The greataxe uses a d12 for damage
What new arcano-technology is this that you speak of?
In 1e the weapon that dominated the d12 was a Long Sword vs Lagre Sized Opponents. And it was nearly exclusive in the d12 club save for the Pike (Awl) vs Large Sized (but this was almost never used due to the lack of support in published modules.)
Back then there was no such thing as a "Great Axe"!
The next serious use of a d12 in 1e came with the original Unearthed Arcana when Barbarians (
based on the variant first published in Dragon Magazine) used the d12 for their Hit Dice. Fighters were, as you can imagine, quite upset.
