Equipment loadouts for early 15th century?

[Anders]

What would be some loadouts for warriors in early 15th century Germany? What does the knight, the infantryman and the archer use for equipment? Grateful for help.

[phayman53]

A write-up of a specifically 15th Century German knight can be found in Loadouts: Low-Tech Armor, I really recommend that book if you are looking for historical loadouts.

As for what a more common soldier would wear, that is a little more difficult. There is significant evidence for cheap, open-faced sallets for head armor. Body armor is a little tougher. Based on artistic evidence, many would have worn plate limb armor to a greater or lesser degree (maybe cheap quality). Brigandine armor for the torso also seems to have been pretty common. Likewise, Padded Jacks were very common in the 15th Century and were often long sleeved. Loadouts: LT writes it up as Medium Layered Cloth on the Torso and Light Layered Cloth on the Arms.

Archers specifically may have avoided arm armor, though not all seem to have. But leg armor is often shown on them in artistic depictions. Crossbowmen also can often be relatively completely covered in armor in this period.

All this to say that many soldiers still seem to have gone into battle with almost no armor, though a helmet or head protection of some kind was probably almost always worn. Indeed, there are even depictions of scale type helmets from the medieval period, though they may be earlier than this.

[Varyon]

Based on the fluff text in GURPS Loadouts: Low Tech Armor, I think you could use the (mid-)15C Ritter loadout for early 15C knights, just don't add in the Fluting or Hardened Steel options. Can't help with infantry and archers, however.

[johndallman]

I think you mean GURPS Loadouts: Low-Tech Armour.

[phayman53]

Originally Posted by johndallman

I think you mean GURPS Loadouts: Low-Tech Armour.

Oops, my bad! I was going off memory, not checking the title. I'll fix it.

[phayman53]

One other thing that I have heard is that mail as a primary armor never went out of use for common soldiers and that sometimes common soldiers would wear outdated armors that they could get used--the armor used by the peasants at the battle of Wisby is sited as an example of outdated armor from several decades prior being used by commoners who could not afford the current style.

[phayman53]

Here is link to a site that shows manuscript miniatures from the medieval period: http://manuscriptminiatures.com/sear...n=&manuscript=

The above link is filtered for German sources from the year 1400 to 1425 and seems to show both knights and some commoners. It would take a little work to "build" the armors from these, but maybe it will be useful to you.

EDIT: And it also looks like this period is a little too early for Sallet type helmets, at least according to these miniatures. It looks like different types of Bascinets are most common (including the fully enclosed "Frog-Mouthed" Bascinet), but there also seem to be a lot of Kettle Hats. Bunch of different types of body armor too--from plate, mail, and combinations of the two to textile armors.

Also, here is a direct link to the search page so you can adjust dates and locations to your specific needs: http://manuscriptminiatures.com/search/

[Anders]

Thanks y'all!

[Joseph Paul]

I believe there are examples of French sallets that date to that period.

[phayman53]

Originally Posted by Joseph Paul

I believe there are examples of French sallets that date to that period.

That may be, and perhaps it would be appropriate on opponents if they fight the French, but the manuscript evidence I have seen (though certainly not exhaustive my any means!) seems to not show Sallets in Germany until about 1450. EDIT: But, like all manuscript evidence, dates can be off significantly and they may not show everything--especially not the latest innovations. That said, even if there were Sallets in Germany in the first part of the 15th century, they probably did not filter down to the common ranks until later.