01-08-2022, 07:00 PM
(01-07-2022, 09:43 PM)Dan Howard Wrote: Now it is clear that you have never worn plate armour.
Carefully tailored, custom-fitted plate was more expensive than mail. The rest was not
Carefully tailored, custom-fitted plate provides superior protection to mail. The rest does not.
Where do you think the links for mail came from? Most of the labour involved in mail was in making the wire in the first place, not weaving the links together. They couldn't go to the hardware store and buy a spool of wire for a few bucks. It had to be made by hand. Each shirt required between one and two thousand feet of wire pulled over and over again through a draw plate. After each pass the iron had to be annealed. That wire could only be made from the most highly refined iron (another process that was heavily labour intensive) whereas other types of armour (plate, scale, lamellar) could utilize cheaper sources of iron.
Really, you should study material science. You should study how the energy is dissipated, how discontinuities prevent the distribution of the impact and consequently increase the damage inflicted by the hits. It is something absolutely proven and studied. Instead, you are still here to talk about how a chain mail is better than a plate armor.
Now, "looking from another angle", like in the topic, we have to consider that "cost" is not given only by the purchase (and also here, I am still waiting to see how a skilled an experienced blacksmith's job is less expensive than a job that any ignorant slave can do), cost is given by purchase + operating cost. Operating cost including battle / drill damage and normal deterioration (e.g. rust).
It is another matter of fact that a chain mail is normally self capable of removing the rust, by simply wearing it. Also, local damages in a chain mail can be easily repaired even from the soldiers, you only need to have an undifferentiated mass of rings. Considering that each Contubernium generally had one servant, it is quite easy to admit that operating cost of a chain mail is lowest. On the contrary, a plate armor need to be constantly maintained to remove the rust, and in case of damage, you will need the exact armor piece, and this is far beyond the possibilities of simple group of soldiers/servants. It is quite obvious that the "cost" of a segmentata is far beyond the cost of a hamata.
Finally, what somebody really doesn't understand is that the regression to the hamata has been the result of the change of the logistic model done in the third century. A change that has its origin mainly in two factors: an heavy loss in organization and an attempt to sabe money (given a massive inflation and general economic crisis).
The logistic model of the I/II century was highly decentralized and was rounding around the legionary fortresses and the limes, where the limes was not simply a street, it was an integrate logistical system able to support advanced operations. Legionary fortresses had all what was needed to equip the legions and support their effort. This means they were real logistical bases, able to provide the service of skilled blacksmiths, supporting legionary efforts in the real front line. The segmentata was complex to handle for sure, but in this model it was an added value. More complex, but with the infrastructure to keep it. Like for the field artillery. If works, it is an added value. And, to be noticed, the blacksmiths are near the soldiers, to keep their inputs and support them directly.
Instead, the logistical model of following centuries, and the operating model, switch to a centralized model, where the imperial factories provides a set of pre-made armor and weapons. Being far from the operatives, it becomes hard if not impossible to keep operative complex equipments, so the glorius segmentata becomes a problem. If there is a piece to repair, there is no spare part. And from the central fabrics they sent just... riveted rings. At this point, you give up, and you take what is provided, even if you perfectly know that it is going to offer you a worst protection.
