Semi-Historical Arms and Armor The following are some notes about the weapons and armor ...

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Semi-Historical Arms and Armor

The following are some notes about the weapons and armor tables in D&D 5th edition, as they pertain to
their relationship to modern understandings of historical arms and armor.

In general, 5th edition is far more accurate to ancient and medieval sources regarding these topics than prior
editions, but for the sake of balance and ease of play without the onerous restrictions of reality, there are
still some expected incongruences.

This article attempts to explain some particular facets about the use of arms and armor throughout our long,
shared history, and to offer some suggestions (imbalanced as they may be) on how such items would have
been used in particular times and places.

A note on generalities:

One of the best things 5th edition offers in these tables is the generalization of particular weapons and armor
compared to prior editions. Is there a significant, functional difference between a half-sword, arming sword,
backsword, wakizashi, tulwar, or any other various forms of predominately one-handed pokey and slashy
things with 13 inch, sometimes 14 or 20 or even 30 inch blades? Well, actually yes, but that level of
discrimination is often not noticeable in the granularity of the combat mechanics of most systems, and,
more importantly, how modern readers often distinguish them is often anachronistic.

For instance, almost all straight sword-like weapons, be it arming swords, half-swords, back swords,
longswords or even great swords like claymores (but not Messers!) are referred to in ancient and medieval
texts (MS I.33, Liberi, etc) as… swords. Just swords. Often when there are references to sword types by
specific names (such as a bastard sword, which is often identified as a hand-and-half sword in modern
reviews), it is not always clear what that name refers to and popular culture attempts to fill in the blanks.

In modern archeology, arms and armor have been variously categorized by age, function, physical shape, or
any number of other salient attributes. Most of it is fairly dry and boring to the uninitiated, so we’ll try to
strike a balance.

Armor:

General overview:
Now and again the modern reader may ask to himself, “why would someone wear lamellar armor when
laminar is listed in this table right below and is mostly better in every single aspect?” Conversely, game
designers sometimes try to ‘balance’ armor and give a disadvantaged one some aspect that is superior in
some fashion. Both viewpoints skirt around the historical rationale: there are considerations when acquiring
armor (is it legal to wear? Is it comfortable to wear for long hours, much less day-to-day? Will it last me a
long while? Is the form acceptable by my professed religion? Does it make me look ridiculous in front of my
peers?) completely aside from the armor’s protective function.

You will also note that with the change in descriptions of the armor, the armor in each class may seem a bit
‘heavier’ than in the PHB, with examples of plate armor derivatives in medium armor, for example. This,
however, should not be interpreted as to mean that soldiers historically wore quite substantial armor across
all time periods; to the contrary, the vast majority of soldiers for much of history (especially prior to the
Hundred Years War and in any location that is relatively warm) wore quite a ‘light’ assortment of armor.

Armor Changes: for more detailed fluff descriptions, see the Armor Description section below.

Rename Studded Leather to Brigandine. Studded leather is an erroneous modern reference to the way
the inside of Brigandine looked; steel or iron platelets were studded to the inside of the leather jacket. It is
those platelets, and not the studs, that offer the defensive capabilities of that armor.

Rename Chain Shirt to Mail, or Byrnie/Hauberk.

Rename Scale Mail to Scale Armor. In general, “scale” armors, with the scale plates attached to a leather
or linen back and not (usually) punched together, predate or are concurrent with early mail, and, especially
in its earlier usages during the Bronze Age, did not include mail. Mail with scale-shaped iron or steel plates
either sandwiched between or attached on top are a much later invention and are lamellar or laminar.

Rename and replace Breastplate with Lamellar Armor. They’re different things entirely, but mechanically
Lamellar would fall somewhere here. Breastplate as separate armor is more a late-Renaissance affair and as
armor would not be more protective than Brigandine.

Rename Half-Plate to Partial Plate or ¾ Plate. Half Plate is a modern amalgamation of early transitional
plate armors and Landsknechts wearing plate armor, just without greaves for greater on-foot mobility.

Rename and replace Ring Mail with Laminar Armor. Ring Mail is ahistorical (see below for a description).
Laminar armor is representative of “heavy” armor prior to the rediscovery of trip hammer technology
allowing large steel plates to be readily formed. Later examples of Laminar armor may mechanically count
as plated mail.

Rename and replace Chain Mail with Plated Mail or Splinted Plate (but not splint mail, which is
ahistorical). Head-to-toe mail was generally only used in conjunction with plate as a single set of armor; this
type of mail is much finer and lighter than mail armor used as the primary form of armor. Transitional plate
armors show a wide variety of experimentation with plate placement.

Replace Splint with Early Plate.

Almost all the armors presented in the PHB are too heavy and are on the high end of spectrum of weights of
surviving pieces of armor. Historical armors would typically be in a range from 50% PHB weights up to PHB
weights for basically every armor type.

Shields:
Tower Shield/Pavise: a tower shield provides +3 AC, but imposes -10 ft/round to speed and
Disadvantage (stealth checks). Tower Shields count as heavy armor with regards to effects that mitigate
movement reduction.

Helmets, Gauntlets and Vambraces:
The PHB does not include helms with any armor other than plate. That’s a bit silly, but whatever. Helmets
may not be very heroic but were absolutely essential pieces of armor. Similarly arm protection was a high
priority (when you whack at someone their natural reaction is to raise their arms to protect their face/body).
Even if one were to carry a shield gauntlets and vambraces (leather, mail, or plate) are generally
widespread.

Armor Summary
Cost (gp) AC Str Weight (lbs.) Properties
Light Armor
Padded 5 +1+dex mod - 4-7 DA (stealth)
Leather 10 +1+dex mod - 6-8
Brigandine 45 +2+dex mod - 13-15

Medium Armor
Hide 10 +2+dex mod (max 2) - 12
Mail 50 +3+dex mod (max 2) - 20-30
Scale Armor 50 +4+dex mod (max 2) - 22-44 DA (stealth)
Lamellar Armor 400 +4+dex mod (max2) - 20-30
Partial Plate 750 +5+dex mod (max 2) - 20-45 DA (stealth)

Heavy Armor
Laminar Armor 30 14 15-30 DA (stealth)
Plated Mail 75 16 13 20-40 DA (stealth)
Early Plate 200 17 14 35-55 DA (stealth)
Plate Armor 1500 18 15 40-60 DA (stealth)

Shield
Buckler 5 +1 - 2 Light, deals 1d4
bludgeoning
Shield/Targe 10 +2 - 4-6 1d6 bludgeoning
Tower 35 +3 14 22-50 DA (stealth), -10 ft speed
Shield/Pavise

Helmets
Mail Coif 15 +0 - 1-4 Counts as light armor
Steel Cap 15 +0 - 2-5 Counts as medium armor
Great Helm 250 +0 12 2-5 Counts as heavy armor, DA
(perception) (with visor
down)

Arms:

As is the case with most competitions, there was/is a historical arms race between arms and armor. As
armor improved, particular weapons became popular as a counter; large axes were prevalent in Western
Europe circa AD 1000 because such weapons could cause structural failure of mail whereas swords generally
cannot penetrate mail. Fast forward a few hundred years and the proliferation of larger and larger plates on
armor forced a proliferation of specialty anti-armor weapons, such as war-hammers.

Simple vs. Martial:
As with many aspects of life, social and legal convention often dictated what an individual may wear just as
much as cost or weight concerns. In particular, in many city-states across the world in pre-industrial times,
it was often illegal for the common man to wear a sword, just as some modern nation-states may ban the
open carrying of certain firearms. The sword, apart from any other common weapon (spear/bow/axe), had
no other purpose than to kill a man, and was thus viewed as a high-status instrument (even when they
became increasingly cheap and prevalent during the late middle-ages).

In addition, “martial” weapons with the exception of some swords, were typically too large or cumbersome
to be carried around while one went about their daily duties, and thus not openly carried except on the
battlefield or by guards. At the end of this article are some more historical anecdotes as well as some tables
to help ‘spice’ up legal tenants regarding the carrying of weaponry and armor in your fantasy world. Soon™.

Fighting Style:
Many historical martial styles focused on the use of a single-handed weapon in one hand and an open hand
in the other without a shield. As depicted in numerous medieval treatises, an open hand would be quite
useful, particularly in grappling or deflecting an opposing polearm.

Also, as a meta-note, many cultures utilized and refined fighting techniques that would be less effective in
different circumstances. For instance, light bladed weaponry is exceptionally useful against unarmored
targets and as metal armor (plate in particular) is exhausting to use for extended periods in hot desert
temperatures, this sort of weaponry proliferated in that setting. However, in an effort to balance encounters
more generally, we add Fighting Styles that highlight the variance of historical melee combat options.

Fighting Style: Baroque:
The following feature can be selected by classes that have the Fighting Style class feature.

So long as you are not carrying a shield, you may treat any melee weapon used in one hand as a finesse
weapon. While you have a melee weapon in one hand and no shield or weapon in the other, you gain +1 AC.

Fighting Style: Tempo/Flourish: (this is the late medieval German school of fencing emphasizing
unarmored longsword techniques, following 14th century master Johannes Liechtenauer)
The following feature can be selected by classes that have the Fighting Style class feature.

You are trained to measure the rhythm of battle and counter foes by beating an adversary’s attack. You may
treat the following weapons as finesse weapons: quarterstaff, arming sword, long sword, great sword, small
sword, estoc, partisan and spear.
If you are not wearing heavy armor, you also gain +1 to attack rolls you make with all melee weapons.

Fighting Style: Ward: (again, following Liechtenauer)
The following feature can be selected by classes that have the Fighting Style class feature.

You have trained extensively in using two-handed weapon stances to counter and deflect enemy attacks.
While any warrior has trained in some of these stances, you are a master of them. These stances are
particularly formulated for longsword combat, but similar varieties abound for other two-handed weapons.

Choose one of the following stances. At 5th, 10th, and 15th level, you may choose an additional stance. Only
one stance may be active at a given time. You can switch to a known stance on your turn as a bonus action.
At 5th level you can change your stance as a free action on your turn.

German Guards:
Close/Plow Guard: While you are wielding a weapon in two hands you gain +1 to AC.

Low/Fool’s Guard: While you are wielding a weapon in two hands you deal +2 damage on all Opportunity
Attacks. You also gain a +2 bonus to initiative.

Roof/Day Guard: While you are wielding a weapon in two hands and you roll a critical hit, roll an additional
die of damage equal to the weapon’s damage die and add it to the total damage.

Ox/Unicorn Guard: While you are wielding a weapon in two hands you have reach (5ft).

Near/Tail/Iron Guard: While you are wielding a weapon in two hands, you deal +1 damage.

Wrath Guard: While you are wielding a weapon, after a successful melee hit you may immediately use your
bonus action to force the hit target to take a Strength saving throw (DC = 8+ proficiency bonus + str or dex
mod (your choice)) or be pushed 10ft directly away from you.

Italian Guards:
Boar’s Tooth Guard: While you are wielding a weapon in two hands and are hit by a melee attack, you may
use your reaction to add ½ your proficiency bonus to AC, potentially causing that attack to miss.

Crown Guard: While you are wielding a weapon in two hands you gain advantage on strength (athletics)
checks to disarm an opponent.

Extended Tail Guard: While you are wielding a weapon in two hands, when you make a successful attack,
one creature within 5ft of the original target takes str mod or dex mod damage (whichever is highest).

Long Guard: While you are wielding a weapon in two hands and an opponent misses a melee attack against
you, you gain +2 to your next melee attack roll against that opponent.

Proud Woman’s Guard: While you are wielding a weapon in two hands creatures that gain bonuses
(including advantage) on attacks due to the presence of allies within 5ft (such as pack tactics) do not gain
that bonus.

New Arms
Name Cost Damage Damage Type Weight Properties
Simple Melee
Dart/Piercer 1 gp 1d3 Piercing - Concealable, finesse, light, thrown
(30/60)
Mace (Steel) 8 gp 1d6 Bludgeoning 2.5 lbs. Hammer
Quarterstaff 2 gp 1d6 Bludgeoning 3 lbs. Reach, versatile (1d8)
Farm implements 1 gp 1d4 Slashing, 2 lbs. Light
Piercing, or
Bludgeoning
Spear, short 1 gp 1d6 Piercing 2 lbs. Thrown (20/60), versatile (1d8)
(Hasta/Angon/Assegai/
Falarica)
Martial Melee
Arming Sword/Back 15 1d8 Slashing 2.5 lbs. Sword, versatile (1d10)
Sword/Jian gp
Estoc 20 1d0 Piercing 4.5 lbs. Sword, two-handed
gp
Long Sword 25 1d10 Slashing 3 lbs. Sword, versatile (1d12)
gp
Morningstar 1d8 Piercing 4 lbs. Hammer
Partisan/Falx 1d6 Piercing or 4 lbs. Reach, thrown (10/30), versatile
Slashing (1d8)
Polearm (specialized) 20 1d10 Special 5 lbs. Heavy, reach, two-handed,
gp polearm**
Small Sword or Side- 15 1d6 Piercing 1 lbs. Finesse, sword
Sword gp
War-Pick/War-hammer 1d8 Piercing or 2 lbs. Hammer
bludgeoning
** polearms have polearm modifications (see below)

General Changes:

Rename Longsword to Arming Sword. A historical Longsword straddles the difference between an Arming
sword and a Greatsword.

As with armors, the PHB weights for Arms are too heavy by about 30-50%.

New Arms:

Arming Sword: Depictions of “longswords” in most D&D material is closer in length to an arming sword.

Estoc: An estoc looks quite like a thin longsword but it has blunt edges and usually a diamond cross-section.
This makes the Estoc quite useful for piercing mail, which was its primary function.

Longsword: A longsword is not just a sword that is long (though it is that as well). It is specifically a sword
designed to be used in two hands (though it could be used in one) that is a primary battlefield weapon (as
opposed to an arming sword, which is, as its name suggest, a side arm).

Spear, Short: spears up to the height of the wielder are variously useful because their shorter length allows
them to stab quickly and accurately, and allows them to be thrown if necessary.

Partisan/Falx: If you want to build a spear with the intention of keeping your enemies away from you, you
will make a long shaft with a small metal spearhead; a heavier or longer spearhead makes the end away
from your grip heavier, and due to the increased torque, would make the end less precisely maneuverable
and more tiring. A light, small spearhead, however, means that the weapon is mostly restricted to thrusting
motions. A larger bladed spearhead could be used for parrying or slashing, as is the case with a Partisan or
Falx. Weapons of this type can be found as far back as bronze-age Scotland but became popular again in the
late medieval period (though possibly less as a battlefield weapon and more for ceremony).

Polearms:
Polearms are often highly specialized weapons with modifications for different tasks. A polearm will typically
have two or three different bits or heads at one or both ends of a long wooden stick. At the price indicated in
the table, a polearm is equipped with one (1) of the following heads at no extra cost or weight. Additional
heads increase cost and weight. Generally, a polearm can be fitted with up to 3 heads per end (though very
few weapons outside of ceremonial or judicial trial weapons have heads at both ends).

- Axe head (slashing damage, special rules (Axe), +1 gp, +1 lbs)
- Blade head (slashing damage, special rules (Sword), +1 gp, +1 lbs)
- Greataxe head (this head deals 1d12 slashing damage, special rules (Axe), +10 gp, +2 lbs)
- Great blade head (this head deals 1d12 slashing damage, special rules (Sword), +15 gp, +1.5 lbs)
- Spear point/Spike (piercing damage, +1 gp, +1 lbs)
- Curved Hook/Thorn or Crow’s beak (Bec de Corbin) (piercing damage, +5 gp, +1 lbs, double proficiency on
trip/disarm attempts)
- Hammer head (bludgeoning damage, special rules (Hammer), +5 gp, +1 lbs)
- Maul/Great hammer head (this head deals 1d12 bludgeoning damage, special rules (Hammer), +15 gp, +5
lbs)

The following are examples of polearms with varying heads:

Danish Axe, Sparth Axe, or Bardiche: polearm with a heavy, crescent-shaped Axe or Greataxe head.

Fauchard, Glaive, Voulge, Naginata, Svärdstav: polearm with Blade or Greatblade head in either concave
(Fauchard) or convex (Glaive) positions. Later Fauchards also add a Spear point as a second head).
Polearms with secondary concave-edged blades are sometimes given names with –Fauchard attached
afterwards.

Guisarmes: polearms designed for dismounting horsemen, with a Curved Hook. Bladed polearms with hooks
are often given names with –Guisarme attached afterwards, such as a Volge-Guisarmes.

Corseque or Ranseur: polearms with three-bladed head, typically a Spear point and two blade heads.

Halberd or Poleaxe: polearm with an Axe/Great-Axe head, a Spike, and a Hook

Bec de corbin or Lucerne Hammer: polearm with Hook, Hammer head, and Spear point; its designation
depended on which head was the primary tool for the weapon.

Very Optional Special Rules:
If you want to differentiate between arms a little more, try these:

Axe: applies to any weapon with the word “axe” in it, as well as any pendulum blade with its center of
gravity closer to the apex of the blade rather than the hilt.

On critical hit, roll an additional (1) die of damage and add it to the total.

Hammer: applies to any weapon with the word “hammer” in it, as well as maces, morningstars, and mauls.

On a critical hit, the target must make a constitution save against the damage dealt or be stunned for 1
round.

Sword:

Increase the critical hit range by 1 step (19-20 without additional features). Normal: critical hits on a roll of
20.

Half-Sword: The Greatsword can be gripped along its ricasso and used akin to a spear. In this manner,
these weapons deal piercing damage.

Polearm – polearms may take polearm modifications.

Notes:

Quarterstaff:
The quarterstaff, whose name likely derives from the fact that a proper quarterstaff of the late medieval
period would be cut from one section of a quartered tree trunk (you don’t want to use the center of the tree
as the wood there is the softest), is a bit more substantial an investment than the PHB makes it out to be.

Swords:
D&D has typically broken down swords into two types: “long” and “short”, with some variation for
uncommon (from a European standpoint) or specialist swords. This is slightly problematic, for 2 reasons.

The term “short” sword is typically absent from most pre-modern sources, but we’ll retain this as a catch-all
terminology for bladed weapons with blades between 1 and 2 feet long. Some texts refer to such sidearms
as long knives or long daggers. Examples include the famous Gladius, as well as Seax, Xiphos, Baselard,
Cinquedea, and Dirk.

The “longsword” of popular imagination, however, is not the longsword of antiquity; the sword that popular
culture typically envisions as a “longsword” is really termed an “arming sword”; a principally single-handed,
cruciform hilt, straight double-edged blade with a 27 to 32 inch blade that could be used with two hands in a
pinch.

Actual, historical Longswords, on the other hand, were much longer; they were primarily two-handed
straight double-edged swords (though they could be used in one hand for certain maneuvers) with 35 to 43
inch blades. As Longswords became more prevalent in the late medieval and renaissance periods, the
arming sword became a sidearm and was called as a “short sword”, though, in comparison with earlier
swords, the arming sword is actually fairly substantially longer.

Therefore, these rules rename D&D ‘longswords’ as arming swords, and add longswords as an intermediary
weapon between arming swords and Greatswords.

Fluff Modifications: These things were historical but don’t provide a significant difference in the granularity
of D&D’s combat system.

Hilt modifications:
In Western Europe in particular, sword hilts became increasingly complex throughout the late middle ages
and into the renaissance, starting with small modifications such as the nagel, or nail, on such weapons as
the Messer, and developing into ringlets, and eventually to such things as basket hilts.

The increased protection of the striking hand changed neutral stances from often being held behind or above
the head (to protect the vulnerable hand) to being far more forward and close to the opponent.

Riccaso:
In late medieval/early renaissance large bladed weapons a riccasso was the blunted portion of metal along
the blade ahead of the hilt. This modification allowed the user to grip the weapon and reduce the length of
the blade, allowing the sword to be used like a polearm.

Quillons:
Metal flangels extruding from the blade ahead of the Riccaso, Quillons protected the user’s hand while it held
the blade along the Riccaso.

Chappe:
A Chappe was a piece of leather fitted to the crossguard. The true rationale for this modification is unknown
but it is likely that it was used as a seal on the scabbard to prevent rainwater from touching the blade.

Langets:
Weapons with wooden handles (particularly polearms, warhammers, and earlier maces) sometimes have
riveted bits of metal called Langets along the side to increase durability against parried blows, which may
have otherwise compromised the weapon’s integrity.

Tassels:
Tassels, usually of horse hair, are occasionally found on (particularly eastern) Asian weaponry, most notably
just behind the spear-point of the Qiang, and attached to Jians. Supposedly they were useful in distracting
an enemy from being able to see or grab the tip, though there are sparse records of whether or not that
actually worked in massed combat. What they were useful for, however, was in soaking blood and
preventing it from getting onto the wooden shaft of a spear, which would make it slick (if wet) or sticky (if
dried). They’re also quite pretty, and that should never be discounted.

Armor Descriptions:

Light Armor:

Padded Jack/Gambeson:
A Gambeson is a quilted, padded jacket (sometimes with trousers) typically made either of cotton (in Egypt
and Asia-Minor) or of linen (particularly in medieval Europe). A similar piece of clothing, called the arming
doublet or aketon, was worn underneath plate armor and later became a civilian fashion in Italy during the
late medieval period. Heavy armor comes fitted with an aketon or other padded material. Padded armor of
this type was common across the ancient and medieval world, as it was relatively easy to produce and could
protect against blades (especially) and arrows. It is known by a variety of names: aketon (medieval French,
possibly on loan from Arabic), arming coat, auqueton, gambeson, hacketon, haqueton, panzari (medieval
Norse, on loan from Middle Low German), vapnterya, etc.

Padded armor tailored to be worn under other armor was typically 3 lbs or lighter.

Soldier on far left wearing red gambeson, fol. 10r of the Morgan Bible (ca. 1250, Northern France)

Hide/Leather, specifically either Raw Hide or Cuir Boulli:
Animal hides, either untanned (rawhide) or tanned (leather), would have likely been used as some form of
armor and certainly for clothing, though very few historical examples survive as leather is biodegradable.
However, it is unlikely to have been used alone as armor, without reinforcement from metal plates or mail,
when those were available and permissible. Tanned, hardened leather is tougher than rawhide, but also
more brittle. Cuir Boulli has the consistency similar to a hard, plastic shell.

Buff Coats, protective leather clothing developed in the renaissance and early modern period, is of this type
of armor.
Soldier wearing Buff Coat (English Civil War 1642-1651) – John Pettie

Brigandine:
A Brigandine is a cloth garment (usually plain-woven fabric or leather) lined with steel plates riveted to the
inside of layers of the fabric. Compared to most other armors, it was developed fairly recently during the
late 14th century during the transitional period from mail to plate armor in Europe, and as recently as the
15th and 16th centuries in Asia. It was commonly used by Men-at-Arms, and while not as protective as Plate,
it was cheaper, easier to make and repair, and offered greater mobility.

Note: the D&D idea of “studded leather” likely arises from the way Brigandine sometimes looks like from the
inside; the steel plates between the cloth are sometimes riveted to rounded studs, though these would be
on the inside of the armor and are not the protective substance of the armor.

Note: Other armors that are more substantial than Padded but less so than metal armors (such as the
famous Linothorax, attested to as a linen laminate, though physical evidence is scant), would have roughly
the same mechanical statistics as Brigandine.
Brigandine – Wendelin Boeheim, 1890

Medium Armor: (aka: lighter, less developed, or less encumbering metal armors)

Scale Armor:
The earliest forms of metal (that is, typically metal, but sometimes rawhide or leather) body armor is
typically of this type; separate pieces of metal (usually bronze, but occasionally iron or tin) sheets, held
together by leather thongs and attached to a cloth or leather backing. Surviving examples of these armors
suggest that they often consist of chest protection with vambraces and greaves, but typically not more.

Scale armor was predominant on ancient battlefields in Egypt and Western Asia as early as 2500 BC, and
remained in use into “classical antiquity” because it is comparatively lighter and more flexible than more
rigid armor of the time and “breathes” well, making it suitable for warmer climates. Scale armor, particularly
in Europe, began to fall out of favor to Mail during late antiquity.

More substantial metal barding for horses in the ancient world through the early middle ages typically was of
this construction (It is attested to in Shi Jing and was often used for Sassanid-era cataphracts, though the
riders were usually in mail). It was easier to manufacture than later period armors, and remained in use
among cultures without access to high-quality steel-working centers up until the early modern period.
Mycenaean Era armor was typically scale armor, as was Scythian, Ancient Vietnamese, Republic-era Roman
Lorica Squamata and Lorica Plumata, Persian “Fish”-scale armor as recounted by Herodotus, and Japanese
gyorin kozane. In other words, this is the type of armor that better equipped soldiers in the Ancient world
would wear.

Some forms of Muscle or Heroic Cuirass, body armor (typically of bronze) cast to fit the wearer’s torso and
mimic an idealized physical form that was widespread in the 5th and 4th centuries BC, would be mechanically
similar to Scale armor, even though they would typically be too cumbersome and costly for typical
infantrymen. Although there is some indication it was used in combat (mostly by officers), this type of
cuirass was likely reserved for formal events like military reviews or parades.

Chinese scale armors were typically of a “fish-scale”-like pattern made of leather or iron strips during the
Han, though they developed into the Mountain and Star Scale armors during the Tang Dynasty (618-907),
which would be mechanically more similar to lamellar or even laminar armor.