Okay, so I know myself to go a bit far in medieval realism in weaponry and armor.
Last time I tried to differentiate weapons I went as far as designating entire units of men with flails, bills, maces, axes, or halberds.
While this is not bad as an idea, the scale I was using was a battlefield scale, where each unit probably represented anything from 50-200 men. I don't think units coordinated the use of those kinds of weapons in that exact way.
However, at the same time I know that there was some form of weapon coordination going on. My question, then, is how far do I go? How much do I maintain weapon identification for the purposes of gameplay, at the risk of being unrealistically specific?
I am open to any suggestions.
For clarafication, the time period I'm looking at is the Medieval era, around the hundred years' war and other battles around that time. The farthest into the future I might go is the time of knights and early gunpowder, but no farther.
The scale I'm going for could be compared to the Total War games; the board is a battlefield, complete with terrain and structures, and opposite armies face each other.
Here is the predicament: yes, maces act differently to swords act differently to halberds act differently to lances. In the end, though, in what world would you see a platoon of soldiers all carrying maces? It doesn't happen, as far as I'm aware.
For a more fantastic theme, I might see armies of a fictional race wielding one type of weapon.
@Jay103 - Yes, I know exactly what you're talking about. I did something similar with a weapons system at this scale that got so ridiculously complicated that I had to put a stop to it. Despite this, I really want to include some level of weaponry to make units more distinct. The slash/bash/pierce system is something I've done in smaller scale battles, but it wouldn't really work in this situation.
@wob - My thoughts exactly. I do want distinctions, but not to an insane extent. My question, then, is what are the broad categories or specific weapons that need to be distinguished for their effect on combat?
@larienna - this will be a strictly large-scale warfare game.