Could zweihanders be used as a sort of blunt weapon?

>>1554419
sure but why would you when even a slight sharpening would make them that much more deadly?

>>1554433
When fighting opponent in plate armor, I forgot to add that. Would they be effective?

>>1554455
Getting hit with a giant fuck off piece of metal is probably disorienting which would leave your opponent vulnerable for a split second that you could take advantage of, but there isn't enough weight to it for it to be effective against armour.

>>1554674
What if you hold the edge and hit with the hilt?

>>1554419
sure, hit with the hilt/pommel

>>1554455
>When fighting opponent in plate armor

It's still a large force and a heavy sword. I doubt even the most trained fighters in plate armour were able to ignore heavy blows to head.

Hit someone on the head a few times, and then wrestle him to the ground, and then finish him. It's the most straightforward way to kill a man in armour, but it's not easy. There's no easy way, even with a blunt weapon.

>>1554455
Why not simply stab them?

>>1555646
It's not going to pierce metal. That is the entire reason why maces, warhammers, and war axes were created.

>>1554678
It would be very painful.

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>>1555656
Kek dank meme there chieftain

>>1554419
this thread belongs on >>>/k/, not here.

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>>1555655
It's going to hurt them where the armour doesn't cover.

Yes, it's called half swording

Grip the sword by the blade and use the pommel as a blunt weapon, or use the quillons as a sort of spiked hammer type of weapon. There are more ways to fight with a sword than just swinging the blade around

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>>1556293
Forgot picture

>>1556293
>>1556298
This is not half-swording ffs, this is called mordhau (in german at least).
Half-swording would be this >>1555845

>>1556356
I thought the mordhau was just a half swording move, not an entirely different and separate way of fighting

>>1555668
/k/ is 99% about guns, historical weapons are a part of history, plus all the swordfags hang around here.

For some reason, I don't think there are any depictions of mordhaus with proper zweihänders (as opposed to mere longswords).

>>1556452
In german longsword at least, it's indeed one move that is made in armored fencing. But according to what was written before, it gave the impression that mordhau was all there was to half-swording, which it ain't. It would be like saying that blossfechten (unarmored fencing) was just the zornhau (a common descending blow). It's just plain wrong.
And this is also thinking that the specific longsword kunst des fechtens was all there was to longsword fencing, which again is not true, KdF is in fact a fairly specialized longsword tradition. That's not considering the common fencing, nor the italian and english stuff for instance.

>>1556475
They would be near-impossible considering the balance of those things. Besides, it would be kinda futile since half-swording them would be enough, considering they were twice as heavy as regular longswords.
Most of the large two-handers use aren't against armored people too, so using mordhau would be useless.

>>1556549
>Besides, it would be kinda futile since half-swording them would be enough, considering they were twice as heavy as regular longswords.

What do you mean "half-swording would be enough"? Half-swording and mordhau are used for entirely different things - half-swording for increased leverage, control of the tip and rigidity of the blade, to stap into the gaps of the armor, mordhau is using the sword like a mace for the percussive impact. Do you mean the that the percussive damage of the blade would be enough?

>>1556575
>Half-swording and mordhau are used for entirely different things
Not at all, they are both used against armor. They are two strategies for the same context (but half-swording is overall much more useful out of armor as well). Mordhau is good because it extand dramatically the extant of your measure, allowing you basically to play at the long measure, while half-swording is close measure only. With a large two-hander, the loss of range because of half-swording isn't too terrible, so it's a much more valid strategy than with a longsword.
Anyway, most of the large two-handers are used in large moulinets and not directly against armor, so it's sort of moot.

>>1554455
I remember reading that greatswords weren't used in arranged tournaments, as a spectacle for onlookers, because it was too damn dangerous even in play; fingers would get broken if you got hit on the hand with one, through a gauntlet.
I think a breastplate could take the brunt of the swing, but ends of extremities or the head are going to get super fucked up by a greatsword.