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Battleaxe

2019-01-01T14:46:04Z

2601:582:8602:C02A:C4E5:8E1C:BD07:A453: /* Types of Battlexe */

[[image:Battleaxe.png|thumb|300px|right|A Battleaxe]]
A '''Battleaxe''' is an axe intended for battle (duh). Wherever there were trees and a need to chop firewood, people found an abundant need for axes. In a fight an axe will chop through a leg or a skull just as it would a log, so people took them along to war. Once it was established that they were good weapons, axe-makers began to make axes specifically to be weapons, tweaking the design to better serve in that capacity.

While there is nothing wrong with [[sword]]s and [[mace]]s, battleaxes are the go-to weapon for your average [[Dwarf]] in most fantasy settings. [[Viking]]s also are famous for their use of battleaxes, particularly because it was the weapon commonly associated with the legendary Viking [[Warriors of Chaos|bezerkers]], though again they were generally perfectly fine using swords and [[spear]]s. Axes however are nonetheless mentioned as respected weapons in Old Norse poetry. For example, some poems associated with the legendary Geatish King Dag Spaka (Dag the Wise) mentions the king's incredible and peerless skill with a battleaxe, which is significant given that swords are often thought to be a king's weapon in Germanic societies. Indeed, the axe is quite important also in ancient Scandinavian culture, though not to the extent of swords.

== Battleaxes in warfare ==
Axes are bloody old, almost as old as [[mace|maces]]. Both are "mass weapons," but the main difference is that an axe focuses the kinetic power of the swing into a sharpened edge while the mace strikes with pure concussive force.

An axe is a heavy bladed wedge of hardened material on the end of a handle (lever), utilizing two simple machines. It does damage by swinging that bit into the foe at high speed. On impact it delivers a lot of kinetic energy to a concentrated point with a cutting edge to drive it deep as possible. This can chop through shield, muscle, bone and armor. Even if it does not go through armor, its blunt force trauma can shatter bones. Battleaxes are great at killing people quickly, as their hits not only wound but also shock and cripple target, while mortal wounds from swords, spears or bows usually do not kill the target instantly, allowing it to strike few final blows before passing down.

The problem is that Battleaxes are cumbersome. To make them work as well as possible, they need room to get a good swing going to impact with full force. Swinging an axe at such distance also takes time. If your first strike is not lethal, your enemy has a fair amount of time to strike you while you get the next one ready. This also means that they are not the best weapons for confined quarters (for example, in a cave or a mineshaft), and it fucks up one's ability to fight in a tight formation, which was a very, very critical component of pre-modern warfare. Though if things broke down into a swirling melee, an axe-wielder would fare better.

Battleaxes are generally poorly balanced, meaning you cannot control them as well as swords, and generally should swing them around keeping momentum instead of making swings and thrusts and then quickly returning it to defensive position, like swords. This means axes are terrible at defense - not because they cannot parry, but because they cannot quickly switch between parrying and attacking. This problem, however, is easily solved by taking a shield in the other hand. Axes also tend to stick inside armour, shields or just [[RIP AND TEAR|enemy bones]], unlike mauls and warhammers which are also good against heavily armoured targets. An axe's pole is usually much tougher than one on a [[spear]] or a [[polearm]], sometimes with a metal core, since it isn't as long and, as a mass weapon, it needs less finesse to handle. It generally couldn't be snapped by a one-handed sword, but greatswords are quite capable of destroying an axe with lucky swing. That's why axe-wielders that aren't the throwaway arrow-fodder like militiamen usually carry some fallback weapon - short sword, dagger, or another axe.

Axes are also quite cheap compared to swords, though not as cheap as spears. Axe heads need much less metal than swords, but also require a good smith, unless you're pretty OK with your axe blunting after the few hits. Speaking of which, blunted, chipped or otherwise damaged axes are still quite a dangerous weapons, unlike spears, swords or daggers, so along with mauls they tend to be popular amongst those who cannot afford or assess a proper smith. Unlike swords and spears, axes also could be used outside the battle to chop some wood or to construct a camp. As mentioned earlier, if you are a peasant there would typically be some wood axes around if you needed a weapon and had little money.

In desperate situations axe could be thrown, but unless this particular axe was designed to be thrown and the wielder was specifically trained to throw axes results are usually quite poor. However with proper training and design throwing axes are quite devastating, able to one-hit-kill or at least cripple a man even through shield and heavy armour - something arrows and javelins are unable to do.

Today, battle axes are still used in modern military applications, usually taking the form of hatchets or tomahawks, and are built as multi-purpose tools that can be effective as both a tool for helping with labor or as a weapon for chopping some unlucky sod's head off.

== Types of Battlexe ==

In addition to the typical battleaxe, there were many other forms of axes meant to be used as weapons.

*'''Tomahawk''': An axe similar to a hatchet favored by many Native American tribes (and later some European colonists) that could be used both as a hand-to-hand weapon and as a throwing weapon. In fact some Native Americans refused to be photographed without displaying their tomahawk. Older versions had heads made of stone or deer antler, but metal was later used when the colonists first landed and trade between Europeans and Native Americans began. Some were modified with a hole drilled down the center of the shaft and a hollow poll so they could also be used as tobacco pipes; these were crafted as trade goods to be presented as gifts. (Some historians have noted that such pipe tomahawks could be viewed as a metaphor for Native American-European relations, as it could be used either as a peace-pipe or a weapon, much like how Native Americans and Europeans could both engage peaceful trading or wage war against each other.) Modern versions continue to be used in the military today. If equipped with a back spike and/or some sort of edge for thrusting, they are surprisingly versatile all-purpose tools (as axes generally are) and just as useful in close combat.

*'''Spontoon Tomahawk''': A variation of the tomahawk developed by French fur trappers that replaced the traditional wedged axe head with a knife-like stabbing blade.

*'''Shepherd's Axe''': An axe with a long, straight shaft and a head which is sharp on one end and flat on the other. The head was designed to fit comfortably into one's hand without chopping it off, and could also be used as a hammer or a walking stick. As the name suggests, it was mainly used by shepherds in the Carpathian Mountains (i.e. much of Central Europe, including Poland, Ukraine, and Hungary) who needed to defend themselves against bandits and wild animals.

*'''Poleaxe''': As the name suggests, it's an axe head on a pole, making it a form of [[pole-arm]]. In many respects, the poleaxe is the swiss-army knife of polearms. Compared to a halberd, it has a smaller head, which focuses kinetic energy onto a smaller area and lets it cut through armor more effectively. The spike on the end of the pole's butt also made it useful for thrusting attacks, and it could be used to block in the same way as a quarterstaff. A hammer or spike was typically mounted opposite to the axe head. In short, if you wanted options when going into combat - particularly armored combat, the poleaxe would serve you well.

*'''Halberd''': Another pole-arm, differing from the poleaxe in the long spike on the top of the axe head and the hook on the back of the axe's blade, which was ideal for pulling a mounted [[knight]] off his horse. It could be used as a [[spear]] as well as an axe in close quarters.

*'''Danish Axe''': An early battleaxe with a single-edged blade with pronounced "horns" at the top and bottom of the blade, also known as a Viking axe. Its blade was rather light and it had similar proportions to a modern meat cleaver, making it excellent for cutting through flesh and bone-the Bayeux Tapestry depicts a warrior decapitating a Norman knight's horse with one blow using it.

*'''Bearded Axe''': Also associated with the vikings, the Bearded axe was more asymmetric in shape in that the lower portion of the axe head extended downward across the haft (hence the "beard"). This allowed the axe to have longer surface area without adding too much weight, while allowing the user to hold the axe closer to the axe head for increased dexterity, mainly when using the axe as a tool. That gap could also be used for hooking enemy weapons if the opportunity presented itself.

*'''Throwing Axe''': These axes were explicitly designed for throwing and are best thrown in an overhead motion- that way the axe head rotates as it flies through the air, preferably into a victim's body. While harder to aim than a throwing knife, it is far more lethal if it connects. The tomahawk and francisca are both forms of throwing axes.

*'''Francisca''': An early throwing axe used primarily by the Franks during the Early Middle Ages. The head is too heavy for it to be useful in melee combat and it's difficult to aim even compared to other throwing axes, but it doesn't need to be accurate- it's capable of causing injury with its weight alone, and it bounces when it hits the ground, giving it a nasty tendency to cripple anyone unfortunate enough to have their legs struck by a bouncing axe. They were commonly thrown in volleys to intimidate and weaken foes before a charge.

*'''Axe Pistol''': A wheellock or flintlock [[firearm|pistol]] with an axe head attached to the end of the barrel used from the 16th to 19th centuries. Pistols of the time were single-shot and very short-ranged (you could only reliably hit a man-sized target up to 30 meters out before it became a complete crapshoot), so they often ended up being used in close quarters as clubs. Adding an axe head to a pistol meant that it had a critical edge over a regular pistol in a brawl, albeit at the cost of a bit more weight, being somewhat more unwieldy as both a pistol or a regular axe of similar size and a somewhat higher price tag than a regular pistol. Then again, the accuracy penalty and increased heft caused by fitting an axe head to the muzzle of a gun that was never intended for long-range shots, and required a lengthy reloading process after every shot, certainly won't be at the front of your mind when your enemies are at arm's length already, so the ability to hack them to pieces right after using your one shot will be very attractive. Axe pistols were used by both cavalry and by sailors.

*'''Bardiche''': Standing on the line between battle axes and glaives is the Russian Bardiche. Used by the Streltsy (troops armed with firearms) as a close combat weapon and as a stand to brace their otherwise cumbersome fire arms on.

*'''Military shovel (AKA "Entrenching Tool" or "E-Tool"'''): Not strictly an axe, but I doubt anyone who's got his head split in half by one is going to be able to argue the difference. It's what you get when you take the broad metal head (preferably sharpened) on a long handle (for a shovel) or a short one (for a spade) and swing the head edge-first at people, effectively turning your humble digging tool into an ersatz but perfectly serviceable axe. During World War I, originally expected to last only a few months in a Napoleon-style clash of armies on the open field, bogged down into the bloody quagmire of trench warfare on the Western Front, the Entrenching Tool (actually a spade) become one of the most important tools a soldier could carry, as the ability to quickly dig a machine gun into place or create a foxhole to shelter from the near-constant artillery fire became a necessity. When attacking enemy trenches, soldiers found that their long rifles with bayonets (created for the purpose of turning a musket into a spear to ward off now-obsolete cavalry charges) too long to be of use, so many of them quickly took their shovels and sharpened one edge to assist in close quarters fighting. Although still used by soldiers primarily for digging trenches and constructing fortifications in the field, the military shovel still finds use as an improvised weapon on occasion, and it helps that sharpening one or both edges of a spade's metal head doesn't hurt its ability to dig foxholes or trenches. Go ahead and model your artillery-and-trench-loving [[Death Korps of Krieg]] troopers with sharpened spades in one hand so they can [[Awesome|split the heads of heretics and Xenos]] for a period-accurate and awesome-looking conversion!

==Double-Headed or Double-Bitted Axes: What A Real Battleaxe Never Looks Like==
[[image:Labrys.jpeg|thumb|300px|right|Examples of Double-Headed Axes, also known as Labrys]]
Listen up, fantasy artists, video game designers, and stupider roleplayers: You see those images at the right? They're called a Labrys, and they're completely unusable for combat. To the extent they were ever used against people, they were used almost exclusively for religious purposes by certain cults in ancient Greek history, or as a symbol of either Greek history (usually by fascists), or as a symbol of femininity (as the Labrys was associated with Goddess worship: just look at the shape, and look at a spread female genitalia, and realize the ancients could be quite perverted).'''[1]'''

The thing is, they're completely unwieldy for combat, as they weigh twice as much as a "normal" axe, and have worse aerodynamic properties. Wielding a Labrys in combat is going to be difficult to impossible for anyone not wearing [[Power Armor]] or isn't [http://megamitensei.wikia.com/wiki/Labrys a hot robot girl.] (And we're not too certain about the Mecha making it at all useful: You'd still have to deal with the fact that you'd still get a lot more bang for your buck with a single-headed axe, especially compared to if you put a pick of some kind on the other end.)

So, where did these double-headed axes come from, you may ask (because we do find double-headed axes in archeology sites almost all over the world)? The logging industry. Having an axe that you could cut twice as many trees with before having to return to base to have your blade sharpened is more valuable when you spend most of your day walking around cutting down trees. The doubled weight is also an advantage when what you're cutting doesn't move.

<small>'''Footnote 1''': They are also a symbol of the [[Werewolf: The Apocalypse|Black Furies]] as well, who take quite a bit more inspiration from the Greeks.</small>

{{MedievalWeaponry}}

Castle

2019-01-01T13:42:42Z

2601:582:8602:C02A:C4E5:8E1C:BD07:A453: /* Types of Castles */

A '''Castle''' refers to a medieval European fortress (though the term is also applied to a variety of non European fortresses as well), usually used as the residence and seat of power of some [[noble]] household. Castles are distinct from fortified towns and cities with walls, though towns often grew around castles and castles called citadels were sometimes constructed in or near cities to protect them. The word comes from the Latin ''castrum'', referring to the fortified bases in which the [[Roman Empire|Romans]] stationed their legions.

While sometimes used interchangably, it’s important to distinguish a castle from a fortress or palace. A fortress is a fortified military structure that does not double as a seat of political power. A palace is a non-fortified structure used to house royalty or nobility,

Naturally most GrimDark fictions don't show one of the keep roles of Castle, protecting [[peasant]]s during wars. After all if they all die who's going to man the farms which feed your troops?

== Parts of a Castle ==
*Walls - Designed to keep those filthy barbarians from breaching your stronghold. Can be made from a wide variety of hard materials, ranging from wood to stone. Smart architects would use multiple concentric walls, with the outer walls being lower than the inner walls, allowing for archers and defensive weapons on the inner wall to fire over the tops of the outer wall for double the amount of defensive projection. Walls generally favored many hard angles, such as a star shape, if they expected to be set upon by enemy artillery, especially cannons, as the shape helped deflect projectiles.
*Gates - Allows entry and exit from your castle and usually well fortified to prevent the enemy from using it during an attack.
:*Portcullis - an added defense to the gate in the form of an iron grill that can be raised or lowered. Some gatehouses used two of them as a means to trap would-be intruders.
:*Barbican - a dedicated gatehouse set apart from the main castle walls that is filled with defenses such as murder holes and arrow slots. If you have a moat and drawbridge, the Barbican would be your first obstacle before you’d even think of crossing either one. Or, you would use the Barbican on the outermost wall, offset from the entrance to the main castle proper, forcing the enemy to travel along sharp right angles against even more defenses once they’ve broken through the first gate. Enemy forces would face much tougher resistance getting through a barbican than a simple gateway.
*Moats - A body of liquid that encircles the outer perimeter of your castle, designed to prevent enemy troops from assailing your walls by forcing them to either cover up the moat or deploy specialized siege engines to quickly cross it. Traditionally, moats are simply filled with water (and sewage) with the occasional ferocious animal thrown into the mix, but fantasy settings typically fill them with nastier things, such as acid or toxins. A simple dry moat though will work for making it difficult to deploy ladders and siege towers more effectively.
*Turrets - Tall towers that give your sentries full view of your castle and also gives your archers or siege engines an elevated, defensive position to shoot at the enemy from. Typically used on the corners of the outer wall and the gatehouse, allowing defenders to hit anyone trying to scale the walls from the side.
*Hoardings - wooden sheds built on top of turrets or outer walls for added protection, especially to archers to give them extra room to fire from.
*Keep - The heart of your castle. This is usually where the commanding officers of the castle reside in. Thus, taking the keep is as symbolic as taking the entire castle itself. A well-built keep would also have internal defenses, such as limiting access to certain parts and making it very difficult to take critical areas such as treasuries, storerooms, or residential areas.
*Great Hall - A room located within the Keep where the lord of the castle holds court, or feasts. This is one of the few rooms that the general public can visit.
*Armories - A place to store all the pointy sticks and lumps of sharp metal that your troops will use to give it to the enemy good.
*Granaries - Your castle's central food storage. An army fights (and defends) on its stomach, so be sure this place is always stocked up and safe from sabotage.
*[[Dungeon]]s - Usually the underground level of your castle where prisoners are tortured for information, punishment, and/or just for fun.
**A particularly nasty feature of a dungeon would be an Oubliette, which is basically a dark, lightless pit to throw someone into. The only way out was for someone to lower a ladder for you.
**Since castles come from an era when people surrendered, dungeons held prisoners to be ransomed back or exchanged.
**Some of the dungeons that went overboard with the torture equipment could easily have been [[/d/]]ungeons.
*Traps - More defensive emplacements designed to bleed your enemy's forces. This ranges from a wide variety of hidden emplacements. spike pits, pots of boiling water that spill over, false floors that would drop out, spiked walls that force the enemy to be deliberate with their movements, or rigged trenches.
*Kitchens - Where your cooks prepare food for consumption. Be sure to have good cooks, otherwise your army may think of revolting against you.
*Trophy Room - A place to store all the mementos concerning your castle's achievements. This can be anything from a personal commendation by the king, to kill trophies from slain opponents.
*Rest room - Knights needs to poop, you know?
**More commonly, this was a convenient window overlooking the moat. Or streets.
*Battlements - A wall located on your ramparts, acting as more cover for your archers. The two main kinds are Crenellations, which have alternating high and low sections for optimizing protection and firing positions, and machicolations, which extend outward from the wall and have holes for dropping stones, dumping boiling water, or firing arrows
*Basements sometimes led towards the larva room (if you ever play resident evil 4).

== Types of Castles ==
*'''Motte and Baily''': A fairly basic type of castle in the Dark Ages. A hall of either stone or wood (the Baily) is built on top of a hill, a basic wooden wall is put around it, at the base of the hill was built some stabled and similar which were also walled off. In some cases the wall (the Motte) circled both, in other cases there were two rings of walls around both the hall as well as the support structures, with a walled off corridor between them. Some of these would be upgraded to have stone walls as time went on.
*'''Concentric Castle''': A castle with two or more walls, with the walls getting increasingly taller as you go in. This allows for archers on the higher inner walls to fire down on enemies if they captured the outer walls. Despite the name they did not have to be circular.
*'''Japanese Castle''': While these served the same purpose as European castles as fortified dwellings and seats of power, castles in Japan were constructed quite differently. For starters, they were always made of wood on top of a solid stone foundation, to better weather the many earthquakes Japan faces. They were made fireproof by use of a special whitewash and lacquer. In addition, castles were always part of a large complex designed to force invaders into fighting through many corridors before reaching the castle proper.
*'''Bastion Fort''': The widespread application of gunpowder in warfare was generally unfriendly to medieval-era castles. Tall walls, which used to be a massive advantage, would now be death traps as cannons could easily knock them down, with taller walls merely adding more rubble to potentially collapse on you. So a bunch of renaissance Italians came up with bastion forts, also known as star forts- these are low to the ground and instead of towers have pointy "arrows" called bastions at the corners to prevent enemies from having a place to take cover from and allow the bastions to support each other. Relatively easy to fortify, many went for a simple sloped hill to absorb cannon fire, but you could also build redoubts in between the bastions to add another layer of defense.
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[[Category: History]]