Armor and Shields

Armor

The first form of armor was a think covering of animal hide soon to evolve into leather armor. Unlike soft leather gloves or belts, leather armor is boiled in oils to become thick and stiff resistant to powerful blows. In most forms this armor consist of chest and shoulder protection, backing and soft leather leggings.

Scale armor is a rare item. Many small plates of metal are attached to a soft leather backing forming the appearance of fish scales. This armor is quite protective against missile weapons and blows but it is much more rigid than chain mail armor. Typically, scale armor is in the form of a shirt with a small skirt.

Chain mail consists of tens of thousands of links of metal forming a protecting and yet flexible suit of armor. While this armor is quite effective against slashing type weapons, it can easily be punctured by a long bow or similar weapon. In addition, because of its cloth-like nature, it provides little protection against heavy-ended weapons such as maces or flails. Chain armor in most commonly worn as a shirt or as a knee length skirt whose weight rest entirely on the shoulders. An average suit weighs anywhere from 35 to 45 pounds which makes wearing it for long periods of time undesirable.

Plate armor was developed to aid chain armor against long bow and heavy weapons. While a suit of plate and chain weighs slightly more than a suit of chain armor, the weight is distributed more evenly by straps and buckles. The full range of motion is hindered slightly but a man clad in plate armor is able to move with a surprising amount of easy.

Full Plate:

This armour is the very impressive and ornate armour used after the 15th Century. Designers now often paid more attention to aesthetics than to efficient design, and this is when fluting and spiky, elongated detailing became popular. The rounded, fluted Maximilian design is particularly famous, perhaps less so than the even more ornate Italian armours of the 16th Century, covered as they were with embossed figures and designs.

Tournament armour is also included in this type. In the 15th and 16th Centuries, the wearing of armour was increasingly for ritual and the joust than for combat, and the designs reflect this. The shoulder plate of the left arm was extended to cover most of the chest, and the elbow was locked in position. The gauntlet included a mount for a shield. These extra pieces were often designed so they could be added to existing armour, thus adapting a “battlefield” suit for the joust. Also popular in tournament was foot combat, and new types of armour evolved for this as well. They often afforded more mobility than armour for mounted warriors, as in many tournaments grappling and wrestling were allowed (and often proved fatal to those who engaged in it, later tournaments erected barriers between opponents). The bascinet was made to be screwed on to the gorget as it was found that the conventional straps had a tendency to snap. A globular visor with heavy ribbing was popular. Some German designs incorporated a metal skirt, conical in shape, reaching almost to the knees.

In the 17th Century, this type of armour fell into decline and ceased to be used on the battlefield. Gunpowder weapons could penetrate more thickness of armour than a man could carry, and armour was used more and more for ceremony and parades. Armour of this period is even more baroque, but much less effective than it’s predecessors.

Field Plate:

Field plate is the battlefield version of full plate armour. It was used in the late middle ages, and by the time of it’s adoption mail had become obsolescent, being used in this armour only for the mail fauld or codpiece. Some designs covered every inch of the wearer in metal plate, while others paid attention to the front of the body, leaving the backs of the legs exposed or sheathed in mail. The neck was fully protected, and the gorget locked with the bascinet in such a way as to fully protect the throat and prevent the visor from accidentally opening. Many suits of this type did not enclose the entire torso with a breastplate, often using two or three plates to achieve the same purpose.

Armour of this type was made for it’s wearer alone. It was not as hard to move in as many suspect, and a trained man could move quite normally.

Banded Mail:

Banded mail consisted of small, overlapping flat metal rings sewn on to leather, linen or velvet. One row would be overlapped on the right edge, the next on the left, the one after on the right again and so on. The material that they were sewn on was gathered into a roll or tuck in between the rows which separated them and made sure the rings stayed flat, it is these bands of material that give rise to the name.

Barding:

The mounted warrior would want to protect his expensive mount wherever possible. To this end, it seemed logical to armour the mount as well as it’s rider. Chain barding took the form of a coat the horse would wear, fitting around the base of the neck and hanging down to the horse’s hips. An extended coif-like garment protected the neck and head. Padding was usually worn underneath, as was the practice with the rider. Chain barding dates from the availability of chain mail. Most barding followed this pattern, the horse’s legs were usually left exposed, although doubtless some horses wore a form of greave on their shins. Plate barding enclosed the horse’s body in plates, and had an articulated extension for the neck. The horse’s head would often be guarded, but protection did not extend to the jaw and underside of the head, these areas being hard to attack anyway. Scale barding was available in partial or full form, the partial form protecting the head, neck, chest, and front quarters of the beast; and the full version also covering the hindquarters and flanks. It is manufactured in the same way as the scale mail worn by men, and was available from the same time period. Brigandine armour was similar to scale, as was the soldier’s version, but generally was available only in half versions. By the time full barding came to be introduced, most cavalry used chain or scale. It was available from the time of brigandine for soldiers. Padded and leather armours also were made in the same way as for men, and were available in half or full versions. The principle advantage of these armours was their low weight, making them more suitable for the lighter war-horse.

Brigandine:

This armour is made from small metal plates sewn on to leather backing, much like fish scales. It is similar to scale mail, and generally took the form of a sleeveless overcoat. It was found to be superior to mail, especially against missiles, whose growing power it was designed to overcome. The plates were usually made of iron, or sometimes bronze (barbarian tribes did not always have the technology to smelt iron). The main difference between this type and scale mail is that this armour usually took the form of a surcoat, whereas scale mail often included sleeves and leggings as well (and, for ease of movement, the plates were often smaller on scale mail).

Bronze plate mail:

This was the first complete body armour suit anywhere. It is not the stylised breastplates associated with the period, these date from much later, but was made from smaller plates, much like plate mail (as the name suggests). It gave protection to the torso and shoulders, and often a helmet and greaves would be worn with it. It did suffer from the limitations of bronze (a soft metal), and was inferior to iron or steel armour. Although the PHB says that mail was worn as well, mail was not used until ironworking technology had become widespread, by which time bronze was no longer used.

Shields

There are several versions of the standard shield. A buckler, the smallest version, consisting of either a protective disk roughly the size of a dinner plate secured by a strap to the forearm or a shaving basin shape with a hand grip inside. Both designs are used for more elegant forms of combat such as daggers or rapiers. While they are quick to employ they are a poor defense against larger weapons such as great axes or two-handed swords.

A kite shield is a common shape for a medium sized shield. Often worn by cavalry, these shields provide ample protection from missile weapons and melee weapons of all sizes. Because of their size, it is common for these shields to be made from wood with metal reinforcements fixed with leather straps to the forearm. While shields of this size offer excellent protection, there is the inconvenience of restricted movement and a weighty defense.

Tower shields, sometimes called body shields, are designed to protect the bearer from arrows shot in a volley. These are made from thick lengths of wood reinforced with metal so as to make movement possible. The obvious disadvantage to this type of shield is its awkwardness in melee combat