Discussion Armour armour armour

[Nidraak]

Sir Eberwolf Kinniger I ninja'd you.

Anyway. I made a little room to discuss some fun stuff about the fantasy stuff we like so much, Like say, armour?
Yes, armour haha.

For me, my favourite helmet is the bascinet with the snoot snoot cause it looks quite cute actually. This is a purely aesthetic choice. When I was a little kid I loved great helms cause I liked crusaders. Tastes change, obviously.
But my favourite part of ANY armour is the rondels (the besagew rondels, not rondel daggers).
It's just a smol protective circle, yet, you can put in so much fine detail into it. From the rim to the full-body, to the fine details located in the centre and the engravings if any are present.

What about you guys?

 

[TMITM]

Heavy Armour tends to be slow and clunky, brute-forcing through blows and strikes, but very, very prone to unbalancing. (History Lesson: The Ninja of feudal japan knew this and would use it to take advantage of Samurai, who wore armor, very frequently.) I think I and my characters like to have very light armor only if necessary, and would prefer to have none at all.

 

[Sir Eberwolf Kinniger]

Heavy Armour tends to be slow and clunky, brute-forcing through blows and strikes, but very, very prone to unbalancing. (History Lesson: The Ninja of feudal japan knew this and would use it to take advantage of Samurai, who wore armor, very frequently.) I think I and my characters like to have very light armor only if necessary, and would prefer to have none at all.

Heavy armor. If it was too heavy it wouldn’t be worn, the heaviest armors were tournament armors that were no more than sixty kilograms total, battlefield armor was no more than thirty five kilos distributed very well across the body. It is very true though that it offset one’s center of balance and made them easier to knock over.

Ninja, shinobi no mōno, weren’t the sworn enemy of the samurai and often weren’t combatants, but rather spies, saboteurs and arsonists. And there is an odd difference between the samurai and the ninja that not many people understand. Being Samurai, like being a knight, was a social status whereas ninja was a profession/trade, so there was actually some overlap between the two, some samurai were ninja.

I’d love to debate further if you would

 

[TMITM]

Ninja, shinobi no mōno, weren’t the sworn enemy of the samurai and often weren’t combatants, but rather spies, saboteurs and arsonists. And there is an odd difference between the samurai and the ninja that not many people understand. Being Samurai, like being a knight, was a social status whereas ninja was a profession/trade, so there was actually some overlap between the two, some samurai were ninja.

Yes, this is true, but being a Ninja can also refer to a practicioner of Ninjitsu, or Nin-po, which was created as a method of survival during a period of religious oppression. I was not saying they were sworn enemies, I was merely comparing the two - one who wore armor, and one who rarely did. Samurai could not, for example, roll like ninja did, and there are a few aspects of Nin-po that focus on what to do if your opponent is wearing armor, for example, taking advantage of the fact that they couldn't move their arms much more than shoulder-height.
I'm not saying it's impossible, but it would be extremely unlikely for a samurai to be a ninja. Samurai adhered to a strict code, and would not do many of the things that the Ninja would, which would be why they were so useful and were hired by people to do things that the samurai would not.
I would also like to point out that I answered the prompt, which is what I prefer. I was not saying that heavy armor was not useful - people have been using it for thousands of years, there must be a reason - I only explained why I - and my characters by extension - would prefer something light.

 

[Sir Eberwolf Kinniger]

for example, taking advantage of the fact that they couldn't move their arms much more than shoulder-height.

Much of what you’re saying is indeed true, at least as far as I know, however, they could definitely move their arms above their heads. Samurai armor was a lot more flexible than European plate, and they both used both hands for their weapons and often used overhead strikes as they used gravity. But also, the samurai were also expected to be archers, and the Yūmi bow was drawn by holding the bow first above the head then drawn in both directions and one sometimes peers under the arrow to aim. So the samurai not only could but had to raise their arms above their shoulders. As for rolling, that’s more due to the shape of the armor than actual restriction of motion. A number of people have actually recorded themselves doing diverolls in armor, this being European full plate. Flexibility really wasn’t the problem with armor but rather restriction of vision and breathing as well as the restrictions as a result of damage to the armor.

I would also like to point out that I answered the prompt, which is what I prefer. I was not saying that heavy armor was not useful - people have been using it for thousands of years, there must be a reason - I only explained why I - and my characters by extension - would prefer something light.

Fair enough. I wasn’t trying to disrespect that at all. I just saw an opportunity for some fun debate.

 

[Nidraak]

This is definitely the place for discussion on armour. Which is my general intent. Not just the poll, it's just the starting topic so we have somewhere to begin lol!

Also TMITM , it's good to separate fact from fiction and be clear about that distinction. Starting with Heavy armour is slow and clunky etc... really gives the wrong impression!
A lot of people really don't like misinformation being spread, so it's good to state upfront that it's your opinion or the opinion of your characters, rather than right at the end of a different post...
at least before people start posting knights doing parkour ;D . (as much as we love armour parkour)

 

[Nidraak]

Also speaking of samurai, A while ago I drew one armour set + two other mystery armours, my initial goal was to combine the three armours into something new and unique!

I'll show it off later.

 

[Narumi Tsuri]

I'd say just like good scifi, fantasy armor has to be ground in a bit of reality to stay grounded and keep it believable . However going to hard on accuracy lowers the fun and wonder of fantasy. Also plate armor is not that clunky as you still have a decent range of motion in it.

 

[Sir Eberwolf Kinniger]

I'd say just like good scifi, fantasy armor has to be ground in a bit of reality to stay grounded and keep it believable . However going to hard on accuracy lowers the fun and wonder of fantasy. Also plate armor is not that clunky as you still have a decent range of motion in it.

Hear hear!

My personal favorite armor has to be either late medieval Gothic/Maximilian armor or early, post-Norman armor. Think first crusade with the barreled and sugarloaf greathelms while remaining mostly mail. I like gothic because of it’s aesthetic as well as practicality, since it was almost invincible, as armor was designed to be (though never completely impregnable of course), while looking freaking terrifying at the same time.

I love armor!

 

[Kiros Rahnel]

I do like historical accuracy as it gives us a common basis, but I find nothing wrong with taking artistic license with it. It's alterations like that can often give a character flavour and balance I think. I've restricted my warrior to light armour; can't say it'd make sense in reality but I would rather leave it as is. I do agree with Narumi; part of the appeal with a fantasy setting is the creativity you can have with it. Hard to say strange armour truly feels out of place when we have wizards and dragons; we're far from being restricted to realism to begin with.

Favourite amour.. I'd probably go with full-plate white mail from that same era for the same reasons Eberwolf mentioned; all that protection makes one nearly unstoppable. Plus, it obeys the rule of cool I like the roman lorica segmentata too; for looks and ease of productions

 

[Sir Eberwolf Kinniger]

platemail

Platemail? Do you mean brigandine or something else? I am unfamiliar with what exactly platemail is.

 

[Kiros Rahnel]

Silly me that's a non specific term. Edited that for clarity, I should have specified full plate. So white armour from around the 15th century. Brigandines are great for practicality though.

 

[Narumi Tsuri]

If were going on about personal favorite armors Gothic is up their for me, but I have always adored the the theatrical and daringly cocky gladiatorial armor what armor was there anyway. Showing off how skilled you are by wearing next to no armor with the armor that is there showing off who and what you are as a fighter.

 

[Sathirena]

^ here are some sketches. personally i never settled on a breastplate for 100% but...maybe after rethinking it properly again, I may settle with the most aesthetic choice.