Battleaxe

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A Battleaxe is a axe intended for battle (duh). Wherever there were trees and a need to chop firewood, people found an abundant need for axes. In a fight an axe will chop through a leg or a skull just as it would a log, so people took them along to fight. Once it was established that they were good weapons, axe-makers began made axes specifically to be weapons, tweaking the design to better serve in that capacity.

Though they have nothing wrong with swords and maces, battleaxes are the go-to weapon for your average Dwarf in most fantasy settings. Vikings also are famous for their use of battleaxes.

Battleaxes in warfare

An axe is a heavy bladed wedge of metal on the end of a handle. It does damage by swinging that bit into it's foes at high speed. On impact it delivers a lot of kinetic energy to a concentrated point with a cutting edge to drive it deep as possible. This can clop through shield, muscle, bone and armor. Even if it does not go through armor, its blunt force trauma can shatter bones.

The problem is that Battleaxes are cumbersome. To make them work as well as possible, they need room to get a good swing going to impact with full force. Swinging an axe at such distance also takes time. If your first strike is not lethal, your enemy has a fair amount of time to strike you while you get the next one ready. This also means that they are not the best weapons for confined quarters (for example, in a cave or a mineshaft).