Some larger cities in the Renaissance (and Medieval?) periods had dedicated town guard troops. My reading indicates the favored shorter weapons more suited to the cramped urban environment like maces and war hammers. Did that also extend to pole arms? Did they commonly use short spears or javelin, or some other compact pole arm?

Another interesting thing is lanterns. It seems they started out with a lantern on short stick, then directional lanterns that do not blind the user, and then shield/lantern combination devices, some of them quite intricate and mounting multiple blades. And of course, styles of fencing at night using sword and lantern together were developed.

Town guards are somewhat analogous to modern law enforcement. Like them, town guard used a lot of tools and methods from both the civilian and military sides. So if you guys could explain the differences in equipment, tactics and mindset between regular troops and town guards (I know in most cases garrisons of regular troops *were* the town guards), that would be greatly appreciated.

Also, 15th century Munich seems to be the most commonly cited town guard example. How widespread was the use of town guard forces over the centuries?

TIA

I just found an existing thread on this very topic, so I would appreciate it if the mods could close this one. Thanks!

http://myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=31343