Board Thread:Off Topic/@comment-26299202-20150505005922/@comment-25555436-20150601235419

Fox Alistair wrote: Only if the Gunblader can't close the gap fast enough. War scythes have the same fatal flaw as spears: if you get close enough, it becomes useless. Depends on the type of spear. Most spears in ancient times were rather short, so soldiers could attack and counter quickly.

The only flaw, only significant flaw, is that spears only pierce. One can only thrust and stab with them, which works in narrow places or with roman tactics, but that means you can only attack in 1 single line, so wide attacks were made useless. Which leads to another flaw: against high numbers, when surrounded, you're normally done. But not necesarily when the enemy is close.

With lances, it was more extreme. More effective when piercing, only slightly better when bashing with the side of it. Then again, they were designed mainly for sport, not war.

Which is why the halberd was made. It can do any single kind of attack with great effectiveness; hack, slash, thrust, stab, crush. Invented in China and later brought to the rest of the world. Only problem was that it was way too damn heavy, so much you were basically forced to use it two-handed if you wanted it to be any useful.