How were flails carried?

[MrFilthyIke]

If you actually have medieval arms and armor lying around your house, as your post suggests you do, that is extremely cool.

Don't we all have weapons and armor lying around??

I thought we were GAMERS...

 

[Darklone]

If you actually have medieval arms and armor lying around your house, as your post suggests you do, that is extremely cool.

You'd be surprised how many guys here do...

Flairs were blunt. At least a little bit blunt.

And with a shield against a spiked flail... Well. Shield charge

 

[diaglo]

Flairs were blunt. At least a little bit blunt.

but could you smoke them?


i've always used the DM Adventure Log Book for 1edADnD when i try and imagine what the weapons looked like as written for in the rules.

i ignore the ones in real world historic textbooks unless someone wants to write one up for the campaign.

 

[Rel]

I have no idea what the actual historical method of flail storage was. But I can envision a means of carrying one at your belt in a simple leather loop. I'm not sure I can adequately describe what I'm talking about, but...

Say you've got this leather loop coming off your belt. It is somewhat larger than the combined diameter of the flail handle and chain and is considerably smaller than the ball on the flail. When you want to store your flail, you simply hold the handle upright so that the chain hangs down along the length of it and hook your finger around the chain, just above the ball. Then, invert the whole affair and stick it down into the loop such that most of the handle and the chain hang below your belt and the bottom of the handle and the ball itself rest atop the loop at your waist.

Does that make any sense? Note that this wouldn't work if your handle is shorter than your chain and it would be impractical if the handle was far longer than your chain. But it would suit most of the flails I've seen personally.

I'd probably mount this thing far back on my hip, almost behind me, so that my arm wouldn't tend to knock into the ball and its spikes. If you don't wear much armor, a tough leather pad beneath that part of your belt would probably be wise. And whatever you do, make sure you are mindful not to sit on it.

 

[Magic Slim]

I have no idea what the actual historical method of flail storage was. But I can envision a means of carrying one at your belt in a simple leather loop. I'm not sure I can adequately describe what I'm talking about, but...

That's also what I presumed. Or you simply roll the chain around the shaft so it doesn't dangle too much.

But as someone pointed out, there probably weren't many guys walking around in the forest with those things...

Slim

 

[LuYangShih]

I've always operated under the rule that flails ignore the base shield, and only the magical bonus, if any, on the shield, counts. If anyone ever objected, I'd happily give them a shield and then demonstrate the effectiveness of a flail against shields on them.

The shield-sword style is already rare enough without adding extra penalties onto those who choose to use it. Why sacrifice playability for realism?

 

[buzzard]

Don't we all have weapons and armor lying around??

I thought we were GAMERS...

Naah, all I have is plenty of modern weapons. No armor at all. Sniff sniff.

Needless to say, I don't do a lot of demonstrations around the house.

buzzard

 

[Christian]

Regarding nomenclature: in the AD&D PH, the EGG-man noted on the morningstar entry that the weapon type included the Morgenstern and the holy water sprinkler. While the use of the term 'morningstar' is historically inconsistent in use, the other two are not-the Morgenstern is basically a spiked club, while the holy water sprinkler is flail-like with a very short chain (or even just a hinge) and a spiked head. (Side note: as noted by Richard Armour in It All Started With Stones and Clubs, it was much more likely to be found sprinkling blood and brains than holy water.) My take on the game intent of the terms was that the morningstar statistics (weight, damage, etc.) were to be used for any club, mace, or flail which sported a spiked head. Don't matter what you call it, if it crushes and pierces at the same time, it's a morningstar. Works for me, anyway.

 

[kengar]

I'm trying to picturing it in my mind, and can't see how a spiked metal ball dangling on a chain from a handle could be safely stored while still allowing for the weapon to be readily accessible for immediate use. ( ... And usually my imagination is quite reasonable. )

I don't imagine that -historically- people were as worried about "quick-drawing" melee weapons of most kinds. They were usually either being used in a duel or on the battlefield and you normally don't have "surprise rounds" in those situations.

 

[Steverooo]

Morningstars (and spiked clubs) were generally carried over the shoulder, like polearms. Perhaps (like polearms) they were given a cover for their metal parts, to keep the rain off (to prevent rust).

While I don't think we really know for sure, Flails (and Morningstar-flails) were probably carried by thrusting the end of the handle through a belt, allowing the chain and head to dangle.

If you want to INVENT something, I'd recommend a metal box, big enough for the spiked ball to fit into, which mounts either on the back (like a quiver), or the belt (like a pouch).