#halberds

State halberd for the Guard of Prince Karl Eusebius of Lichtenstein, dated 1632

Should I buy a sword?

At the portcullis they came upon a dozen guards armed with halberds. Their badges marked them for soldiers of Lord Tarly's host, though none was Tarly's own. She saw two centaurs, a thunderbolt, a blue beetle and a green arrow, but not the striding huntsman of Horn Hill. Their serjeant had a peacock on his breast, its bright tail faded by the sun. When the farmers drew their cart up he gave a whistle. "What's this now? Eggs?" He tossed one up, caught it, and grinned. "We'll take them." Within the tent, they found camp stools and a trestle table, a rack of spears and halberds, a floor covered with threadbare carpets in half a dozen clashing colors, and three officers. One was slim and elegant, with a pointed beard, a bravo's blade, and a slashed pink doublet. One was plump and balding, with ink stains on his fingers and a quill clutched in one hand. Dunk felt sick himself. What would I do if such a fate befell Thunder? A man-at-arms with a pole-axe dispatched Ser Humfrey's stallion, ending the hideous screams. Dunk turned and forced his way through the press. When he came to open ground, he lifted Egg off his shoulders. The boy's hood had fallen back and his eyes were red. "A terrible sight, aye," he told the lad, "but a squire must needs be strong. You'll see worse mishaps at other tourneys, I fear."

There's plenty of pole-weapons in ASOIAF, it's just falling into the typical fantasy trope of using swords as the primary heroic implement. The reasons for that are primarily cultural: pole weapons were primarily "commoner" weapons and used in a formation which does not fit the individual heroic mythic sentiment.

Thanks for the question, Anon.

Halberd, Northern Italy, early 17th century

How Would a Katana Swordmaster Fight with a Halberd? (Seki Sensei's New Favorite Weapon)

This one is an interesting one for sure, because as is noted in the video, the halberd is almost a similar weapon to many Japanese polearms, but the additions of the hooks and the large blade (even though this particular halberd is a bit more fantastical and is also a bit more a ceremonial design than actual battlefield halberds) make many attacks that in the Japanese martial art styles simply be debilitating into outright lethal.

And let me tell you, the fact that a halberd historically even had blades facing back towards its wielder should be scary. Because it shows that the wielder is an extremely competent fighter that can wield a weapon who’s sole purpose is to break open armor. Which means, no amount of armor you are wearing will save you from what the monstrosity that Krogan wields is going to do to your pitiful mortal frame.

Because Krogan’s is also modified to have a spiky hammer on it in the shape of an axe blade, this blunted end would be able to puncture your armor, breaching it in kind, but also, while it might not be able to puncture skin… at first, what it would do is rupture your internal organs, turn a limb into a red cloud as the momentum of that heavy, weighted head smashes through your bones and shatters them to shrapnel that goes and sticks into the joints of your own armor, and if he hits your head… well… you just won’t have a head anymore. Nor will there be anything that’s anywhere close to being recognizable as a head.

The bladed side, on the other hand, will absolutely tear your body to shreds as the blades puncture through your armor due to the force and weight of the heavy hammer head adding momentum into the blow of the weapon. These things will then shred through your flesh, blowing your organs out of your body if he gets a body shot. Even with armor, your limbs can be chopped clean off, your body ripped to shreds. The only thing that would be stopping them from doing that is chain mail. And even then, those won’t protect you from the hammer side of the weapon.

The spear is a spear. One that is just kitted out with a few friends.

And we are even shown that Krogan is very capable of using this weapon is season 5, Sins of the Past, the season finale. When Krogan overpowers Heather the unhinged in moments. If Snotlout had not arrived, then the riders would have been down a dragon rider. (I find it funny that Krogan was also BORED during this fight. He did not break a sweat or was not even breathing hard and Heather was panting and utterly exhausted.)