Although the flail is a clumsy weapon, hard to retrieve and poor as defence, its impact was probably the worst - especially the ball & chain combination. It generates considerably more power than a mace. I saw a TV show on the History channel where they had made a historic replica (2 pounds ball with short blunt spikes) and tried it on an armored pig carcass. The armor was of course dented, and while the pig skin remained unharmed, the tissues within became like jello and the bones were pulverized.
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