C'mon /tg, you know you love them.
Weird ancient weapons of the world thread.
Weapon in pic is a macuahuitl, a weapon commonly used by the natives from Mexico, like the Mayans and Aztecs. It's basically a wooden sword with a bunch of Obsidian fragments attached to it's edges, the perfect weapon to fight White Walkers.
Kabutowari, a Japanese short sword, more like a dagger, used to parry strikes or to pierce through gaps in the enemy's armor.
Urumi, an Indian sword whose blade is thin and flexible enough to be used as a really dangerous whip, for both the wielder and the enemy.
Kpinga. south+central african "winged" throwing weapon used similarly to a hunting boomerang. came in a wide variety of styles, which were generally designed with as many different puncturing and slicing surfaces as possible to minimize the chance of your victim escaping injury by getting struck by a relatively harmless part of the weapon.
>>43487947
I'm familiar with those weapons by the name of hunga munga, and mambele.
>>43486902
Durian Arms! Mister Dangerous!
>>43487039
Man, the really amazing thing here is how high the guy on the left is jumping
That's some NBA level shit right there
>>43486902
>macuahuitl
>weird
Oh boy OP, sure thing do I have some WHACKY and WEEEIRD weapons for you!
Check out this TOTALLY bizarre LONGSWORD!
>>43488861
Traditional games are mostly based out of western fantasy.
Western fantasy is Euro-centric.
So yes, weird/unusual applies.
>>43488947
To correct:
I'm not saying it should be, I'm only saying that it IS.
>>43488947
>>43488961
Anon, not only is the macuahuitl incredibly iconic of the Aztecs and often posted in arms and armour threads, but most settings include some not!Mayincatec faction or other. And they always use macuahuitl.
Why does no-one ever post the really weird stuff, like jawbone clubs or scourges? I would, but my phone is crap.
>>43489142
>>newfag who didn't play chainmail with rules out of the back of a wargaming magazine.
>>43489206
Well anon, I'm so sorry I'm not so old that I jizz Gygax's cremated remains.
>>43489142
And that faction is always seen as foreign from the central setting with weird customs and cultural practice's.
>>43487947
It's like they just stuck handles on pieces of scrap metal.
But I don't doubt their effectiveness in combat. I wouldn't want that thrown at me.
Chakram
Throwing circle thing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chakram
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_cX1SwiC1Y
>>43489419
The shorter, wider ones can sail along the ground like a Frisbee with the right throwing techniques. Looking up some usage videos on YouTube bruh, shit's scary.
![boomerang2[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/FSBWz9K.jpg "boomerang2[1].jpg")
Only the best.
>>43489531
Forgot the pic. My bad
>>43489531
You mean the throwing anus
>>43488780
The dude on the right is kneeling, and the dude on the left has his legs tucked up. I doubt he's more than 6 or 8 inches off the ground in actual vertical distance, but since his legs are tucked it looks far.
>>43489204
Often made out of the jawbone of a large animal, the jawbone club was a favored tool of early Native American dentists in order to persuade children to brush their teeth after every meal.
Trust me, I'm a historian on the Internet.
>>43486902
>Macuahuitl
>used until at least the 16th century
>ancient
>>43487947
Those fucking things are actually in a 3.5 book. They ain't that good though
Sandstorm if anyone cares
Māori weapons are pretty cool.
>>43486902
Jesus christ do these things make me cringe.
>>43492038
The other polearms of the world get no love.
>>43492038
cain?
>>43495552
Is that just a club? What's the point of the fingerhole, that looks like it would break your finger if someone hit it wrong.
>>43495896
Polearms pretty sweet to the point of almost overpowered.
>>43486902
This one's always appealed to me for some reason.
>>43489206
Remember the Bo staff's man-to-man stats?
>>43486902
Why do they space the obsidian shards out like that? Wouldnt it be better if they pushed them against eachother to more or less form a continuous blade?
>>43497999
Because it's a silly, silly ceremonial weapon.
>>43497999
Then you'd need way more obsidian to make a blade that long, dumbass.
>>43495552
>not even posting to good one
its called a Taiaha and the object is to use the pointed head as bait so you could whap them with the broad end which was often sharpened
sometimes they even tied feathers asn shit to the spearhead so it would swing around and be distracting
>>43498001
That can cut a horses head off.
>>43498075
kek
yea good luck
>>43498207
Say that in Tenochtitlan, not online, and see what happens!
>>43498225
I would, but I don't speak Spanish.
>>43498225
>>43498234
[ ] Not Told
[ ] Told
[X] Montoldzuma's Revenge
>>43495714
>greatest greater great cleave
catchcatchcatchcatchcatch!!
>Unusual ancient weapons
>>43496336
>What's the point of the fingerhole
to put tiny maori dick in it?
>>43499556
Kek
Its a cavalry/anti-cavalry sword and also served as a hockey stick.
>>43498057
The native americans had a similar idea.
>>43492038
slow your roll there Sampson, lets not go crazy with that thing
So "ancient" is now "anything older than grandpa".
>>43498075
And 1 pound sling stones! 1 pound sling stones don't give one shit about plate armour.
>>43498253
good one
>>43497999
The weapon is not about making one clean, continuous cut. It's about teasing the shit out of what it hits when the weilder follows through or pulls back.
The kind of weapon that is outright forbidden in "humane" rules of engagement. The horrifying shit.
>>43500263
Also pretty inefficient Id imagine but then I wouldnt know
>>43499889
How does that sheath work? Is it open on one side and needs to be held shut with straps or something?
>>43500339
The side with the rings is open. Its boiled leather held into shape by its own strength so no straps needed to keep stuff in place.
>>43487947
Don't forget the metal cocks they put on them.
>>43498294
FUCKING grab rats. They inevitably grab someone and drag them up a staircase or something so you can't get at them.
>>43500404
Thank you!
>>43497999
>>43500263
>>43500290
Old American art seems to show the blades spaced apart more often than not (almost exclusively?). Drawings of a macahuitl and teputzopili that where in a Spanish museum (destroyed in a fire in the 19th century unfortunately) on the other hand show them sitting edge to edge. Maybe both variants saw use, maybe the spaced out variant is merely artistic shorthand, or maybe the ones that crossed the Atlantic where some odd one off variants.
As for the reasoning behind things, to the best of my knowledge nobody asked any of the American weapon makers about it and wrote it down so we could read about it. And I've never heard of anyone today experimenting with things enough to be able to present an informed opinion either.
That a continuous edge would cut better seems plausible, but perhaps it wasn't better enough to warrant the bother, at least not all the time, assuming both styles where reasonably common. Adjust "not all the time" if one style was dominant.
As for how they did work, Del castillo writes that a mare was decapitated during fighting with the Aztecs. He does not state that this was done by a single cut though, or even in outright combat, it could easily (IMO probably) be something done after the horse had succumbed to various other wounds and collapsed. Also, while the Aztecs make use of captured Spanish weapons, he never mentions his countrymen making use of macahuitls.
The one modern day test that I know of has the macahuitl perform somewhat decently, but with the obsidian blades that made contact being heavily damaged in the process. So perhaps that could be a reason for a spaced out design, you simply wouldn't have a continuous edge there anyway unless the very first attack connected without anything getting in its way, while a few pieces could still present enough some sharp edges.
http://www.mediafire.com/view/5vk6gpfzdkgl4s1/
>>43500339
Probably open along much of one side, with friction holding the word in place.
>>43488666
underrated post
>>43495582
why dog, you scared of getting your head lopped off in a single blow by a mighty jaguar knight? understandable.
>>43499889
The fuck even IS that?
Who's responsible for this shit?
>>43496475
It's like somebody took the baseball bat and made it SPECIFICALLY for hurting people...
>>43489614
A little late, but how did people hunt with boomerangs? Did they throw them straight and only make them curve around for entertainment?
Or did they throw in a horizontal arc, and hope that whatever they were trying to hit wouldn't move while it was going?
>>43500858
Its french if i recall correctly. Every inch has a reason for being there and in theory its the pretty deadly. the crux of the scythe bit to catch riders and cut horse tendons, the forward jutting point for a fully directed force on hit, the feathering for similar albeit lesser effect, a long slashing surface on the top of the scythe end, and a flat surface because a swords gotta have that, the handle knob is so when you ride up and catch the fleeing horsemans horse's tendon it doesn't get pulled out of your hand.
>>43499889
>>43500858
>Cavalry
>Hockey
Only logical explanation.
>>43500921
They used to fly straight and the goal was to get the razor sharp point to hit rather than the bent backend. The return came later and can't say if that was used for hunting or not.
>>43500988
>>43500943
and french apparently.
>>43498075
>>43498207
As much as I hate Deadliest Warrior, they did test that particular claim. Albeit on an unmoving horse corpse.
A single swing managed to sever the spine and get most of the way through, and even more got cut through when he pulled it out, from the sawing motion.
On the other hand, the macuahuitl got wrecked. Most of the obsidian blades either shattered or got pulled out of the wood. Which I guess sums up the whole thing: good for one, devastating strike, but not nearly as durable as an actual, metal sword.
>>43501011
It was made with that idea in mind apparently. The teeth get ruined in 1-2 swings per side and then you had a wooden club till you could replace the teeth.
>>43496336
Pole arms are like long guns. They're big, bulky, and raise eyebrows when you walk around town with them but damned if they aren't powerful.
>>43500999
>>43500943
Napoleonic period Spain, actually.
>>43497999
My guess was to save on obsidian.
>>43501113
Thank you.
>>43488666
Goddammit anon
>>43500480
I came here to basically post this. That pic should have come with a trigger warning.
For any who are confused, the game Vermintide came out recently. It is like left 4 dead (coop teamwork shooter, with more an emphasis on surviving than showboating) only instead of stupid zombies, it is cheeky clever skaven.
One special type is a skaven "packmaster" with the pictured weapon. Funny thing is, they're weak as shit, often run away when spotted, and die in one or two hits. But as the difficulty gors up, they become FAR more of a threat. On easy, they are a nothing thing. But on hard or nightmare, which is as far as I have gotten, they might be the biggest threat.
These little dickholes will actually lurk in an out of the way doorway, and just when you isolate yourself from the group for 3 seconds to grab ammo in an area you thought was clear... BAM! The motherfucker nabs you, and starts hauling you away at roughly your teammate's speed, and once he has you well away from everyone, he hangs you by the throat until you die. All while snickering like a little asshole.
It is getting so that hearing the rattle of his pack in that game sends me into a wild-eyed panic.
>>43501266
Great. I'm currently in a war with mice and now i'm gonna have nightmares......what platforms?
>>43501804
PC: right now
PS4/XBONE: early 2016
Check out some gameplay. It is getting great reviews and I tend to agree.
Plus a loot system and better difficulty system makes it more replayable than Left4Dead
Plus PLUS, they heavy-handed implied in the epilogue that we can expect expansions with missions vs. Orks, Chaos and the Undead.
>>43501266
This sounds awesome.
>>43497999
>Why do they space the obsidian shards out like that? Wouldnt it be better if they pushed them against eachother to more or less form a continuous blade?
Obsidian is fragile. Sharp as a mother, but breaks and chips.
Finding a single continuous piece of obsidian, cutting it into a blade, and hoping it never cracks/chips is too much. Just put it into a club in pieces and replace them as they break.
The studded club was already a mainstay among Indigenous Americans anyway, so they'd come to that conclusion before trying to make a sword.
>>43495714
Jawbone of an ox, massive body builder with long hair. bronze age armor on a massive army.
I'm thinking Samson from the bible. pre-Delilah.
>>43503659
No shit Sherlock
>>43500994
>>43500921
They were mainly used to hunt birds, the technique was to throw the returning boomerang in order to scare a flock out of a tree, then the rest of your group would throw the non returning ones (or I suppose it doesn't matter which) in order to try and knock some of the flock out of the air.
They're not precision weapons, they're meant to hit 1 in 50 birds by chance rather than accuracy. The returning ones are useful so that you don't have to go pick it up after scaring the flock, while if you hit something it obviously won't return and you grab it as you pick up the bird you hit.
Kind of amazing that after thousands of years aboriginals managed to develop the technology of throwing sticks at things.
>>43487947
stupidest looking weapon
also, I'll even be they are unwieldy as fuck
>>43503806
They are thrown weapons.
>>43495714
Okay, I must ask, this is legacy of luther strode, is it good?
>>43488515
>hunga munga
Is this an actual name?
>>43503806
>>43503815
even for throwing weapons
fuck, use spears for god's sake
>>43501266
It's especially fun when they drag their victim against the tide of the streaming hordes of Skaven, leaving you to hack through them trying to save your buddy. And the worst thing is that they look a lot like the regular rats. They don't stand out.
Just fuck them.
>>43503799
Fucking abo's used to be listed on the endangered list. The only "human" that was legally considered an animal.
>>43503799
that amazing thing is thrown away when they didn't invent the wheel
>>43503799
They did master fire ecology however.To be fair to them, they live on a piece of land that varies from 'inhospitable' to 'just about hospitable', is covered in venomous animals, and has fuck all in the way of founder crops, leaving it impossible for them to advance past hunter-gathering.
>>43498207
Cortez reported that it could be done.
I trust his account in this matter.
>>43487947
>"What sort of blade do you want?
>Just fuck my shit up."
>>43501266
>>43486902
>I've seen about 20+ threads with a similar premise to this, both here and on /k/
>Every single one starts with a macuahuitl
>Starting to really think Macuahuitl is the new katana
Something about Haladie deeply pleases me. Even though they look like a great weapon of choice for that edgy as shit rogue in your party.
>>43503806
they aren't actually, iv held quite a few. its kind of like holding a small bat.
>>43498001
no it isn't. the purpose for those weapons was less to kill and more to terribly maim, which is why warriors mostly used spears and big ass clubs when actually killing people.
>>43503932
They did use spears, but only for hunting bigger animals and fish.
>>43503659
>Jawbone of an ass
ftfy
>>43500030
>anything older than grandpa
>weapon used up until the 16th century
Grandpa must be a fucking wizard, then.
>>43502002
>Plus PLUS, they heavy-handed implied in the epilogue that we can expect expansions with missions vs. Orks, Chaos and the Undead.
>>43501011
Its still a big club so its fine.
>>43513540
Unlikely, but I would so buy and play.
>>43495714
What's this from?
>>43500290
That´s on purpose.
The Aztecs didn´t fight to kill, they fought to disable. Their goal was to cripple as many enemies as possible without letting them die, so after the battle they could pick them up and sacrifice them to their gods.
I finally remembered about these. Flint edged, uhm, something from palaeolithic Sweden. Arrowheads perhaps?
>>43510536
Well, the macahuitl is pretty much a big ass club with some extra hurty bits added. And from what I've understood their spears would have the same kind of obsidian edges as the macahuitl did. At least they had such spears.
>>43516648
As much as they liked to sacrifice people, I wouldn't take it for certain that they in any way intentionally dialled back the efficiency of their weapons. It seems just as likely that this simply is about as good as they managed given their limited metallurgical knowledge.
>>43516699
You can use sharp rocks and it´ll still kill like hell, but without being so fucking brittle.
They also had plenty of poisons around that they could use. The Europeans got a nice taste of those.
As said above, a good hit from those things can chop an arm of a leg right off. That´s enough to have someone stop being dangerous in the battle while still roughly guaranteeing that he´ll still be alive. A sword is much better for actual killing, but it has it much harder to maim to that point.
>>43516794
As the stone of choice for other sharpened rock bits in the region appears to have been obsidian, ie the same one used for the macahuitl, I'm not sure they'd be much less brittle. At least with the macahuitl we get plentiful support from the wooden part, and the multiple small edge bits means cracking cannot run off from where it starts, each segment must be broken individually.
Pic: obsidian items from Teotihuacan.
>while still roughly guaranteeing that he´ll still be alive.
If you immediately jump him and apply a tourniquet, maybe. Sadly that might not be an option in combat. Otherwise I don't see a traumatic amputation having much of a survival rate. Femoral artery bleeding is bad news.
Men för i helvete.
>>43486902
You're probably familiar with bolas. Pre-europeans versions were made of rocks with grooves for ropes, and included 1-ball spiked bolas for melee, "stone flails".
>>43518054
>ah, yes, the o' scrote-on-a-rope
>>43489614
crikey
>>43497999
In some cases they actually did, but depends on the cultural context (tribe) and time you're picking them off. Most late blades were like that because it's hard to work obsidian that large without breaking it, and chaining small pieces would be very hard to do. Individual pieces would be easier to fix and acquire, remember that these were war weapons made for long battles where a champion was expected to capture anywhere between 0-5 guys, and kill up to 50 dudes, sometimes larger than he was.
A long obsidian blade would crack and fall off after the first few blows and would have to be constantly replaced, where a series of teeth meant the warrior was only expected to take two of these to battle and have a dude behind him in charge of replacing the lost little pieces with fast acting adhesive, and repair his weapon fully after battle, or get a new one.
I'd like to discredit the myth of the wooden spine made out of petrified mezquitl watered with blood while still alive and whaevet shit, it COULD happen if you were a high ass noble or ruler, sure, but it sure as hell wouldn't be common. If that were the case, spaniard swords would have broken at the first melee. It was hard wood, sure, but it wasn't petrified.
Quarry workers would often use small instruments made of metal or wood to calculate exact cuts in the rock (up to a fraction of a millimeter), and tenochcan masters would often pull shit off that would make egyptians look silly, with irregular patterns fitting perfectly without sanding the rock whatsoever and tubular stones, for example, so it's not completely unfeasible to use a similar sistem to craft identical or very similar obsidian teeth over and over. Edge alignment (or whatever equivalent) wouldn't be an issue.
Besides it can still work perfectly fine to cut a limb off, it's basically a fucksharp serrated surface, you're not only bashing shit; rather, you pull back and then the colored candy for the gods starts flowing.
>>43486902
This is my favourite unusual weapon.
bought one of these bad boys when i vacationed in Alaska
or did i buy this in Canada... i cant remember
>>43520463
War Club/Mallet. Probably Canadian, the North Western American tribes had a tendency to use spears and knives rather than clubs. Though you can find some pretty badass carved pieces from the area, they were the exception not the rule.
>>43520463
sokka/10
Koa weapon with 36 shark teeth and a blue marlin bill at the end. I like weapons that are made from animals.
>>43522156
So it's like a saw-lance type deal? Neat.
They call this one the stinger. They don't let you use that no more.
>>43522156
>>43522272
Using shark teeth is pretty badass. Those weapons are definitely gonna make an appearance in my next paleolithic game.
>>43522827
>Megalodon tooth sword
>>43522272
I like this one since it gave me three different ideas. One is the spiked knuckle club. The other is a spear the size of a sword for quick poking with the teeth as a bayonet. The last one is the knuckles with the spear bayonet.
>>43516699
looks like throwing weapons.
Honestly I think they were used to spear fish from short range, not kill humans. Although I'm far from qualified to determine the function of it.
This is a jitte, the predecessor to ninja Sais. It's a beatstick with a little thing on the handle for catching and parrying blades. Their main users were Japanese Constables. Skilled Japanese Constables could snap Katanas in half with the right wrist motion after catching a sword. They're pretty rad.
>>43523666
Ah yes, the infamous sidearm of Toshiro Umezawa.
>>43523666
>the predecessor to ninja Sais
From what I remember, bar maces are a lot older and a lot more common in asia, the sort of Ninja you're talking about only exists in fiction and the Sai is a chinese weapon that got into contact with samurai's skulls via Okinawa's resistance movement.
>>43500889
normally that's called hammering nails into a bat
>>43492038
a donkey's jawbone is a primitive weapon used in many semetic tribes, jews caananites, early arabs, etc.
they are really fucking thick and heavy, which makes a good club.
>>43520227
>Sharkatana
>>43508464
No one thinks the Macuahuiti is the greatest weapon ever invented, and can slice through steel, or even a wooden door.
>>43523071
>>43487039
There is a Sri Lankan style that dual wields urumi. You can also wear it like a belt when not in use. I've been working with my DM to stat this.
>>43520227
Looks like the child of a katana and a macuahuitl.
Which wood was used?
Someone post Shillelagh PLZ.
>>43527673
>Shillelagh
God, that is a fun name.
>>43527673
>child of a katana
Yeah, it's uncanny. I mean it's curved, and it's a sword, and curved... Totally like a katana!
>>43523843
No MtG draft will ever compare to the one time I nabbed two of those fuckers in the same deck. It didn't matter what the rest of the cards were; the deck was 21 creatures and 2 Umezawa's Jitte.
>>43527871
>it's curved, and it's a sword, and curved
>>43527871
>Take the toy cavalry figurine, and show me where the sword was curved like a saber anon.
>Don't be shy.
>>43486902
My friend had a Barbarian who wielded one of these things actually.
Sort of. Wasn't an actual macuahuitl, but an improvised one he made by hammering shark teeth into a surfboard and tying a stick to one end of it as a handle.
It was pretty fucking terrifying.
>>43486902
plot twist: those are actually chainswords left over from a superior race that fell and aztecs simply didn't know this and used them without power sources
