Medieval knight chainmail9/28/2023 ![]() ![]() Therefore, the strike builds up more force.Īn enemy soldier wearing only mail armor will suffer a lot of pain. Longswords are big, heavy and used with both hands. ![]() As discussed above plate is better at distributing the shock. Arming SwordĬuts from this weapon don’t deal any substantial damage to targets wearing plate or mail armor. ![]() Even though it deals no damage to either armor its accuracy and agility make it effective at stabbing unarmored body parts.īut now let us compare the effects of the following six medieval weapons on plate and mail armor. In that regard, swords are quite effective by employing techniques such as half-swording or mordhau.Īn often-underestimated weapon is the dagger. Effects of specific weaponsīefore we take a look at the protection level of these armor types I have to mention that the best way to defeat a mail or plate clad opponent is striking at areas that aren’t covered with armor (e.g. This isn’t the case with chainmail, because it adjusts to the body perfectly, thus creating flat and even surfaces. Moreover, the shape of plate armor facilitates the deflection of incoming attacks to further reduce the impact. On the other hand, plate armor excels at distributing attack energy across the entire steel plate, hence strongly reducing impact force and mitigating pain.īut even if plate armor is impervious and offers good shock-resistance the immense power produced by polearms or bows is still able to cause fractures and damage internal organs. The rings of chainmail aren’t able to properly distribute the impact energy of a weapon.įor this reason, a longsword strike may already be enough to incapacitate a mail wearer, as the attack causes severe trauma and bone fractures. In terms of shock absorption, plate armor is far better than mail armor. Next, we will talk about the shock-absorbing capabilities of plate and mail, followed by the effect of selected weapons on these armors. However, matchlock guns can penetrate plate.īut even if mail and plate can’t be pierce by some weapons that doesn’t mean that they cause no damage! Swords, spears and bows aren’t able to pierce it. Plate armor offers optimal protection against every common medieval weapon type except gunpowder arms. Other types of weapons like spears and bows can penetrate maille. Mail is highly resistant against swords, axes and some polearms. Munitions-grade (mass-produced) plate is far worse than its tailor-made counterpart (the difference is even greater than with the mail linkage types).Īs the differences between plate armor are rather big, I want to clarify that I am referring to custom-made hardened steel plate armor in this post. On the other hand, hardened steel has a greater carbon content and was tempered, thus has a way higher hardness. Soft steel describes metal with a low carbon content that wasn’t tempered. In terms of plate armor types, I am not referring to the countless designs, but rather to the steel used.įor simplicity, we will categorize plate armor into soft steel and hardened steel. On the other hand, riveted mail is of way higher quality and offers great protection against sword cuts, axe strikes and even some polearms.īecause the other two mail types are so inferior, we will only talk about riveted mail from now on. ![]() The chosen linkage type makes a tremendous difference in protection.īutted and welded mail can be penetrated by almost all weapons. So now that we have a good overview, let’s take a deeper look at the various differences between plate and chainmail. Impervious against all medieval weapons except arquebus. Impervious against swords, axes and some polearms That is riveted mail and custom-made plate armor forged from hardened steel.Ī detailed discussion of every single property is appended thereafter. This table only takes into account the best type of each armor. This table highlights all the differences and similarities between mail and plate armor. ![]()
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