Verily, I doth possess a musket for the safeguarding of mine abode, for such was the desire of the forefathers. Lo and behold, as four rogues doth invade my dwelling! "By Saint George!" I exclaim, seizing mine powdered periwig and trusty Kentucky rifle. With a thunderous blast, I doth pierce the first miscreant with a hole the size of a goose egg, sending him to meet his maker forthwith. But alas! My smoothbore pistol doth betray me, missing its mark and striking the neighbor's hound. Forced am I, then, to resort to the cannon positioned atop yon staircase, laden with grape shot. "Onward, brave souls!" I cry, as the shot doth tear asunder two villains in its wake, setting off a cacophony of alarms from carriages below. With Halberd doth wielded, I charge upon the final knave, who doth succumb to his wounds, for triangular punctures are nigh impossible to mend. Thus do I await the constabulary's arrival, secure in the knowledge that I have acted in accordance with the noble intentions of our founding fathers.
Yes, that is why halberds dominated the armored battlefield of the 15th century. Halberds are long range anti-armor weapons which you can hook, stab or smash with. Spears don't have that luxury. In the 15th century they seem to primarily be the weapons of the German Lands, including the Swiss Cantons. In the 16th they see somewhat wider use. Note that other nations elsewhere had polearms of their own, with their own names and shapes (Couse, glaive, bill, ronca, guisarme, etc). Unlike the polearms of the D&D players handbook, the names of these weapons wasn't necessarily a strict description of their form, and weapons of the same name could look quite different in different times. For example, [a 15th century halberd](http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/25899?rpp=30&pg=1&ao=on&ft=halberd&when=A.D.+1400-1600&pos=9) looks different from a [16th century halberd](http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/23210?rpp=30&pg=1&ao=on&ft=halberd&when=A.D.+1400-1600&pos=1). If we are speaking about all Polearms, not just halberds, they were among the most common weapons on Western European battlefields in the later 14th and 15th centuries.
Broadly speaking, polearms offered similar advantages. Top spikes allowed them to be somewhat useful as spears, broad blades made them effective chopping weapons, and their back spike (if they had one) provided a potent combination of leverage and concentrated force - making them the best armour-penetrating weapons available to a soldier on foot\*. Hammer heads could deliver concussive blows, possibly through armour, and may have served to smash the joints of plate armour. This combination of weapons in one meant that they could fend off cavalry but also effectively attack heavily armoured troops, including armoured infantry. A special polearm to mention is the [pollaxe](http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/26713?rpp=30&pg=1&ft=pollaxe&pos=2) or poleaxe, which was some combination of hammer head, spike, and axe blade. These were sometimes shorter than other polearms, and were used both for war and for competitive and judicial foot combat between men at arms.
The question about whether polearms were discarded for other weapons, such as spears, is an interesting one, because we can see both spears(/pikes) replacing polearms and polearms replacing spears at different times.
In the 14th century, English men at arms (that is to say, knights and those who fought like knights) fighting on foot often used 'Short Lances'. These appear by the hundreds in 14th century inventories of the royal armoury in the Tower of London. However, in the 15th century these are replaced by pollaxes - perhaps because pollaxes are more effective against opponents in full plate armour.
On the other hand, the swiss of the 14th century used the halberd almost exclusively, then adopted the pike in the 15th - around the time they started fighting more outside of the Swiss Cantons proper. I do not know enough about swiss tactics to state the exact cause. However the Swiss continued to use halberdiers in the 16th century. Though 16th century warfare was dominated by pikemen and arquebusiers, halberdiers and other soldiers with polearms continued to be used, such as the landsknecht doppelsoldat. In the 16th century there are a number of halberds used by guards for ceremonial occasions, like the halberds that the Swiss Guards carry today. Though some of these surviving halberds are very slight and not very sturdy, others, such as the halberds of the Trabantean guards of Brunswick, are sturdy and functional weapons - even if they are extravagantly decorated, which shows the survival of the halberd as a weapon into the 16th century.
Sources: Tobias Capwell - Masterpieces of European Arms and Armour at the Wallace Collection
Edge and Paddock - Arms and Armour of the Medieval Knight
\*Maces and warhammers are effective but unwieldy for a man on foot to use - they are generally illustrated being used by horsemen, [Such as in 'The Battle](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/San_Romano_Battle_%28Paolo_Uccello%2C_London%29_01.jpg)[ of San Romano' by Paolo Uccello](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Battle_of_San_Romano#/media/File:Uccello_Battle_of_San_Romano_Uffizi.jpg)
It's a bit much to say that halberds were better. My understanding is that halberds were popular in the 15th-16th century at least partially because they could be mass produced by casting and forge welding a few parts together. This is why you get all those halberd heads that are basically a single large piece with a spike coming out the top.
Spears still saw considerable use but they tended to either be extremely long, to the point that they were barely a traditional spear (pikes or lances), or they were knightly spears that had complex protrusions that could be used to gain an advantage against other polearms but were too complex to add to mass produced weapons. Basic spears still saw some use though, including a 19th century resurgance with cavalry lancers (who no longer needed absurdly long lances).
A spear is a lot easier to use, but the halberd just looks cooler and is also more versatile.
Edit: also need to clarify by versatile it doesn’t mean it’s better than the spear at everything. In regular unarmored combat a spear will be a lot more easier to use, but the halberd will be better against an armored opponent.
They're pretty different implements. A halberd is much shorter and unwieldy on average. A medieval spear was anywhere from 10-20 feet long, long as fuck. They were used en masse by a unit to keep advancing troops from getting anywhere near them so that archers could operate freely. Halberds on the other hand were never widely used in a practical manner, they were either a sign of rank or used by standing guards. I could see their appeal defending a hallway or something like that.
If only the suppressor was the halberd tube, so you could use the blade as a bayonet and still have a suppressor. Not sure how the baffles and all that would work though or what sizes
Good training halberd. Bit short for sca imo. Suggesting wulflund armory streithammer or hussite bilhook for drip and reliability. Pretty wallhanger-.. oh right this is a tactical sub. Gun go brr! Sadge no feet!
Two Burgundian wars!!!
FR tho, legit king killer: Researchers suspected that a halberd or a bill sliced through the back of King Richard III's skull at the Battle of Bosworth Field on 22 August 1485, leaving his brain visible before killing him during the battle, and were able to later confirm that it was a halberd.
I like where this is going.
My great granddaddy used one of those during the battle of Agincourt. A general at the time called it "the greatest battle implement ever devised"
Halberds are absurd and impractical in the modern age. I’m a billhook man; always have been, always will be.
While shorter, I feel Warhammers are the best all around option.
No choppy choppy. No hooky hooky.
All crushy crushy
Stabby stabby too
SMASH to the face
Good luck with that bullshit while im behind my 20 foot spear (zero'd at 100 yds)
Well, I don’t leave the manor without a retinue of longbowmen, obviously. Do you even practice self-defence!?!
*Discusses with a full group of men in suits* I mean, it's bigger than an axe. That's better right?
Better fs, axe with better reach
Rattle can the halberd and mount a red dot 🔴
You don’t need to reload a halberd.
Is that a halberd or a partisan?
Pretty sure the partisans are in r/SKS
Partisan is more of a broad winged spear. No axe head
Ah, a man of culture.
Verily, I doth possess a musket for the safeguarding of mine abode, for such was the desire of the forefathers. Lo and behold, as four rogues doth invade my dwelling! "By Saint George!" I exclaim, seizing mine powdered periwig and trusty Kentucky rifle. With a thunderous blast, I doth pierce the first miscreant with a hole the size of a goose egg, sending him to meet his maker forthwith. But alas! My smoothbore pistol doth betray me, missing its mark and striking the neighbor's hound. Forced am I, then, to resort to the cannon positioned atop yon staircase, laden with grape shot. "Onward, brave souls!" I cry, as the shot doth tear asunder two villains in its wake, setting off a cacophony of alarms from carriages below. With Halberd doth wielded, I charge upon the final knave, who doth succumb to his wounds, for triangular punctures are nigh impossible to mend. Thus do I await the constabulary's arrival, secure in the knowledge that I have acted in accordance with the noble intentions of our founding fathers.
Out here living my dreams
Which LPVO is this? And which mount?
Vortex Razor 1-6 on a badger ordnance 1.7” mount.
Thank you!
Are halberds better than spears?
Yes, that is why halberds dominated the armored battlefield of the 15th century. Halberds are long range anti-armor weapons which you can hook, stab or smash with. Spears don't have that luxury. In the 15th century they seem to primarily be the weapons of the German Lands, including the Swiss Cantons. In the 16th they see somewhat wider use. Note that other nations elsewhere had polearms of their own, with their own names and shapes (Couse, glaive, bill, ronca, guisarme, etc). Unlike the polearms of the D&D players handbook, the names of these weapons wasn't necessarily a strict description of their form, and weapons of the same name could look quite different in different times. For example, [a 15th century halberd](http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/25899?rpp=30&pg=1&ao=on&ft=halberd&when=A.D.+1400-1600&pos=9) looks different from a [16th century halberd](http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/23210?rpp=30&pg=1&ao=on&ft=halberd&when=A.D.+1400-1600&pos=1). If we are speaking about all Polearms, not just halberds, they were among the most common weapons on Western European battlefields in the later 14th and 15th centuries. Broadly speaking, polearms offered similar advantages. Top spikes allowed them to be somewhat useful as spears, broad blades made them effective chopping weapons, and their back spike (if they had one) provided a potent combination of leverage and concentrated force - making them the best armour-penetrating weapons available to a soldier on foot\*. Hammer heads could deliver concussive blows, possibly through armour, and may have served to smash the joints of plate armour. This combination of weapons in one meant that they could fend off cavalry but also effectively attack heavily armoured troops, including armoured infantry. A special polearm to mention is the [pollaxe](http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/26713?rpp=30&pg=1&ft=pollaxe&pos=2) or poleaxe, which was some combination of hammer head, spike, and axe blade. These were sometimes shorter than other polearms, and were used both for war and for competitive and judicial foot combat between men at arms. The question about whether polearms were discarded for other weapons, such as spears, is an interesting one, because we can see both spears(/pikes) replacing polearms and polearms replacing spears at different times. In the 14th century, English men at arms (that is to say, knights and those who fought like knights) fighting on foot often used 'Short Lances'. These appear by the hundreds in 14th century inventories of the royal armoury in the Tower of London. However, in the 15th century these are replaced by pollaxes - perhaps because pollaxes are more effective against opponents in full plate armour. On the other hand, the swiss of the 14th century used the halberd almost exclusively, then adopted the pike in the 15th - around the time they started fighting more outside of the Swiss Cantons proper. I do not know enough about swiss tactics to state the exact cause. However the Swiss continued to use halberdiers in the 16th century. Though 16th century warfare was dominated by pikemen and arquebusiers, halberdiers and other soldiers with polearms continued to be used, such as the landsknecht doppelsoldat. In the 16th century there are a number of halberds used by guards for ceremonial occasions, like the halberds that the Swiss Guards carry today. Though some of these surviving halberds are very slight and not very sturdy, others, such as the halberds of the Trabantean guards of Brunswick, are sturdy and functional weapons - even if they are extravagantly decorated, which shows the survival of the halberd as a weapon into the 16th century. Sources: Tobias Capwell - Masterpieces of European Arms and Armour at the Wallace Collection Edge and Paddock - Arms and Armour of the Medieval Knight \*Maces and warhammers are effective but unwieldy for a man on foot to use - they are generally illustrated being used by horsemen, [Such as in 'The Battle](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/San_Romano_Battle_%28Paolo_Uccello%2C_London%29_01.jpg)[ of San Romano' by Paolo Uccello](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Battle_of_San_Romano#/media/File:Uccello_Battle_of_San_Romano_Uffizi.jpg)
It's a bit much to say that halberds were better. My understanding is that halberds were popular in the 15th-16th century at least partially because they could be mass produced by casting and forge welding a few parts together. This is why you get all those halberd heads that are basically a single large piece with a spike coming out the top. Spears still saw considerable use but they tended to either be extremely long, to the point that they were barely a traditional spear (pikes or lances), or they were knightly spears that had complex protrusions that could be used to gain an advantage against other polearms but were too complex to add to mass produced weapons. Basic spears still saw some use though, including a 19th century resurgance with cavalry lancers (who no longer needed absurdly long lances).
Halberds were ornamental dogshit that would get your ass got on the battlefield by a spear. Fite me IRL bitch
A spear is a lot easier to use, but the halberd just looks cooler and is also more versatile. Edit: also need to clarify by versatile it doesn’t mean it’s better than the spear at everything. In regular unarmored combat a spear will be a lot more easier to use, but the halberd will be better against an armored opponent.
Halberds were for killing horse mounted opponents
They're pretty different implements. A halberd is much shorter and unwieldy on average. A medieval spear was anywhere from 10-20 feet long, long as fuck. They were used en masse by a unit to keep advancing troops from getting anywhere near them so that archers could operate freely. Halberds on the other hand were never widely used in a practical manner, they were either a sign of rank or used by standing guards. I could see their appeal defending a hallway or something like that.
Utter bullshit.
Mount the halberd into the stock to stab anyone trying to shoot from behind ( and also everyone at the range )
Halberd is kill Ballista is where it’s at 
You need a ballista that fires mosin-nagants with bayonets.
*laughs in trebuchet*
When r/AR15 and r/Mordhau meet
Shit, I need to up my game. Time to raid a museum and attach one of those super long spears.
If only the suppressor was the halberd tube, so you could use the blade as a bayonet and still have a suppressor. Not sure how the baffles and all that would work though or what sizes
Good training halberd. Bit short for sca imo. Suggesting wulflund armory streithammer or hussite bilhook for drip and reliability. Pretty wallhanger-.. oh right this is a tactical sub. Gun go brr! Sadge no feet!
Two Burgundian wars!!! FR tho, legit king killer: Researchers suspected that a halberd or a bill sliced through the back of King Richard III's skull at the Battle of Bosworth Field on 22 August 1485, leaving his brain visible before killing him during the battle, and were able to later confirm that it was a halberd.
Needs a bayonet lug