drastic quench has the right idea. When your weapon is slow to move, you keep it moving, usually in some circular arrangement (to conserve energy). That way when an opening appears there’s a decent chance your weapon is already moving towards it.
Also, it’s much harder to dodge or block a weapon that’s constantly moving.
source: history channel special about medieval weaponry
Don’t confuse fast with sudden. Such a heavy thing cannot be moved suddenly. But if you have a chance to get it moving and keep it moving, that’s a whole nother story. Ideally, extend it outwards and just rotate your whole body in one direction or the other. Build up speed in a few rotations, and whatever you hit will be destroyed; hopefully that will happen before you fall from dizziness.
I used to work with a German-born carpenter who used a tool much like a sledgehammer, only it had a handle barely a foot long. I called it a “Thor hammer.” It would be good for throwing–as long as you don’t miss and your adversary throws it back! :eek:
A mason’s sledge (short handle, light head) would be much deadlier than a basic long handled sledge, for reasons stated above, and I’d pick it first.
I’d pick the garden variety sledge for breaching operations, however. I’d pick a Halligan tool over both. It can both breach and ruin your entire day.
What’s a Halligan tool?
I always thought that with a bit of judicious grinding to make a better hook on a bog-standard Home Depot ditch-bank(kaiser blade, sling blade, brush-axe), you’d have something pretty close to an old-timey bill/bill-hook polearm.
If we’re going with home-improvement store melee weapons, that would have to be up there somewhere.
The common long handled sledge is a 9 pound hammer, sometimes you see 12 and 16 pounders on concrete crews and they are useless, but I’ve worked with a couple of guys who could grasp the handle end and hold that 9 pounder at arms length one handed and lift it from the ground over their head arm fully extended multiple times. I think I’d race to the hammer and if I got it throw it as far away as I could. Honestly, I’d actually take off running and keep going…
We used to compete with each other when I was in the Seabees, who could hold a sledge at arm’s length the longest. The other “game” was to hold the handle with one hand and swing it toward your own nose, trying to stop it juuuuust before you hit yourself in the face. Good times.
Just grab the end of the handle, hold the hammer out and spin your body in circles, creating an unstoppable shield of death.
Cite: Me, when I was six years old.
Another move that would work, if your opponent is the type to lunge, would be to heft the hammer head directly upwards (maintaining a flexible grip on the end of the handle) and take a step backwards, then pull the hammer down on the attacker as he steps beneath it.
The trick is in the timing…
Warhammers are not *that *heavy, they were basically pointy maces - smaller than a mace, actually. In more relate-able terms : they were more like large claw hammers, or an ice axe, not weaponized sledges.
Yeah, I was thinking that too, but then the 1-2 pound head of a Dane axe doesn’t have *quite *the same momentum as a 10 pound block of solid metal. Not sure you could really get the same blazing fast figure-8s, which is essential to get that whole “you don’t have a chance to get in there before the back swing” thing going.
Grip it right under the head and prepare to thrust it at him: it won’t be fast, and your foe stands a pretty good chance of evading it, but if it lands, pow.
Is he keeping an eye on the hammer in your right hand? Good; start throwing left jabs at his face. Once those have his attention, drive your right into his torso.
Would a sledge hammer be a workable weapon if you were fighting someone who was on horseback and wearing plate armor, so you would need the reach and the weight?
Against mounted enemies, all you have to do is hold the weapon when he charges, the closing speed will do lots of damage, no need to swing at all.
If its a mounted melee instead of a charge, you clobber the horses head - it will go down.
One hand about a foot from the head, the other hand on the end of the handle. You get an extra foot of reach, if he comes close enough, you can move the handle end to get a quick response on the head. You can also use the handle defensively.
I assume you’ve never actually seen or used a sledge hammer.
Please can you tell me about those field weapons?
I am very interested
You rarely want to swing a weapon at an opponent. You want to stab your opponent. It’s a lot harder to block a stab than a swing and a stab’s effective even with a blunt-headed weapon.
One hand near the end of the handle, the other about halfway up. I can swing it one handed effectively about halfway up, or jab with it two handed, or give full swings using both hands, moving both hands to the end if I’m free to take a full swing. If it’s really close fighting with no room to swing I’ll hold it by one hand just below the head and just punch with the head. In a lot of cases it will be most effective against an able opponent to take out his legs with the sledgehammer, so I might feint towards his head in some way that I can swing it and hit his knee.