Axes, maces and picks are favoured weapons against enemies in metal armour. Most of these weapons are made to be used one-handed.
Where a two-handed axe, mace or pick might see use, a pollarm is usually better. However, sometimes, two-handed maces are used against armoured opponents. Archers often carry mauls for making herses, and may use these in combat if pressed, or if facing relatively defenseless men-at-arms (often prone).
Axes are common weapons for warriors ranging from peasant levies to noblemen. Most farmers will have a hatchet at hand. Battle axes are popular among knights, being useful both mounted and on foot, and cutting through flesh, bone and armour. Axes are also popular weapons among assassins of the more conspicuous variety - few victims will recover from an axe to the back of the head.
Axes are common tools, and are therefore commonly seen in the hands of peasants and farmers going into battle, whether they are defending their homes, rebelling against, or levied to fight for, their lords.
Ymirean battle-axes usually have a spike or hammer at the poll. Often it is a matter of semantics whether a combatant is carrying a spiked battle axe or a bladed war-pick. Double-bladed battleaxes are practically unknown in Centralis and Borealis.
Fraeging warriors also favour axes. They use long-bearded battle-axes in melee, and also favour throwing axes, which are thrown at a distance of ten paces, and are sometimes bounced off the ground rather than thrown directly at the target.
Most maces are flanged or spiked. One-handed hammers for martial use are considered maces, and pronged hammers are considered flanged maces.
Maces may be the most popular side-arm for knights. Unlike axes and picks, they do not stick in targets, and there is no edge to be dulled against bone or metal. The impact of a mace may crush the flesh and bone underneath armour, even if the armour is neither breached nor dented by the blow.
Maces are cheap and simple to make, and hence are fairly common in the hands of common warriors as well.
Two handed maces are typically used by lightly armoured troops expecting to face men-at-arms. Such large maces are usually 6'-7' feet long. If made by peasants, the hafts and heads will be wooden, with metal spikes and possibly metal bands for reinforcements of the head and haft. Two-handed maces made by weaponsmiths may be wooden, or may have all-metal heads like regular maces.
Most picks have axe blades or hammers on the poll, to balance the weapon and provide an alternate attack. Most picks are warpicks, made specifically to pierce armour. Many axes have have backspikes that may be used as picks, whether for piercing armour, wood or skulls.
Picks are fairly popular sidearm with knights and other men-at-arms expecting to face heavily armoured opponents. Heavy infantry will usually favour halberds or becs-des-corbins instead. Among mounted knights, the pick is less popular than the mace and axe. This is mainly because of its tendency to become embedded in the opponent's shields or even bodies, potentially disarming its wielder.
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