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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Thunderfoot" data-source="post: 3462293" data-attributes="member: 34175">And just as a side note on armor - the 40 kgs that has been quotes - a modern infantryman carries a base load of approximately 75 lbs of gear (existance, and light combat gear to move from place to place) - a TYPICAL fighting load (minus existance gear plus added ammunition, rations & subsistance and mission specific ordance and tools) runs about 120 lbs. (that just a typical rifleman, you really don't want to be a machine gunner or mortarman -   <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f631.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":eek:" title="Eek!    :eek:"  data-smilie="9"data-shortname=":eek:" /> ) No, I did not mis-type that.The 40 kgs armor was also distributed over the body and rested on an arming coat, what is typically thought of as padded armor in D&D. (I love seeing idiots wear chain maille on clothing and then complain who it tangles.)  Chain was the LEAST balanced of the armors, resting a great amount of the distributed weight SOLEY on the shoulders, earlier banded versions and later plate versions had better weight distribution, so even with the added weight the soldier inside tired much later than their counterparts in chain alone.Yeah, a man in armor could (and can) move much faster, quicker and longer than you think he can, especially when he trained to do just that.  As far as swords being the 'typical weapon' of a fighting man, the mace was much more often the preferred 'side arm' with the spear, pike and other pole arms being the typical main infantry weapon.  To this day, the regimental sergeant major of the 3rd infantry (US) in ceremony carries an infantry spear circa 1770 (yes even during the age of 'real' firearms, the infantry carried spears.)  The only troops that carried swords other than knights, who received a metric butt ton of training on how to use them and not skewer themselves, their horse of their comrades I might add, was the archer, the next step in the 'military chain' of training, freedmen that were professional soldiers in support that needed a weapon to pull and use to defend themselves if the enemy closed to within melee, often they too carried maces or even a lowly club, but the long dagger or 'short sword' (a modified and updated gladius) was the 'official' weapon of the Medieval artillerist.</blockquote>

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