Premodern Weaponry and Armor

This is an index of weapons which have their origins before the widespread use of gunpowder.

Melee Weapons

• Clubs: The Club is most likely the first weapon ever to be used, with use of clubs being observed in Chimpanzees. A long narrow ridged object which can be carried in hand to hit enemies with, causing damage with blunt force trauma. Clubs generally give an edge over an unarmed oppenent, but inflicting a leathal blow with a club is generally quite dificult. However, clubs can be effective at subdoing opponents without killing them. Outside quick improvised weapons, clubs are still used today in the form of Truncheons for said reason.
• Maces: The Mace is a more refined version of the club, having some sort of head made of stone or metal to make impacts more damaging. Some maces would have spikes for penetrative effect. Maces became popular after the advent of plate armor as their impacts could shatter bones even if they did not get through the armor outright.
• Spears: A spear is at its most basic a long rod with a point on the end. The first spears were simple pointy sticks, then had their tips hardened by burning them, sharpening and then by attaching stone (and latter metal) points to improve penetration. As spears were easy to manufacture, had non military applications in hunting and fishing and required fairly minimal amounts of metal, they became the most common form of weapon used by early civilizations.
• Axes:
• Swords
• Daggers:
• Pole arms

Ranged Weapons

• Javalins
• Slings
• Bows
• Crossbows

Seige Weapons

• Battering rams
• Catapults
• Trebuchets
• Seige Towers

Armor

• Helmets
• Shields

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