Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

ajaxfetish t1_irtazs7 wrote

Reply to comment by Napotad in Has metal ever been used in ancient/medieval fortifications or any equivalent by HDH2506

The big issue with plate armor wasn't cost, so much as technology and infrastructure limitations. Once the necessary industry and skilled labor force was in place, it actually became more affordable than mail, and in later periods you'll find mass-produced munitions-grade plate armor (e.g., during the English civil war).

The limiting factor for mail is that it requires lots of manual labor to make, rivet, and weave together the rings, along with the tailoring to get it fit properly. It can be made even in a low-tech setting, but it'll always take a lot of time and effort.

Of course, for the medieval period, plate never fully replaced mail, either. There's plenty of places you just can't enclose in metal plates and still be able to move and fight, so mail voiders, skirts, standards, etc. remained a part of full plate harnesses.

21

War_Hymn t1_irya13x wrote

>The big issue with plate armor wasn't cost, so much as technology and infrastructure limitations.

Well yeah, better technology and infrastructure meant you can produce said things more cheaply - so the issue is COST.

1

ajaxfetish t1_iryg94v wrote

I was replying to this:

> There's a reason run-of-the-mill soldiers used at most chain-mail, because it was easier and cheaper to produce than plate armor

It's not like they weren't producing plate armor in the early middle ages because it cost too much. They weren't producing it because they couldn't. The necessary infrastructure just didn't exist yet. And then once it was developed, the resulting armor ended up becoming more affordable than chainmail. One type of armor requires a certain level of industrialization to build, the other requires lots of skill, patience, and time.

1

War_Hymn t1_iryjk7s wrote

>It's not like they weren't producing plate armor in the early middle ages because it cost too much. They weren't producing it because they couldn't.

Not really, they could had taken smaller plates and forge welded them together into a larger plate by hand. At the extreme, you have smiths in 5th century India hand forging smaller pieces of iron into a 6 tonne iron pillar (see Iron Pillar of Delhi). But of course, doing it this way cost a premium in labour and fuel.

2

HDH2506 OP t1_ispkm2e wrote

I’m sorry what’s “standard”? Like as an armor part

1

ajaxfetish t1_ispnpyk wrote

Neck protection: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_(mail_collar)

A gorget and/or bevor would be comparable pieces of plate armor.

2

HDH2506 OP t1_isppa7j wrote

So, I saw in movies depictions, they sometimes use plate for the part shown in those pictures (e.g. game of thrones, most might have been leather, but the kings guard were clearly wearing steel)

Would that be practical?

1

ajaxfetish t1_ispr4i7 wrote

Those would be the aforementioned gorgets, so not only practical, but also historical. The relative benefits to a standard are gonna be a less impeded range of motion and less chance of unprotected gaps.

2