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Re: (TFT) Stewing in Your Own Juices



Ventilation is a serious factor in armor. Some scholars have claimed that men who fell in full plate could have expired from suffocation. I'm not so sure about that particular claim, though I guess on a hot day, and/or for people who panicked or were heavily trampled, had horses on them, or whatever...

But I think most of the recent comments are far exaggerated and incorrect.

Note too that medieval knights typically did have cloth surcoats over their armor, which as Rick suggest might help against heat from sunlight. See also ancient Greeks and Romans (ever been to Italy or Greece during hot weather?) who wore metal armor with cloaks - I expect that was useful for reducing heat.

2. Get on a horse, unassisted

This is a basic requirement of knighthood, and has been amply demonstrated does not require much training. An unskilled person, or even a horseman unused to armor, or a horse who balks at the weight, would have difficulties.

Whether someone _would_choose_ to routinely wear armor while travelling long distances on horseback, is another matter altogether. I expect most people would not choose to do that. Even players might not choose to do it if appropriate fatigue penalties were assessed.

3. Sleep in his armor

Depends on the person and circumstances.

4. Stand up if he is knocked down

Ridiculous. It is more difficult and slower to get up with extra weight on, and learning to get around in armor is a skill, but if these weren't easily learnable tricks, plate armor would never have been used. Also it has been abundantly demonstrated, documented, filmed, etc.

...
8. Use a Bow (range of motion is compromised)

Thhe TFT armor DX penalties seem to me far higher than the actual difficulty of doing this, especially with practice. Using a bow doesn't require that much dynamic motion; it's more about getting into position, applying strength, and fine aiming. There are also contemporary illustrations (from various cultures) of people in armor using bows.

9. Run

Not as fast as someone without armor, of course, but again yes people can run in armor once they practice, and not all that slowly. TFT's 60% of a typical man's speed is certainly possible.

And, all of that being said, I think I recall that Saladin did have knights, but I'd be willing to bet that they didn't wear anything metal as armor.

Arabian warriors did have metal armor - chainmail and scale armor. See also ancient Greek, Roman, and especially Persian armor, which was used all around the Mediterranean, Aegaean, Asia Minor, Persia, North Africa, Arabia, etc.

There is a fun series of television programs created by cable companies like Discovery Channel or History Channel about what it's like to use medieval weapons and armor, which gets re-shown from time to time. They took a group of people including modern mounted police, fire fighters, soldiers, etc., and trained them to get around, ride horses and fight in armor. Fun to watch, and gives some good perspective on some of these questions.

PvK
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