LARPers...

[MrSparkle001]

Originally Posted by Ahldagor [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

why no hammers? swords don't do shit to plate.

I wondered that same thing. It's probably because swords don't do shit to plate.
They're mimicking tournament melees where knights wore full suits of plate and used giant swords to subdue their opponents and win their armor, horses and maybe even a ransom. You actually didn't want to damage their armor too much, so large swords were fine.

By the time that heavy full plate was in use, battle swords were designed for thrusting, with thick diamond-shaped cross sections that reinforced the point and limited the cutting edges. The most popular battlefield weapons of the days of full articulated plate were pikes and primitive firearms, often used together in formation. It wasn't armies of knights in full plate armor hacking away at each other with swords. Warhammers and axes were also used. I do believe in some parts of Germany and northern Europe there were gigantic two-handed swords used against armored opponents.