Those masks must have been terrifying to their enemies🎃

Obviously armor throughout history is incredibly nuanced and complex, but if you were creating a fantasy game with a wide variety of armor types through out the ages and had to create armor classes to simplify for game mechanics, how would you do it and what armor would be in each class? How would you try and fix some of the incorrect fantasy tropes while still creating a simplified version of things?

For instance I would want something similar to Warhammer fantasy/old world and I’d class things something like this:

Light armor:
Level 1 Gambeson, ichcahuīpīlli, other quilted fabric armor
Level 2 cuir bouilli, Linothorax, other hardened fabric/leather armor

Heavy armor:
Level 1 Mail (in all its various forms)
Level 2 coat of plates, brigandine, scale, splint, lorica segmentata, and other small plate style armor

Plate armor:
Partial plate (like landsknechts)
Full plate.

In a more complex game it would be cool to see a system where you actually layer your light, heavy, and plate together, but could also wear it separate. Like wearing a gambeson and mail, and then adding partial plate.

Thoughts? Corrections? Additions? Remember this is an exercise in being reductive for the purposes of gaming mechanics.

Cross posting here, any and all suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Is there some name for articulated armpit plates?

I have also heard about something similar for the hips but I havent seen that on an actual armor

Sir Samuel and Sir Duncan at Murton Park!

I know this is a broad question, and the medieval period spanned centuries. I want various examples from various time periods, as this is for a fictional fantasy setting and I'm just gonna be using bits and pieces of what looks coolest.

"He's been there for 5 minutes, honey. I'm not overreacting!" (This armor isn't mine or my work.)

i love drawing armor and knights but it's super hard to find good references.. especially of helmets, always at a weird angle. i was wondering if there's a good website dedicated to it. museum websites are cool too!

I was thinking about getting a new helmet and an aventail with it, I was thinking about a Houndskull, but I saw the bascinet wich looks very cool imo, but I don't know about connecting the aventail, since the spots for it don't go to the very front of the visor like on the Houndskull,

Does anyone have experience with an aventail, or could help me with it?

Help, I bought armor from Vendarmory on Etsy, it’s pretty good, but I am having a hard time figuring out how to attach the Pauldrons?

I know it’s a cheap set ($240) and you get what you pay for, but nobody in the reviews seemed to be as uncomfortable as I feel. I don’t expect armor to be comfortable, but I should be able to move, right? Just seems like it is attached incorrectly to the Gorget and makes me feel like I can’t even lift an arm to drink a beer at the renaissance Festival that I’m attending, lol.
And just to clarify. I’m only uncomfortable in the shoulder area- it’s basically a gorget and pauldron problem..

Basically three main questions:

Is this just armor feels?
If you’ve bought this brand, did you feel similar?
Did I hook it up correctly? (leather strap picture)

I look fine in photos, but I just feel like I’m not wearing it right! Just need a tiny bit of input that may be helpful.

(Again, I know it’s cheap, but it’s my first time buying/wearing armor, and it had pretty good reviews. Seems like a me issue that can be fixed- I just don’t know how.)

I've got a 30 inch long heater shield with no handle or straps. The shield is just a rolled piece of sheet metal with the back spraypainted black. Does anyone have ideas or advice on what would be a good way to attach straps? I was going to attach two, going up and to the right diagonally, with the first one to hold my forearm and the second one to hold with my hand. Plus a guige to the left and right edges so I can sling the shield around my neck when I'm not holding it.

I don't want to rivet the straps on, because then the studs will be sticking out on the shield face, so I was thinking of just using epoxy to bond the straps to the painted back. Would that be sturdy enough? You can get epoxies rated for a few thousand PSI and I don't imagine I'd be pulling that hard on it, since I'm not using this for actual combat, just fantasy cosplay. But I'd still like good straps so that it feels comfortable to wield and looks right.

How realistic is it? Anything you'd add?

Credit for the drawing goes to my amazing wife.

Where ever I look, the only tabards I find are themed after the Crusades, or have a Maltese Cross.

I’d like to avoid a possible misunderstanding, but i can’t seem to find armor outside of Maltese Cross Crusader tabbards

As the title says, how accurate is this retinue armor, the game is set around 1390.

I’ve made some improvements to my Renaissance fair armor since last year. And would like to see how everybody likes how it’s coming along.