In my opinion the weapon of all trades. The knight, the footman, the craftsman, the doctor, the lady of the house, the bandit, the beggar and pretty much everyone of all trades. Is of course the dagger.
"Seriously try cutting a tree down with a sword.... I mean I'm sure you could do it eventually." I mean sure, after you replace your sword several dozen times. The axes used in battle couldn't chop down a tree either, the blades were far too thin. Try using a woodcutting axe as a melee weapon in combat... they're much thicker and far too heavy.
I think the Zweihander was occasionally the first pick, because when properly used, they could allow single men to penetrate pike squares (as Lindybeige notes in his video about double-handed swords). In terms of versatility though, it's versatile as a weapon, but it has no job besides being a weapon.
Regarding what you said about what you mean when you say when you love swords, I once heard (though I'm not sure how correct it is), the Ancient Greeks had at least three different words that translate to love: one of them meant the love a man has for his wife and vice-versa, one meant the love between relatives, and one meant what people mean when they say, "I love ice cream", or, in this case, "I love swords".
A little nitpicking. Axes don't cut. They cleave/chop. When you cut you do a slicing movement in on direction or the other, usually without applying a lot of pressure. When you cleave or chop you just press the sharp edge down.
Gavin Jenkins The definition of a cut when used in a general literary sense is less specific than the definiton of a cut when talking about sword mechanics.
in my personal opinion the axe is the most versatile weapon. pretty good against armor great against bare flesh. cuts hacks and some are even quite effective in the thrust, like some dane axes. just my personal opinion for what its worth swords are awesome too and quite a bit more convenient to carry
+Jake Axes are fairly poor as personal defense weapon, as their power is mainly an offensive weapon and thus making a shield necessary. Swords offer at least the ability to parry with it's long blade and the crossguard. On the other hand heavier axes can be used as tools and the lighter ones as throwing weapons and both are very easily repaired. Against unarmored opponents, the reach and nimbleness become key factors. Axes with reach are incredibly top heavy, and the ones with more speed of use tend to sacrifice reach. Against shielded opponent the ax can be used to just hack through the shield,, if the ax in question is sturdy enough while the sword user must seek to circumvert the shield entirely. Against opponents with mail armour, the axe relies mainly on causing blunt trauma, unless the mail is badly crafted in case of which, just revert to chops. Swords in turn rely on it's thrusting capability to pierce through the mail. Same factors are valid against plate wearing opponents, but the swords have an option to be used as an overly large dagger while half-swording or used as a bludgeoning weapon with it's heavy pommel and crossguard. An arming sword combines all these attack modes and it's defensive capabilities through parrying into a single weapon. That is where it's versatility comes from. Axes, while versatile, are simply not versatile enough to be considered as a defensive weapon. Also, what prevents you from using both? A dane axe as a primary weapon and a sword as a sidearm. Not to mention, without a pommel, how can you end your foe rightly?
I look at a guy talking to his wooden toy swords and there's a horsie head there that little girls play with... yeah. Than all of the sudden justicie league poster somehow fits into into the picture.
Thats why poleaxes exist, to show a sword what true versatility is all about. Great cutting ability with an axe head, awesome piercing ability with ist spike, a nasty hammerhead for bashing people through protection and the option for a beak that can be used to pull people down horses or for grapling. Not to long to be to cumbersom even in urban combat, very flexible when it comes to the many ways it can mess someone up and it weights around 1,2-1,4 kg.
+Philip Dyer I may not be well informed when it comes to medivel law but I highly doubt that you could just run around town with any weapon without being imeadietly set upon by the local guardsmen. If I really want to go about my daily life armed I would take a dagger or knife with me.
I mean law non withstanding. You can carry a sword around all day and not even notice it because you can scabbard most sword. You have to hold onto a poleaxe.
+gabbagundam It depends on where you are for whether you can carry a weapon. To my knowledge, England prohibited all weapons within the city, but parts of Germany allowed you to carry a knife. However, because the definition of knife was specific to construction and not length, the Germans made a loophole with the messer.
I love spears! It can be used as a one or two handed weapon, it can be thrown. Good vs cavalry and infantry. Thrust with the spear are powerful, some armour can stop a sword easily but not a spear. And some spears can even cut! The spear is super universal weapon.
***** except that it's long and cumbersome (and that is the case for all pole weapons). You can have a sword with you for self-defense, while having a spear is more cumbersome.
***** The thrown spear is very different to that used by the lines of the infantry. The throwing spear is narrower and lighter, where as the infantry lines' spear is thicker (a quarter staff with a sharp point attached) and longer.
The very idea of throwing your "melee spear" is stupid. Finding a spear on the ground and throwing it ? Why not. Throwing your spear ? Great, now you'll have to rely on your sidearm (which may be a sword... but what if it is just a knife ?). OK, maybe in that movie scene where you are the last guy standing against the last enemy with absolutely everybody else is dead within a radius of 50 meters and the last enemy really wants to fight to the death and... not very likely to happen. And yes, javelins were simply not designed for close combat. Roman pilums were made to bend at impact so that they are stuck in their target, so that the enemy cannot throw it back (until a smith fixes the point) Spears were also not done for cutting. Yes, some like "swordstafs" could be used that way, let alone halberds for example, but a cut by a spear would be so easy to counter even with your bare arms (just rush toward the spearman so that your arm blocks the pole, and done you've passed the spearpoint).
***** I love all the comments regarding spears, I love them too, they're such an underrated weapon in my opinion. I would also add that their strike radius is quite small, the spear head, where as with a sword it's strike radius is the entire length of the blade. This doesn't really mean much with thrusts but if you have a spear that can cut it's far more difficult to hit someone with it than a sword.
The rapier is a sword, so it counts. The significance is that a rapier is better at thrusting than cutting, like how a falchion is better at cutting than thrusting.
Those wooden swords of yours are really pretty :) Please get rid of the others :D Have some nice sharp made by ElGur or Gael Fabre or someone like that ;)
Blank- blade I certainly intend to get some nicer swords . . . eventually. I'll need to start at the more affordable end so I'm thinking Hunwei. First I'm completing my collection of synthetics so I can have a good bash with any sword type. I'm flattered you like my wooden replicas mate, thanks heaps.
+I am Shad You gots their proportions right. They might even have a distal taper. Btw If your timing is correct and you're lucky you migjt get a very good, historically correct, really nice looking and affordable sword from arma bohemia.
For Self-defence I'd Pick a light Halberd or a short spear every time. swords are nearly useless against armour... unless you are master swordsman with 10 years of training.
actually swords can be effectively used against armour with techniques such as half-swording where you grab the blade of your sword and use the pommel and crossguard to bash your opponent who's in armour. It's a legitimate technique, Skallagrim has a video on the topic. BUT the most effective technique is to use a pommel and END YOU OPPONENT RIGHTLY.
Half-swording is when you grip the sword with one hand in order to improve thrusting power and aim. *_Mordhau Strike/Stroke/Whatever_* is when you grip it in two hands in order to use the guard or pommel as a blunt weapon.
Kylee Smalley if you need to get into exact wording sure, but technically your still griping it half way down the blade hence half sword, none the less i understand your point... dose not change the point i was making.
+ARR0WMANC3R The Halberd is probably more versatle than the sword. It can hack/cut and thrust quite well and is additionally capable of hooking. Although it'S less convenient due to it'S long shaft. And A Halberd perhaps is not as good as a bludgeoning weapon as the Sword.
ARR0WMANC3R Halberds are remarkable weapons, I love them, but their size makes them very ineffective for an urban environment. A sword is about as large as you would want to get when surrounded by close confines. The other disadvantage in them is that their strike radius is quite small, the axe head, where as with a sword it's strike radius is the entire length of the blade so in my opinion it takes less skill to hit someone with a sword than a halberd.
I am Shad I believe A halberd may still be a good weapon for townguard or such as you can more or less effektively hold a mob with poles without needing to carry around (large) shields all day. And I just like the thought of a thief tripping over a Halberd hook and then beinig held down by the Spike.
Hey +Shadiversity I know that this comment chain is a year old, but I seem to find a lot of mentions to Halberds that mention them almost like they're pikes, being unreasonably large to use in tight confines and having incredibly long spear tips. Yet whenever I go to find references, I instead find Halberds that are pretty much quarterstaffs with axe heads and normal sized spear tips.
you seemed to overlook something about the sword and that is that it can't be used for bludgeoning which is a huge problem for someone with plate armor so if you're fighting a bunch of knights in the battlefield you should probably bring a mace with you cause against someone with such armor a sword is of almost no use to you
You have gloves? Grab the blade, flip the sword around. Hit your opponent with the cross guard or pommel. Even if you don’t have gloves, if you have a firm enough grip so the blade doesn’t slip, it’ll be fine. Is it AS EFFECTIVE as say, a morning star or another kind of mace? No. Heck no. But it’s definitely still possible. And can be used to some degree of adequate effectiveness. It just takes a little outside the box thinking dear Raphael.
Shorter videos please. It gets too long and too blabla you can sum up things in more content way. Im tryint to focus and watch but for example the videos about plate armor and the ultimate sword are jsut tooooo damn long and thats exhausting your viewers. Im saying this with the best intentions
+GeorgeofGondor2 I understand mate, but this is who I am, I go deep and in detail with my subjects. I know that this doesn't work for everyone while there's a lot of other people who love the detail.
In my opinion the weapon of all trades. The knight, the footman, the craftsman, the doctor, the lady of the house, the bandit, the beggar and pretty much everyone of all trades. Is of course the dagger.
"Seriously try cutting a tree down with a sword.... I mean I'm sure you could do it eventually." I mean sure, after you replace your sword several dozen times. The axes used in battle couldn't chop down a tree either, the blades were far too thin. Try using a woodcutting axe as a melee weapon in combat... they're much thicker and far too heavy.
Phlowerchyld Yeah a woodcutter's axe isn't a good pick for a battle, unless you're fighting Ents ^_^
I think the Zweihander was occasionally the first pick, because when properly used, they could allow single men to penetrate pike squares (as Lindybeige notes in his video about double-handed swords). In terms of versatility though, it's versatile as a weapon, but it has no job besides being a weapon.
+Matthew Marden A greatsword is a main weapon, not a sidearm.
Cutting down a tree with a sword? That's nothing. To get past some knights, I cut down the mightiest tree in the forest... with... a herring!!!
and got them shrubbery
I feel like I need to take a week long vacation to enjoy all these videos
Keep em commin!
+Cameron Brown Will do! thanks mate ^_^
It's not just about the attacks, the sword is great at defending where both the spear or axe really need a shield to defend well.
Spears defend really well. Mainly due to the reach
Regarding what you said about what you mean when you say when you love swords, I once heard (though I'm not sure how correct it is), the Ancient Greeks had at least three different words that translate to love: one of them meant the love a man has for his wife and vice-versa, one meant the love between relatives, and one meant what people mean when they say, "I love ice cream", or, in this case, "I love swords".
Jack of all Trades, but a master of none. Seems legit.
A little nitpicking. Axes don't cut. They cleave/chop. When you cut you do a slicing movement in on direction or the other, usually without applying a lot of pressure. When you cleave or chop you just press the sharp edge down.
+Ragamuffyn "Cut (OED): Make an opening, incision, or wound in (something) with a sharp-edged tool or object."
Gavin Jenkins The definition of a cut when used in a general literary sense is less specific than the definiton of a cut when talking about sword mechanics.
Ragamuffyn Shad did not specify or establish any sort of context of technical jargon in his video that I can remember. Thus, colloquial usage is fine.
In mirroring The God-Hand (vs The Dragon's Claw), which is as follows tactic, tool, & technique
1. First-Strike (Reach/Angle) = Spear = Stab
2. Critical-Strike (Power/Precision) = Axe = Bite
3. Any-Strike (Shape/Sharpness) = Sword = Cut
4. Unhindered-Strike (Weight/Integrity) = Hammer = Break
5. Final-Strike (Stealth/Speed) = Short-Blade = Slash
in my personal opinion the axe is the most versatile weapon. pretty good against armor great against bare flesh. cuts hacks and some are even quite effective in the thrust, like some dane axes. just my personal opinion for what its worth swords are awesome too and quite a bit more convenient to carry
+Jake Axes are fairly poor as personal defense weapon, as their power is mainly an offensive weapon and thus making a shield necessary. Swords offer at least the ability to parry with it's long blade and the crossguard. On the other hand heavier axes can be used as tools and the lighter ones as throwing weapons and both are very easily repaired.
Against unarmored opponents, the reach and nimbleness become key factors. Axes with reach are incredibly top heavy, and the ones with more speed of use tend to sacrifice reach.
Against shielded opponent the ax can be used to just hack through the shield,, if the ax in question is sturdy enough while the sword user must seek to circumvert the shield entirely.
Against opponents with mail armour, the axe relies mainly on causing blunt trauma, unless the mail is badly crafted in case of which, just revert to chops. Swords in turn rely on it's thrusting capability to pierce through the mail. Same factors are valid against plate wearing opponents, but the swords have an option to be used as an overly large dagger while half-swording or used as a bludgeoning weapon with it's heavy pommel and crossguard.
An arming sword combines all these attack modes and it's defensive capabilities through parrying into a single weapon. That is where it's versatility comes from. Axes, while versatile, are simply not versatile enough to be considered as a defensive weapon.
Also, what prevents you from using both? A dane axe as a primary weapon and a sword as a sidearm.
Not to mention, without a pommel, how can you end your foe rightly?
That gag at the end would be funnier if halfswording weren't a thing.
I look at a guy talking to his wooden toy swords and there's a horsie head there that little girls play with... yeah.
Than all of the sudden justicie league poster somehow fits into into the picture.
Sword are pretty effective against armor when half swording and the murder stroke
More of a polearm person myself but thanks for explaining to us you have a sword fetish.
shad rules
you can say you love swords like a man loves cars?
"Talk to the hand" "Mine now punk."
Thats why poleaxes exist, to show a sword what true versatility is all about. Great cutting ability with an axe head, awesome piercing ability with ist spike, a nasty hammerhead for bashing people through protection and the option for a beak that can be used to pull people down horses or for grapling. Not to long to be to cumbersom even in urban combat, very flexible when it comes to the many ways it can mess someone up and it weights around 1,2-1,4 kg.
+gabbagundam But you can't walk around town, dine, etc, go about your daily life with a poleaxe.
+Philip Dyer I may not be well informed when it comes to medivel law but I highly doubt that you could just run around town with any weapon without being imeadietly set upon by the local guardsmen. If I really want to go about my daily life armed I would take a dagger or knife with me.
I mean law non withstanding. You can carry a sword around all day and not even notice it because you can scabbard most sword. You have to hold onto a poleaxe.
+Philip Dyer Carrying a poleaxe is not that problematic If you use it as a walking stik.
+gabbagundam It depends on where you are for whether you can carry a weapon. To my knowledge, England prohibited all weapons within the city, but parts of Germany allowed you to carry a knife. However, because the definition of knife was specific to construction and not length, the Germans made a loophole with the messer.
i just love your sense of humorespecialy becouse you are still smart
"Very useful and effective." Just like Shad's informative videos!
Hey Shad, is the Vader lightsaber you have behind you there an Ultrasabers, by chance? Or is it the ForceFX version?
just a toy I bought for my kids, or so they think ; )
Do you think sword love can bloom, even on the battlefield?
I love spears! It can be used as a one or two handed weapon, it can be thrown. Good vs cavalry and infantry. Thrust with the spear are powerful, some armour can stop a sword easily but not a spear. And some spears can even cut! The spear is super universal weapon.
***** except that it's long and cumbersome (and that is the case for all pole weapons). You can have a sword with you for self-defense, while having a spear is more cumbersome.
*****
Yes, that one thing is bad in spears.
***** The thrown spear is very different to that used by the lines of the infantry. The throwing spear is narrower and lighter, where as the infantry lines' spear is thicker (a quarter staff with a sharp point attached) and longer.
The very idea of throwing your "melee spear" is stupid. Finding a spear on the ground and throwing it ? Why not. Throwing your spear ? Great, now you'll have to rely on your sidearm (which may be a sword... but what if it is just a knife ?). OK, maybe in that movie scene where you are the last guy standing against the last enemy with absolutely everybody else is dead within a radius of 50 meters and the last enemy really wants to fight to the death and... not very likely to happen.
And yes, javelins were simply not designed for close combat. Roman pilums were made to bend at impact so that they are stuck in their target, so that the enemy cannot throw it back (until a smith fixes the point)
Spears were also not done for cutting. Yes, some like "swordstafs" could be used that way, let alone halberds for example, but a cut by a spear would be so easy to counter even with your bare arms (just rush toward the spearman so that your arm blocks the pole, and done you've passed the spearpoint).
***** I love all the comments regarding spears, I love them too, they're such an underrated weapon in my opinion. I would also add that their strike radius is quite small, the spear head, where as with a sword it's strike radius is the entire length of the blade. This doesn't really mean much with thrusts but if you have a spear that can cut it's far more difficult to hit someone with it than a sword.
axe is a chop not really a cut...
partisan... lol i know just in general right
I LOVE THE HOLLY GRAIL QUOTE
if the sword was good becaus it was good at thrusting and cutting, then where dous this put the rapier?
The rapier is a sword, so it counts. The significance is that a rapier is better at thrusting than cutting, like how a falchion is better at cutting than thrusting.
I would just like to say: Khopesh.
1:22what about eastern armies
What if one combines axe and speer into one weapon?
Those wooden swords of yours are really pretty :)
Please get rid of the others :D Have some nice sharp made by ElGur or Gael Fabre or someone like that ;)
Blank- blade I certainly intend to get some nicer swords . . . eventually. I'll need to start at the more affordable end so I'm thinking Hunwei. First I'm completing my collection of synthetics so I can have a good bash with any sword type. I'm flattered you like my wooden replicas mate, thanks heaps.
+I am Shad You gots their proportions right. They might even have a distal taper. Btw If your timing is correct and you're lucky you migjt get a very good, historically correct, really nice looking and affordable sword from arma bohemia.
also swords can parry. very well
Wait, but if swords were mostly sidearms... Can you use a longsword as a sidearm? Wot?
For Self-defence I'd Pick a light Halberd or a short spear every time. swords are nearly useless against armour... unless you are master swordsman with 10 years of training.
actually swords can be effectively used against armour with techniques such as half-swording where you grab the blade of your sword and use the pommel and crossguard to bash your opponent who's in armour. It's a legitimate technique, Skallagrim has a video on the topic. BUT the most effective technique is to use a pommel and END YOU OPPONENT RIGHTLY.
well we can all agree that a pommel throw is an ultimate technique.
Not anyone can be master of it though.
Why bother - I'll bring my rifle.
Cypeq yes that is the ultimate weapon the pomel
Maybe you can use a lightsaber to cut a tree down and make a bridge?
Shad brigandine
didn't even mention halfswording in order to bash a target, sure there are swords you would not do that with but if your talking versatility....
Half-swording is when you grip the sword with one hand in order to improve thrusting power and aim. *_Mordhau Strike/Stroke/Whatever_* is when you grip it in two hands in order to use the guard or pommel as a blunt weapon.
Kylee Smalley if you need to get into exact wording sure, but technically your still griping it half way down the blade hence half sword, none the less i understand your point... dose not change the point i was making.
4:50 and then there's the halberd.....
What about the halberd?
+ARR0WMANC3R The Halberd is probably more versatle than the sword.
It can hack/cut and thrust quite well and is additionally capable of hooking. Although it'S less convenient due to it'S long shaft. And A Halberd perhaps is not as good as a bludgeoning weapon as the Sword.
ARR0WMANC3R Halberds are remarkable weapons, I love them, but their size makes them very ineffective for an urban environment. A sword is about as large as you would want to get when surrounded by close confines. The other disadvantage in them is that their strike radius is quite small, the axe head, where as with a sword it's strike radius is the entire length of the blade so in my opinion it takes less skill to hit someone with a sword than a halberd.
I am Shad
I believe A halberd may still be a good weapon for townguard or such as you can more or less effektively hold a mob with poles without needing to carry around (large) shields all day.
And I just like the thought of a thief tripping over a Halberd hook and then beinig held down by the Spike.
+I am Shad Polearms such as halberds and glaives are known to be the go-to weapon for town guards from my understanding.
Hey +Shadiversity I know that this comment chain is a year old, but I seem to find a lot of mentions to Halberds that mention them almost like they're pikes, being unreasonably large to use in tight confines and having incredibly long spear tips. Yet whenever I go to find references, I instead find Halberds that are pretty much quarterstaffs with axe heads and normal sized spear tips.
Lol, this is so funny XD
cool
wastedangelematis Thanks!
you seemed to overlook something about the sword and that is that it can't be used for bludgeoning which is a huge problem for someone with plate armor so if you're fighting a bunch of knights in the battlefield you should probably bring a mace with you cause against someone with such armor a sword is of almost no use to you
Yes it can. Mordhau ftw.
You have gloves? Grab the blade, flip the sword around. Hit your opponent with the cross guard or pommel. Even if you don’t have gloves, if you have a firm enough grip so the blade doesn’t slip, it’ll be fine.
Is it AS EFFECTIVE as say, a morning star or another kind of mace? No. Heck no. But it’s definitely still possible. And can be used to some degree of adequate effectiveness. It just takes a little outside the box thinking dear Raphael.
guns are better.
Shorter videos please. It gets too long and too blabla you can sum up things in more content way. Im tryint to focus and watch but for example the videos about plate armor and the ultimate sword are jsut tooooo damn long and thats exhausting your viewers. Im saying this with the best intentions
+GeorgeofGondor2 I understand mate, but this is who I am, I go deep and in detail with my subjects. I know that this doesn't work for everyone while there's a lot of other people who love the detail.
+I am Shad I'm in the second camp: I love the detail, the terrible jokes, and the enthusiasm you have throughout the video. Keep it up :)
shad rules
shad rules