Quote:Okay, to make iron (or steel) you need 4 things:
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1. What type of armor? Bronze or iron? Possibly even armor like the lorica segmantata?
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Iron, possibly steel. The time frame should be about equivalent to 500-1000 AD, not ancient period. Also, I chose their armor preferences on the idea that it'd be too easy if they were completely Greek - so, something about like Japanese or Byzantine gear, though probably styled differently.
1) Ready access to ore (which means you need mines (which is another layer of infrastructure)). Access to iron ingots made somewhere else will also do, but the costs go up.
2) Ready access to fuel. That means forests for charcoal or if you're really lucky..coal.
3) Skilled craftsman in sufficient quantities...remember, it'll take a craftsman at least 3 to six months to turn out a footsloggers armor.
Now, making steel is another layer of difficulty. And it's extremely difficult to make it. And even more harder to fashion armor and weapons out of it.
4) Last, but not least..money..lots of it.
So...you need an island at least with the resources of England to make a decent arms industry..or at least close and easy access to it. Which means either river/close sea travel. forget roads. Unless you're within 5 miles of everything you need.
Putting all together..you have two possibilities....a state-owned enterprise under control of the monarch, which what happened to Sung China when the iron industry developed there. The beauracrats took over everything. The 2nd alternative is either an independent city/city state that is neutral, like Sakai in Sengoku jidai Japan or Limoges in the Netherlands. Now why wouldn't someone decide to grab this place? Simple...if he does, he'll find out that he won't be getting the arms he needs in the quantityand quality he needs and prices you can afford.
Quote:Feh, give them 20 years or so and you'll have doggies two or three times the size of the one your talking about. Now..does the cavalry have stirrups? Very important..if you know the difference between melee and shock cavalry.
A-yup, that was the inspiration. These critters are a lot smaller, though - their masters were walking because, well, five hundred pounds per dog means that an adult human will have them carrying about a third their own weight on their back, in the middle of a fight. Needless to say, Islander cavalry is essentially unarmored.
The River Kingdom gets around the weight problem by using chariots, which works because of their terrain.
Quote:Also remember, you're going to be in an iron cocoon with no ventilation, save a few holes in the visor. You're not going o place ventilation holes anywhere else unless you want a dagger or a spear thrusted into it. The few times knights in full plate armor dismounted and marched..they didn't walk no more than a football field, before collapsing from heat exhaustion and dehydration. In cool weather.
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Can't be full plate armor, it's be too tough to walk around. Half-armor, I can see.
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My sources disagree. Seriously; full plate weighs, what, forty, fifty pounds? No more than a large hiking pack, and much more conveniently distributed. Granted, wearing it for a long-distance march in what's supposed to be friendly territory is a little odd, but that's a matter of psychological warfare - 'We're the Royal Guard. We're so tough this doesn't bother us. How do you think you rate?'.
So if they can do 10 miles a day with full armor and gear...and make camp at the end of it...they're supermen!.
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