Lorica Segmentata?

[oldwolf]

On both the Melee cover and the TFT cover we see someone in Roman lorica segmentata armor. Is this what most people are considering as "half plate" ?

And while on the topic of armor, is brigandine and coat of plates considered equivalent to half plate or chainmail?

[hcobb]

It depends on the exact composition of the figure's entire armor. The same breastplate could be considered part of chain to fine plate, depending on the protection for the rest of the body.

[larsdangly]

I've written up all the roman armors and weapons in a file I posted to the 'house rules' section some time ago. It should still be available through the shared link.

Anyway, I think approximating Lorica Segmentata as half plate is pretty plausible; the chain- and scale-mail body armors used by roman infantry in other eras would be better approximated as 'chain'.

[TippetsTX]

Originally Posted by larsdangly

I've written up all the roman armors and weapons in a file I posted to the 'house rules' section some time ago. It should still be available through the shared link.

Anyway, I think approximating Lorica Segmentata as half plate is pretty plausible; the chain- and scale-mail body armors used by roman infantry in other eras would be better approximated as 'chain'.

Speaking of that file Lars, you need to update it to include your name as the author. I was sharing sections of it with someone on Facebook, but I could not, for the life of me, remember which of you guys had written it (I blame Netflix). Once stuff like this gets out into the aether of the internet, I think it is critical to ensure proper credit is attributed.

[larsdangly]

I'll update it the next time I'm monkeying around with the file, but honestly I don't care whether or not people cite me for what's in it. I consider this sort of thing to be the equivalent of the scraps of paper containing crazy house rules we used to pass around the D+D community many years ago: who cares who added what to them?

[Shostak]

The Roman armor would be one example of what half-plate could be, I suppose. In my mind's eye, I usually see half-plate as mostly chainmail with a breastplate and maybe greaves.

[Chris Rice]

I always classified it as 3 point protection or Chainmail equivalent. To me it doesn't cover as much of the body as Half-plate so it won't give as much protection but is also less encumbering. In a simple game like TFT, I felt that was good enough. Plus the fact that the Roman Legionnaires would also carry a Tower Shield, so that's 6 points of protection, which is pretty tough.

[Axly Suregrip]

Originally Posted by oldwolf

And while on the topic of armor, is brigandine and coat of plates considered equivalent to half plate or chainmail?

Yes I would consider brigandine to be half plate.

[larsdangly]

Agreed. I would say brigandine is equivalent to half plate. I imagine normal plate to be basically like the cherbourg suit (signifiant but not complete hard protection, over nearly full chainmail), whereas fine plate is more like a gothic or italian 15th century suit of overlapping hard protection with only bits of relatively thin mail beneath. I don't think the game has an armor that is equivalent to the most elaborate and heavy plate armors (e.g., museum quality maximillian suits), but I've added them to my house rule equipment list.

[hcobb]

Brigandine over gambeson is about the same protection as full chain.

If I used hit locations I'd say it's 4 points of protection over the head or body (assuming a reasonable helm) and 1 point on the arms and legs, for the same cost and weight as chain.