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Author Topic: Armor Naming Scheme  (Read 2569 times)

Lord Dullard

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Armor Naming Scheme
« on: August 27, 2008, 09:19:23 pm »

The current naming scheme of the armor is somewhat erroneous.

'Greaves' are a piece of armor worn below the knee. The current 'greaves' should probably be replaced by Cuisses and/or Tassets.

The current 'Plate mail' should probably be replaced by Cuirass. A cuirass is a piece of armor that specifically covers the chest/back, where 'plate mail' refers to the entirety of a plate armor set.

Same goes for chain.
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Granite26

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Re: Armor Naming Scheme
« Reply #1 on: August 28, 2008, 08:42:24 am »

Cuirass would certainly resolve some confusion.  Breastplate maybe even more.  I'm not sure how I feel about the greaves through...  Culturally if not historically it means plate metal leggings.

Jetman123

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Re: Armor Naming Scheme
« Reply #2 on: August 28, 2008, 08:49:08 am »

Plate _armor_ you mean. There's no such thing as "plate mail". :P It's a common misnomer, all too common.

There were two basic forms of plate, field plate and full plate. Field plate, or partial plate, was worn by dedicated heavy infantry so they had moderate freedom of movement while still offering good protection. Full plate was worn by cavalry riders or knights that had dismounted (usually for defensive purposes). While extremely good on protection, it also severely limits movement.

Being 100% accurate on the distinction is not neccessary, of course. The point is I think it should be renamed to full plate or just plate instead of plate mail.

I do agree here, though. It should have it divided into "cuirass", "greaves/cuisses" "gauntlets" "helm" "high/low boots". And there should be an option to make an entire set of plate armor. :D
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Align

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Re: Armor Naming Scheme
« Reply #3 on: August 28, 2008, 09:05:11 am »

Cuirasses/breastplates are armless, aren't they? With just that and gauntlets you're leaving quite a lot of body vulnerable to attacks, so should there be another piece for shoulder/arm cover?
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Granite26

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Re: Armor Naming Scheme
« Reply #4 on: August 28, 2008, 09:15:26 am »

So far as I'm concerned, the major issue is that it isn't readily apparent from the current nomenclature that the platemail is ONLY the top piece in a suit of armour, and a name that properly denotes this (Cuirass, Breastplate, any number of other things) would better convey to new players the importance of greaves.

Mephansteras

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Re: Armor Naming Scheme
« Reply #5 on: August 28, 2008, 10:33:06 am »

I like it. And it's an easy change to make in the raws.

I think I'll go do that now for my game.
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Neonivek

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Re: Armor Naming Scheme
« Reply #6 on: August 28, 2008, 10:35:40 am »

Personally I thought Platemail truthfully refers to a type of armor all together... a class... Involving metal plates of armor. rather then refering to the Breastplate itself or any part in particular.
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Mephansteras

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Re: Armor Naming Scheme
« Reply #7 on: August 28, 2008, 11:25:03 am »

In general, yes, Plate Armor refers to a suit of full metal plates. Possibly with some chain covering the joints and other bendy areas. But for DF specifically, the Plate Mail piece is simply torso armor, not covering the legs, hands, or head. Which is why renaming it it to Cuirass (maybe even Plate Cuirass to differentiate it from a leather one) would make more sense.
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Techhead

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Re: Armor Naming Scheme
« Reply #8 on: August 28, 2008, 02:51:48 pm »

Plate _armor_ you mean. There's no such thing as "plate mail". :P It's a common misnomer, all too common.
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Tamren

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Re: Armor Naming Scheme
« Reply #9 on: August 28, 2008, 03:22:55 pm »

Not proven wrong. Plated mail is something else entirely. Its chainmail with hard plates riveted to it. Plate armour is simply hard plates held together by leather straps.

This change is long overdue. And having modular plate armour would let us do a lot of fun things.
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Jetman123

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Re: Armor Naming Scheme
« Reply #10 on: August 28, 2008, 07:15:32 pm »

Yes, plat_ed_ mail is a different type of armor. Full or field plate is different than plated mail.

Plated mail is chainmail with metal plates added for extra protection. Plate armor is armor plates on a backing of leather buckles and straps to distribute the weight evenly. It's easy to get confused, seeing as most metallic armors are "mail" of some sort (chainmail, scalemail, etc).

Chainmail was often worn underneath plate armor to cushion the impact of blunt impact weapons, and to protect the unarmored joints in the suit, but it was not attached to the plate. Plated mail litterally has the metal plates attached to the chainmail, I beleive.

A breastplate is a cuirass. They're synonyms, I believe. Correct me if I'm wrong.
« Last Edit: August 28, 2008, 07:18:46 pm by Jetman123 »
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Mephansteras

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Re: Armor Naming Scheme
« Reply #11 on: August 28, 2008, 07:26:33 pm »

Technically, a Cuirass includes both the front and back plates, while a Breastplate is just the front.
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Granite26

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Re: Armor Naming Scheme
« Reply #12 on: August 28, 2008, 09:07:17 pm »

Personally, the only dog I have in this fight is that when I started playing, I didn't realize that Plate Mail only covered the upper body.  I think a name that obviously reflects this (cuirass is accurate but still slightly obscure compared to breastplate) would be helpful to new players.

Dame de la Licorne

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Re: Armor Naming Scheme
« Reply #13 on: August 28, 2008, 09:24:24 pm »

Personally, the only dog I have in this fight is that when I started playing, I didn't realize that Plate Mail only covered the upper body.  I think a name that obviously reflects this (cuirass is accurate but still slightly obscure compared to breastplate) would be helpful to new players.

Same here.  I don't know how many injured/dead dwarfs it took before I looked on the wiki and saw that I needed more than just the "plate mail".  Change is long overdue.
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Fieari

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Re: Armor Naming Scheme
« Reply #14 on: August 28, 2008, 10:52:41 pm »

"Plate mail" sounds like it would be full-plate with mail worn underneath, though I'm not sure what good that would do anyone.

Now, wearing silk should be an armor type that can go with any other armor, which would reduce damage dealt in removing arrows.
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