I’m seeing a lot of variance in the ratios. Some flails have longer handles, some have short. Some have chains as long or longer than the handle, some have almost non-existent chains. What are the advantages and disadvantages of various handle and chain lengths, and is there an “optimal” ratio?
Flails are weapons for demonstration, not real fighting. Use a mace or poleaxe instead.
This.
The mace is your back up to the back up to the primary.
Primary weapon is going to be a pole axe or a pole arm or some other kind of pole weapon. The sword is your back up to this for when fighting closes quarters. And, in the case that a sword breaks or otherwise becomes unusable, then you reach back and grab that big stick of iron.
The axe is mightier than the sword. Easier to handle too.
I believe a mace will perform better than a sword against an armored opponent, or at least against some types of armor, so it might just be “back up to the primary” in some cases.
/not a medieval weapon expert, so take as you will