[Classicmerp] Armour Primer

[Michael Cole]

    1.1Armour

Armour is important, and should be thought about carefully.Whilst you 
can simply just pick an item of a list, by carefully selecting items for 
locations and layering, you can get the protection you want for the 
bulk, weight and cost that you need.It shouldn't take that long to do, 
and I will provide some notes and examples below.


      1.1.1Some General Notes

1)A one-piece set of trousers is a relatively modern invention.In 
ancient to medieval terms, they were two separate items that would go on 
each leg, and be held up by a suspender to a belt. The cote would come 
down to the mid-thigh, and cover the groin area.If you needed extra 
protection around the groin, then it would be via flaps of materials on 
each trouser leg which would buckle across.

2)Silk, whilst expensive and rare unless you are in south-east Asia, is 
surprisingly hard to penetrate.The silk listed refers to a quad-layer of 
silk, and aside from being very light, though expensive, for the 
protection, it also has the added bonus of when penetration does occur, 
it is normally with the silk being pushed into the wound, rather than it 
being torn.This may not sound like much, but it keeps the wound much 
cleaner, thus adding a bonus to not picking up an infection.And not 
allowing poison through. It also allows broad head arrows to be removed 
without causing additional damage.

3)Cloth armour is not simply clothing, it is a triple layer of denim.

4)Leather is generally vastly overrated in terms of its defensive 
capabilities.Leather is not anywhere near as good and D&D would have us 
believe.It needs to be about 5-6mm thick to have any appreciable 
cushioning ability.It can be layered on itself up to quad-level (20-24mm 
thick), but starts getting bulky and unwieldy.You can fix the cushioning 
effect by boiling the leather in oil, which makes it rigid, but then it 
becomes very easy to cut.Generally, it would only be used as a backing 
for the attachment of plates.

5)Quilt armour is surprisingly good value for money, and was extremely 
common, either by itself or layered with other armour.It's generally 
around 2-3cm thick.Whilst terminology varies, I will use: -

a)An aketon is worn under other armour, as padding.

b)An arming doublet is a thinner version of an aketon, with sewn-on 
strings for tying bits of protective material on.

c)A gambeson is worn as an outer layer, (thus being more colourful), 
either as the sole armour, or as padding over the top of plate or mail.

6)Padded is simply a huge amount of felt.Take the lining off a billiard 
table, and layer it out to about 5cm.It's bulky and heavy, but extremely 
good.It is generally only worn under plate armour for cavalry 
combat.It's also difficult to keep clean and dry.

7)Chain is the king of armour.It doesn't provide much cushioning, but is 
extremely effective in not allowing sharp or point things through.Note 
that actual mail was made of riveted rings -- it was difficult and 
time-consuming to make, and requires knowledge and materials for making 
extruded steel or iron wire, but was far better than many seem to 
think.The mail used in recreations is generally butted links and is 
nowhere near as good; proper mail is not that heavy, durable and if well 
fitted, not that noisy and bulky.Also, contrary to some opinion, arrows 
cannot pass through the links -- they are small and riveted shut.


  Armour Type Table

*Armour Type*

	

*Old DR*

	

*DR*

	

*EP*

*Cane*

	

	

2

	

0

*Silk*

	

	

0

	

1

*Heavy Cloth *or*Soft Leather*: Thick coarse cloth (serge, bucram) or 
thin leather, usually worn as winter wear or as an additional layer 
under other armour

	

1

	

0

	

1

*Hard Leather*: Thick leather or animal hide, of about 5mm thickness.

	

1

	

1

	

1

*Quilt*: Soft armour made from stitched cloth stuffed with wool or 
similar material.It is intended mostly to be worn under other armour.An 
aketon would be DR3, an arming doublet only DR2.

	

1

	

2-3

	

0

*Padded*: 4-8cm of heavy felt. It is intended mostly to be worn under 
other armour (generally plate)

	

1

	

4

	

1

*Woven Cord*: Much like modern macramé

	

	

0

	

2

*Kurbul *or*Cuir-bouilli*: "Boiled Leather", hard leather plate produced 
by treating ordinary leather with boiling oil or wax.

	

2

	

2

	

0

*Studded Leather*: The riveting of studs into one of the above (*Cloth, 
Leather *or*Quilt*) base armour.Has no effect apart from being bulkier 
and looking good.

	

2

	

	

*Ring Mail*: Involves sewing metal rings onto one of the above (*Cloth, 
Leather *or*Quilt*) base armour.Bonuses are in addition to the base 
armour values.

	

2

	

	

+2

*Bezainted*: Consists of riveting metal to one of the above (*Cloth, 
Leather*, *Quilt* or *Kurbul*) base armour.Bonuses are in addition to 
the base armour values.

	

2

	

+1

	

+2

*Jezeraint *or*Scale*: Made of either sewing or riveting overlapping 
wood, bone/horn or metal scales to a suitable backing (*Cloth, Leather*, 
*Quilt* or *Kurbul*) base armour.Bonuses are in addition to the base 
armour values.

	

4

	

+1

	

+1 (W)

+2 (B)

+3 (M)

*Brigandine*: Scale armour inside a double-layer of leather -- soft 
leather on scale on soft leather.

	

4

	

2

	

1 (W)

4 (B)

5 (M)

*Lamellar *or*Splint*: Also consists of metal plates or scales fastened 
together, but the pieces are larger and thicker and there is no leather 
lining.

	

4

	

3

	

1 (W)

3 (B)

4 (M)

*(Chain) Mail*: Flexible, all-metal armour of interlinked metal rings.

	

3

	

1

	

8

*Small-Gauge Mail*: Differs from mail above by having smaller and 
thinner rings, which improves its effectiveness against impaling 
weapons, but doesn't absorb the impact of crushing attacks as well as 
standard mail.

	

-

	

0

	

8

*Double, Augmented *or*Bar Mail*: Variant of mail with rings that are 
either thicker and closer together, or have bits of leather or metal in 
the gaps.

	

-

	

2

	

8

*Dwarven Mail*: High-quality mail produced from improved steel and using 
a mixture of punched or welded rings and ordinary riveted rings.

	

-

	

1

	

20

*Small-Gauge Dwarven Mail*:

	

-

	

0

	

20

Laminated: Metal strips which are overlapped and articulate upon each other

	

	

3

	

1

*Plate*: Thick, single piece metal armour.It is used in helms, 
breastplates and small plates for spot protection.Full articulated suits 
are very rare and expensive.

	

6

	

5

	

2

*Heavy/Ribbed Plate*: A variation of plate with even greater thickness 
of armour or transverse/diagonal ribbings designed to reduce the 
effectiveness of blows directed at the armour.

	

7

	

6

	

2


There will be more to come...
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