Dark Age

2019-01-03T13:38:06Z

2600:1006:B128:BDD3:5C0F:F861:E464:9EBC: /* Notes */

The Western [[Roman Empire]] is generally said to have fallen in 476 CE, which was in of itself part of a long gradual decline as the Empire fell for a wide variety of internal and external reasons which are beyond the scope of this article. The central Government broke down, barbarians tribes such as the Saxons and the Franks and the Goths invaded and took over and many urban centers that grew under Roman rule withered on the vine as their people fled to the countryside and a fair bit of higher learning was lost in Western Europe. For the sake of curating this marked the end of the [[Classical Period]] period which lasted until about 1100 or so called '''The Dark Ages'''.

During this time warlords carved out new kingdoms, handing conquered lands out to their favored warriors as they went who'd tax peasants and used that money to buy [[maile]] and [[helmet]]s and [[Horses]], gradually morphing into the first [[Knight]]s. They also made alliances with the Catholic Church, which arose from the ashes of Rome offering it's services in placating the peasants and doing things that required book learning in exchange for their aide in spreading the faith, a say in the way things were run and various privileges. Around 793 the [[Viking]]s began to show up and would remain an active element for decades to come.

== Notes ==
* This is an western European thing. Byzantium, [[China]], India, Persia and the Caliphates were on the whole doing pretty well at this time.
* Long story short term "Dark Age" has become rather contentious in recent decades among historians and at the very least it has been judged that people from the Renaissance onward overestimated in how severe the fall was. Many prefer the far less loaded '''Early Medieval Period''' to describe this period of history.
* There are other periods of time labeled "Dark Ages" such as the Greek Dark Ages between the Late Bronze Age Collapse and the [[Classical Period]].
* The real reason we call this period the “Dark Age” is due to the relative lack of writings we have in comparison to the ages coming before and after. Between the high political instability and drop in literacy, the only people making books at this time were monks. That’s not to say it was a total intellectual vacuum; the University was invented in this time period, and would build a network of schools that would really come into prominence once the Renaissance hits.

== The appeal of the Dark Age ==
How do you like your medieval fantasy? Do you like it to be harsher, grittier and cruder side? Then the Dark Ages are a good place to mine for ideas. People in shattered isolated settlements where buildings are rough while a king theoretically reigns but the power lies in the hands of local nobles and knights. Viking raiders on longships searching for gold and thralls raiding who do battle with scruffy knights in dirty scale and maile who are but marginally more civilized than the pagan barbarians that they do battle. Both of which are more likely to preserve their deeds in song than with words. A few monks copying down a few ancient texts that they can not read for future generations. You can even work in a bit of a post apocalyptic vibe with a Dark Age setting, where people build crude wooden fortresses and barn like halls exist alongside the remains of more impressive structures of stone from a now fallen empire. Civilization once stood here and it might do so again, but now is an age of turmoil and the sword.

== Dark inspired Games, Factions and Settings ==
* The Riders of Rohan
fill me
{{Skub}}
[[Category: History]]

Plate armor

2019-01-03T13:29:37Z

2600:1006:B128:BDD3:5C0F:F861:E464:9EBC:

'''Plate Armor''' is, simply put, armor made of solid plates of metal, essentially a slab of metal made to be worn by people. The cumbersomeness and the lack of mobility is often exaggerated in media, mostly due to confusing tourney armor with combat armor. Tourney armor indeed was unreasonably heavy, thick and restricting in movement, precisely because no one wanted to die or just break a rib (which considering the shitty medicine of that days could be fatal as well) on a tourney, but when knights and men at arms went to war, they clad themselves in a much lighter combat armor, in which they could run, jump, or even perform a somersault ''more'' easily than chain mail (which had its weight distributed almost entirely on the shoulders) - because in a real fight you should fight for hours rather than few minutes, and mobility is just as important as armor for survivability.

A decent plate armored suit could deflect or shatter most blades and arrows that struck it due to its hardiness, requiring those who wielded these weapons to either find chinks in the armor to stab at the wearer (which is a bit hard when he's trying to chop your head off with impunity), or use concussive/heavy piercing weapons like [[mace]]s and [[warhammer]]s, which could either bypass or penetrate the plating. Arrows had limited effect as well, although bolts shot from [[crossbow]]s typically had enough power to at least dent plate armor, and heavy crossbows could plow through it with ease. Contrary to popular beliefs guns didn't pierce through plate with ease - only high-caliber muskets had enough power in their shot to reliably pierce though the plate, and much like heavy crossbows they payed for it with their sluggishly slow firing rate. From the times of sword and shot also originate the term "bullet-proof", as when a noble or a mercenary went to buy a new set of armor (or just a plate cuirass), he got a pistol with him, and "proofed" his buy by shooting at it at point-blank - good armor suit were supposed to hold that shot, and good luck selling anyone a suit which hadn't passed the test, because who the fuck gonna buy and armor that couldn't stop a pistol in a times when everyone and his dog is armed with one. Even in Sengoku era Japan, where militaries absolutely spammed guns, most conscript soldiers had breastplates.

Fiction often portrays plate armor as the most expensive armor there is, but it really wasn't. By the 15th century (not that far after plate armor itself was invented) high demand and the invention of the automatic (water wheel powered) hammer resulted in "munitions grade" plate being produced in large quantities. Conversely, [[mail]] remained very labor intense to make and was entirely obsolete beyond armoring joints. Never the less, a suit of custom made full plate was well beyond what most people could afford back in the day. Even with modern day tools, getting a suit of armor is still expensive since it has to be made to order to fit your body, and you have to maintain your current body weight or else it won’t fit. Because of how a full suit is dependent on interlocking pieces, getting the dimensions just right is crucial. Munition armor was rarely ever full plate, usually limited to a cuirass and helmet, or a “half-plate” suit of armor that only covered the upper body.

In fantasy, plate armor is typically given to warrior classes to denote their position as the front-line close combat fighters. Its commonly also the victim of [[Fantasy Armor]] syndrome where the armor is so bulky beyond belief that you start to wonder how the wearer is able to move, much less fight, when the armor is twice as big and heavy as him.

== Parts of Plate Armor ==
[[File:Plate armor.jpg|250px|thumb|right|A standard suit of plate armor. Use the list to the left to reference the parts]]
*Plate helmet (many variants existed, although they're all designed to protect the head)
**Visor (Covered the face. Was usually hinged with the helmet, although some people did not bother with visors)
*Gorget (covers the neck)
*Spaulders (covers the shoulders)
**[[Pauldrons]] (an evolution of the spaulders. Pauldrons are larger than spaulders, not only covering the shoulder, but most of the upper arm as well. They're also reliable as blunt implements to shoulder charge somebody with.)
*Rerebraces (covers the upper arms)
*Couter (covers the elbows)
*Vambraces (covers the forearms)
*Gauntlets (covers the hands)
*Curiass (plate which covers the torso)
*Breastplate (single plate which covers the front of the torso)
*Backplate (covers the back of the torso)
*Tassets (covers the upper legs. They're the plate skirt that covered the cuisse)
*Cuisses (covers the thighs)
*Poleyn (covers the knees)
*Greaves (covers the lower legs)
*Sabatons (boots for walking and covers the feet)

== Plate armor by region ==
*Ancient Greece
*Medieval Europe
*Japan
{{Stub}}
[[Category: History]]

2d4chan - User contributions [en]

Dark Age

Plate armor