From: "Charles Gadda" <cgadda@earthlink.net> Finally, Dean and other sources (Dubruck's history of warfare series) imply a change in tactics towards greater mobility might have been responsible for the widespread disuse of armour. Marching long distances in a heavy breastplate is not fun; having run around in a hauberk at a mere local ren faire is bad enough (and I don't have a sadisdic sergeant force marching me all day - I can rest and drink water at leisure) I can readily understand why something as simple as mobility might cause people to lose armour, no matter how effective.
Charles,Some of my personal wild speculations. I'm not prone to these so allow room for error. This is more directed at the increased penetration rules Ty is trying out. I thought your statement above is a decent lead in for my thoughts. The subject is why armor was shed. First a brief trip through TFT mechanics with a D&D reference. In D&D better armor is just that... better. In TFT there is a loss of mobility and agility. I think it's a nod to some of the eastern military philosophies. The west was traditionally armored. Sometimes heavily. The east was light and mobile. Particularly in cases where one compares individuals. As to why armor was shed from the infantryman's gear, I don't think it was. The helmet aside, heavy horse usually meant knights. But heavy armor exists now, it's just called the tank. I think the view of the generals is what made the shift. To choose one specific historical moment to exemplify this change I submit one that appeals to my personal predjudices. When Clausewitz working with just a curtain rear guard of Theilman's third corps held off 30,000 men at a bridge. As he wrote later in his timeless book 'On War', "Concentrate combat power at the decisive place and time". In conclusion I submit that platemail changing one's fatality from 95% to a mere 10% may be correct. The real issue is how many people are going to be shooting at you. Are twenty common men going to be firing on you at once. Or are you going to have a show down with one guy, with dramatic music, and a crowd of onlookers.
David Michael Grouchy II _________________________________________________________________Join the worlds largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. http://www.hotmail.com
===== Post to the entire list by writing to tft@brainiac.com. Unsubscribe by mailing to majordomo@brainiac.com with the message body "unsubscribe tft"