Research and Discussion Forums

Yeah, there is no way that a warhammer can penetrate a helm. Yipper, no way. I saw the same demonstration that Stacy say, and can also testify as to the effectiveness.

War hammers were designed, in part, to penetrate plate armor in the never ending battle between offensive weapons and defensive ...

I personally am inclined to think that armour couldn't be pierced by a warhammer La Noue mentions even a couched lance couldn't get through.

And I said that sometimes knights dismounted, only sometimes usually they fought on horseback.

Yeah, there is no way that a warhammer can penetrate a helm ...

Even if that helm wasn't made with perfect accuracy, the steel thickness is still pretty close to what it would have been originally, and modern steels are more consistently of a higher quality than anything in the pre-mechanized era, so it probably has a 50/50 shot of being better steel. SNIP SNIP ...

That's right, centuries worth of poetic license. There are tons of pictorial evidence as well as accounts of armor being pierced just by spears etc.

Exactly, that's the medieval version of hollywood and as such those pictures and tapestries shouldn't be taken seriously.


BTW Just for my own ...

I would like to see how authentic and accurately made that helm was first and I think that helms being clove through is poetic liscense.

I personally am inclined to think that armour couldn't be pierced by a warhammer La Noue mentions even a couched lance couldn't get through.

And I said that sometimes knights dismounted, only sometimes usually they fought on horseback.

Good article.

6.Yes, but only applies to dismounted. So, a person in plate armor can still make use of a shield, but only if he is mounted? Why is that?

I'm not sure about that, there are plenty of episodes where knights dismounted and fought on foot.

I did read a bit about halfswording, so I realize that ...

I apologize in advance for the wall of text, but I just stumbled upon this site and I want to make the most of such a powerful resource, so I have a ton of questions to ask.

I am an amateur writer, and my current project is fantasy-inspired, but only loosely. Definitely not Middle-earth, with the ...

Hollywood is completely wrong about formations, nor are all pike sqaures defensive, they generally did that when there were enemy men-at-arms on destriers around, pike squares charged head on into one another and the ensuing clash was called press of pike, usually they clashed and jabbed at one ...

Well Mike Loades (the BBC presenter) seemed to indicate the longbow archers who could afford (or steal, capture) riding stock served as a form of scouts, vedettes or flankers. Some archers may have been high status (having a horse) but it seems their kit was quite minimal. Bow, quiver, maul or a ...

The baggage train, also the romans carried their armour on a pack and in the renn the gens d' armes carried it on their palfrey.

As an aside most of them didn't march one hundred and fifty miles there's a great deal of debate but ten-fifteen miles on a good day is the general consensus

And at burials such as the Towton find the medical people have noted the dead there had physical problems resultant from the changes on the body by their weapons and old injuries and etc. So its very probable these men (some in their 40's) had been modifying their use of the weapons by which they ...

Would the techniques have been used by Milites ('Knights')? Would they have been usable from horseback? How would they be changed if they were used from horseback? How would having a shield (like a thureos) strapped on to the offarm have affected fighting with the techniques shown in the I:33 ...

Thanks for the anecdote, Chris. This really goes to show that you should still guard yourself even after making a hit (to say nothing for hitting them again).

Indeed, a wounded opponent doesn't nessesarily equal one who can't kill you