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Old 12-11-2019, 08:11 AM   #13
CarrionPeacock
 
Join Date: May 2018
Default Re: [LT Armor Loadouts] Expensive Greaves

Quote:
Originally Posted by ravenfish View Post
I think his question is why plate for small areas is so much more expensive than segmented, when it can wind up being a smaller piece of metal than one of the "segments" on a bigger body part (the answer, I presume, being more precise shaping and so forth).
Exactly my point. Your presumption is actually helpful. Looking at LT again and page 113 mentions armors are already close fitted to the owner, which likely accounts for the "son can't use father's greaves" part.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Varyon View Post
Something not well-represented in GURPS (because it's difficult to represent) is that weight on the limbs feels heavier than weight on the torso. As a result, you really want limb armor to be as light as possible to avoid exhaustion. Going from the lightest construction (plate) to one of the heaviest (linen), multiplying weight by 2.5, is probably a Bad Idea. I suspect with that kind of weight, the hoplites would likely not bother wearing the leg armor.

And while front-only armor sounds like a good idea, I doubt it works out very well in practice with leg armor. Most fighting stances I'm familiar with (which are for unarmed combat, admittedly, but maintaining balance shouldn't change too much when you've got a spear or whatever) don't involve both feet pointed forward at all times, and legs are thin enough that a decent-length swung weapon can probably reach behind the leg a bit so that even front-facing legs would be vulnerable. Actually getting 100% protection from the front for the lower legs may well require armor the reaches all the way around.
I had not thought of that, thanks for the explanation.
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