Señor de la Tormenta Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 There are a lot of issues with scale and realism in this series when you think about it, though. Robert's hammer is literally the smallest one. Like how everyone speaks the same language (and have relatively similar cultures) over an entire continent, how there are any forests, big animals and humans left at all in regions that can randomly get 5+ year long winters, that Wildlings bother trying to climb a 700 foot (!) wall to raid instead of just sailing around it, that Harrenhal and the Hightower exist, that characters in the series routinely cross absolutely vast distances without any issues*, etc. GRRM is just one man, so I don't think it is fair to expect everything to be perfect. But what I do think is a recurring theme is that he has sized up a lot of things from real medieval Europe without fully considering what that would mean. *Countless examples. But a good one is Stannis sailing his fleet from Dragonstone to the Wall without anything happening or people even noticing. In reality galleys like his would have needed to make stops and resupply every couple of days or so. Meaning that over the course of his long journey he would have needed to stop and either buy or raid for supplies numerous times in the Vale, and an even larger number of times in both Manderly, Bolton, and Karstark lands. Not easy to do when you are an enemy of the entire realm. he could have done that in essos coast. besides, its stated that the florent burnt in a saccrifice gave them unusual fast and smooth winds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plectrum Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 Because karate chops hadn't been invented yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bright Blue Eyes Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 Just nope. Even conventional warhammer handle can be slided in hand. I don't bring up polearms and spears, where grip is just travelling all over. To a certain extent. But the standard grip is close to the end. Not doing that would be contraproductive. And what the hell do polearms and spears matter in a discussion about one-handed warhammers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerrorVoid Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 To a certain extent. But the standard grip is close to the end. Not doing that would be contraproductive. And what the hell do polearms and spears matter in a discussion about one-handed warhammers? I believe, we were talking about Robert's warhammer, which was presumably in between casual wh and pollaxe. And pollaxe is polearm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon's Queen Consort Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 Maybe they haven't found Adegan crystals yet? I mean it's kind obvious. Sword is the easiest to use, not everyone have the talent for a bow or the strength for a warhammer and the gunpowder isn't a choice either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bright Blue Eyes Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 I believe, we were talking about Robert's warhammer, which was presumably in between casual wh and pollaxe. And pollaxe is polearm. Average warhammer: 40-60 cm in total. Used in one hand. Pollaxe: 140-160 cm. Used in two hands. Definitely a polearm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChillyPolly Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 What is the advantage over spears, axes, or maces? Vs. Spears: The obvious disadvantage of the sword is less reach. The advantage of the sword is it can be used more readily in close quarters, in a more versatile way, with one hand, leaving the other hand free for other things (including but not limited to use of shield). Swords are also expensive compared to spears. Vs. Axes: The main advantage is that the sword is made entirely of metal, with a more extensive blade, making it more versatile for both slashing and trusting, and is less vulnerable to being chopped up by enemy weapons. The main disadvantage of the sword is that it is more expensive. The (typically) curved blade of the axe also has advantages in terms of cutting power, but these can be mimicked with some sword designs, such as the scimitar (which can be thought of as an all-metal axe in some respects) Vs. Maces: The sword is sharp and the mace is blunt. The mace cannot slash; the mace cannot pierce; it can only bludgeon (which the sword can do also, but not quite as well as the mace). Mace might be a good choice against certain types of heavy armor, where the chance of piercing is low in any event. And it is cheaper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bennis of the Brown Shield Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 No, you are not getting the point. All the things I mentioned are either explainable by magic or have real world parallells. Bobby B was a big bloke, but he's not a demigod. Wielding a massive twohanded warhammer with one hand is just not realistic. You could give GRRM a pass on Gregor, since he's really huge. Bobby B however is still just a man. We know GRRM isn't affraid of thinking big. No one here disputes that. He came up with Bobby B's unrealistic warhammer, but it's a bit of a shame here. Unless GRRM outright uses magic (e.g. Valyrian Steel), the weapons he chooses for the characters are quite realistic (he's a bit to fond of swords, but at least there are lots of different types) or at least more realistic than most things we see in fantasy. That's one of GRRM's strengths for the most of us, that his world is more realistic than the average fantasyworld (still not terribly realistic, but at least better). Par for the course in fantasy imo. GRRM does it better than most imo. All those things I listed are still way more unrealistic than Robert using a too big warhammer. he could have done that in essos coast. besides, its stated that the florent burnt in a saccrifice gave them unusual fast and smooth winds. He never went there, the Davos chapters would have mentioned if they crossed the Narrow Sea and made stops at various Braavosi cities. Besides the Essosi coast only goes up to the northern Vale, then he would have needed to use the Westerosi coastline again. For a probably around 3000 km journey when you consider the need to hug the coast. Even with good winds that is a long way, and he would have needed to stop at lots of locations in the North during the sailing. It's a good example of what I mean because GRRM has probably taken inspiration from the various journeys British nobles conducted when exiled from England, where they could gather armies in Holland or similar and then surprise everyone at home by suddenly landing at some undefended part of the kingdom and raising rebellions. Only GRRM has made all the distances in Westeros like ten times larger than this because bigger is cooler, and so it ends up being pretty unrealistic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerrorVoid Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 Average warhammer: 40-60 cm in total. Used in one hand. Pollaxe: 140-160 cm. Used in two hands. Definitely a polearm. And Roberts wh is probably 100. Like quarterstaff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bright Blue Eyes Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 And Roberts wh is probably 100. Like quarterstaff. A quarterstaff is 180-200 cm. 100 cm is far out of the question for any warhammer. 60 cm is already damn large, maybe 70 cm for the Demon of the Trident. But not 100. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Arryn Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 Versatility and portability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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