I assume it's like the NATOpedia page says
The head of a mace can be shaped with flanges or knobs to increase the pressure of an impact by focusing the force on a small point. They would bind on metal instead of sliding around it, allowing them to deliver more force to an armored opponent than a traditional mace. This effect increased the potential for the mace to injure an armored opponent through weak spots in the armor, and even damage plate armor by denting it, potentially binding overlapping plates and impeding the wearer's range of motion.
'm very confused going in to this bc the only thing i every thought about maces was that if you ring someone's bell with a big sharp metal club they will fall over and stop being a problem. I can't imagine what complexity there is with maces, very curious what this guy will say.
Reporting back; I agree, hitting people with a big slab of metal is a good fighting way.
at least one youtuber experimental history guy is willing to retract what i'm gathering were poorly researched assumptions, but he didn't list whatever video he's alluding to. kind of funny he probably said these maces were ceremonial because he assumed they'd make poor weapons, yet he never tested this on the grounds maces are dangerous
I think the video is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8YVh0O1aFA, he linked the channel but not the specific video. There does seem to be some actual testing there
these maces were ceremonial because he assumed they'd make poor weapons
I think the point was that they're poor weapons against plate armor. Fortunately for mace-lovers, most people on the battlefield aren't fancylad aristocrats who can afford a full suit of quality plate so they can get bonked just fine (especially outside of late-medieval Europe, which he brings attention to toward the end - maces were extensively used in other parts of the world, and even for Europe he points out that a lot of the surviving historical maces and artistic depictions from them are actually from the 16th century, at which point armor coverage of the average soldier has decreased somewhat).
It's kind of a clickbaity title, but I guess "flanged maces in the very specific and limited period of 14th-16th century Western & Central Europe" doesn't roll off the tongue as nicely
