Editing Lance (section)

== History ==
Historically, lances are large [[polearm|pole weapons]] employed by [[Knight|mounted warriors]] called "lancers". Unlike traditional weapons, a lance is a heavy pointed pole, which was meant to be a disposable assault weapon to destroy armored enemies (usually, armored warriors and shield formations). Due to its heavy weight and the power of a war horse behind it galloping at full speed, the lance is easily capable of penetrating (or crushing through) most personal protection at the time. In most cases, a lance is a long, thick wooden pole with a hard metal tip; to aid in stabilization, a conical metal guard called the "vamplate" is installed, which helps in keeping it steady and also preventing the user from accidentally dropping it once the lance makes hard contact with a surface.

The weapon itself is quite heavy, its incredibly unwieldy for non-mounted infantry to use it in any capacity compared to other alternatives, and even mounted lancers couldn't do much with it once the cavalry charge concluded as it's large size and weight made it unwieldy for close combat. There's also the problem that the intense amount of force from a full-speed charge will typically cause the lance to warp or outright shatter on impact if it hits a hard target, hence "disposable". Strictly speaking, lances are never thrown (they aren't meant to be, anyway); they are carried under the arm of the wielder with the aid of a washer that ensures the energy goes into the target instead of being wasted sliding back in the wielder's grasp. A thrown polearm is more properly called a ''javelin''.

The lance charge of heavy cavalry was a mainstay in medieval Europe, as it could easily [[Rip_And_Tear|devastate]] ranks of soldiers. However, the invention of Italian Pike formations and guns severely hampered this tactic, as lancers could not easily force their way through a well-disciplined lines of pikemen without taking significant losses and the gun's ease of use and high penetrating power meant a cavalry charge could be easily stopped by a well-timed gun volley.

Another historical use of the term "lance" refers to the "lance fournie," a formation of an armored horseman and his retinue. This is the closest medieval equivalent to a modern squad, since a knight would be accompanied by various armed retainers typically including a noncombatant page or squire, as well as light cavalry, infantry, or archers, though there was never any sort of standardization as to the size or composition of such formations. About 100 lances would form a company.

Remember to boil your lance before you lance your boil. (It's a [[Painboy|medical joke]], look it up.)