[Low-Tech/High-Tech] Looting and Improvising arms and armour in Victorian London

[Icelander]

As noted in other threads about one of my current campaigns, my PCs are trapped in a section of London's East End in 1888. They were attending a wake at a fairly substantial town house on Whitechapel High Street, an island of quiet luxury just a minute's walk from squalid misery in the side streets around, when everything changed and strangeness reigned.

Some unimaginable catastrophe took place on the afternoon of Friday of 2nd November, 1888. First, the streets were enveloped in choking, thick fog, excessive even for Victorian London. Strange creatures roamed the fog and many things, living and unliving, were twisted all out of recognition. When night fell, the fog abated for a short time around midnight, showing that the very stars were altered, with most of them blinked out of existence and only a few constellations shining brightly. All who saw them were disquieted, but those savvy to occult significance were even more worried, as the stars formed clear symbols for all the worst decans of Hermetic astrology.

The strange creatures and twisted survivors out on the streets do not seem to be eager to penetrate the sanctums of home and hearth, where families inhabit a dwelling they have made their own. Houses of worship and holy ground seem to give them pause as well, particularly if the faithful and their ministers are around to add their prayers to the sanctity of the ground. Anyone walking the streets or staying in inns, doss houses, taverns or other ground not counting as home, however, is prey to the monsters outside.

The worst gangs of armed criminals roam fairly freely, the dangers of monsters and mutation of their bodies being outweighed by the chance of loot. Some of the less reckless or more civil-minded among East End's criminal fraternity have banded together with other survivors for mutual protection, however, even taking refuge in churches and subjecting to the discipline of priests and churchwardens.

It has now been around 36 hours since the catastrophe. There are no news of anywhere to the north of Bethnal Green Road and the survivors that the PCs have spoken with have rarely any direct knowledge of what is happening even a block north of Whitechapel and Aldgate High Street. The PCs themselves have scouted south, to find that the Thames is not the Thames and that whatever is beyond the dark and terrifying waters of this new river, it is not London. In any case, strange grey men patrol around the railways around the defunct Minories Stations and beyond that, there is a ragged army of criminals and foreigners who have taken over the Royal Mint and are besieging the London Tower.

Walking west Aldgate High Street seems to cause some misdirection or memory loss, with a few survivors who have gone there having come back from the east, claiming that they found themselves coming down Whitechapel Road. The stories they tell of the London Hospital add to the terror every survivor feels at the thought of going further east than where Whitechapel High Street turns into Whitechapel Road.

This means that the PCs and whatever survivors they have collected together in the St. Botolph's church by Aldgate station (near Mitre Square and Butchers' Row), at the corner where Houndsditch and the Minories meet Aldgate High Street, now live in a section of the East End which is for all practical purposes bounded in all directions:

• By a two to three block zone north of Aldgate and Whitechapel High.
• By Fenchurch Street Terminal/Station to the west.
• By the ruins of the burned St. Mary's Church on Whitechapel High Street / Whitechapel Road to the east.
• By the railway tracks at that run past the closed Minories Station (currently Victoria Rail Depot / Royal Mint Street Depot).

PCs being PCs, the party has determined to sally out of their island of (relative) safety at the church to prevent a mass human sacrifice by whatever mysterious occult overlords appear to be in control of the army of criminals by the Royal Mint and the Tower of London.

One of the PCs, Col. H.E. Wilkinson, has rooms near the Royal Mint where he keeps his expedition gear and is confident that his gun cabinet will furnish adequate means to tackle any foe. The others have some captured weapons, melee and ranged, and they have managed to arm a few refugees from a gun cabinet in the town house, as well as shotguns and pistols that an armed band of kidnappers working for the villains was carrying.

More arms are urgently needed, however. The citizens' militias that are springing up among such groups as the allegiance of patriotic and civic minded criminals with the Anglican churchwardens of St. Botolph's church, Jews of the Great Synagogue, the German Catholics in Whitechapel and the Irish Catholics of Father MacManus' congregation cannot go unarmed as they patrol the streets and send out foraging expeditions to bring back supplies.

Also, the player of Father MacManus has asked Reza Aisenstadt, the wife of Jacob Aisenstadt, the respected kosher butcher of Butchers' Row in Aldgate, to sew him some armour out of butcher's aprons. He wants a thick inner layer of tough leather and then he wants to protect his chest and back with something metal, wrapping the final product in another layer of leather.

I had thought that finding some iron or steel chains, wrapping them tightly around the Chest hit location and linking them together with some small metal links or even nails that are bent for the purpose could answer.

The total weight of the armour can be around 60 lbs. It does not need to cover the legs, other than the very top of the thighs that will naturally be covered if some protection for the Abdomen and Groin is provided with an apron that hangs down below groin level. Wrapped chains around the forearms would be good too, in order to be able to parry knives and swords.

I expect that as layered armour, it will result in a DX penalty, but the player does not want more than -1 DX. The outer layer of leather might therefore be Light Leather or perhaps count as integral in the layer of metal, as it is merely meant to provide a material to sew the metal reinforcing into place.

Here is what armament the four PCs are currently carrying. There are about a dozen survivors at St. Botolph's church who wouldn't be completely useless with a firearm, but haven't got one yet. Among the congregation of the Great Synagogue, who are also the people who live around Aldgate, there are also several dozens who could use firearms if some were acquired. The PCs and teams of survivors in foraging parties must therefore scour the area for weapons, armour and shields as well as food, water, medical supplies and other supplies. This post discusses the kind of threats that foraging parties most often face, along with what that means for their armour requirements.

This post is about what self-defence weapons one could expect to find lying around. I also had some thoughts on nearby police stations.

1) What weapons can I expect to be found in this area of London's East End in 1888?

--- 1a) Where would one find them?

---- 1b) Would immigrants from Germany, Russia, Ukraine or Poland be likely to own any firearms? What about those of them who are veterans of a European military?

--- 1c) Is there any place near Aldgate High Street where you could expect to find ammunition? Are there gun stores in the East End?

2) Are there any blacksmith shops or foundries within the area specified in 1888?*

--- 2a) Assuming there are, what is the nearest area with one to the St. Botolph's Church in Aldgate?

--- 2b) How much could be done to improvise weapons and armour from the typical contents of a foundry or blacksmith's shop in 2-3 hours?

3) What are reasonable GURPS stats for Father MacManus' proposed armour, assuming that he finds chain of various thickness and something to link the chains together and that Reza Aisenstadt is a fine seamstress who has a lot of leather and protective leather aprons available to her?

--- 3a) Could the sewing be done in an hour, two or three or would it inevitably take longer? She'd be starting from clothing that already counts as armour; leather butcher's aprons, layering them and together to make armour and then sewing an outside covering on to keep the chains in place.

*I have period maps, but they do not specify types of shops. Someone who lives in London or is familiar with its history, particularly East End's history, might know where there is a street where blacksmiths traditionally worked there or about any foundries that might have been founded in the Victorian era, but survived into the 20th century.

[Dalillama]

Originally Posted by Icelander

• By a two to three block zone north of Aldgate and Whitechapel High.
• By Fenchurch Street Terminal/Station to the west.
• By the ruins of the burned St. Mary's Church on Whitechapel High Street / Whitechapel Road to the east.
• By the railway tracks at that run past the closed Minories Station (currently Victoria Rail Depot / Royal Mint Street Depot).

1) What weapons can I expect to be found in this area of London's East End in 1888?

A wide assortment of knives and cudgels, as well as various occupational tools that can be easily adapted to combat, including but not limited to hammers, shovels, picks, axes and hooks.

Originally Posted by Icelander

--- 1a) Where would one find them?

Primarily in businesses, as well as in the hands of people who are prone to using them on others (notably knives and cudgels).

Originally Posted by Icelander

---- 1b) Would immigrants from Germany, Russia, Ukraine or Poland be likely to own any firearms? What about those of them who are veterans of a European military?

Possibly; by this era, veterans are unlikely to have owned their own weapons or be officially permitted to take them home, but some do anyway. Also, there's the possibility of weapons used in some less official conflict, which will often be obsolescent, even to flintlock muskets.

Originally Posted by Icelander

--- 1c) Is there any place near Aldgate High Street where you could expect to find ammunition? Are there gun stores in the East End?

Probably not.

Originally Posted by Icelander

2) Are there any blacksmith shops or foundries within the area specified in 1888?*

Almost certainly; I don't know about foundries, but there were small smithies, farriers, and the like scattered throughout the East End.

Originally Posted by Icelander

--- 2a) Assuming there are, what is the nearest area with one to the St. Botolph's Church in Aldgate?

Can't help you there; I'd go with GM fiat.

Originally Posted by Icelander

--- 2b) How much could be done to improvise weapons and armour from the typical contents of a foundry or blacksmith's shop in 2-3 hours?

Depends on how improvised you're talking about; taking some sheet iron and cutting it to roughly the right size is pretty quick, anything more fitted/complex is going to be harder.

Originally Posted by Icelander

--- 3a) Could the sewing be done in an hour, two or three or would it inevitably take longer? She'd be starting from clothing that already counts as armour; leather butcher's aprons, layering them and together to make armour and then sewing an outside covering on to keep the chains in place.

Per my husband, who is a tailor, what you're describing would take the better part of a full day, even if MacManus and some others are available to do some of the donkey work for Mrs. Eisenstadt. If the Eisenstadts have any daughters who have learned from their mother and can work in parallel, you might be able to cut it down to 12 or so hours, but not less than that.


*I have period maps, but they do not specify types of shops. Someone who lives in London or is familiar with its history, particularly East End's history, might know where there is a street where blacksmiths traditionally worked there or about any foundries that might have been founded in the Victorian era, but survived into the 20th century.[/QUOTE]

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Dalillama

A wide assortment of knives and cudgels, as well as various occupational tools that can be easily adapted to combat, including but not limited to hammers, shovels, picks, axes and hooks.

Yes. A decided lack of firearms.

Originally Posted by Dalillama

Primarily in businesses, as well as in the hands of people who are prone to using them on others (notably knives and cudgels).

Yes, indeed, the first armed people that formed the nucleous of resistance to monsters, apart form the PCs, were public-minded criminals who did not wish to see their working girls, johns, neighbours, customers and clientale murdered.

Originally Posted by Dalillama

Possibly; by this era, veterans are unlikely to have owned their own weapons or be officially permitted to take them home, but some do anyway. Also, there's the possibility of weapons used in some less official conflict, which will often be obsolescent, even to flintlock muskets.

Probably not.

Would railway stations or warehouses have any possibility for firearms or ammunition? Presumably the military uses railways to move weapons and ammo...

Also, what are the London Commercial Sale Rooms west of Mark Lane, extending to Mincing Lane? They purport to be for the public sale of colonial produce, but what does that actually entail? What is located there?

Originally Posted by Dalillama

Almost certainly; I don't know about foundries, but there were small smithies, farriers, and the like scattered throughout the East End.

Can't help you there; I'd go with GM fiat.

Would you find it plausible that I'd posit an old-fashioned farrier and blacksmith on Aldgate High Street?

And that I'd have a smaller shop run by a more modern and forward-looking German Jewish immigrant in the north part of the Minories?

Originally Posted by Dalillama

Depends on how improvised you're talking about; taking some sheet iron and cutting it to roughly the right size is pretty quick, anything more fitted/complex is going to be harder.

Well, while later on there may indeed be time for more proper smithing, at the present, the PCs have only some 2-5* hours to prepare for a raid on a literal army of criminals and other unsavoury characters at the Royal Mint, where they are holding almost a hundred women meant for sacrifice at midnight.

They may be able to take some stout survivors who have the proper experience and skills with them, especially if they are able to provide more arms and armour to the citizens' defence teams who stay behind to defend the more helpless refugees.

At the very least, it would be good if the dozen or so people they take into battle have some armour against knives and perhaps improvised polearms. At best, chest protection that will stop shotgun pellets or small pistols would be wonderful.

*Depending on how little time they intend to give themselves for the actual fighting.

Originally Posted by Dalillama

Per my husband, who is a tailor, what you're describing would take the better part of a full day, even if MacManus and some others are available to do some of the donkey work for Mrs. Eisenstadt. If the Eisenstadts have any daughters who have learned from their mother and can work in parallel, you might be able to cut it down to 12 or so hours, but not less than that.

Mrs. Aisenstadt has six sons, four daughters and three daughters-in-law, not to mention some dozen or so nieces or nieces-by-marriage. All can sew and many of them make part of their living by it. One of her elder sons has a leather goods store that is next to the butcher store of her husband and his wife is very good at working with leather, almost as good at the senior Mrs. Aisenstadt herself.

There are also more than sixty female refugees in St. Botolph's church (out of some one hundred), as well as some two hundred female Jewish ones (out of almost five hundred). Most of the Jewish women can sew and despite 'prostitute' being the most common profession among the Anglicans survivors from Whitechapel, there are not a few among them who can sew.

Father MacManus asks for his armour at around 4 o'clock in the day. Of course, it is still Sabbath at that time, but given that this is a matter of life-and-death, Mrs. Aisenstadt, at least, is inclined to interpret the matter leniently and start work immediately, not waiting for two more hours for it to officially end.

The other PCs have all left for their various tasks before 8 o'clock and it would be best if Father MacManus could leave too. If absolutely necessary, he can start out at 9 o'clock, but absolutely no later.

What could he reasonably expect to have finished in that time? Remember, it is okay if the final product gives -1 DX and it does not have to be pretty or comfortable for long periods. We were aiming for 60 lbs. of total weight, but assuming that some good metal chains or other ways to protect the chest area are found, I think the player would actually be okay with 100 lbs. if that means that his chest armour can stand up to pistol and shotgun fire.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Dalillama

Per my husband, who is a tailor, what you're describing would take the better part of a full day

Presumably that depends on the weight of leather, the quality of fit, and the quality of stitching. Taking leather sheets, making holes in them with an awl, wrapping it around the torso, and lacing it together with heavy cord shouldn't be too time consuming (though simply cutting any material suitable for armor is going to be quite time consuming). If you want to shape it so it actually has good coverage and fits well, it's a lot bigger task.

However, I would suggest forgetting about general improvised armor, other than heavy clothing (DR 1 vs cutting) and instead constructing improvised shields.

[Dalillama]

Originally Posted by Icelander

Would railway stations or warehouses have any possibility for firearms or ammunition? Presumably the military uses railways to move weapons and ammo...

I beleive that those are stored in military depots, with rail spurs, but I could be mistaken.

Originally Posted by Icelander

Also, what are the London Commercial Sale Rooms west of Mark Lane, extending to Mincing Lane? They purport to be for the public sale of colonial produce, but what does that actually entail? What is located there?

Produce generally refers to plant-based foodstuffs, and crops generally. In 1888, you'll probably be seeing a lot of tea, spices, and such from India.

Originally Posted by Icelander

Would you find it plausible that I'd posit an old-fashioned farrier and blacksmith on Aldgate High Street?

And that I'd have a smaller shop run by a more modern and forward-looking German Jewish immigrant in the north part of the Minories?

Yes to both.

Originally Posted by Icelander

Well, while later on there may indeed be time for more proper smithing, at the present, the PCs have only some 2-5* hours to prepare for a raid on a literal army of criminals and other unsavoury characters at the Royal Mint, where they are holding almost a hundred women meant for sacrifice at midnight.

They may be able to take some stout survivors who have the proper experience and skills with them, especially if they are able to provide more arms and armour to the citizens' defence teams who stay behind to defend the more helpless refugees.

At the very least, it would be good if the dozen or so people they take into battle have some armour against knives and perhaps improvised polearms. At best, chest protection that will stop shotgun pellets or small pistols would be wonderful.

*Depending on how little time they intend to give themselves for the actual fighting.


Mrs. Eisenstadt has six sons, four daughters and three daughters-in-law, not to mention some dozen or so nieces or nieces-by-marriage. All can sew and many of them make part of their living by it. One of her elder sons has a leather goods store that is next to the butcher store of her husband and his wife is very good at working with leather, almost as good at the senior Mrs. Eisenstadt herself.

There are also more than sixty female refugees in St. Botolph's church (out of some one hundred), as well as some two hundred female Jewish ones (out of almost five hundred). Most of the Jewish women can sew and despite 'prostitute' being the most common profession among the Anglicans survivors from Whitechapel, there are not a few among them who can sew.

Father MacManus asks for his armour at around 4 o'clock in the day. Of course, it is still Sabbath at that time, but given that this is a matter of life-and-death, Mrs. Eisenstadt, at least, is inclined to interpret the matter leniently and start work immediately, not waiting for two more hours for it to officially end.

The other PCs have all left for their various tasks before 8 o'clock and it would be best if Father MacManus could leave too. If absolutely necessary, he can start out at 9 o'clock, but absolutely no later.

What could he reasonably expect to have finished in that time? Remember, it is okay if the final product gives -1 DX and it does not have to be pretty or comfortable for long periods. We were aiming for 60 lbs. of total weight, but assuming that some good metal chains or other ways to protect the chest area are found, I think the player would actually be okay with 100 lbs. if that means that his chest armour can stand up to pistol and shotgun fire.

Given the available hands and resources described, that's probably enough time to rough-cut a pair of sheet-iron rectangles to be strapped on front and back of the torso. Since you've got 2+ blacksmiths, the other shop can probably slap up some bracers for you out of chains and iron bars; they'll be heavy, and they'll chafe like mad, but for the short term that won't matter, and they will turn knife cuts and stop things with teeth savaging your forearms, which appears to be what you're after. That'll also save your seamstresses some work, and with that many hands, you can definitely put together a sort of basic cuirass. Sew two aprons together back-to back, put a big pocket on each one and slide some sheet iron in, put iron rods down the existing pockets in the skirts, and you've got something near as good as what Ned Kelly wore. It'll stop knives and hand weapons, and most pistol rounds, although I wouldn't bet on it against a good rifle. Say probably DR ~5, with a roll of 6 on 1d bypassing the armor on the chest and a roll of 5-6 bypassing the skirt, in both cases leaving only the DR 1 from the leather (Most of my books are still packed, so I haven't got a comparison handy).

Originally Posted by Anthony

Presumably that depends on the weight of leather, the quality of fit, and the quality of stitching. Taking leather sheets, making holes in them with an awl, wrapping it around the torso, and lacing it together with heavy cord shouldn't be too time consuming (though simply cutting any material suitable for armor is going to be quite time consuming). If you want to shape it so it actually has good coverage and fits well, it's a lot bigger task.

More time-consuming than you might think, actually.

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by Icelander

Would railway stations or warehouses have any possibility for firearms or ammunition? Presumably the military uses railways to move weapons and ammo...

Yes, but they are most unlikely to have left them parked in railway sidings in a city overnight, on grounds of both safety and theft. Commercial manufacture of military weapons was a substantial industry in Birmingham, but the gun-makers of London were selling sporting arms to the wealthy, and weren't based in your area.

Also, what are the London Commercial Sale Rooms west of Mark Lane, extending to Mincing Lane? They purport to be for the public sale of colonial produce, but what does that actually entail? What is located there?

Likely colonial produce, apart from tea and spices, would be fabrics, artworks and similar geegaws. The UK did not import arms from its colonies until things got desperate during WWI; exporting to them was much more the idea.

Would you find it plausible that I'd posit an old-fashioned farrier and blacksmith on Aldgate High Street?

More likely in a side-street off it.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Anthony

Presumably that depends on the weight of leather, the quality of fit, and the quality of stitching. Taking leather sheets, making holes in them with an awl, wrapping it around the torso, and lacing it together with heavy cord shouldn't be too time consuming (though simply cutting any material suitable for armor is going to be quite time consuming). If you want to shape it so it actually has good coverage and fits well, it's a lot bigger task.

The player is resigned that there will be gaps in coverage along the sides, covered only by, at most DR 1* leather used to connect together the two thicker areas of layered aprons. Also, fit will be as good at it can be in 3-5 hours, not as good as actual purpose-made leather armour could be.

Is there any reason why 30+ lbs. of wrapped chains around the chest area would not be practical armour, in particular if a seamstress is available to make a leather undergarment (and any cloth needed) and sew a leather covering above?

How much DR could that give? Is treating it as Cheap Heavy Mail with the Banded option reasonable or too generous?

Are there any better options, in the timeframe that Father MacManus has? Assuming that a foundry and an ironmonger's shop are both nearby.

Originally Posted by Anthony

However, I would suggest forgetting about general improvised armor, other than heavy clothing (DR 1 vs cutting) and instead constructing improvised shields.

No doubt there will be some improvised shields, but those do not go too well with the most effective weapons that the survivors have available, i.e. shotguns and rifles. Also, they require some training to use alongside most of the effective improvised weapons, such as polearms, mauls, axes and such.

I imagine that fixing knives to poles will be an eary priority for refugees with some military knowledge unable to find enough firearms. Skill with a bayonet is fairly transferable to spears, bills and glaives and the wide variety of bladed instruments available will give plenty of polearm heads.

On the other hand, anyone who proposes to leave his home or the safety of holy ground, for example members of the foraging parties, will have to contend with a lot of threats that do crushing, cutting or impaling damage. Crushing and cutting is probably most common; usually 1d-5 cut to 1d-3 cut from flesh-eating rats and pigeons, crazed pecking fowl and chickens, but with 1d-2 cut and up to 1d+1 cut or more being far too possible in the case of horribly twisted feral cats and larger fowl, carrion eating wild dogs, demonic pigs escaped from slaughterhouses and even stranger things.

Some of the criminals and other unfortunates who roam the streets have grown monstrous teeth and claws and even spiked stingers; with 1d+1 cut or 1d imp being not uncommon damage from them. Criminals who lack such natural weaponry usually carry razors, knives, cudgels, hammers and cleavers, doing anywhere from 1d-3 cut to 2d cut and 1d to 2d+1 cr. There are also twisted horse-beasts with tentacles or glowing eyes, most of them with huge hungry mouths full of teeth. Those do 2d+ cut and 3d+ crushing.

The organised groups of kidnappers who appear to be working for the villains tend to have firearms, with most carrying pistols that do 1d pi- to 2d pi+, but some having stolen shotguns doing 1d-3 pi- up to 2d-1 pi. There are a few with old breech-loading muskets with Snider conversions (3d+2 pi++) or even older muzzle-loaders (4d pi+ to 4d+2 pi++), but there are probably not going to be any practical armour designs that matter against such weaponry.

Just to survive against the most common threats of feral and twisted animals, however, DR 1-2 armour for the legs is extremely practical. Criminals with claws or melee weapons make that same DR 1-2 elsewhere also a very desirable acquisition. If one could have DR 3+ over vital areas, it would not be a bad idea, either.

Particularly for a ST 20 PC about to deliberately head into danger, against all sorts of hostile creatures.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by johndallman

Yes, but they are most unlikely to have left them parked in railway sidings in a city overnight, on grounds of both safety and theft. Commercial manufacture of military weapons was a substantial industry in Birmingham, but the gun-makers of London were selling sporting arms to the wealthy, and weren't based in your area.

Yes, that is correct.

I was thinking that if any UK-made weapons were going to be shipped from the docks in London on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday, they might have been moved by rail to a station near the docks. If they were there by 3 o'clock Friday, they could not have been moved out of the area again, because the boundaries of the affected area do not allow anyone to exit into the rest of the world.

How likely is it that a shipment of weapons or ammunition, either military/governmental or commercial*, would be shipped from the London Docks?

And would such weapons or ammunition be moved by rail to the Fenchurch Station first or would they be off-loaded from a train somewhere else?

*For example, something for sale in the colonies or perhaps being ordered by a British company engaged in Empire Building, such as the Imperial British East Africa Company or the British South Africa Company (newly incorporated at this time, not yet the recipient of a Royal charter).

Originally Posted by johndallman

Likely colonial produce, apart from tea and spices, would be fabrics, artworks and similar geegaws. The UK did not import arms from its colonies until things got desperate during WWI; exporting to them was much more the idea.

I was thinking that if it was a huge building full of very valuable tea and spices, not to mention potentially silk and artworks (or even diamonds and gold), it might have armed guards.

Originally Posted by johndallman

More likely in a side-street off it.

Very good.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Dalillama

I beleive that those are stored in military depots, with rail spurs, but I could be mistaken.

Military weapons are stored there, yes, but the question is, does any weaponry or ammunition go through the London docks? London is a huge port and the colonies probably buy a lot of ammunition and firearms from England.

Anything that was at Fenchurch Station, Shadwell Station or the Royal Mint Street Depot by 3 o'clock Friday would be still somewhere in the area. Could this include a shipment of firearms or ammunition?

Originally Posted by Dalillama

Given the available hands and resources described, that's probably enough time to rough-cut a pair of sheet-iron rectangles to be strapped on front and back of the torso.

That, of course, would be wonderful. And it might even be possible to wrap chains around the sheet-iron rectangles, in order to increase DR and cover weakspots at the sides. That could count as Cheap Mail-and-Plates.

Originally Posted by Dalillama

Since you've got 2+ blacksmiths, the other shop can probably slap up some bracers for you out of chains and iron bars; they'll be heavy, and they'll chafe like mad, but for the short term that won't matter, and they will turn knife cuts and stop things with teeth savaging your forearms, which appears to be what you're after.

Just so. And they won't chafe if he wears cotton padding under thick leather long gloves.

Originally Posted by Dalillama

That'll also save your seamstresses some work, and with that many hands, you can definitely put together a sort of basic cuirass. Sew two aprons together back-to back, put a big pocket on each one and slide some sheet iron in, put iron rods down the existing pockets in the skirts, and you've got something near as good as what Ned Kelly wore.

Now, now, Dan Howard says that New Kelly's armour was DR 12+. I doubt that Father MacManus can get there in the time he has.

The design sounds good, though. Perhaps just put iron rods down for the front pocket, because it sounds awkward to have flapping stuff behind you and painful to fall on.

Originally Posted by Dalillama

It'll stop knives and hand weapons, and most pistol rounds, although I wouldn't bet on it against a good rifle. Say probably DR ~5, with a roll of 6 on 1d bypassing the armor on the chest and a roll of 5-6 bypassing the skirt, in both cases leaving only the DR 1 from the leather (Most of my books are still packed, so I haven't got a comparison handy).

This sounds good. Depending on how thick and heavy we want to go, wrapping the chest in chains remains as an option.

What about helmets? Aside from a leather skull cap with DR 1*, which can probably be obtained, are there any other possibilities? Does a policeman's helmet give any useful DR?

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by Icelander

And would such weapons or ammunition be moved by rail to the Fenchurch Station first or would they be off-loaded from a train somewhere else?

A large shipment of military arms is unlikely, simply because they didn't happen all the time. Some sporting arms are positively likely, but finding them will be a problem: the docks and warehouses are large.

There were train lines onto the major docks and to warehouses, owing to the lack of vehicles more capable than horse-drawn carts to move goods by road.

I don't think Fenchurch Street Station has ever been somewhere goods were transhipped on a large scale. It is a passenger terminus and doesn't have much room for a goods yard.

I was thinking that if it was a huge building full of very valuable tea and spices, not to mention potentially silk and artworks (or even diamonds and gold), it might have armed guards.

If so, not many of them, and they'll have revolvers.