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Old 3rd November 2008, 12:34 AM   #63 (permalink)
Dannyalcatraz
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Dannyalcatraz Bugbear Strangler (Lvl 6)
The guy from that armor & horseback video is Mike Loades on his show "Weapons that made Britain"- great show!

One of the best points he made in that series was this: The armor of the day was well designed to protect the wearer from the weapons of the day.

The second best point he made was that no armor was perfect- each had a flaw that an experienced warrior with the right tool could exploit.

The main flaw, common to all armors, is the human inside- specifically his soft tissues (esp. the brain). While the armor may prevent a blade from slashing flesh, a spear from thrusting deep, or a mace from crushing a limb, the non-compressibility of the water that makes up so much of our bodies means a solid blow may result in hydrostatic shock that could debilitate a seemingly uninjured combatant. That is why maces were so popular after the advent of full plate. Ditto the development of the Mortschlag- the Murder Blow- where the combatant grasped the blade and struck at his foe's head using the crosspiece of his blade like a hammer or pick.

While a mace blow or mortschlag might not break bone or even cause a bruise, the resultant hydrostatic shock could disrupt the nervous system of the person struck, resulting in a "dead arm" or even a concussion- either of which is debilitating enough to leave the victim vulnerable to more lethal attacks.
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