If you could take a medieval weapon of choice

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I'm actually looking for a weapon right now, and I am having a hard time deciding.

That flamberge looks really cool, but then again so does anything else.

At least I want to start out with a huge sword which can hang from the wall.

 

A sword... preferably big and long

 

Without a doubt a Pr of Scimitars... not the big curved stupid Chi-knees ones, but light slim slightly curved.. oops sounds like the woman I married... anyway... they'd have to be obnoxious too. Imagine dual weilding Icing Death and Twinkle AFTER Cespenar had magically combined them with Lillicar and his brother the +12 Hackmaster...? In reality...I use both the Rapier/Short Sword and paired Scimitars. The bigger the Sword the more one is compensating for... bad swordsmanship..?

 

I'd take a war hammer or a flail. Something like the Flail of Ages-no magic but a three headed flail. I'm also very surprised so few others went for the hammer. So few clerics, I guess...

 

A flanged mace. One handed melee weapon. Has the nasty damage behind it.
A longbow. Bit of a problem to draw, but when it is, it can punch through any armour.
Two handed warhammer. Hard to lift, but easy to swing. Most melee battles are won through crushing the enemy to death anyway, not cutting.

 

Medieval weapon of choice?

Latin!

In nomine Sanctae Ecclesiae genua flecte rustice!

In the name of Holy Church, bend your knees, peasant!

I have a special fondness for one-handed longswords. I own one. I bought it in Spain and took it through ten borders hidden between food and alcohol in the bus's fridge. It has a total length of 99cm/39'', of which 84cm/33'' is the blade. Yes, it's still one-handed. Most people are unable to swing it at ease.

In the catalague Belly linked, I don't really see any appealing longsword, although there are some some other nice pieces:

http://www.mwart.com/product.asp?pid=159&cat=10&subcat=Y

The Sword of Power. A good weapon for Newbslayer, avatar of chevalier Seems two-handed, but I'm strong and 6'5'' tall.

http://www.mwart.com/product.asp?pid=614&cat=41&subcat=Y

Nice bastard. Could serve full time as a longsword.

http://www.mwart.com/product.asp?pid=698&cat=30&subcat=Y

The Sword of Light. While I'm seriously worried about the likelihood of its breaking right after the handle on hitting any harder object, the hilt has a special design allowing easier disarming of the enemy.

http://www.mwart.com/product.asp?pid=798&cat=79&subcat=Y

Flamberge rapier. Most probably, rapiers fit my style better than longswords. This one seems nice.

As a classical scholar, I have a sentiment towards the following one: http://www.mwart.com/product.asp?pid=544&cat=10&subcat=Y , Roman General's Sword. Those are deadly, especially in formations or narrow corridors. Trust me, a guy with this one can be of serious annoyance to those with obscenely long longswords that rule in open spaces.

Second choice after sword is mace or staff. While mace delivers more serious damage, whooping heads with it for several hours could be quite tiring. And with staff I'm much better.

@Splunge: The Pope could disagree with you on certain subjects I won't mention for the good of this thread

[ February 06, 2004, 15:06: Message edited by: chevalier ]

 

Well, I personally like a nice, strong bow... or a bastard sword... or a katana... or a pair of knives... or a good set of daggers.... blast! Can't I just have some poor weapon-caddy following me around with a complete arsenal of my favorites?

 

If you wanna get really technical about the Katanas being excluded because there not European then you can exclude the crossbows and scimitars as well.
Crossbows originally hail from China and the feeble scimitar is a weapon designed by the Mongols.

@ Cross: Musashi didn't "invent" the Katana-Wakizashi style. Samurai wore and used the Katana and Wakizashi (collectively called the Daisho) well before Musashi came along. What he is famous for however is developing the unorthodox style of wielding two katanas. He in actual fact became so bored with contemporary styles in medieval Japan that he gave up fighting with Katana and insted turned to Bokken (wodden swords fashioned in the style of the Katana). However it is widely doubted wheter or not Musashi was actually tested in real combat. He has an astounding record as a duelist but no official record can be found of him taking part in any battles.

@Foradasthar: Nodachi's were rarely used in combat. They mostly only had ceremonial purposes as the Samurai felt that they were too unwieldy.
I do agree on your choice of Naginata though! A fine weapon!!

 

Miyamoto Musashi used a Katana and a Wakizashi simultaneously, not two katanas.

 

@"Feeble Scimitars not European"
A) Scimiars were used thruout ALL of Europe most Notably during the Crusades, the Weapon of choice for the Persians was a Scimitar. Scimitars came in different shapes, not all are(were)LARGE curved weapons ala' Sinbad.
B) Yes they are slim and maybe a little flexible. THAT however is their strength. I am (* not being modest here *) quite proficient with them, A common drill I and my instructor, (a 4th level Blackbelt with MMAI), do is slicing apples that are being thrown at you. the blades are extremely Dull, but slice thru the apple, splitting it in two.We also slice watermelons, try that with a Long sword. THe function of most medieval swords was to bash the opponents armor till they couldn't move it any more. Give me the Scimitar any day. ... by the way, This is a great thread!
NEXT

 

I I could take a medieval weapon it would be something which I actully knew how to use, no point having a weapon which one can't use. So taking that in to consideration I would certainly take a longbow or shortbow, and then probably some sort of slashing knife, well two of them hidden away somewhere, and a staff of course. They make great walking sticks and can pack a blow if used right.

 

Sorry Shura but I have to say you're wrong. It's two Katanas. And as regards the Scimitar it is originally a non european weapon.

 

A crossbow, because it's the only kind i've used, and because any idiot with a few hours practice can shoot like a pro, and you can take out people from afar. Fancy swords and crap, bah! Just go for the simplest, most effective thing available.

 

Then it would have to be bow. Crossbow reload time is rarely below a minute and even that is only for experts. I need less to score first hit with a sword and I'm not speaking of newbs who can't hold it. With bow it's possible to fire six arrows per minute with aiming. If you're an expert and not aiming at a small target, and have arrows easily at hand, I bet twenty per minute is perfecty possible.

 

@ All who chose a longbow as a weapon they could use...

The longbow was from 5 to 6 feet tall and needed well above 100lbs of force to draw the string.

But for my choice it would be this http://www.weaponmasters.com/index.html?ID=9c14babd68ae87bd05df1074b0dff86d&ITEM=MR1-557&SUB_ITEM=MORE_PICTURES&SORT=PRICE_UP&FDX=1&FMAX=10000 and this http://www.weaponmasters.com/index.html?ID=9c14babd68ae87bd05df1074b0dff86d&ITEM=PC-1011GT&SUB_ITEM=MORE_PICTURES&SORT=PRICE_UP&FDX=1&FMAX=10000

 

I happen to have a copy of Miyamoto Musashi's Go Rin No Sho right before me. When he speaks of the "companion sword" which is shorter and should be wielded in starker angles than the katana, I'm pretty sure he's speaking of the wakizashi.

Therefore, the Kensei's style utilised the katana and wakizashi simultaneously, not two katanas.

Unless of course, my book is a faulty translation, which I highly doubt so.

 

There are many different ancient Kenjutsu ryu which utilise the use of the wakizashi as well as the Katana. Musashi wasn't the first to utilise this technique. He was the first however to devote an entire school of swordsmanship to it. (Niten Ichi Ryu).
In the book of five rings he does refer to the companion sword (shoto), but if you read a little further you will come across a piece, in the ground book I believe, where he says that it is important to train with two long swords (daisho). Although Musashi did popularise the 2-sword style he certainly didn't invent it. What he practically did invent however was substituting the shoto for another long sword. This has been documented in some of his duels. He rarely did this but it has been heard of.

 

100lb = 45.36 Kilograms, each time. I think that I would prefer the Composite Longbow instead. A bit harder to draw, but once it is, easier to stay drawn.

 

That was in the part where Miyamoto Musashi says that it is important to train in all sorts of weapons and not to favor one overly.

All the techniques of the five rings in the Go Rin No Sho use the katana/wakizashi combination as a default example.

 

Some sort of flail would be good, with an extra long chain
Like the one weilded by the school girl (I forget her name) in kill Bill

edit - oops I forgot in my other hand I would have a small shield of some sort