Oh, the master of barmace has spoken.
Polearms have a heavy crush through weapon, its called long maul or something. With only 5 powerstrike I usually crushed through a shield (with the right "movement"). However, its risky, if you miss him, he will simply outspam you because its so slow.
So maybe 2h and barmace or morningstar is a better choice. However, you need to be really good at manuell blocking because your opponent has in most cases a longer weapon.
So, it depends, on what you want.
Both is possible.
Some are very effective with 2h crushthrough (Burrick, Banok), Ape was very effective with Boulder on a stick (nowadays long maul, the mentionned polearm).
I cant tell you whats better, you just have to find out for yourselves.
Good luck, and have fun with the game!