Since these kinds of weapons differ from swords and spears, you can’t always use the same tactics. Swinging a club will not have the same effect as slashing with a cutlass. So, what are some things that will help you with this type of weapon?
Nobody who masters a mace or hammer will have stabs as their main strategy. It may help to push enemies away to get space, but these weapons are most effective when being swing. This is because a lunge or jab is a quick burst, but doesn’t have the same power as a full swing.
Due to the goal being to break bones and organs, a person using these weapons will aim for specific spots. Heads and ribs are fairly popular in fiction because they make for one-hit kills. Yet, an adventurer with a mace might start off by aiming for other areas. For example, hitting joints, even if they are armored, can weaken an enemy enough to make the rest of the fighter easier. You have more opportunities to hit wrists and elbows than heads and torsos.
Blunt weapons have no edge, so the area that needs to hit is smaller than that of a sword. Striking with the side of the long handle can hurt, but that’s not going to do much damage. Similar to stabbing, a blunt weapon has a small spot that needs to make contact with when compared to its size. Glancing blows might not have the same affect as well. You need a direct hit to deliver the full power of the attack. So, warriors who use this weapon will use tactics to make sure they increase their chances of a direct hit.
The really big blunt weapons need two hands unless the warrior possesses superhuman strength. This goes for all weapons, but you really need to consider the size of the warrior when compared to the size of what they’re swinging. Outside of magical enhancement, a halfling can’t go swinging a maul made for an orc like it’s a wooden toy sword.
Yes, blunt weapons make a lot of sense against undead. There’s nothing wrong with following this trope.
Spikes on blunt weapons can add a stabbing affect, but it can come at a price. The additions don’t turn these weapons into swords or spears. They increase the chance of breaking the skin and puncturing armor. This also means there is a chance that they get stuck. A spiked club getting through platemail can result in the enemy getting stuck on the weapon. If it’s a deathblow, the warrior has to dislodge his weapon from a limp body. If the other person is still alive, they’re now stuck within swinging range.
While anything can be used as a club, blunt weapons do have some designs that make them different from improvised weapons. There is a weight and balance to each one that allows for effective blows. If this is off then the weapon can break or not strike with enough impact. You don’t really have to consider this too much outside of writing barfights where random objects are being swung.
This excerpt is from Legends of Windemere: Family of the Tri-Rune. This is part of one of my favorite scenes in the story. Lots of action and some humor. Pick up this book as a 99 cent eBook or a $15 paperback!
Typically, there are three styles of melee weapons. You have slashing where you swing and cut like edged swords and axes. Then there is piercing/stabbing, which include your non-edged swords and spears. Finally, you have the third one that doesn’t get as much attention as you would think:
Bludgeoning!
For those who don’t know, these are your blunt weapons. They have no edges or sharp tips, so they are not designed for cutting skin. Instead, a bludgeoning weapon is for breaking bones and pulping all the soft parts of an enemy. They are purely strength weapons since you need force along with their solid structure. So, you tend to see them wielded by barbarians, orcs, ogres, and other muscle-based archetypes. They are also given to priests and paladins a lot for the sole purpose of destroying the undead, which tend to be immune to stabbing and slashing. It’s a classic weakness to destroy the head and brain of a zombie, which is where a blunt weapon comes into play. All of this is probably why you rarely see a central protagonist specialize in these weapons.
That has changed a little bit, but not by much. Blunt weapons include clubs, maces, flails, and hammers. It’s that last one that shifted some popularity to this category because it’s what Thor uses. Of course, this really only helped hammers and most people copied the small, one-handed style. You didn’t see a sudden surge of maces and morning stars being used in fiction. That is a shame though because it would have made things rather interesting for a while.
Now, I do prefer swords because they’re what I’m more used to. They are flashy and can be used in a variety of styles. You have power fighters, agile fighters, counter fighters, speed fighters, and the list goes on. This isn’t how it goes with blunt weapons because they require power. Someone being agile and nimble with a mace won’t be delivering blows with the force one expects from the weapon. A quick flick with a sword cuts flesh, but doing it with a mace will not guarantee a broken bone. They really need to have some period of gathering force. Think of how much it hurts to stub your toe compared to kicking a brick wall. The latter usually hurts more because you have more momentum and power behind the move.
Another reason that I don’t think you see many protagonists with blunt weapons is because they can be really brutal. Getting stabbed or slashed with a sword has blood and torn flesh, but somehow it isn’t as visceral as blunt weapons for people. A character getting hit in the face with a club ends up having more than blood flowing. Teeth are knocked out, bruises appear, jaw can be broken, and there are other levels of disfigurement. That could be another aspect since people can imagine a sword wound being stitched up, but it’s harder to believe that a warrior will get his shattered skull put back together. You end up feeling like those blows hurt more, so they don’t fit the hero style outside of family-friendly stories that don’t show such things.
This is kind of a shame, especially for maces. They were fairly common because soldiers who couldn’t afford a sword would get a mace. Knights on horseback would favor them as well. A reason maces and hammers were used more often than many think is because they could work against armor. Swords don’t slash through metal and spears would need to strike a weak point. A mace or hammer would hit with enough force to dent the armor and damage the flesh beneath. Be even worse if the person was charging on a horse and delivered a blow to even a helmeted head. So, these blunt weapons had some advantages and uses that medieval warriors noted. Again, they aren’t as flashy as swords and don’t lend themselves to parry/ripostes very easily, so modern audiences prefer the former.
I really should start using more blunt weapons in my stories. It’s a category that I always put on supporting cast because that’s what I’m used to. I never really think about it, which is why I tend to go with swords and axes. I have to consciously change what I’m doing when it comes to arming my heroes. Really should take a look through what I have and see if I can do that now.
I was looking for non-mammals and stumbled onto this curious subfamily of birds of prey. They are called the Harpiinae, which have large broad-winged birds. Let me break them down:
Bat Hawk
Bat Hawk– This is the 1 hawk in the group and it is named after its favorite food. They actually catch bats and swallow them whole in midflight. They do have long wings even though they’re a hawk. Found in Sub-Saharan Africa, south Asia, and New Guinea, the bat hawk has a wide range. This makes it generally least concerned, but some local populations are listed as endangered such as in South Africa.
Crested Eagle
Crested Eagle– This eagle can reach a wingspan of 69 inches. It is found in Central and South America. It hunts by waiting and scanning the area before attacking prey instead of flying around. They are classified as near threatened due to habitat destruction, but they are also very difficult to find. They also compete with one of their more common and powerful relatives, who will be at the end of the list.
Papuan Eagle
Papuan Eagle– Found in New Guinea, this eagle is also called a Kapul Eagle. It gets this name from eating Kapul, which is a type of marsupial. They have never been very common, but their numbers are declining rapidly due to deforestation. They do not appear to be very adaptable and have been known to abandon areas once logging roads are made. It is considered vulnerable.
Harpy Eagle
Harpy Eagle– This is who the subfamily is named after and is the largest raptor found in Central America. It is also one of the largest eagles in general. This is the one that shares a territory with the Crested Eagle, which makes them competition. As with the others, it is threatened by habitat loss. Harpy eagles are top predators with only humans acting as a threat. Two of their favorite prey are monkeys and sloths, which they will pluck out of the branches. Just like the Crested Eagle, it usually waits until it sees prey and then takes to the air to dive. It will hunt while flying and even chase birds while trying to stay out of sight until an opportunity appears.
Let’s see some videos, which are mostly Harpy Eagles:
Not much to report about the week since it was back to work and school after Winter Break. It was really just getting back into the swing of things. Doesn’t help that I’m half asleep while writing this.
Seriously though, it was a week of wild events that I can’t go into here. Just changes going on in various aspects of my life. It really isn’t even that interesting even if I was able to explain it. The important parts are that these events kept me so busy and tired that I didn’t get any writing done after the weekend. Come to think of it, I don’t even know what I did this weekend when I wasn’t working or parenting. Did I only work on a jigsaw puzzle until my eyelids were too heavy? That’s entirely possible . . . Yeah, that seems to check out with how the week went.
Even though I got no weekday writing done, I managed to finish chapter 8 and start chapter 9 of Darwin & the Demon Game. I would have finished chapter 9, but I tried to play a video game with a wonky camera. Even with Dramamine, I was laid out for 2 two hours after playing for 1 hour. By the time I recovered, my son was about to get dropped off, so I learned my lesson. Next weekend might go smoother and I may even get two chapters done. That would be nice.
Speaking of writing, I have an unexpected surprise. I ended up receiving something last night:
Fizzle by Alison Hunt
For those that don’t know or remember, I wrote a ‘how to’ book called Do I Need to Use a Dragon? (Fantasy Writing Tips). The cover artist for War of Nytefall was working on cover and interior art. Originally, I was going to release it last September, but things went wrong. We lost contact with each other until recently due to life situations and me apparently texting someone or something else for the last year. It seems my covid-induced brain fog had me sending messages that I can’t even find on my phone. Anyway, I got the cover and interior art last night. What you see above is part of the cover.
This brings up the question of revealing the art and publishing in general. I still need to either do a final edit myself or get someone else to look it over. With me having to read a manga series alongside a student, I probably need to go with the latter. I also found on the last edit that I nitpick on word usage and get twitchy about changing a lot when it comes to an opinion book. I could easily end up rewriting the whole book just because I feel like coming at something from a different direction. So, it might be best to let other people give it a once over. I already sent it to one person for a check.
Of course, this means that I’m not going to publish it right away. I’m actually thinking of doing it at the start of summer like July 4th weekend. This gives me plenty of time to get things ready. Not that I have any idea on how to promote this thing. Maybe have June be teasers on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays since the topics can be used to stir discussion. Blog touring doesn’t seem like an option since the last time I tried there were only 6 volunteers. Don’t have the money for anything big either, which has been the issue for years. Maybe I should just publish it, post about it here, and hope for the best since nothing else seems to work. I don’t have the promo system and reach that I had when I was writing Legends of Windemere. Guess I have time to figure it out.
The final question I have to figure out is if I reveal all of this awesome art tomorrow or do it in June. I feel like I want to do it now since I’m talking about it. Maybe even just the cover and the interior art will be left for June Have to take a few moments today to figure it out. My son having homework in 5 of his classes isn’t helping though. Am I being punished for resting during that week off?
Oh yeah . . . I didn’t do well with the diet and biking. As expected, returning to work and my son going back to school bit deeply into my energy and time. Biking took the biggest hit with me only managing 25 minutes overall. I’m going to do another 30 today, but I’m supposed to hit 70 minutes of intense exercise per week. I’d say better luck next week, but I’m not going to hold my breath. Like a majority of people, my life doesn’t allow for such things unless I sacrifice sleep or some of the very little relaxation time that I have. If all I’m doing with my life is working, parenting, sleeping, errands, and biking then it’s really a dismal existence.
So, what are the goals of the week?
Help son finish homework.
Try to get to biking if time permits.
Decide on if I’m going to reveal Do I Need to Use a Dragon? (Fantasy Writing Tips) art tomorrow.
Decide on how hard I will promote the book or if I’ll bother doing more than a blog post here.
Working, which is a given.
Prepare May blog posts if possible.
Write more of Darwin & the Demon Game next weekend.
This post could very well be a failure since it deals with mental illness. I’m not going to ask for people to expose their own issues. That would be wrong. Instead, I’m hoping to get opinions and perspectives on talking about such things in public. Here we go.
What do you think about speaking about mental illness in the open?
What do you think you can do to help those suffering feel brave about speaking out?
How do you think modern society looks at mental health?
Legends of Windemere 