The Arms of the Peasantry

    In Low-Tech campaigns, not everyone will be using swords and halberds, the same with magic and sorcery. Sometimes, your characters will be simple foresters, poachers, farmers, and sharecroppers. A serf being armed with a sword? Very unlikely. What is more likely, is that your peasantry characters will be armed with axes, maces, and spears. 

    A good example of this is levies. Traditionally, levies were armed with spears or other cheap weapons. Why spears specifically is rather simple. A pitchfork or other long-handled weapon could easily have its head replaced by a spearhead. Many of these peasants already knew how to use polearms in a way as well, as many of the jobs levies would do involved tools akin to polearms or spears.

    Depending on the game you wish to run, sword and sorcery works just fine. But in a game where you have low funds? It's perfect. Now, there is a caveat to this. In a game where you face adversaries richer than you, like aristocrats or nobles, you will get your butt handed to you on a silver platter. Spears and axes work great against unarmored enemies and other levies, but knights in plate armor will pose a serious challenge. (This assumes players are in the 100/-25 to 150/-50 range, in a realistic campaign)

    I will run through a short scenario. A standard knight in this fictitious battle will have good armor, a mail hauberk and a steel breastplate, putting his DR at 9/7. An average peasant wielding a spear at ST 10 will have thr+3 imp (1d+1) damage. This isn't even enough to penetrate the armor that the knight has. Now, upping the ST to 12 means that you will have a chance to do one damage, on a rolled six. Though, against an unarmored opponent, the spear still shines brighter than most, earning its name as the "King of Warfare".

    Now comes the reason why even if you can't penetrate the armor, the spear still comes in great use against the knight: Range. If the enemy charges toward you, make a stop thrust against the knight, keeping it at bay. If it manages to get in range but not too close, your spear's range of two (or three, if you have a long spear) will outmatch the knight's shorter range. However, there are alternatives to spears.

    The Mace is an excellent option to defeat the armored opponent, due to their chainmail hauberk. At ST 10, the mace has an average damage of 6.50, meaning that you will not always penetrate the armor, but you will at least do some damage. At ST 12, the mace shows its true colors. With an average damage of 8.50, you will begin to fight back against the knight's damage prowess in Range 1.

    Onto the final option, which is the strongest. The Flail will destroy enemies that wear armor like our fictitious knight. At ST 12, the average damage of 9.50, with a minimum of 7, means you will be penetrating the armor 83% of the time. It also prevents the knight from using a shield or parrying your attacks effectively. 

    To summarize, as a levy in a realistic campaign, using the tools of your previous trade will destroy those in armor with ease, though you need to know how to use them to your advantage. A spear is to keep enemies at bay, a mace is to penetrate armor, and a flail is to beat enemies to a pulp. Good luck as a levy out there, you'll need it.