yeah if i had my pick of weapons between an axe, a one handed sword, a chainsaw, or a lance, I'd most likely pick the sword.
A lance, when used has weight and heft behind it so if someone were to lunge it directly at you, the odd's of you dodging are at a rather high vantage point.
The fact that with a sword, the possibility to parry a lance, is about a 7 out of ten chance.
Meaning you have seven out of ten possible-times of success.
With an axe you have the issue of weight(unless your built like ol ullery here who's used to axes) then there's also the possibility of your weapon getting stuck.
A chainsaw can't really cut through rock or hard steel and the attempt would make the blades chip and break resulting in shrapnel fire seen in such genre like when a nailgun is fired or glass breaks apart.