s only downside is the inability to cut, but that’s why you end up with a spear and not just a staff. Spear gets all the glory but the staff does most of the heavy lifting in that relationship.

        • PersnickityPenguin@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          Most of the pull arm weapons eventually devolved into halberd type pulling and slicing weapons. They were used primarily to remove mounted troops from the tops of horses, while slicing off their limbs.

          There were lots of variations of halberds, pole axes and the English Bill.

          There is a great book on the matter. Weapons in international encyclopedia from 5000 BC to 2000 AD.

      • nednobbins@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Slashing is overrated. They’re less likely to connect because they’re slower and easier to see (it’s easier for humans to detect movements across your vision than movement directly toward you). They also have less effect since the force is spread out over a larger area. Yes, you can generate huge forces in a swing if you really wind up and hit with just the right part of the weapon or tool but that haymaker is never going to connect against an opponent who’s still awake.

        The big advantage of slashing is that it’s easier. It’s the simple dumb response when you had someone a heavy thing. It also often works better than just using your fist or dropping the weapon all together but it’s generally not the best way to use a weapon.

        And yes, there are exceptions. Slashing with knives and one handed sticks can be extremely effective. But even with those, stabbing tends to be at least as effective and all these effects are exasperated with larger weapons. Just take a metal bar the size of big sword and swing it at a tree. Then see how many times you could poke that tree in the same time.

    • SinJab0n@mujico.org
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      1 year ago

      It’s a weapon of the people

      U r joking, the people’s weapon is the > scythe. I remember hearing in history class about how it was used in a war/revolution no, it wasnt the marxist one after putting the blade in vertical position, and that it was so effective that for a time it became the national flag.

      And yeah, also the communist have it now im talking about the marxist one.

      • nickwitha_k (he/him)@lemmy.sdf.org
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        1 year ago

        An agricultural scythe would likely be a terrible weapon. It is designed for slicing though grass and brush, close to the ground, often with the snath shaped ergonomically to better facilitate this. Also, Austrian scythes in particular after curved three-dimensionally in an asymmetrical manner. Using it as a polearm would be incredibly awkward (D&D really does the scythe dirty) and there is not a good way to mount the blades vertcally in either main branch of European scythe, without modifying the part of the blade that attaches to the snath. But then, you have what amounts to a primitive halberd with a more fragile blade.

        Now, if you mean sickle, I can definitely see more agreement there, though a pike or spear would be easier for most to use as a weapon as the motions used to harvest grain with a sickle are quite different from those that would be needed in combat.

        • Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works
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          1 year ago

          You’re correct, but as an FYI to anyone reading, they are the same family. It’s like the square rectangle thing. A scythe is just a type of sickle. Hay sickle is a scythe.

          So it’s a totally natural thing to be confused about.

      • ratz30 @lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Polearms in general were ubiquitous throughout history. Pretty much anyone can pick one up and get the general idea of poke the enemy with the sharp end and use the length to keep them away.