Next Tutorial?

[Raith]

Scythes (as in proper farming scythes, not what you might normally think) have a blade that's too flimsy to cut into people very well and it's shape is very awkward for swinging around, so there shouldn't even need to be a tutorial

if a person knew what they were doing, they could easily transform the scythe into a war-scythe

 

[Camernater3]

if a person knew what they were doing, they could easily transform the scythe into a war-scythe

Ples looky at dis video here:

And this one here:

 

[Exclaimer]

All those ten minutes of videos summed up in eight words:

Why, when you have so many better weapons.

 

[Tybalt]

All those ten minutes of videos summed up in eight words:

Why, when you have so many better weapons.

I fought a character with a scythe once... Even tho he folleshly attacked a gang of people while solo.
I lolwhiped the floor with him.

Had an opening and went in of the stab. And the scythe was so long that it just kinda flailed uselessly

 

[Raith]

War scythes were altered so that the blade pointed straight from the top of the shaft. War scythes were used as both a slashing and a stabbing weapon, their weight and aerodynamic shape making them devastating. Capable of cutting through a metal helmet, the weapon is thought to have originated from use as an improvised weapon by peasants, which was then adapted for military use. Arguably worse than the military form, the version wielded by peasants in revolts would often be blunt from use in farming, meaning the victim was likely to survive numerous slashes before dying.

there are many weapons in history that were once tools in farming, and during their time, they were used by peasants in a revolt as their weapon of choice, and most of those tools were adapted into military weapons.

 

[Angryboy]

War scythes were altered so that the blade pointed straight from the top of the shaft. War scythes were used as both a slashing and a stabbing weapon, their weight and aerodynamic shape making them devastating. Capable of cutting through a metal helmet, the weapon is thought to have originated from use as an improvised weapon by peasants, which was then adapted for military use. Arguably worse than the military form, the version wielded by peasants in revolts would often be blunt from use in farming, meaning the victim was likely to survive numerous slashes before dying.

The problem with that is that saying "A war scythe" will cause people to automatically think of the type you cut wheat with. A war-scythe is a lot more like a Glaive than it is a Scythe. You can thank over-hyped Grim Reaper and Ruby Rose for that one.

EDIT: And World of Warcraft... link
The problem is, too many people will see the Scythe in that manner, which would lead to the player having to explain in detail what the weapon looks like every time they go into battle with it... I don't know about you, but I'd rather not sit there for an hour being told exactly what an opponent's weapon looks like because they chose to use an extremely rare one that is easily mistaken for something else.

 

[Raith]

The problem with that is that saying "A war scythe" will cause people to automatically think of the type you cut wheat with. A war-scythe is a lot more like a Glaive than it is a Scythe. You can thank over-hyped Grim Reaper and Ruby Rose for that one.

true, but people would be better off looking at history for these sorts of weapons as well. I certainly learned my lesson way back in april of 2013

 

[Scardrac]

Why, when you have so many better weapons.

Why, when you have so many better weapons.

Why, when you have so many better weapons.

...

 

[MRPolo13]

During the Swedish Deluge in 17th century and during the Kościuszko uprising of 1794, scythes were used effectively in combat. Scythes back then weren't necessarily made in the same way as they are now, often having straight shafts. It takes any blacksmith to convert a scythe into a war-scythe. I suggest looking not only at Lindybeige who mostly gives opinion-based answers (which are often correct, though not always), and actually looking through history.

And why would you want to use a war scythe? Well, almost every farmer would have a scythe at their disposal, and preparing it to be used as a weapon probably took a blacksmith very short time and, more importantly, could be done by any blacksmith, not a specialist armourer, since most blacksmiths already knew how to make scythes anyway. All it took is some twisting and you got yourself a war-scythe - a weapon of good quality which had enough weight behind it to kill someone, especially at a time when armour started fading out of existence. Making spearheads required more precision, and spears were purely stabbing weapons. Besides, by then spears became somewhat useless, as you couldn't reach a horseman with it, and footmen had muskets or light armour and a pike to reach you with. Pikes themselves are longer, yes, but also more time-taking to make and are more expensive.

There are certainly better weapons to use than a scythe, but honestly a scythe is very cheap to convert into a war-scythe, which is an easy to use, good weapon and tool.

Now, the English Wikipedia does not give the process of conversion any justice. However, the Polish Wikipedia page on war-scythes actually gives a very good explanation, since war-scythes were historically mostly used by Poles. Some of this process included:
1. Changing the position of the blade by 90 degrees to an upwards position, so that it'd be parallel to the shaft.
2. Strengthening the attachment of blade to the shaft, usually through riveting.
3. Strengthening of the shaft, to avoid the weapon from snapping under cuts, especially at the base of the blade.
4. Sometimes, War Scythes were made out of butcher's knives instead of proper scythes that were attached to the shaft.

And yes, if you haven't guessed, Lindybeige was wrong in these videos about scythes.

 

[Naelwyn]

Basically - The Scythe was used for the same reason woodcutting axes and pitchforks were used - Decent effectiveness, dirt cheap.

You get much better results with almost any other polearm.

The problem about writing a Scythe tutorial is that, as a typically peasants weapon, you don't really have a whole lot of technique founding besides "Swing the sharp end at the other guy."

Whereas with a glaive or billhook there's a lot of specialty techniques.

(Point of note, an unstraightened scythe is really good at /tripping./)

 

[MRPolo13]

"Krótka nauka o kosach i pikach", an 1831 treaty on the use of pikes and scythes as weapons, written in Polish. Besides, Lindy in that video himself talks about Paulus Hector Mair's treatises. Now, Lindy doesn't actually acknowledge the historical importance of the treaty, in that it shows a developed martial art with the use of scythe. Even if an economic failure, Mair's treaty is clearly of great significance since it actually existed to start with, and since we're not constrained by money, if you're really that desperate to use a scythe, you can go ahead and research Mair's techniques, because I'm sure they'd work.

 

[MRPolo13]

http://www.hroarr.com/manuals/liechtenauer/mair-paulus-hector-Mscr-Dresd-C-93-1550.pdf

Here's his treaty. It takes a while to load since it's the whole thing. You'll find all of pictures of scythe fighting on page 430+, though I doubt many people can read 16th century German XD

 

[Naelwyn]

*Claps*

I think I know what I might do as well.

 

[Camernater3]

*comes home from school, confronted by wall* Uh uh, I'm out not gonna compete with that stuff

 

[Bitochondria]

Hand held crossbows and how impractical they are in a medieval setting

 

[MRPolo13]

Hand held crossbows and how impractical they are in a medieval setting

Quoting from Wikipedia;

A similar tactic of heavy skirmishers developed in Late Medieval Europe, employing the easier to handle crossbow.

To increase its effect, part of the formation would carry small, powerful all-metal crossbows of their own. These mounted crossbowmen could sally out from the rear ranks to provide a skirmish screen or a preliminary barrage of bolts.

There you go, in the late Medieval times one-handed crossbows did exist. Although perhaps not easy to load, they're possible and existed. As for the draw weight, it's sufficient to take out someone from about ten or so metres if they wear basic or no armour.

Here's a picture of a replica from 14th century.

 

[Bitochondria]

Quoting from Wikipedia;




There you go, in the late Medieval times one-handed crossbows did exist. Although perhaps not easy to load, they're possible and existed. As for the draw weight, it's sufficient to take out someone from about ten or so metres if they wear basic or no armour.

Here's a picture of a replica from 14th century.

:T What's a guess of the loading time required? (Roleplay turns/actual time)

 

[Angryboy]

:T What's a guess of the loading time required? (Roleplay turns/actual time)

No idea, but even a few seconds spent reloading in the heat of battle can mean the difference between life and death.
English Longbowmen were believed to be able to fire around 5 arrows a minute, as far as I can tell. Considering that Crossbows would have been much slower to reload, I would say probably more than 20 seconds, which would be too long for any 1-1 battle.

 

[MRPolo13]

It'd be more of a weapon to release and then prepare for melee, after taking out one opponent.

 

[Naelwyn]

It'd be more of a weapon to release and then prepare for melee, after taking out one opponent.

Presumably used the same way one would early pistols, but without the ability to carry really more than two.