Too true. Blackjacks are much less lethal than say a mace or club. Even in the trenches in ww1 a great deal of improvisation for CC melee weapons was going on becasue issue weapons of the types needed didnt exist in any armies arsenals

The dagger and stiletto have a bit of precedent in that Daggers of Mercy were carried frequently, and nearly everyone carried a knife in the middle ages of some sort, ballock daggers and dirks being two common types, Cinqueda's kind of blur the line between dagger and short sword but were common in Italy.

Yeah I really feel crossbows were handled incorrectly, they should have a way lower dex requirement than a bow, and a much higher AP cost to reflect the reloading time. I do like the idea of a shot then throw it down and scoop up some other weapon.

Stun and knockdown are great effects to pin on an enemy, but if they are better than damage I cannot agree, although they can greatly contribute to the amount of damage the victim gets and in another way take the victim out of the fight for a round or more, so in some ways it is better than damage just not as reliable, the victim can make the save or the weapon inflicting stun doesnt for instance. The problem with damage is it causes no ill effects until death, like D&D. SO 1 HP from death or 1000 doesnt matter they still fight with 100% ability, this to me is something that should be changed, and I am surprised no one else has brought it up or if they have I missed it. Wounds should detrimentally effect the combatants ability to the %to hit, their initiative, their action points, and the amount of damage they cause, I would say nothing happens until your at least-33% off your max health but thats a suggestion.

Spear and shield should be viable just like sword and shield, reach is the polearms forte and it isnt being used in the game, I am not a huge polearm fan but they were incredibly popular historically and an absolutely staggering array of them were available.

Slings and thrown weapons ( handaxes javelins and hammers especially and even rocks!) are so common the omission of the whole class of missile is sort of baffling, they are not a group of weapons I am a user of, but thrown weapons are so basic they should be there. Especially for the softening up volley used pre melee like you suggested with the crossbow.