Still exploring my interest in unusual protective gear, like the Horo, I've done a little research on ancient Laminated Linen armor. This armor, consisting of layers of tough, organic, linen held together with natural glue, effectively served as a form a Kevlar, deflecting arrows and glancing blows, and had the added benefit of being lighter and cheaper than the brass armors so prevalent in common depictions of the period (pre-common-era Meditteranean cultures). It is also a lot harder to preserve than brass armor, so little remains today but clues in surviving literature, such as the Bible, and art, such as the depiction of Alexander the Great, above. Archaeologists and researchers are beginning to think linen armor, also known as "linothorax", was far more commonly used than previously believed!
Linen Armor (Linothorax) - 30gp
Linen Armor consists of glued layers of tough, light linen formed into a suit covering the shoulders, torso, and upper thighs. It is extremely resilient and lighter than metal armors, giving it the added benefit of allowing more stealthy and/or rapid movement when necessary. Linothorax conveys an armor class of 6.
I re-read the Iliad recently and early on there's a minor prince fighting with the Greeks who is wearing linen armor. At least that's how it was translated by Samuel Butler in English prose rendition.
ReplyDeleteI've been meaning to re-read the Iliad as well, its been something like 20 years now! Still working through Herodotus - very interesting reading.
ReplyDeleteAlways on the lookout for the unusual. Thanks for this
ReplyDeleteYeah, but linen is a bitch to iron. ;)
ReplyDeleteOh, and "yoink".
It's also called "linothorax", which is waaaay cooler than chainmail any day of the week (and twice on Tuesdays). I think my next theoretic character is going to be a padded armor afficianado called Linothorax.
ReplyDeleteFWIW, Linen Armor from p.65 of the MRQ2 Core Rulebook (of course RuneQuest already had linen armor...) has it equivalent in protection to hard leather, 75% the cost, and half the encumbrance.
ReplyDeleteOh, and read Robert Fagles' Iliad. Highly recommended.
If you think linen armor is cool, what about the Chinese Paper Armor?
ReplyDeletehttp://en.allexperts.com/e/p/pa/paper_armour.htm
Also featured in the superb d20 armory book "From Stone to Steel" by MonkeyGod Enterprises (+1 AC, +7/+9 Max Dex Bonus)
I'd give it an AC of 7, making it exactly equivalent to Leather. But, then, I also use "to hit" adjustments due to armor type, which are thrown off by setting ACs in between the 9/7/5/3 standard.
ReplyDeleteA linothorax is very different from a jack (cloth armour made from 20-odd layers of fabric sewn together) or a gambeson/aketon (quilted armour).
ReplyDeleteI've encountered a reproduction linothorax, it's essentially like uber-hard papier mache, I'd say mosy of the weight of it is glue. It is extremely hard, as would be expected of something which is primarily designed to resist spear-thrusts.
Please do lamellar next, it was historically a very common armour AND it actually existed, unlike splint-mail and banded mail.
There are SCA fighter who take Greek personae and wear the linothorax. A gorgeous example can be seen here:
ReplyDeletehttp://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=104473
AC 6 ! Don't let my players find out I had linen armor in a campaign at AC 8.
ReplyDelete