this post was submitted on 21 Dec 2024
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[–] ShaggySnacks@lemmy.myserv.one 3 points 9 hours ago

Can confirm. Got a halberd and turned it into a stripper pole.

[–] teije9@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 12 hours ago

hasn't the halberd been confirmed to be the meta weapon in medieval times?

[–] iAvicenna@lemmy.world 6 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago)

pointy end faces the enemy

[–] Omnipitaph@reddthat.com 87 points 1 day ago (5 children)

I know this is a meme... buuuuuuut the halberd is a specialized weapon that excels in its role and almost no where else. The spear, however, is versatile and useful in most combat situations.

Obviously the Poleaxe is the superior weapon.

[–] psmgx@lemmy.world 5 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

Okay I'll bite: so just what is that role? When do I need to poke and axe?

[–] PugJesus@lemmy.world 2 points 4 hours ago

Poke horse so it doesn't run into you

Hook rider to drag him off the horse, or at least control his movement

Axe rider when he's vulnerable

[–] Zagorath@aussie.zone 21 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The glaive is the coolest polearm and I will brook no disagreement.

Us pointy stick fanciers have some words

[–] Aielman15@lemmy.world 26 points 1 day ago

Also, you can craft a perfectly serviceable spear with a wooden stick and a sharp stone.

Good luck crafting a halberd without some dope blacksmithing skills.

[–] humanspiral@lemmy.ca 10 points 1 day ago (2 children)

What is specialized role of halberd?

Seems a weapon that long should be thrusted, and being a bit lighter would help with aim/retraction and retrusts. Using a super long axe seems impractical, hence my first question.

[–] PugJesus@lemmy.world 23 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Halberd is a kind of specialized multitool. It's for fighting in formation, looser than pikes, but still fairly close-order. The point allows it to stab and repel riders, the hook for dismounting any riders who feel like lingering too long, and the axehead for the killing blow on infantry or dismounted cavalry.

Think of it as the difference between a Swiss Army Knife and an everyday survival knife. The Swiss Army Knife will do some things better than the survival knife, but the survival knife has more universal versatility, is hardy, and easy to handle.

That being said, the halberd is more useful than the original commenter gives it credit for, the disadvantages compared to a two-handed spear mostly relate to a less-optimal weight and wieldiness (the axe head being rather large and heavy compared to a spearhead) rather than an essential inability to mimic the usage of a spear in most cases. The halberd is more useful against armored targets, or with some room to maneuver in formation. The spear is more useful in extremely tight formations and is more nimble.

[–] dragonfucker 4 points 1 day ago

Halberds can hook onto a guy with armour and knock them down so you can get out the baby knife and stabby stab.

[–] TachyonTele@lemm.ee 9 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I was just going to not say any of that because im not a nerd! Nerd!

Spears are awesome

[–] TwanHE@lemmy.world 14 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Idk man I quite like the simplicity of the goedendag

[–] Akasazh@feddit.nl 12 points 22 hours ago

A good day to you too

[–] tetris11@lemmy.world 3 points 22 hours ago

yeah it's pretty light and meaty in comparison. I myself prefer the crunchwrap supreme

[–] PugJesus@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago

Based and Flanders-pilled.

[–] Forester@yiffit.net 33 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)
[–] Keegen@lemmy.zip 36 points 1 day ago (1 children)

That's just miniature spears with a fancy propelling mechanism! More proof long stick with pointy end is the superior weapon!

[–] Forester@yiffit.net 30 points 1 day ago (2 children)

So what you're saying is it's not the size of the spear but it's how you thrust it?

[–] Akasazh@feddit.nl 4 points 22 hours ago

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡° )

[–] tetris11@lemmy.world 3 points 22 hours ago

well, bullets are very small and girthy in comparison, so yes.

[–] roguetrick@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Imagine thinking a self bow is a suitable weapon of war. Laughs in turkic, Mongolian, and Magyar

[–] Forester@yiffit.net 2 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

These shoot through armor yours don't

[–] roguetrick@lemmy.world 2 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago) (1 children)

Yeah, tell that to the capharacts in the byzantine/Persian and Byzantine/Avar wars. You know, the ones more heavily armored than French knights ever were and have holes shot in them. Or the samurai that met Korean composite infantry archers.

Draw weight on any composite bow can match or beat a self bow, since bone and horn beat wood. The bow part of a crossbow is composite after all.

[–] Forester@yiffit.net 3 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago) (1 children)

, the maximum draw weight of an English longbow was significantly higher than a typical recurve bow, with the best longbows reaching draw weights between 150 and 180 pounds, while most high-quality recurves would max out around 60-70 pounds depending on the design and archer's ability; essentially, a historical English longbow could reach considerably higher draw weights than a modern recurve bow. So while you can penetrate some armor while riding around on your pony an Englishman will just knock you off the horse your on from farther than your maximum range with his longbow.

[–] roguetrick@lemmy.world 3 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

It has nothing to do with modern recurve bows. There is no functional limitation to the draw weight of a composite bow. They had plenty of examples that could hit 70 kg. Composite bow archers can and did produce the same exact results as longbow archers. They often flat out exceeded them with inordinately high draw weight bows. And that makes intuitive sense. Look at a crossbow: a small composite bow with a draw weight so high that humans needed mechanical advantage just to draw them. If you think the English were somehow more professional as archers and stronger than everybody else, you're vastly mistaken.

[–] Forester@yiffit.net 3 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

Look dude. I'm not trying to get overly analytical and in a life and death debate but no that's factually incorrect.

The reason I said modern recurve was because if you try to put excess strain on traditional recurve bows most of them will shatter or delaminate as they are laminate technology.

Yes, both types of bow will fire the same types of arrow. The key difference is the English longbow Men can put a lot more oomph behind his shots than a recurve bow man. I am not saying that the English would draw to 180 ft lb for every pullback I am saying that their artillery pieces could do that.

To put it another way, the theoretical maximum range was much higher on a longbow than the theoretical max range on a recurve bow because you can use double or triple the maximum draw weight on the same arrow.

[–] roguetrick@lemmy.world 2 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago) (1 children)

You seem to be under the impression that there is a fundamental material problem in composite bows that prevents them from being high draw weight. Here's a study examining historical ottoman bows which note that while most average around 110 pounds, they go up to as high as 230 with 140 not uncommon. The glue and laminations did not make them fundamentally unable to reach those high draw weights, it's just dependent on what the draw weight is. A self bow that you overdraw will crack as well. Modern recurves are lighter because they're not meant for slave soldiers raised from children like the Janissaries. Once again, if you think it's a material problem, realize that early Chinese crossbows were constructed with this exact laminating bone glue and sinew technology and could reach draw weights of a truly ridiculous 750 lbs if drawn by both feet by a truly expert crossbowman. They likely looked essentially like a laminated composite recurve attached to a stock with a trigger.

https://www.tesble.com/10.1017/s0003598x0009565x

[–] Forester@yiffit.net 2 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

No, I'm trying to explain to you that one of these devices is meant as an defensive artillery piece to shoot over and beyond fortifications while the other is meant as a very accurate assault weapon to be wielded by mounted Bowman and shot accurately while riding a horse.

Or to put it another way. Yes, you can take a cricket bat to a baseball field and slam a home run with it but it's not meant for that.

[–] Shardikprime@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago (1 children)

If you think about it, a halberd is just a defective, meaty trebuchet

[–] Ookami38@sh.itjust.works 7 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

Gonna need some help working out that one.

[–] mapleseedfall@lemmy.world 2 points 23 hours ago
[–] captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works 13 points 1 day ago (2 children)

This is a billhook. It hooks Bill.

[–] Cephalotrocity@biglemmowski.win 3 points 9 hours ago

Bill here... GD it, hooked again.

[–] Lemminary@lemmy.world 3 points 23 hours ago

Bill and his hookers again?

[–] Mim@lemmy.zip 18 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Why should If ight you? You are absolutely correct.

[–] pruwybn@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 23 hours ago

They never said you have to disagree to fight them.

[–] dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 14 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Well, you might be able to win if you are able to afford and equip, say, 1,000 pike maidens to his one halberd harlot.

[–] TachyonTele@lemm.ee 5 points 1 day ago

There's harlots and maidens? Where's this halbert place you speak of?

[–] Mim@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 day ago

Maybe. But halberd harlot 🥵🥵🥵

[–] Mango@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

As long as the halberd is designed such that it can stab as well as a spear, then yes, it's strictly better IMO.

[–] PugJesus@lemmy.world 10 points 1 day ago

Well, it's still heavier, and in extremely tight formations the halberd-heads can be more likely to get caught up on one another.

[–] madthumbs@lemmy.world 10 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Not goinna fight you while you pleasure yourself on your halberd like the picture.

[–] 4am@lemm.ee 12 points 1 day ago

“Always wait until your enemy as fully committed to lovemaking with their weaponry.” - Sun Tzu

[–] j4k3@lemmy.world 12 points 1 day ago

I coded my own simple spear sling in JSON to carry my halberd around as a cooking utensil in Cataclysm DDA–enjoyer verified.

[–] metaStatic@kbin.earth 7 points 1 day ago

Then we shall fite in the shade