>Long reach
>Light weight
>Armor piercing
>Can be used as a club in close quarters
>Can be used two-handed or one-handed with a shield
>Can be thrown
>Durable
>Easy to make

>>64057466 (OP)
No
>pic related

>>64057516
>Melee weapon
>Thousands of years
Derp

>>64057516
muskets with bayonets fucking suck for melee, they're not built for it
a proper spear you can just swing around all day because thyre more lightweight

>destroys heavy cav meta

>>64057540
>muskets with bayonets fucking suck for melee, they're not built for it
Thats the reason they kinda exist is for mele.
>>64057563
No that was the gun and bayonet.

>>64057466 (OP)
It is said that the Spear is the first weapon ever fashioned by human hands.
And it is believed that it is destined to one day be the last.

bumpo

>>64057466 (OP)
Got rinsed by the actual king of the battlefield, the scutum and gladius combo

>>64057540
Are you unfamiliar with the... crow magnum

>easily concealed
>weighs next to nothing
>requires no training to use effectively
>can be made from practically anything
>an essential tool as well as a weapon
And so lethal that it has warped the meta around itself for all of human existence, even into the age of firearms.

>>64057547
>muskets with bayonets fucking suck for melee, they're not built for it
They actually are and you've never even held one. The pre WW1 full lengt infantry rifles with bayonets fixed are fearsome weapons and designed for charges and bayonet fencing as much as they are for shooting

>>64058490
>Got rinsed by the actual king of the battlefield, the scutum and gladius combo
Only when you have several trained friends identically equipped.

>>64057830
Surely we made clubs before spears.

>>64058956
>They actually are
NTA but he's right. During the musket era we'd still see spearmen and pikemen being trained because proper polearms still had better reach in melee, spears had better weight distribution and were easier to use in melee (the existence of bayonet fencing doesn't mean that the bayonet was superior to the spear; it only means that they foresaw a need to practice using the bayonet), your lead hand is safer with a spear than a bayonetted musket/rifle, you'll have an easier time shifting where your hands are on a real spear (this is important for all forms of polearm fighting) than on a rifle/musket, if you're not careful, you can leave your bayonet on the target you've penetrated while a spear's shaft is much more secure.

"A bayonet on a musket is heavier than a zweihänder." Matt Easton https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPhjYWNepBs

>>64057830
>It is said that the Spear is the first weapon ever fashioned by human hands.
You misspelled knife.

>>64058819
>And so lethal that it has warped the meta around itself for all of human existence, even into the age of firearms.
Correct, this is the melee weapon with the longest track record, being used by cavemen and still in use.

>>64058999
>Surely we made clubs before spears.
I think he was specifically referring to crafted weapons, because if not, then the first weapon overall would be a big rock. A club would just fall under a big heavy stick, which came after rocks.

>>64058956
i have and yea you can use them if you need to, but i mean compared to like any other dedicated melee weapon aside from a straight up club they're lacking in a lot of ways

>>64057466 (OP)
true and checked; polearm sisters will never stop winning

>>64057516
retard

>>64058999
>Surely we made clubs before spears
Unlikely. While it's definitely possible that a random branch could have been used as a club weapon, it was neither made into a weapon nor is there evidence to be used as a dedicated weapon and not some hammering tool to crack nuts or clearing brush. You can probably make a case for a spiked club, but there's no evidence of it plus spears are generally better for hunting/fighting and easier to make. There's even footage of modern day apes making simple spears out of sticks to make simple skewers.

>>64059621
>You misspelled knife
Wrong. The knife be more of a cutting tool than a real weapon. Even by that measure, the knife would be far newer than the knapped handaxe tradition which was also a tool that could have also been used as a weapon, but not a dedicated one.

>>64058490
Not really because they were still using spears.

>>64057466 (OP)

>>64058819
Eh, only as far as you're in a somewhat civil setting. No military campaign was ever decided by the knives the soldiers were carrying.

>>64057466 (OP)
spears are superior weapons until increasing the weight class and armor density
>Long reach
rush parried by target swordsmen

>Light weight
guard breaks when meeting poleaxes hammers in 1:1 team fights

>Armor piercing
pierces soft armor, dexterity roll against harness

>Can be used as a club in close quarters
based

>Can be used two-handed or one-handed with a shield
based

>Can be thrown
based

>Durable
based

>Easy to make
based

>>64060833
>BBC
Mutt's law

>>64057466 (OP)
Most fighters wouldn't be focusing on just one weapon. You had your long arm, a slightly shorter sidearm, a knife, probably a shield, and maybe something to throw at them before you got into hand to hand range. Textual evidence suggests that you would probably use ALL of them every battle.

>>64060818
>The knife be more of a cutting tool than a real weapon.
Pathetic cope.
>Even by that measure, the knife would be far newer than the knapped handaxe tradition which was also a tool that could have also been used as a weapon, but not a dedicated one.
Completely wrong. Knapped stone blades had to appear before the knapped axe and knapped spearpoints. Keep malding, cringe-chan.

>>64057516

>>64060818
>Even by that measure, the knife would be far newer than the knapped handaxe tradition which was also a tool that could have also been used as a weapon, but not a dedicated one.
brother you are retarded as fuck
t. an archeologist

>>64062317
>>64063091
You guys are way out of your depth if you don't know what a Oldowan/Aechulien handaxe is.

>t. an archeologist
HIGHLY doubtful that you ever studied archaeology or anthropology after that fumble.

>>64057466 (OP)
>long reach
Good until anyone closes in, it's basically a noob filter weapon
>light weight
Not really? They're also a hassle to carry around everywhere
>armor piercing
Only against lighter armor
>can be used as a club in close quarters
A shitty club, you aren't going to be delivering nearly the amount of force due to it being displaced rather than fully transferred into a target as a proper club/hammer would
>can be thrown
Yeah, then you're out of a spear and you ain't carrying more
>durable
Short term, you won't chop through it in a single fight, but don't expect it to hold up for sustained fighting
>easy to make
Yeah, that and it being a noob-friendly weapon are the main pros

They're good in open spaces, but anywhere with constraints outside of a straight hallway they really lose out whereas a sword can be used more efficiently up-close or max range

>>64065231
>You guys are way out of your depth if you don't know what a Oldowan/Aechulien handaxe is.
We both know what a knapped handaxe is, but like I clearly said in >>64062317 knapped knives came before knapped axes, you absolute imbecile. You just doubled down on your retardation.