Armor - Types and Wearing

That would make sense and I could believe that. I’ve never had the chance to wear any unfortunately. But I will stick to my gambeson and chain mail, less protection but I can run faster/longer :stuck_out_tongue:

Ever tried walking or running in mail leggings? They are a nightmare compared to plate leg armor

I haven’t actually. I (and my fellow fighters) don’t wear chain leggings. Some of us like myself have hardened leather greaves and our mail and gambeson hang low enough to protect our upper legs.

We were something like this over the top of our trousers and that is the only leg protection we have.

I just stumbled across the work of the Master of the Trebon Altarpiece from 1380-1400 which is probably the most detailed and best preserved example of armour and weaponry in Bohemia at the time in which the game takes place (the piece can be visited in the Narodni Galerie in Prague today). The altarpiece displays the resurrection of Jesus Christ of course but the additional content in the piece like the soldiers were most likely contemporary which was quite usual at that time. They definitely don’t look like Roman soldiers. But have a look for yourself… :wink:

Another great source for contemporary armor and weaponry is the alterpiece of the Master of the Grudziądz, another Bohemian artist who was active at the end of the 14th century and the beginning of the 15th century. The following alterpiece was made for a castle of the Teutonic Knights in Grudziądz, Poland, and can today be visited in the National Museum of Warsaw. The altarpiece shows influences from the Master of the Trebon Altarpiece and the passion was probably painted by an artist from Lower Saxony, from the circle of Master Bertram.

As you can see a combination of plate and mail armour was probably quite usual at that time for soldiers with a wapenroc/sobrecot on top of it. For weapons, most soldiers wore a sword and a dagger at the belt and they used a polearm/spear as well.

what do those little ant lines represent?

I’m not a weapon or armour smith myself but I think they are simply ornaments. But maybe some real expert could shed some light on that… :wink:

Just my 2 cents: in the army days we regularily carried loads of about 40kg which unlike medieval armor was quite unevenly distributed. Mostly in your back and around the waist. I’m physically and athletically at best mediocre but I had no trouble at all getting up and moving with all that stuff in my back. Of course you cannot sprint for very long or fast, or change direction rapidly etc, but basically all basic movement was possible, and you could do that all day long after a couple of months of adaptation.

So it is easy to agree with the comments, that medieval armor did not probably restrict movement a lot in combat. Knights would have lived their whole lives training to carry that armor in combat and where probably physically quite fit.

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I like this pictures very much and they are showing armour around the time period of KDC. Lots of armour in motion.

Laurin Tournament 2011

Some more…
found no big authenticity blooper at a fast glance. So I really entrust those pictures to Warhorse for inspiration.

Laurin Tournament 2010

(Greetings from 1476 to the Elephants!)

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Love those pictures.

If you look at these pictures, you can see how movement is impaired. Its because of the joints (shoulders and knees, for instance). Something might be in the way if you want to move your arm there.
The weight might be not much of a problem IF you are used to it. But that would take a lot of time!
And getting into your armor becomes harder the more straps are involved. And some will be in places you won’t be able to reach yourself! Fixating plate shoulders to your breastplate would be an example for that. Even if you have another person, you still need some time as you dont simply put it on, but it also has to be done correctly (not too tight, symmetrical, etc.)

It’s not that bad, the elbow and knee joints allow for a greater range of movement than your actual joints. The shoulder protection might overlap a little on cavalry models (pauldrons) but special foot models (Spaulders) allow a free range of movement.

The armor would weigh something in the range of 27-32 kg, which is not that much considering most overweight people carry that weight in fat 24/7.

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This is my friend Andrej, he is a very funny guy. Look how flexible he is in his new armour.

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Props to him, he has to be pretty fit :smiley:
But that would be logical if you are used to your armor.
Also, props for being German like me. ^^

armor is evenly distributed, they have load bearing straps. anyone can strap it on a move around without problem. agility and speed comes from experience.

True. The prabably biggest misconception about medieval armour is perhaps that most people don’t know that each armour was of course custom made for only one person. You couldn’t just wear the suit of plate armour from anyone else. The moment an armour really fits your body it becomes quite agile.

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Absolutely right - and that is the reason why it was so rare and expensive!
And also the reason why getting into armor takes so long.
For a shoulderpiece, for instance, you need a second person to close the straps.
Which brings up the question of how long it will take
(and if it might even take at least 1 other person) to get into armor.
I remember Skyrim, where plate armor even changed from male to female by one click…

when we get to 1400 plate armour are no longer rare and cheap helemts and breastplates was massproduced.
(in rather cheap iron, so a lot less able to take hits from arrows, axes and similar)
And when we are talking most types of leg armour and breastplates you can get it on by your self… and in a hurry if needed.

But yes, when we are talking the high quality full plate used by the rich. They where crafted to the person and would require help to get it on. But then the metal was way better, everything fittet proper and all the parts had a very specific ballance between material thicknesses and the need for protection.

I just Use heavy plate armor that i got from warhorse as plate male gets you the highest charisma overall. When i wanna steal or sneak i just take it off and only keep the boots pants and gambison

Agreed with above… coming from military myself, having worn kit… your body adapts to it. And today, people have a LOT of creature comforts… more than many like to admit. The time period being discussed here, a professional soldier would likely have been extremely fit and conditioned… not the “sculpted” types you see in movies, but just physically very strong and capable… the lifestyle would have demanded it even more than it does today.

EDIT: Afterthought… no disrespect meant to those who re-enact… but I don’t believe it to be an entirely accurate measure of what THOSE people could or could not do. For you it’s a hobby… for them it was a way of life. I think anyone in the modern day going up against a knight of that age, in full armor, would be in for one hell of a rude awakening. lol

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