A melee weapon, hand weapon, close combat weapon or fist-load weapon is any handheld weapon used in hand-to-hand combat, i.e. for use within the direct physical reach of the weapon itself, essentially functioning as an additional (and more effective) extension of the user's limbs. By contrast, a ranged weapon is any other weapon capable of engaging targets at a distance beyond immediate physical contact. [1]
The term melee originates in the 1640s from the French word mêlée, which refers to disorganized hand-to-hand combat, a close-quarters battle, a brawl, or a confused fight; especially involving many combatants. [2] [3] [4]
The 1812 tabletop war game Kriegsspiel referred to the hand-combat stage of the game as a melee. [5] Later war games would follow this pattern. [6] [7] [8] From there, gamers would eventually begin to call the weapons used in that stage melee weapons. [9] [10]
Melee weapons can be broadly divided into three categories:
Many weapons fit into multiple categories, or fit in between them; many polearms such as halberds, lucerne hammers, and guisarmes add edged and blunt methods of attack to a spear base, and various hooked weapons such as billhooks, fauchards , falxes, and becs de corbin evade simple classification; while flexible weapons such as whips don't fall into any of these categories.
A polearm or pole weapon is a close combat weapon in which the main fighting part of the weapon is fitted to the end of a long shaft, typically of wood, extending the user's effective range and striking power. Polearms are predominantly melee weapons, with a subclass of spear-like designs fit for thrusting and/or throwing. Because many polearms were adapted from agricultural implements or other fairly abundant tools, and contained relatively little metal, they were cheap to make and readily available. When belligerents in warfare had a poorer class who could not pay for dedicated military weapons, they would often appropriate tools as cheap weapons. The cost of training was comparatively low, since these conscripted farmers had spent most of their lives using these "weapons" in the fields. This made polearms the favoured weapon of peasant levies and peasant rebellions the world over.
A spear is a polearm consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fastened to the shaft, such as bone, flint, obsidian, copper, bronze, iron, or steel. The most common design for hunting and/or warfare, since ancient times has incorporated a metal spearhead shaped like a triangle, diamond, or leaf. The heads of fishing spears usually feature multiple sharp points, with or without barbs.
A war hammer is a weapon that was used by both foot soldiers and cavalry. It is a very old weapon and gave its name, owing to its constant use, to Judah Maccabee, a 2nd-century BC Jewish rebel, and to Charles Martel, one of the rulers of France. In the 15th and 16th centuries, the war hammer became an elaborately decorated and handsome weapon.
A halberd is a two-handed polearm that came to prominent use from the 13th to 16th centuries. The halberd consists of an axe blade topped with a spike mounted on a long shaft. It can have a hook or thorn on the back side of the axe blade for grappling mounted combatants. The halberd was usually 1.5 to 1.8 metres long.
A pike is a long thrusting spear formerly used in European warfare from the Late Middle Ages and most of the early modern period, and wielded by foot soldiers deployed in pike square formation, until it was largely replaced by bayonet-equipped muskets. The pike was particularly well known as the primary weapon of Swiss mercenary, German Landsknecht units and French sans-culottes. A similar weapon, the sarissa, had been used in antiquity by Alexander the Great's Macedonian phalanx infantry.
A glaive, sometimes spelled as glave, is a type of pole weapon with historical origins in Europe, known for its distinctive design and versatile combat applications. It is similar to other polearms such as the war scythe, the Japanese naginata, the Chinese guandao, the Korean woldo, and the Russian sovnya.
A fauchard is a type of polearm which was used in Europe from the 11th through the 17th centuries. In later use fauchards became ornamental and ceremonial, growing in size until some examples were almost too heavy to carry, let alone use. The design consisted of a curved blade atop a long pole, although in some portrayals, it is shown on a shorter pole. The blade bore a moderate to strong curve along its length. The cutting edge was only on the convex side of the blade, unlike the guisarme or bill. The fauchard was likely developed from the war scythe with the cutting edge turned opposite, convex instead of concave, so that the weapon was good for both thrusting and slashing attacks.
A battle axe is an axe specifically designed for combat. Battle axes were specialized versions of utility axes. Many were suitable for use in one hand, while others were larger and were deployed two-handed.
The dagger-axe is a type of polearm that was in use from the Longshan culture until the Han dynasty in China. It consists of a dagger-shaped blade, mounted by its tang to a perpendicular wooden shaft. The earliest dagger-axe blades were made of stone. Later versions used bronze. Jade versions were also made for ceremonial use. There is a variant type with a divided two-part head, consisting of the usual straight blade and a scythe-like blade.
The ji was a Chinese polearm, sometimes translated into English as spear or halberd, though they are fundamentally different weapons. They were used in one form or another for over 3000 years, from at least as early as the Zhou dynasty, until the end of the Qing dynasty. They are still used for training purposes in many Chinese martial arts.
A war scythe or military scythe is a form of polearm with a curving single-edged blade with the cutting edge on the concave side of the blade. Its blade bears a superficial resemblance to that of an agricultural scythe from which it is likely to have evolved, but the war scythe is otherwise unrelated to agricultural tools and is a purpose-built infantry melee weapon. The blade of a war scythe has regularly proportioned flats, a thickness comparable to that of a spear or sword blade, and slightly curves along its edge as it tapers to its point. This is different from farming scythes, which have very thin and irregularly curved blades, specialised for mowing grass and wheat only, unsuitable as blades for improvised spears or polearms.
The Eighteen Arms is a list of the eighteen main weapons of Chinese martial arts. The origin of the list is unclear and there have been disputes as to what the eighteen weapons actually are. However, all lists contain at least one or more of the following weapons:
Chivalry: Medieval Warfare is a multiplayer-focused hack and slash developed by Torn Banner Studios as their first commercial title. The game is set in a fictional setting. On September 20, 2012, a trailer was released which set the release date to October 16, 2012. The developers had confirmed that the game would be PC exclusive initially, but in October 2014, they confirmed that the game would be coming to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in December 2014. A standalone expansion pack called Chivalry: Deadliest Warrior was announced on August 23, 2013, as a tie-in for the television series Deadliest Warrior. It was released on November 14, 2013.
The term melee has been adopted and popularized in wargaming, table top, and video games to encompass all forms of close combat. This can include any combat that involves directly striking an opponent at ranges generally less than a metre, especially using martial arts or melee weapons. This term is especially used in comparison to other strategies, such as ranged combat or magic when the game offers multiple methods of combat.
The International Medieval Combat Federation is a global historical full contact sport fighting revival movement, in which combatants use historically accurate reproduction medieval and early modern armour and blunted weapons to engage in competitive fights according to authentic historical tournament rules. Founded in 2013, the organisation now attracts hundreds of fighters from 26 countries at various fighting competitions around the world. Most events are open to the public and major competitions are regularly seen by tens of thousands of spectators. The league holds dozens of smaller events throughout the year as well as a world championship competition in which national teams, selected from local or regional clubs in their respective countries, assemble at a suitably historical venue to compete. These events take the character of a medieval tournament, with historical attractions and exhibits beside the competition, as well as market stalls selling historically-themed foods, goods and souvenirs. Competing teams are billeted in reproduction medieval camps and must wear authentic clothing. Somewhat unlike the medieval competition, fighting is exclusively on foot, and strict rules are enforced to ensure the safety of competitors and fairness in the competition. The fighting can be between individuals or teams of up to 16 fighters per side.
An edged weapon, or bladed weapon, is a melee weapon with a cutting edge. Bladed weapons include swords, daggers, knives, and bayonets. Edged weapons are used to cut, hack, or slash; some edged weapons may also permit thrusting and stabbing. Edged weapons contrast with blunt weapons such as maces, and with thrusting weapons such as spears.
The three most common types of Chinese polearms are the ge (戈), qiang (槍), and ji (戟). They are translated into English as dagger-axe, spear, and halberd. Dagger-axes were originally a short slashing weapon with a 0.9–1.8 m long shaft, but around the 4th century BC a spearhead was added to the blade, and it became a halberd. The spear is also sometimes called a mao (矛), which is sometimes used to designate polearms with a wavy snake-like spearhead. There was another polearm weapon known as the pi (鈹), translated into English as either sword-staff or long lance, that was used from ancient times until the Han dynasty. It was essentially a short sword attached to a stick. From the Warring States period onward, the length of Chinese polearms varied from around 2.8 to 5.5 m ; however, there is no specific designation for a pike in the traditional Chinese lexicon. A very long spear is just called a long spear.
The first point to be considered is the number of combatants on either side and the relative advantages under which they are fighting; the second the losses and duration of the melee
We did at last contrive to do so ; we invented what we call the melee, and our revised rules in the event of a melee will be found set out upon a later page
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