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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Starfox" data-source="post: 6177065" data-attributes="member: 2303">We're not really in disagreement, just polishing up each others' arguments.Shot was cheaper than arrows, that had to be individually crafted. And also much easier to transport - powder could be carried in bulk and bullets were cast on location by the soldiers themselves - a city where an army had quartered was quite likely to be short most of it's lead pipes. But yes, mobility also played into it. Armor did stay a long time for some special units - engineers if I recall, and heavy cavalry had armor even in Napoleonic times. And during the 16th century, which is much closer to what we're talking about in Pathfinder, even infantry often had helm and cuirass. So it was all very gradual.My personal opinion about what truly killed personal military armor was artillery. not handguns. If a cannonball could punch through an infantry block 10 men deep, armor or no armor, armor would start to seem a bit pointless. As would deep blocks of infantry. And once the infantry block is gone, small group tactics and mobility becomes more important as troops moved over from squares into lines. Emphasis on mobility meant equipment had to become lighter again. And rifles themselves were heavy, heavier than the melee weapons and (cross)bows they replaced. Something had to go to let the troops still move. But this was a slow process with many setbacks.  Comparing Imperial and Swedish units in the 30 years war is very illuminating - even if we are now outside the time period covered in Pathfinder. In the late 15th C, the progress had come to <a href="http://www.sfhm.se/templates/pages/ArmeStandardPage____1315.aspx?epslanguage=EN" target="_blank">half-armor</a>, that is armor that weight as much as full plate, yet only cover the shoulders, front, and down to the knees. And such armor was considered bullet-proof at 30 paces. Many a cuisass actually showed <a href="http://media35b.dimu.no/media/image/S-AM/AM.061189/74338?width=600&height=380" target="_blank">dents where it had been bullet-tested</a> at such range. Below 30 paces we have the point-blank range touch attack rule in Pathfinder.</blockquote>

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