Seeing how quite a few people bring up the Japanese Kanabō / Tetsubō: The reason I didn't mention it here is because I see it as a studded war club rather than a mace. To be fair, the classification can get a little tricky... Normally I would define a mace as having a distinct striking end mounted on a haft. I guess that would technically make some of the two-handed morning stars I showed in this video spiked clubs rather than maces. How should we even define a spiked mace in a way that distinguishes it from a spiked club? What do you think?

@ZMowlcher

6 ай бұрын

I think a club turns into a mace when you start adding studs and flanges on the end to concentrate force.

@lfbp7051

6 ай бұрын

@@ZMowlcherYes the mace is meant to concentrate the force in 1 point for maximum damage(the stick is just for reach😉)

@ivanivanovic5586

6 ай бұрын

Was about to ask, good that there's a clarification ready, thank you.

@franciscosouzaaguirre9688

6 ай бұрын

The full metal tetsubō would.fit into the mace category imo...

@MaxAngor

6 ай бұрын

Kanabo is a war club. Tetsubo is a 2h mace

"Someone who could afford plate armor but only a wooden weapon" Bro had a budget

@elijahmontgomery4146

6 ай бұрын

Bludgeoning on a budget 😎

@quoccuongtran724

6 ай бұрын

who say wooden club can only be cheap ? bro could have had a masterfully carved, decorated wooden club made out of the densest, hardest wood - possibly made from the heartwood part of the trunk, and submerged in cold mud to harden it even further against weather and rotting (submerging wood is a technique to make the wood rot-resistant; going into details, i guess it accelerates the decay of nutrients in newly cutted wood, so that subsequent bacteria & fungi couldn't grow on that wood & rot it)

@Zagskrag

6 ай бұрын

I think the most likely explanation is that he acquired it on the field. Maybe he broke his original weapon, or expected enemies that were too armored for his usual preferred weapon. Bro might not be a blacksmith hauling an entire workshop with him to war, but finding a sturdy branch and carving it up a bit is something anyone can do with a simple knife.

@AnarexicSumo

6 ай бұрын

@@quoccuongtran724No one said a wooden club can only be cheap, just that there’s no reason someone who could afford armor would have to settle for one. If they did what you said it would be asinine. No one is going to pay for an expensive decoration and take it to a real fight when they could have a better and by your example cheaper metal one.

@Painfulldarksoul

6 ай бұрын

Not dying is pretty important. Instead of prioritizing killing the other guy, he decided to be alive and return to his family. Based.

I would note that a number of Inca stone-headed maces are almost certainly two-handed, although one-handed versions were more common :)

@joekennedy4093

6 ай бұрын

You aren't allowed to know about things that aren't ships! That was the deal.

@EpicRenegade777

6 ай бұрын

@@joekennedy4093 ship cannon shells are just really really really big spears

@foldionepapyrus3441

6 ай бұрын

With so many of the older 'maces' as nothing survives but the head can we even be certain they ever made a single handed one at all? A small head that we would assume was a single handed mace by mass and size is perfectly capable of being put on a very long shaft - we made the assumption that as its comparable to a later period one handed mace we actually know a lot about it must be the head of a one handed mace (or at least so it seems to me, but no expert at any period or location). A small hammer head on the end of a long stick is still a good force multiplier that doesn't sacrifice reach or speed the way a heavier head probably does. So while we can be fairly sure the very large hammer/mace head like objects from early history are for two handed use - as they are too heavy to be anything else the smaller ones I'd argue we are really just guessing. Far as I know the archaeologists have never turned up that bog find perfectly preserved mace with shaft from the stoneage type eras anywhere in the world.

@Drachinifel

6 ай бұрын

@@foldionepapyrus3441 we have some illustrations and a sorta co tenuous line of heritage, but that combines with mace head finds where the shift socket and weight of head are impracticable for a single handed weapon :)

@foldionepapyrus3441

6 ай бұрын

@@Drachinifel That I agree with, too heavy for one handed => it must have been a two hander. But we can't really go the other way - the light head we are assuming is from a single handed weapon can be put on a long shaft intended for use with two hands- really easy to make, and has that highly important thing in melee combat reach. Almost impossible to prove didn't happen that way or wasn't even the normal way of mounting that lighter weight head - a faster more nimble long reach hammer won't hit as hard but it will still make a good weapon. No real evidence either way as far as I know.

Before watching the video I'm just going to assume that at least someone somewhere in thousands of years of human history was a true chad with a warhammer so big that nobody (including himself) could ever wield.

@Metacore91

6 ай бұрын

Gods I was strong then!

@liamkeenan-cx8no

6 ай бұрын

Yeah me

@thender31

6 ай бұрын

His name was John WarHammer and he caused a total war

@MegaKnight2012

6 ай бұрын

Just look at Asian weapons and their war art. They've got some freaking big polearms, like axes and maces. There's the Japanese kanabo, seen used by oni, and the Persian and Indian bodybuilder clubs and maces, which in those monsters' hands, was likely used as a weapon at some point.

@MegaKnight2012

6 ай бұрын

​@@Metacore91Russian Bardiche

I've actually been to a torture museum, they're actually really fun because of how interactive they are, no I will not elaborate.

@Klbkchhezeim

6 ай бұрын

I will not ask you to elaborate, but can I ask if they give you the full experience or just the trial run?

@INSANESUICIDE

6 ай бұрын

Will you at least give a website/physical address so the rest of us can skip straight to the "find out" part?

@ajackdrew

6 ай бұрын

Do they assign you a safe word, or do you get to pick your own?

@RinKokonoe

6 ай бұрын

Slaanesh sings through us

@nickshane5985

6 ай бұрын

​@@RinKokonoe Yes Miss. Inquisitor this one over here.

I've always found it pretty funny that people getting stabbed in medieval tapestries look so sad rather than freaking out. they always have a face that reads "darn..." rather than "oh shit!"

@beansworth5694

6 ай бұрын

"I'm dead, now, I guess. No need to freak out about it anymore since I'm not leaving this battlefield"

@smokedbeefandcheese4144

6 ай бұрын

That’s because good Christians aren’t supposed to be worried about that you’re going to see Jesus in heaven after all.

@thejake1453

6 ай бұрын

"bummer man"

@boiledelephant

4 ай бұрын

"Alas, thou hast slain me. T'was forseeable."

@theodoregabranth1800

4 ай бұрын

​@@boiledelephant"Forsooth"

In the Chinese military classic Wujing Zongyao, written 1040 to 1044, there is a section on maces that depicts a weapon with a spiked mace on each end and clearly meant to be used with both hands.

@andreydoronin6995

6 ай бұрын

There was Jaegerstock/Hunting staff which was a double ended spear

@Daniel_Coffman

6 ай бұрын

I also know of the single-headed, and also Chinese, wolf teeth mace, which for reference, Xiahou Dun used in Dynasty Warriors 6, Pang De uses in Dynasty Warriors Next and on, and Guan Yinping uses in Dynasty Warriors 9.

@rikospostmodernlife

6 ай бұрын

There's also the 2-handed barmace which was used in longsword-like forms, and the (of questinable historicity) "wolf teeth club" of modern martial arts

@thomaspaine2217

6 ай бұрын

@@andreydoronin6995 This is completely irrelevant but the correct translation for Jaegerstock is Hunters Staff. Hunting Staff would be Jagdstock. Just fyi

@anantasheshanaga3666

6 ай бұрын

There were plenty of two handed maces in India. They were a lot heavier than European maces as well. They weighed 3 kilograms on average, but could get much heavier, especially in a cavalry context

The japanese Tetsubo, and Chinese wolf tooth club may be worth mentioning too.

@mkdemigodzillawarrior

6 ай бұрын

Yeah, kind of surprised he didn't mention the Kanabo, which I'm pretty certain is suppose to be used with two hands...though I guess it is technically a "war club" rather than a "mace".

@scottmacgregor3444

6 ай бұрын

@@mkdemigodzillawarrior Funny enough he actually had a Kanabo at one point. Divested of it when he moved across the country.

Mythologically, Thor’s hammer Mjolnir gets its strange appearance because it was supposed to be a long-handled war hammer but its makers were interrupted while it was being crafted. But Thor was strong enough to wield it with one hand anyways. It seems like there wouldn’t be a story like that in Norse society if there weren’t at least some two-handed heavy warhammers out there.

@KieraQ0323

6 ай бұрын

Nah, the handle is really short on mjolnir. It could easily be 3x the length and still be a one handed weapon.

@ZMowlcher

6 ай бұрын

It's why Thor had a special glove to wield it

@Kholdaimon

6 ай бұрын

I mean, take a Dane Axe, put a hammer or mace head on it instead and you have a 2-handed hammer or mace. It is not like they didn't have the technology and apparently there was a need for 2-handed weapons, so no reason why people shouldn't use one. Although, come to think of it, weren't the axes used to smash shields? Maces wouldn't be as good at that, but they don't need sharpening and are easier to produce... Anyways, if they were made of wood, they wouldn't be preserved, so maybe they did exist, but all the heroes they write about were rich enough to afford axes?

@JohnFWitt

6 ай бұрын

@@KieraQ0323 you’re not wrong about that, but the myth depicts Thor being able to wield it with only one hand as a feat of strength. So it just implies that a mere mortal (and probably most if not all of the other gods) would have needed to use two hands, and by extension that implies the existence of two-handed hammers

@da_BemBem

6 ай бұрын

You forget the added detail that he could stroke the hammer to get the haft to grow, I love that detail.

Actually Hussites used a lot of wierd weapons through their times and i think there is also a evidence of a two handed morning star just as you showed in the video... They called it "Kropáč" which is a Czech word for morningstar, riders used shortened version and footmen used the two handed one also those weapons were mostly reworked agricultural tools so the people knew how to use them and they were pretty cheap. As always, thank you for the video Skall!

@acb1511

5 ай бұрын

It would be called a flail in English I think, a normal war hammer would be a 1 handed thing like an ice pick, with a shield, and he means a 2 handed mace like a large blacksmith hammer, like in movies, if even someone tried to use such a thing in combat at all.

Polearms maces with spikes on top could have played nicer in formation. You could threaten formations of cavalry by bracing. Anytime we see these two handed weapons, it seems they were very rarely made for casual carry and meant to be brought to a battlefield, so the logic extends to these rarely seen two handed maces.

@DanielMWJ

6 ай бұрын

You can also use the top spike in a follow-up strike. Instead of lifting it all the way up after striking, you just pull back and thrust. Overhead strike, pull back, thrust. Much faster than overhead strike, lift all the way back up, overhead strike again.

@TheSaival

6 ай бұрын

actually, if you have a 2 handed hammer you might as well use your working hammer in battle not that much of a difference, maybe thats why archeologists dont find much stuff - because when they find a heavy hammer they assume its a tool, not a weapon.

@gacrazy65

6 ай бұрын

@@TheSaivalCompared to the two handed maces, they might feel awkward in comparison. Also, you'd be using it like a Dane Axe, which is not formation friendly imo. Lots of sweeping strikes. Swords, polearms, and spears can thrust and be VERY lethal. A lot of maces were used as cavalry weapons, so they can cheat the kinetic generation to do damage and they are not likely to be so tight to get in the way of their fellows. I'd also say most tools big enough are on the heavy side for weapons. A Dane Axe has a 4-5ft handle to work with. Then the one with the tools doesn't have the armor. Remember most troops had to buy their kit, so if I have a big ol' hammer, I still might rather get a spear to gain that extra reach if I can't afford armor to get close enough to use a hammer. Edit: not saying you couldn't, but if you're GOING to a battle, why use a heavy hammer the size of a sword, when you can get a spear with an extra foot~ish of reach that isn't anywhere near that heavy for cheap.

@DanielMWJ

6 ай бұрын

@@TheSaival Mauls *were* used to some effect, but that's more of a "We don't have any other effective weapons against knights, lads. Take a maul, speak a prayer, and swing for the fences." Less so in open field battles against cavalry and more of a city battle thing. They're typically on hand due to being used in construction and demolition.

@AnarexicSumo

6 ай бұрын

@@TheSaivalNo, that would be terrible. We have hammer headed polearm, they’re built the way they are for battle. They look and work nothing like a work hammer. Also it’s pretty reductive to just assume historians don’t just read first hand accounts of what was used in battle and just make everything up.

Idk how Skallagrim manages to telepathically read my mind, but nearly every upload for quite some time has been on a subject I was wondering about just a couple days prior.

If you count a kanabo/tetsubo as a type of mace then yeah they’re quite a lot of variants Edit: even if you only count the kanabo with smaller studded areas, there are still a few of different types

@Daniel_Coffman

6 ай бұрын

Alongside the Japanese kanabou, Xiahou Dun and Pang De in Dynasty Warriors also have used at some point in the series an actual Chinese mace called the wolf teeth mace, which is itself a mace with a long handle and a short studded/spiked head.

@CriticalFeline

6 ай бұрын

yeah, when I saw the title, the first thing I thought of was the Tetsubo

@thelegendaryklobb2879

6 ай бұрын

Indeed, some of them are very mace-like so it's one of the better "two-handed mace" examples you can really find

@OasisTypeZaku

6 ай бұрын

The tetsubo/kanabo is what first came to mind. Those aren't really war clubs as they are maces.

@silviuvisan505

6 ай бұрын

The big sumo guy from for honor uses it.

Just see the Dutch "Goedendag" (I think that's the spelling) which is basically just a tapering thick wooden shaft with a metal end that also has a spike. It ain't stupid if it works, and while and edge might slide off or not penetrate certain types of armor, a significantly hard and heavy object hitting it at significant enough speed *will* ruin your day, at the very least the first blow will be debilitating.

@Skallagrim

6 ай бұрын

Yup. kzread.info/dash/bejne/pq1rl9igY6nRd9o.html

“Club+ the enhanced version” lmfao love it

i am always in awe that you always manage to find these funky historical drawings

I visited a torture museum in Rothenberg ob der Tauber. It was quite a lot larger than I had anticipated it being, but still rather unique being able to see the actual devices.

Aside from the kanabo people have mentioned, I would point out that there were also a lot of fantasy style two handed hammers that existed in the realm of TOOLS in the medieval era. Mauls and sledgehammers certainly existed, and while they would have been designed for tool work, many tools have been forced into the role of weapon in times of need in the past. Those would be considerably less likely to have been depicted in drawings and paintings of the day as the richest guy on the battlefield wouldn't be the one swinging it.

@AgtPaper665

3 ай бұрын

Not to mention the fact that a lot of blunt tools-turned-weapons would have been made mostly or entirely of wood, and less likely to survive to museum age after much use in both settings.

You might know this from your studies in Norway Skallagrim, but the nightwatchers in Norway and Denmark was equipped with 2 handed maces, called "Vekterstav", there was both smooth headed ones, usually shorter but with a metal spike in the opposite end, and the long (pollweapon lenght) ones usually spiked. The long 2handed spiked ones were known as a "Morgenstjerne", av"Morningstar". I learned about it in my childhood when I asked about the logo of an insurance company "Gjensidige Forsikring" that depict a nightwatch in their logo, and also often has a doll dressed up in a nightwatch uniform, with the Morningstar in hand at every insurance office.

Two handed Maces in form of Morningstars, Warflails etc were really common in the german regions. there are sources from middle ages right up to the 18th century maybe even later. German arsenals tend ot have quite a few of them and contemporary sources praise them highly for the defense of cities and fortresses. they are often named first when authors talk about what weapon one should buy for defense of cities. they exists with with chains or without and were purchased in large quantities. according to some the reason we dont know much about them is that they were not considered "knightly" weapons. Although i rather assume they were simply boring weapons to use . they could go up to 2,50-3,50 meters. There is one other thing often called böhmischer Ohrlöffel/bohemian earspoon (sometimes wrongly connected to partisans) which were two handed clubs for self defense often worn by peasants and also used to sally port from cities. there are some contemporary pictures where one can see them. Grimmelshausen mentions them for example. some sieges apparently saw them being used in the thirty years war. But i agree its really hard to find more information despite them often being kept in arsenals.

@rafaelschaffner

6 ай бұрын

Yes, I was thinking about morningstars. I was in Switzerland recently and just about every castle or old armory had at least a couple morningstars on display.

@UnintentionalSubmarine

6 ай бұрын

Yeah, up here in Denmark the classical depiction of the night watchman (vægter, the guy that walks around announcing the time on the hour and proclaims the peace) is with a morningstar leaning over his shoulder and a lamp in the free hand. And these morningstars would normally be without a prominent top spike, but I guess it could still thrust with the regular spikes.

@veraducks

6 ай бұрын

I wonder if this is one of those "holes" in the historical record we find every so often. You say they were not knightly weapons. There are a lot of strange, non-knightly weapons of self-defense and anti-animal attacks that we never see in drawings or see written down. It's because the artists were drawing knights and the writers were making manuals for knightly combat. But little things in oral history, legal records, and mercential ledgers often show things like two-handed flails, slingshots (monkey's fist flails), and so many similar simple weapons are the kind of stuff that just gets forgotten about. Rope, wood, and errant stones aren't gonna survive that often in archeology, either. And there were so many ceremonial and well- and purposefully-made display pieces for the knightly stuff...

@AnarexicSumo

6 ай бұрын

@@veraducksOr random youtube commenters are just ignorant of them they don’t make their way into contemporary works. I think it’s a mistake to just assume historians don’t read mercantile ledgers when they’re some of the most prized things in archaeology.

@superrobotmonkeyhyperteamf3194

6 ай бұрын

@@veraducks Manuls kind of include them if you consider the quarter staff which is the fundament for all polearms. I think meyer actually has one picture showing a war flail. I assume that at that time they were not really special were not used for fencing(obvious reasons) and modern historians do not often bother with them. Agree lists etc do show a huge variety of weapons that seemed to have been used but rarely being shown or depicted. Or maybe historians did not really search for them. Overall i think battlefield only weapons/ more crude weapons were often overlooked. Same with some japanese weapons such as certain types of uchigatana , odachis etc.

I would guess that one handed maces often lack thrusting spikes precisely for the reasons you stated, it can be useful for thrusting in close quarters, but with a short mace you can just maneuver it around and bash the opponent even at close range, no need to grip it high to reduce the shaft

@rpontonjr

6 ай бұрын

Short maces were also often used as sidearms. If it's dangling from your saddle/hip, you don't necessarily want it covered in spikes. Also, it will have an overall length maximum. Finally, one design goal of the non-spiked mace was that you could swing for the fences without getting stuck in things, without having any concern with edge alignment. A warhammer has to be aligned, and the spike is definitely at risk of getting stuck. So it is likely a specialty thing. If you want a short weapon with spikes, a warhammer is better at the job against heavy armor as it focuses its force in one area. If you want to focus on bludgeoning against heavy armor, then no spikes at all allows you to keep your weapon.

@AnarexicSumo

6 ай бұрын

@@rpontonjrYou’re close but off the mark. It’s true that spikes (more accurately hooks) like on polearm were used on soft targets due to the propensity of getting stuck. Spikes on hammer faces were not and did not get stuck. They were used on armor precisely because the point could deliver better impact pressure and even if you didn’t get a lethal hit you could dent a plate and possibly lock it up since, by the late medieval period, they were heavily articulated. We have numerous examples of polearms with a hook on one side and spiked hammer on the other precisely because the spikes were good for armor

@off6848

6 ай бұрын

@@AnarexicSumo Nah I think he's right it makes sense on a polearm because you can brace and guard against calvary but with a one handed mace you're not gonna try to engage calvary and the spike could get stuck in cloth or whatever when fighting dismounted enemies His point about being used as a side arm while mounted is solid too a spike adds danger to your horse and yourself if you you're knock off your mount

@Tanaka_Kenshin

4 ай бұрын

Also, as a side thought... On one-handed maces spike would not be very useful, since they are rather short - and balanced the way they are. Rapier-fencing with a mace would feel rather awkward, I guess.

Adding a pointy bit at the end is crucial.

@stevekillgore9272

3 ай бұрын

And a removable pommel would make it better !

Great video Skall. I love videos that incorporate (1) answers to distinct, memorable questions that (2) provide a launching pad for historical overview on a given topic and (3) incorporate the rational basis for why things were done the way they were throughout history. I like longer videos as well, but short ones like this (i can digest it in 5 min at 2x speed) are quite effective as well. Yes, I was both entertained and learned something so thank you.

Thanks, Skall! I've been considering aspects of this very issue regarding 2H mace construction for various applications. Your research and insights here were helpful. Been watching your content since early days here, and your practical approach has always been good in put. I hope you folks have a great Yul-time!

I always did enjoy these deep dives into historical weaponry.

I know Japanese weapons are typically out of your wheelhouse, but the Kanabō (I'm not sure how historically-accurate it was in terms of battlefield use) is certainly one hell of a 2-handed mace.

@Skallagrim

6 ай бұрын

I would call that a studded war club.

Heyy Skallagrim!! I remember asking you this question on one of the live streams once and I must say that I am more than satisfied today to see that you’ve made this video on the subject. As usual amazing work man, we all love the content 🔥

In Norway we once had street patrolmen with a morningstar polearm. Good times

Some days or weeks ago, Dequitem made a video using a long shafted mace. He also made a critique video after it. Could be interesting to watch.

@AnimalMotha

6 ай бұрын

Just posted the link, I think it fits pretty well.

I had that question a while back and after thinking about it for a while I reached the conclusion that they were less prevalent than other polearms for one single reason: if you have an axe head on a big stick, you already have a two handed mace. It's a heavy weight on the tip of a big stick, not putting blades or spikes on it would be sacrificing function without any return.

@off6848

6 ай бұрын

Ehh but now you need edge alignment and ball end weapon heads are probably slightly better at defeating plate armor where as axes are better for busting shields Not need edge alignment is probably why calvary are often depicted with maces

This video is some of your finest work. Well done!

This video is oddly timely for me, thanks, Skall!

Little bit shocked that I've been watching this channel, for i'm sure close to a decade now, and there is still a bunch of interesting information.

Aside from the obvious advantage of granting thrusting capabilities with the spike on top, wouldn't it also grant a polearm mace some protection against cavalry charges? I mean if you have a long, spiked polearm, your best bet against charging cavalry isn't to try and run away (cavalry will outrun infantry) but to stand your ground and dig the bottom part of the polearm into the dirt and point as many pointy bits towards the horses.

A-mace-ing video Skall, thanks as always for sharing your observations!

I love the Tetsubo and Kanabo, basically spiky baseball bats on steroids.

in my experience, the one-handed ones work really well in hitting hands and arms if you can't bludgeon hard enough (a real issue with the training ones that weigh basically nothing) for torso or head.

A battle fought with “a different kind of implement” would be “interesting” to watch

@Lord_Marquaad

6 ай бұрын

there's a reason we're called homo sapiens

@GameTimeWhy

6 ай бұрын

​@@Lord_Marquaad no homo, sapiens

One of my favorite KZreadrs for a reason. Great video

Love these videos Skall!!

I'd be interested to see you explore possible techniques where you hold a mace higher up like at 2:25. See if there could be any advantages like there is for half-swording. Also, I wonder if the thin handles on the maces near the end were meant to be some kind of tang?

Wasn't japanese Kanabo just a two-handed mace?

@SoundBubble

6 ай бұрын

I'd say Kanabo are more like clubs than maces

@Skallagrim

6 ай бұрын

Nope, that's a war club.

@MBMEMDDD

6 ай бұрын

@@Skallagrim We don't talk about war club.

@CarrotConsumer

6 ай бұрын

Isn't a mace a type of club? 🤔

@artserg2169

6 ай бұрын

@@CarrotConsumer it is, but it's more specific

Godendag is my favorite basic weapon!!! Thanks for showing it again!

Great video and great compilation of medieval weapons

Finally someone who make a video about my favorite weapon, i am gonna smash the like buttom with a two-handed mace

Now here's a video I've been waiting for, I always liked the idea of two handed maces but always found very few examples of real ones while researching, even fewer that are not questionable, good to know that the real ones were polemaces and not the greatsword lenght ones with a bigger head you find in fantasy. I have polemaces as a weapon in a rpg I'm developing, I think I'll add a spike on top of them for thrusting as it seens it was more common for two handed maces to have a top spike than not Also one example of two handed mace you could have mentioned is the japanese kanabo

@off6848

6 ай бұрын

I love going for 2H maces and flails in D&D games they're just so cool and brutal looking

Yes. Finally. I've wanted a video on this for years.

Awesome video Skallagrim 👍👍 and very informative

The two handed maxe is one of my fave fantasy weapons so it is indeed sad to not see a lot of real examples. They did exist though. For some reason they are just harder to find.

I would like to hear Skall's opinion on the Kanabo. It's a huge wooden stick (often with ROUND metal inserts instead of spiked ones) meant to be used with both hands. Forget the katana, just imagine a samurai with a fuck-off huge club bashing people around 😂

@widdershins5383

6 ай бұрын

That’s the first thing I thought of, it might not be western style, but two handed club, at least,seemed to be a thing in Asia Edit: I’ve also always wanted one of those, love me a good solid war club of any kind haha

@1stCallipostle

6 ай бұрын

And a lot of Kanabo are the kind of inconveniently heavy that your average normie thinks weapons are. If a dude is running around with one, you know he's BEEFED.

@Zraknul

6 ай бұрын

He replied to someone else "I would call that a studded war club."

I really enjoy your historical investigations. The research must take quite a long time.

Love your stuff skall

the thing with the top spike, i believe, is not so much for attacks and thrusts, but much more for stopping power and defense, because when someone is running at you, it's much easier to present a point of a weapon, than to try to swing at them, and this is amplified with more people present on either side

@Axterix13

6 ай бұрын

I'd expect that it is for attacks and thrusts as well. Takes less room, faster, good at keeping your reach advantage. The swing would be the more situational one, used against more heavily armored opponents, overhead blows against shields, and such.

THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVOURITE TOPICS!!! Thank you so much for talking about this topic Skall!!! I love 2 handed bludgeoning weapons! WAAAGH!!!

@CteCrassus

3 ай бұрын

Sad that big choppas are always axes? Replace the head of one with the wrecking ball of a Trukk; It looks less oversized and silly than you'd expect in the hands of a Nob or Warboss.

Great video on a topic I'd never even given a second thought before.

Wow, I didn’t know I wanted to watch something on maces (not really my favorite weapons category) but here I am

pole hammers?

Kanabo/ tetsubo are other examples of a 2-handed club/mace. Also, Royal Armouries have several specimens of both polearm morningstars and flanged maces. I've seen photos of at least one from Chateau Castelnaud as well, along with a really cool looking pollaxe as a cherry on top. Not to mention a lot of other examples of drawings not even shown in this video where some forms of 2-handed maces are featured. I also think it is worth further examining museum collections and other places where these things can potentially be on display (or featured in artwork) within Central and Eastern European countries (Hungary, Romania, Moldova, Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Croatia, Serbia etc), as I think they are not represented nearly as much as the more western countries are whenever folks discuss things medieval and alike.

@Skallagrim

6 ай бұрын

A Kanabo is more of a studded war club in my mind.

@AKRex

6 ай бұрын

@@Skallagrim yeah, that’s why I wrote “2-handed club/mace” as well, tee-hee 🤭

I saw a similar war club to the one you showed from New Guinea, and many others like it, at the Field Museum in Chicago last September. And they were very much two-handed weapons, as the other end usually doubled as a spear.

Excellent video! As a lover of morningstars and "eveningstars", this was very interesting to me.

I haven't watched the video yet. I'm making this comment first. Don't you ruin my glorious dream of being a giant mace welding warrior. Dont you do it! And you did. Lol but it was very interesting. Thank you very much!

@Skallagrim

6 ай бұрын

I didn't though... there are *some* examples of that in history. Ok, maybe not "giant".

@Anegor

6 ай бұрын

He showed they existed though, just usually with a spike on top, and a little more rare.

@silviuvisan505

6 ай бұрын

Mace and hammee go bonk. I always liked to crush my opponents in rpg games.

@silviuvisan505

6 ай бұрын

​@@Anegoryeah the poleaxe

@codygriffin8256

6 ай бұрын

Lol to clarify I meant GIANT mace. You know the kinds. 😂

You make such an *amaceing* content!

There are Goedendag variations that had some sort of disk mace right before the start of the spike, likely a single piece and part of the metal reinforcement present on most goedendags, perhaps a way to concentrate force in the most efficient way possible, so a two handed disk mace with a top spike.

Yes! Great thoughts and fun examples. Keep it coming brother

Huh, the one at 4:53 once again proves dark souls has some great historically accurate presentation. Evangelists in DS3 use a 2handed mace that looks just like that albeit they only use one hand to swing it. When you as the player get the weapon you use both however.

@Gamerdude535

6 ай бұрын

But you can use any melee weapon in Dark Souls/Demon’s Souls/Eldin Ring in one or two hands depending on your strength stat though. I feel like certain things should have been restricted to two-hands though lol

@anitaremenarova6662

6 ай бұрын

@@Gamerdude535 Well yeah but you lose the strength bonus if you only use one and you can be parried. The most efficient way is to use both hands.

Club Plus gang rise up.

Classic Skally upload. Love the video!

My opinion on why maces don't have top-spikes on them, compared to hammers, is because the spike on mace is much closer to the "triking area", thus incraseasing the chance of the spike bending or breaking. Hammers just have few good centimeters of space between the spike and the bad guy.

Could you put the name of the lesser known weapons on the screen so I know how to search them on google after watching the video? very good video by the way, the clubs deserve more love, they are very underpretiated.

Czech hussites famously used reworked agricultural equipment like flails with added spikes (cep) or makeshift twohanded maces (kropáč), both can be seen at the 5:00 minute mark, they were also famously one of the first widespread users of gunpowder and also developed the tactic of wagon wall, which literally used armored wagons as a portable fortification.

Excellent video Skallagrim 😎👍

One overlooked advantage to a spike on a long club is the mace head (or collar around the Flemish club) acts as a blade stop and keeps your weapon from being stuck so far in your enemy you can't get it out again. Skewering one enemy and the blade sticking would be more than embarrassing if his friends are bearing down on you.

So this morning I was suggested a video of yours for killing zombies. I had watched it before but it still made my mind leaped to the almighty Goedendag. I never knew of that weapon even though I loved medieval stuff my entire life until I played the turnbase game Battle brothers and kept losing bothers to Goedendag welding brigands. I really appreciated your video giving a full break down of it a while back and decided to leave a commit here on your most recent video, (which I have watched) just to let you know you are amazing and that it is my weapon of choice to arm survivors in a limited resources scenario.

These are my favorite of your videos :)

Hi, nice content as always, you should talk about the bionic two handed mace used by the Moche culture in 500aD in the Peruvian Northern Coast. Those were made from a single wooden piece and had a bronze socketed point in the inferior extreme. They were depicted in two handed use in the ceramic iconography, in addition of a hands free small shield attached to the left arm. Other mace models with metal star heads also were two handed, also used by the Moche and their contemporary neighbors the Recuay culture. Later on in the 1400s, the Incas had two handed maces and war axes and bronze halberds prior to European arrival.

Always entertaining and informative. Happy Festivus.

When maces get brought up I always want a mention of the sheleighly. It’s probably my favorite weapon.

for years I though that the back ground was an image in a green screen...until skall reaches out for a weapon.

love the new weapon gallery and film room skall!

I was at the museum in Plzen, in Czech Republic, and they had a HUGE collection of two handed spiked clubs, allegedely from the town arsenal for the guards. Some of them were around two meters tall! Usually a long shaft, a wooden ball on top and iron spikes. I have pic somewhere.

@Xirque666

6 ай бұрын

Here in Norway it was the weapon of the nightwatches of the towns.

@dayel11

6 ай бұрын

@@Xirque666Yes same for Plzen for what I gathered from the Czech panels in the museum :)

Thanks for featuring the streitkolben.

I was wondering about exactly this topic myself recently. Thank you.

All those years, your channel never lose speed

I've always thought a flanged mace head with a spear blade on top would make an interesting two-handed weapon. Maybe will make a rough example to test out eventually.

One major misconception in fantasy is that people actually want to live. That's why people use shields or polearms. In fantasy we tend to forget that, with berserks, swift guys killing before they get killed. Thanks for the video. Love your content!

@flydrop8822

6 ай бұрын

Yeah, in fantasy everyone tends to be a lot more agressive and risk taking then they would be in real life, especially the protagonists (and the antagonists too, to some extent), due to a combination of culture (valuing "noble sacrifices" and just sheer "coolness" for the action) and plot armor (your protagonist can't die anyway because the story has to progress so why not just have them do cool tricks while they are at it?). While a more realistic story that makes characters more careful and precautious could be interesting, I don't think this full risk-taking approach is bad and for many genres, especially action, it fits very well. So instead of undoing it, I think writers can take a note that, since characters are already so willing to fight and don't have that much concern for their lives, this can severely affect the world-building of the story, so combat gear would be more suited for offense rather than defense, and characters would generally a lot more prepared to the death of those they love that fight (one trope I dislike is when the main characters are shown doing insanely dangerous stunts in a joyful manner, like the story knows there is no risk, but all of the sudden when the bad guy stabs one of them the whole mood changes, making it seem like the risk only exists when the plot requires it).

We're so obsessed with finding new and creative ways to hurt each other that we invented Reddit. Oh, and maces.

That weapon wall is looking mighty fine Skall! 🍻❤️🤺

The 1st thing that came to my kind was yes, though the 2 handed/more polearm types would've been meant more for infantry vs cavalry. The 2nd is more specific and occurred after mention of warhammers...the Footman's warhammer. Again meant for infantry vs cavalry, though in both cases they'd bash another infantryman pretty bad too! Like all polearms, an opponent on foot could potentially penetrate their defense and make effective use of a much shorter weapon. Makes me wonder if that's also why the shorter ones were more common and why the longer ones tended to have the terminal spike. Also, maybe the longer ones were more likely to have the haft break? Still effective with less reach for on foot or from horseback, but not for on foot vs mounted. Great vid Skall, got the old noggin gears turning there!

Dude congratiulations on your weight loss, pretty impressive

Single-handed maces are typically cavalry weapons, whereas two-handed polearms are typically infantry weapons. The spike becomes particularly important on foot, as it can be used to defend against cavalry, and because the weapon would typically be used while standing in close formation with other soldiers, meaning that there wouldn't always be room to swing it. A spike would be less important for cavalry as they were typically carried alongside both a lance and a sword. The mace was a specialised weapon for fighting against heavily-armoured opponents, so adding a spike would be less of a concern.

That club with a spike is a beautiful minimalist design

@off6848

6 ай бұрын

Looks like something a black metal band member would pose with

your videos are really majestic, i can't imagine how difficult it was to make it😃😃

Loving the detail here.

@ 8:47 I believe what that photo is depicting is the core of the mace. I've seen an officer's club of some kind and it appeared to be a rod that was wrapped in leather, very tightly. Using that same technique for wrapping the club, I believe it would be possible to make the same kind of club with that as a core. I imagine that the leather would grip onto the heavier end by weaving between the metal extrusions. Seeing as though weaving was a more widely known way of printing things, I'm sure it was incorporated into creating comfortable grips and reinforcement of objects.

@Bicornis

2 ай бұрын

That was my first thought too, that it originally had something wrapped around it. Even if it was ceremonial and not meant for actual fighting holding a pencil-thin long metal stick would still be rather uncomfortable.

I have a 2-handed Mapuche mace, it is made of stone and the handle is a small tree that they grew inside the stone head for that sole purpose. the stone is like a carved and sharpened star disc and is quite heavy.

@b.h.abbott-motley2427

6 ай бұрын

That's a great example. Francisco Núñez de Pineda y Bascuñán wrote about just how effective Mapuche bludgeons could be.

Awesome video!

the gutentag with spikes is/was common in switzerland back then. the metal ring on top around the wood was smaller and lighter as they added side spikes. it was there mainly to support the end of the wood and not that much anymore for additional heavy wight. great simple easy weapons!

Cool video. Thank you 😁

This is a good video, liked this one

When seeing one-handed warhammers and maces (and axes too) one thing I always wonder is why they didn't have handguards or crossguards as every sword has. Seems like it would be important to protect your hand and fingers against blades sliding alongside the shaft of your weapon.

@robertharris6092

5 ай бұрын

I believe warhammers/axes are conaidered too unbalanced to really guard with and is why theyre usually paired with a shield.