Weapons & Warriors: The Horseman's Pick of the Europeans

Art by TL Jeffcoat

The cavalry of Europe had a variety of weapons in their arsenal. One of the craziest and yet effective against the heavy plated knights was the Horseman’s Pick. The design evolved from a version of the war hammer. The balance for the head was sharpened and stretched to create a long spike that was sometimes curved.

All of the weight of the Horseman’s Pick was concentrated in the head of the weapon. The thin light wooden or steal shaft allowed the wielder to swing the weapon and let the momentum of the spiked head do its damage. This was an easy weapon to generate a lot of force with, but the weight of the weapon required the warrior to pull back before a swing. Any Knight that could see the Horseman pull back would have a couple seconds to prepare for the attack, making it a slow and difficult to hit with weapon.