Poll: Get medieval on this poll.

[SimuLord]

Scenario: It's 1257. You've just been selected to be part of a medieval mercenary army. No sorcery, magic, or JRPG shit, just hacking/clubbing people to death for king and glory. Choose your weapon, and post your reasons for the choice in the thread as we determine the greatest medieval weapons in a lively debate.

And if you have to ask "why 1257", I pity you as I play last year's most awesome game (no, not Fallout 3.)

 

[Robert632]

i choose the mace cos it lets me get up close and personal, but if i hit a sheild, the arm will break more often then not.

 

[Christemo]

bows are just plain awesome, and it feels very satisfying because it really feels like your doing it, unlike the crossbow and all its mechanisms.

so ill go with bows.

 

[Knight Templar]

Sword, grace and speed are better than brute force. My biggest thread would be anything with a chain link (flail), it will snap the blade.

EDIT: To be clear I'm thinking more along the lines of a knight longsword or Rapier, not the two-handed boradsword as people seem to think.

Sword is too damn generic.

 

[SimuLord]

For what it's worth I chose catapults/trebuchets/mangonels. Smashing walls with pre-gunpowder technology is an awesome rush, and every time I see someone launching stuff like Volkswagens with medieval siege weapons I think "Shit, I want to hang out with those people!"

 

[oliveira8]

Swords!

Why? Excalibur!!! And they just plain awesome and usefull. Easy to manuever and hold, not as heavy as a mace or dull as an axe...tho not agains plate armour...but I don't think there was alot of full body plate Knights around 1257.

Anyway Swords for da win!(Like Bastard Swords not Two-hand swords.)

 

[Kingsman]

I chose the bow and arrow. Fast to reload, long distance, easy to keep cover with, light to travel with, and can even be fairly accurate if you know what you're doing.

 

[Aura Guardian]

For what it's worth I chose catapults/trebuchets/mangonels. Smashing walls with pre-gunpowder technology is an awesome rush, and every time I see someone launching stuff like Volkswagens with medieval siege weapons I think "Shit, I want to hang out with those people!"

I love the catapult (hence why I voted for it)

 

[TsunamiWombat]

Crossbows were the most efficient killing devices of the era.

 

[Xhumed]

Siege weapons are the way to go- flinging rocks and such at buildings/ large groups of people/ unlucky sheep, while laughing maniacally- what's not to like?

 

[Echelon_3]

Longbow, with a sword and small shield for melee.

In 1257, heavy plate armor hadn't really appeared yet. The Longbow could therefore kill enemies from a long distance, with a faster rate of fire than a Crossbow. The sword would have been the best all-round melee weapon of the time, again because plate armor wasn't around yet. The shield is there as added protection for me, and because of its utility as a secondary blunt weapon. It would have to be small, because presumably I'm not rich enough to own a horse.

 

[VanityGirl]

Bows, because I use them in monster hunter..
/nerd

 

[SimuLord]

Even after the invention of plate armor, a longbow still had enough force to penetrate...it wasn't until the breech-loading rifle was invented in 1772 that a weapon could match the longbow's combination of rate of fire, killing force, and accuracy in the hands of a skilled user.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

I'll settle for a paper pushing military desk job, thanks.

 

[Katherine Kerensky]

Probably the Longbow. Because they gained quite an evil reputation under the use of English Longbowmen.

 

[WayOutThere]

Crossbows for me, I imagine they'd be easier to use that regular bow and arrows and because they will keep you a good distance away from the enemies swords and axes.

Also, they've been really fun to use in video games- Half Life,Bioshock, etc.

 

[PatrioticPineapple]

Clubs because it always feels good to get picked out of all the bunch and being called "Look at the dumb-shit." lol but clubs because it is like the modern day 2 x 4 ohhhhh yea

 

[SimuLord]

I'll settle for a paper pushing military desk job, thanks.

Good. You get to draw the blueprints for the siege machines. My grunts aren't math geeks.

 

[Woem]

I'm missing some options: glaive, guisarme, halberd, lance, ranseur, spear, rapier, scimitar, sickle, trident, bull whip, ...

It might have been easier to create a poll about favorite weapon type:


bludgeoning
slashing
piercing
ranged