Many popular games have settings that take inspiration from real-life periods of the history of different countries. We’ve chosen the European Middle Ages for the world of Throne: Kingdom at War. Its music, architecture, knight armor and weaponry convey it.
Warriors used the following weapon categories in medieval battles:
- Cold melee weapons
- Cold ranged weapons
- Firearms
- Siege weapons
But due to movies and video games, we all consider the cold weapons of close combat, swords and axes, as the knights’ main weapons during the medieval period. Let’s talk a bit about them here.
There were several types of cold weapon.
Blunt weapons
These weapons are considered to be the most ancient. By flailing the weight attached to the hilt, it was possible to inflict a painful blow.
The main types of blunt weapon were:
- Cudgels
- Maces
- Flails
- Hammers
Some blunt weapons were even used against well-equipped cavalry. For example, the Lucerne hammer with its long shaft could pierce the armor of a knight sitting on horseback.
Slashing weapons
These are weapons whose blades inflicted powerful slashing blows. Swords are one of the most common types of slash weapons. Knights used them in both dismounted and in horseback battles.
Swords were:
- One-handed. They weighed little and you could wield them with only one hand.
- Hand-and-a-half. People mostly held these swords with two hands, but because of their weight and balance you could also use them to fight with one hand.
- Two-handed. You always needed two hands to use these heavy swords.
Other slashing weapons included battle axes and scythes, which were also popular among medieval soldiers.
Stabbing weapons
It was difficult to fight warriors in plate armor. Slashing weapons did not always penetrate between armor plates, so soldiers began to arm themselves with stabbing weapons and inflict thrusting blows. The wounds they caused were deep because of the pressure of the sharpened point on a small area.
Stabbing weapons are divided into bladed and pole weapons.
Bladed weapons are:
- Rapiers
- Small swords
- Daggers
- Stilettos
Pole weapons include:
- Spears
- Ranseurs
- Bayonets etc.
Some knights placed their banners on stabbing pole weapons like spears.
Stabbing and slashing weapons
Stabbing and slashing weapons appeared in the late Middle Ages. Their tips were usable for both stabbing and slashing.
Such weapons were divided between bladed and pole.
The bladed weapons included yatagans and sabers, with different varieties of saber originating in Europe, Russia, Asia, and Arabia. The halberd was the most popular pole weapon. It is a spear and an axe at the same time. Other pole weapons included the poleax and the glaive.
In the following article we will tell you about the cold ranged weapons of the Middle Ages. Follow our news!
