The Great Tool of Creation is the Sword - Spear - Axe - Bow - Knife

  sword - spear - axe - bow - knife

that covers most stuff pretty plainly

Attacks:

Roll 1d20 against the DC to hit. This is 10 at a distance but 5 up close.

Roll 1d6 for damage, and interpret as fit — preferably with significant consequences.

Whatever the implementation, on a roll of 1 the weapon is lost: dropped, broken, embedded

Defence:

Shields increase your DC by 5. Armour also increases your DC by 5, and is only a magnitude more expensive. Full Armour increases your DC by 10. 

Shields and armour aren't unbearable, but tiring. In intervals of intensive action, accrue one fatigue per 5 added DC; each point takes up one inventory slot.

Measure:

Weapons have measures in which their wielders can make attacks. When two weapons of unequal length are opposed, the shorter one usually begins the combat out of measure. The longer one usually has initiative.

To attack from out of measure, the fighter with the shorter weapon makes a DC 10 check to close distance. If successful, the target's defensive modifiers are added to the DC and the same roll is resolved as an attack. 

Once within measure attacks are made normally. The longer weapon becomes overlong, therefore out of measure: the fighter has to check as above to gain distance before attacking — or switch to a shorter weapon.

Sword: longer than a knife, shorter than anything else

Can be hung at your side and drawn in a moment's notice

                                                                               Constitutes all variety of swords, sabers and long knives;                                                                                                 battle-axes, hatchets, maces, cavalry hammers

Spear: of an unwieldy length

When held in one hand, checks to close against it are DC 5

Can be thrown to attack at a distance; said distance varying

                                                                                       Constitutes only spears, yet spears are very diverse;                                                                                                          angons, lances, javelins, partisans, pikes

Axe: this one is juuust right

Its blows are felt through Armour, ignoring DC 5 of it

Takes both hands to handle, on account of the torque

                                                                           Constitutes an absolutely innumerable variety of polearms;                                                                                                 anything goes so long as you stick it on a lever

Bow: variable, if sturdy enough to serve as a bludgeon

Shoots projectiles to attack at a distance; DC 15 or 20 

for especially long or unlikely shots

                                                                 Constitutes self bows and compounds, short and long, crossbows;                                                                                            guns, atlatls, and the slings of outrageous fortune

Knife: portable and concealable

Attacks against the wielder are made with base DC 0

                                                                                           Constitutes keris and rondels, seaxes and sickles;                                                                                                 hairpins, chef's knives, flintlock dining utensils

For !AntiSwords!

   And all his antikith and kin