LT Armor: Questions about costs
 

The costs for brigandine armor seem too high to me. For example light brigandine is $900 the same as fine mail. This seems real odd since 1.) Isn't brigandine much less labor intensive to make and 2.) Light brigandine is listed as 10 lbs and fine mail is 15 lbs so it seems that there would also be a lower material cost as well. Perhaps I missed some details in LT or LTC3? Does anyone have an answer?

Re: LT Armor: Questions about costs
 

IDHMBWM but IIRC brigandine has a better DR than fine mail. Fine mail is not much good against crushing damage.

Re: LT Armor: Questions about costs
 

Lighter armor is more expensive, the heavier armor is then the cheaper it is, since weight = undesired

Re: LT Armor: Questions about costs
 

Light Brigandine is DR3, Fine Mail is DR4/2. I'd rather have the latter DR, usually.

Brigandine is clearly the 'superior' armor, in that it has better DR for its weight and higher cost than mail. It's got only very slightly different stats than Plate, in fact.

That usually means that it has worse DR for its cost, unsurprisingly.

Re: LT Armor: Questions about costs
 

Basically, the armoring system seems to work like this: if you have the money, you get the most expensive armor for your TL, because it's lighter or offers more protection.

With the caveat that I'm sure Dan Howard knows more about this than I...
It appears that in the age of plate armor, good armor was such a force multiplier that even common foot soldiers were issued some plate.

Re: LT Armor: Questions about costs
 

Even if you have infinite money...not necessarily. Actually, almost never since the most expensive armor at TL 2-4 is ridiculously heavy jousting gear, thanks to the Heavy Plate rule.

Heavy Layered Cloth is certainly the king of its TL if you don't mind the weight. The same could be said for Heavy Scale, but the weight at that point is rather extreme.

TL2 gives us the slightly lighter but still very heavy Segmented Plate, and the light but crushing-sensitive Mail, which both have their strong points depending on what you need.

TL3 doesn't have a rival to Segmented Plate for ultra-heavy protection functionality, but Mail and Plates is a very interesting competitor to prior armors.

TL4, at last, gives us the Plate which really does offer the unequivocal best defense/weight ratio at all levels, if you can pay for it. And don't mind the gaps.

Re: LT Armor: Questions about costs
 

That was the entire point of factory production of munitions grade armor in the Renaissance.
You can only make this kind of analysis if you ignore regional differences in technology. Plated mail is only really an option in Asia.

Re: LT Armor: Questions about costs
 

I'm not sure, though, that Munitions Plate is the clear right choice for budget-limited armor buyers. Even munitions plate is expensive compared to alternatives.

Though it certainly is the only sensible option if you're trying to make affordable proofed breastplates.
I'm aware, and that raises an interesting point in terms of world-building with Low Tech.

However, when talking about 'how the armoring system works' I don't think it's unreasonable to assume that everything is on the table.

Re: LT Armor: Questions about costs
 

It was popular in Asia (but not China, who didn't use much mail), the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, and Russia. It seems to have been the preferred armour for most cultures that didn't have access to the advanced plate making centres of Italy and southern Germany.

Re: LT Armor: Questions about costs
 

Aren't all of those (except half of Russia) in Asia?

Re: LT Armor: Questions about costs
 

Certainly on the continent - India is a sub-continent but unless you're getting into sub continents it's counted as part of the Asian continent.

Re: LT Armor: Questions about costs
 

Turkery and Persia are considered part of Asia? I've always considered Asia and the Middle East separate regions.

Re: LT Armor: Questions about costs
 

Turkey and the Middle East (including most of the full extent of medieval Persia) are both on the Asian Continent (which is what I meant in this case by "Asia"). Honestly I can't think of anywhere that at least wasn't partially in Asia that used plated mail. I suppose I'm about to discover I'm completely wrong.

Re: LT Armor: Questions about costs
 

I get a cost of $150 for a Light Breastplate, munitions grade, $375 for a Medium breastplate, munitions grade. A man who has a comfortable level of starting wealth(a typical man suitable for military duty), has $4000 in assets if he's not landed, or $2000 if he's only of "average" starting wealth at TL4. That seems to be sufficient to allow him a decent suit of armor(probably a breastplate, mail coat, espaulders, vambraces, tassets, bascinet and maybe greaves).

Remember that the lower classes didn't really go to war that often: they had to farm, and couldn't afford it. A lord rarely provides gear to these men, so they have to bring their own, and showing up in a decent harness is a good way to demand a higher wage, or atleast get the job.

There are cheaper options, i suppose, but Mail with breastplate and some limb plates is going to keep you alive far more often against the heavier weaponry typically seen at TL4(warhammers, maces, picks, polearms, heavy crossbows...).

Re: LT Armor: Questions about costs
 

Philippines? There are surviving examples of Moro plated mail made of brass

Re: LT Armor: Questions about costs
 

Normally considered part of Southeast Asia, though it's not on the continent. Turkey is part of the traditional definition of Asia, though that definition doesn't have much in the way of geographical logic.