# Do You Know Your Glaive-Guisarme From Your Bohemian Earspoon?



## timbannock

That is beautiful artwork. I wish more games did this; all too often, they leave the research up to the players/GM, and...well, I'm lazy.


----------



## Ezequielramone

Excellent. I needed this so much. Especially polearms made us confused in the past, but not anymore.
I'll try to print those and add them to my GM's kit folder. Simple but useful work makes me happy.
THANK YOU.


----------



## Polyhedral_Columbia

Nice! 1e Unearthed Arcana and then some!


----------



## Man in the Funny Hat

Interesting and handy, if a bit late for me.  I just last week spent a few hours in researching for my 1E game what actually is supposed to make a "whatsit-thingy" different from a "widget-thingy", different from a regular "thingy".  Where were you then?!


----------



## mips42

The voulge can also sometimes be referred to as a Lochaber Ax. 

http://www.thespecialistsltd.com/files/Lochaber.jpg

*The more you know rainbow*


----------



## Xavian Starsider

Finally, I know what a hammer looks like!

Just kidding. Very thorough. It could have half as many weapons and I'd still consider it very thorough.


----------



## Xohar17

Very nice, it reminds me of 4E weapon art.

Just some comments: that claymore doesnt look like any I've ever seen, neither historical or fantasy, it looks more like a rapier. And is Poleave a typo for poleaxe? or is that another name for a halberd?


----------



## Gorath99

I too was confused by the claymore image, but apparently the name is also used to refer to a type of basket-hilted sword used by Scotsmen since the 17th century. Wikipedia has more information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claymore


----------



## neobolts

Gorgeous. So many polearms.


----------



## Morrus

Yes, there were two claymores. I think I'll see about getting the two-handed version added also. Anybody got a good suggestion on how to name them, though? Claymore and Greater Claymore?


----------



## DocSun

In that Wiki article they call the two handed version the Highland Claymore so maybe that?


----------



## TheFailedSave

Morrus said:


> Yes, there were two claymores. I think I'll see about getting the two-handed version added also. Anybody got a good suggestion on how to name them, though? Claymore and Greater Claymore?




Claymore for the two handed version and Broadsword for the basket hilt is probably more accurate.


----------



## Morrus

Claymore and Highland Claymore sound like a good approach (thanks @DocSun!)


----------



## NotZenon

Well claymore literally means "long sword" or "great sword" in gaelic.   So the scots used to term to refer to the longest sword in popular use at the time.  Similarly the german "zweihander" literally means "two hander".   

I'm sure most of you knew this though, so sorry for being "that guy".

i'm impressed most of these seem to be pretty close to historically accurate.   probably the warhammer is the only one thats off, being much larger than a historical version, fortunately the picture of the military pick right below it is almost identical to a historical warhammer.


----------



## Morrus

NotZenon said:


> Similarly the german "zweihander" literally means "two hander".




You don't say!


----------



## ProtoClone

I'm impressed they included the Urumi!


----------



## Nylanfs

Arms & Armor by Bastion Press is a really good reference. Although I'm still looking for a good example of Tian He Feng Wei Tang (Heaven Lotus Phoenix Tail), it's talked about but I have never seen a good picture of it.


----------



## Arryn

Gorgeous artwork, but where are the flails?


----------



## EdL

NotZenon said:


> i'm impressed most of these seem to be pretty close to historically accurate.   probably the warhammer is the only one thats off, being much larger than a historical version, fortunately the picture of the military pick right below it is almost identical to a historical warhammer.




Yeah, I was steamed that they included the 'warhammer' that isn't anything like one. Wish they'd left it out and just called the military pick that.

Also, the picture of the bill is much too fancy for the name. A regular bill (or bill hook) is much plainer than that.


----------



## Morrus

EdL said:


> Yeah, I was steamed




Steamed?  I'm really sorry.


----------



## Desh-Rae-Halra

Nice graphics.....Where are the ulaks? Or the Sai?


----------



## Herschel

Pretty cool overall. 

Nits: The Claymore is a Bastard Sword with Scottish Stylings. Those calling the Basket-Hilted Broadsword a Claymore are incorrect, and repeating those that called it incorrectly doesn't change that fact.  

Yes, the Military Pick is actually what Warhammers looked like. 

The Long Sword is WAY too big, especially the hilt. It's larger than the Bastard Sword.

The Mancatcher's "business end" looks to be on the small side. 

The vast majority of real Battle Axes had only one head.


----------



## EdL

Morrus said:


> Steamed?  I'm really sorry.




Well, not nearly as steamed as I would have been if you'd showed the usual huge double sided thing (which would be physically impossible to wield) that mostly shows up as a warhammer these days, but still a bit steamed. Perhaps I should say disappointed instead.


----------



## Herschel

I'm lightly basted.


----------



## Morrus

EdL said:


> Well, not nearly as steamed as I would have been if you'd showed the usual huge double sided thing (which would be physically impossible to wield) that mostly shows up as a warhammer these days, but still a bit steamed. Perhaps I should say disappointed instead.




Think of it as a "Dwarven Warhammer" instead. They like their warhammers a bit more chunky.


----------



## pemerton

EdL said:


> the picture of the bill is much too fancy for the name. A regular bill (or bill hook) is much plainer than that.



It seems to resemble what Gygax, in his notorious Appendix T (UA p 128), calls a bill-guisarme.


----------



## DMZ2112

Always glad to see the Bohemian earspoon getting some attention!



mips42 said:


> The voulge can also sometimes be referred to as a Lochaber Ax.
> http://www.thespecialistsltd.com/files/Lochaber.jpg
> *The more you know rainbow*




I was glad to have this information di-voulged.

/eyebrows


----------



## Twiggly the Gnome

Morrus said:


> Think of it as a "Dwarven Warhammer" instead. They like their warhammers a bit more chunky.




You could call it a Mjölnir, and describe it as a weaponized milling hammer.


----------



## Cap'n Kobold

Herschel said:


> Nits: The Claymore is a Bastard Sword with Scottish Stylings. Those calling the Basket-Hilted Broadsword a Claymore are incorrect, and repeating those that called it incorrectly doesn't change that fact.
> 
> The Long Sword is WAY too big, especially the hilt. It's larger than the Bastard Sword.



Claymore is just anglicised gaelic meaning "big sword". Bear in mind that D&D weapons covers over a millennia: the two-handed claymore was no longer used when the basket-hilted sword sword was called this. (Used to distinguish it from the lighter blades used by the soft English officers at the time.)  

I don't think that the Longsword is to scale. To be frank, the Bastard sword illustration is actually what an historical long sword looked like: it was almost exclusively two-handed. In D&D terms, the "Longsword" probably refers to "Arming sword" or just "Sword", covering blades from celtic and viking swords to the heavier rapiers.


----------



## Morrus




----------



## Al2O3

It looks weird to me to call the swordstaff a svärdstav in English. Either use a fully scandinavian spelling or do the translation into English. Probably do the translation.


----------



## Morrus

Al2O3 said:


> It looks weird to me to call the swordstaff a svärdstav in English. Either use a fully scandinavian spelling or do the translation into English. Probably do the translation.




I personally prefer the flavour from words like svärdstav, claymore, katana, zweihander, etc. I get that not everybody feels the same way, but that's my own preference.


----------



## Al2O3

I guess it is a result of Swedish being my native tongue, so it is less flavour to me than a lack of easy translation. I do admit that reading or hearing "ombudsman" or "smorgosbord" in English is about as weird to me. However, the latter two do not have as obvious other direct translations into English and are more commonly used. Therefore they are a bit less strange to see in English.

Furthermore, doing the other way and including English words in Swedish is so common that it is expected. I guess there is nothing wrong in using Swedish words in English the same way. Still looks weird.


----------



## Morrus

Al2O3 said:


> I guess it is a result of Swedish being my native tongue, so it is less flavour to me than a lack of easy translation. I do admit that reading or hearing "ombudsman" or "smorgosbord" in English is about as weird to me. However, the latter two do not have as obvious other direct translations into English and are more commonly used. Therefore they are a bit less strange to see in English.
> 
> Furthermore, doing the other way and including English words in Swedish is so common that it is expected. I guess there is nothing wrong in using Swedish words in English the same way. Still looks weird.




I wonder if it's the same for, say, Japanese folks seeing items named in their language? I'm the first to admit, speaking only English, I have no perspective on this.


----------



## Jenks3

I have a question, is the "spear" on the last pic supposed to be a Javelin?

Else, where is the javelin?


----------



## Feiance

Fantasy games need more chakrams!


----------



## ErikJohwon

I've never seen a guisarme that looks like that before, looks more like a peasants billhook. And the billhook looks like a fancy guisarme.


----------



## Derren

I don't think a bayonet is appropriate for a rifle. It should be on the musket instead.

Also I do not see why the unmodified scythe should be shown here. No one used the scythe without modifications in combat. For that they had the war scythe.


----------



## CleverNickName

I had no idea there was a difference between a Horseman's Mace and a Footman's Mace.


----------



## Henry

CleverNickName said:


> I had no idea there was a difference between a Horseman's Mace and a Footman's Mace.




If you’re on the business end, there really isn’t...


----------



## dragoner

Another Czech medieval weapon is the Hussite Pole Flail - FLAIL, Hussite war weapon, replica


----------



## MGibster

Derren said:


> I don't think a bayonet is appropriate for a rifle. It should be on the musket instead.




It looks like a percussion rifle like the kind used during the Civil War and they did have bayonets.


----------



## aramis erak

timbannock said:


> That is beautiful artwork. I wish more games did this; all too often, they leave the research up to the players/GM, and...well, I'm lazy.



Too bad that most people don't look, because they assume TSR actually did competent research.

No serious historian divides the weapons as finely as AD&D's UA does.
Further, a number of things therein claimed to be different are just two different regional names for the same thing. 

The illustrations at top are little better.... 
Claidhmore is just scottish for a war sword - be it a basket hilted single edge or a 2 hander with double edges...  and the one shown is impractically scaled. The basket is fine, but that style of basket should be about 6" to 7" length, putting the blade at about 42" to 49" double edge, rather than the single or 1.5 edge 35-40" historically common with that type of hilt.

That warhammer is pure fantasy. most of the blades are poorly (but prettily) presented.


----------



## timbannock

aramis erak said:


> Too bad that most people don't look, because they assume TSR actually did competent research.
> 
> No serious historian divides the weapons as finely as AD&D's UA does.
> Further, a number of things therein claimed to be different are just two different regional names for the same thing.
> 
> The illustrations at top are little better....
> Claidhmore is just scottish for a war sword - be it a basket hilted single edge or a 2 hander with double edges...  and the one shown is impractically scaled. The basket is fine, but that style of basket should be about 6" to 7" length, putting the blade at about 42" to 49" double edge, rather than the single or 1.5 edge 35-40" historically common with that type of hilt.
> 
> That warhammer is pure fantasy. most of the blades are poorly (but prettily) presented.




A great point. Being able to compile this stuff so that we have realistic versions and more fantastical stuff...and keep it separate! That'd be awesome. But with very few exceptions, this stuff is just left picture-less and poorly described in most RPG releases.


----------



## mips42

Oh, oh, we want to learn how to defend ourselves from pointed sticks, do we?


----------



## aramis erak

mips42 said:


> Oh, oh, we want to learn how to defend ourselves from pointed sticks, do we?



Actually, I've do that... Tuesday nights, local scout lodge, SCA fighter practice.


----------



## JacktheRabbit

I do believe that the double headed battleaxe is purely a creation of hollywood and fantasy novels. I remember reading that there was no real evidence that the existed historically.

Would love to hear from someone that knew more or knew different.


----------



## Don Durito

JacktheRabbit said:


> I do believe that the double headed battleaxe is purely a creation of hollywood and fantasy novels. I remember reading that there was no real evidence that the existed historically.
> 
> Would love to hear from someone that knew more or knew different.



According to Matt Easton of Scholagladiatora other cultures sometimes had them, although they may have been mostly ceremonial.

The Dane Axe of the vikings was typically one-sided.
Later Pole Axes often had a second head that was a hammer or spike for dealing with armour, so you could hammer that out into a second axe head if you wanted to, without significantly changing the handling of the weapon.  But the question I guess is, why would you want a second axe head? (You've already got one - might as well have something different).

I'm not aware of any actual two handed warhammers that weren't effectively a type of pole-arm (although archers may have used their wooden mallets for driving stakes into the ground as weapons in a pinch).

Also that Warhammer in the first page is a pure fantasy weapon - the one labelled, for some reason, a 'militiary pick' is in fact an actual warhammer.


----------



## JacktheRabbit

Don Durito said:


> According to Matt Easton of Scholagladiatora other cultures sometimes had them, although they may have been mostly ceremonial.
> 
> The Dane Axe of the vikings was typically one-sided.
> Later Pole Axes often had a second head that was a hammer or spike for dealing with armour, so you could hammer that out into a second axe head if you wanted to, without significantly changing the handling of the weapon.  But the question I guess is, why would you want a second axe head? (You've already got one - might as well have something different).
> 
> I'm not aware of any actual two handed warhammers that weren't effectively a type of pole-arm (although archers may have used their wooden mallets for driving stakes into the ground as weapons in a pinch).




I assume the idea behind a second axe head would be the same as having the back side of your sword edge sharpened, so that you have more freedom to swing. A single head on an axe means you have to completely reverse the weapon when when swinging. At least it would seem to me, I am not a a weapons expert by any stretch.

A second head would also mean more force behind a blow, but that would have the equal drawback of making the weapon slower on recovery as it becomes even more head heavy.


----------



## Don Durito

JacktheRabbit said:


> I assume the idea behind a second axe head would be the same as having the back side of your sword edge sharpened, so that you have more freedom to swing. A single head on an axe means you have to completely reverse the weapon when when swinging. At least it would seem to me, I am not a a weapons expert by any stretch.
> 
> A second head would also mean more force behind a blow, but that would have the equal drawback of making the weapon slower on recovery as it becomes even more head heavy.



Yes.  When you have to deal with heavy armour, the added weight may be an advantage.  The fact that we don't see much historical double headed axes probably suggests that same weight meant that a double headed axe didn't have the same advantages as a double edged sword in terms of being able to make use of the second edge.

It's the sort of thing which would be unhistorical if you said it was common.  But, it wouldn't stretch belief if say a 14th century knight had one especially made for them for some reason.

So long as it was on the end of a longer pole than is usually depicted in fantasy art.


----------

