Designing 500 Years of Armour 

Thank you for saying this, I hope you enjoy my future releases:)

It’s a lot of work for something I imagine most don’t study or know ow much about

To be fair, lots of aspects of armour are inescapably defined by the physical and technological limitations of the premodern peoples.

It’s also much like putting polish on the floor, Nobody really knows until they look at it

To be fair it does require much work, its what separates fantasies like game of thrones or lotr from others

Unless magic and biology is specifically involved all armor makes sense, is realistic, and usable. Any metal part that covers squishy flesh is armor. Everything else is just a matter of preference and design. Spikes, belts, and all. That's the true practical mindset

AND is cool as fuck

Thanks, I'll definitely keep that in mind:) To be entirely truthful I don't have all the details fully worked out yet, my intent is to use videos going into specific events/characters/details to gradually build up a cohesive picture. When the time is right though, I think it'll be very rewarding to make a video giving a full overview of how the world, so thank you for the idea!

Update: If I knew where to post my art I'd show you what I mean (spoiler, it looks badass)

@@AlexHerrera-wk6lq Artstation or Pinterest maybe, I'm interested to see personnally

Thank you for the feedback. I'm keeping the videos short at the minute so that I can improve their quality more easily, my art is still developing so it keeps the quality within the videos more consistent. Those are wonderful ideas though, I want to bring more stories into my videos, and I like the idea of referencing historical documents, so thanks again!

Thank you very much:)

I intend to take such things into account, arms and armour were always in a constant feud to outcompete each other after all:) I hope to make a video on weapons at some point, the main reason I didn't include them in a bigger way in this video is that I haven't decided on the exact trajectory of their development

Thank you, I hope you enjoy what I have in the works :)

Thank you for your comment, honestly this is exactly the sort of content I want to produce. I'm still finding my feet in regards to producing videos, so please continue to comment on my future videos what you think can be improved:) My next video will be a more detailed introduction video to the setting, but after that I'll start going into detail on more specific topics

It's a struggle but very rewarding, I agree 100%, thanks for your comment!

You're awesome Harold, thanks for waiting!

I'm hoping to make a video dedicated to weapons in the not too distant future, the back and forth of arms and armour developing in tandem are something I want to represent well on this channel. Thank you for your comment:)

Thank you for commenting, yes I agree I'd love to see more representation of the armour from the nations you mentioned, especially Indian arms and armour I've seen some really gorgeous examples. I'm hoping to eventually branch out and cover other cultures in this setting, but I can't promise when as my main focus is developing the core region at the minute

Thanks so much, I'll do my best!

Plate armour developing is a reflection of Europe's unique socioeconomic and societal climate, and I'm well aware of that. In this setting, plate armour arises because the warfare and the society becomes similar to how it was in Europe :) I hope that explains it well

This is an interesting point, to explain somewhat why there's so much visible difference between the eras, I was purposefully choosing designs that were very different from each other. The armour for the 3200s soldier, for example, is for a simple levy infantryman, whereas the armour for the 3600s soldier is more akin to what a wealthy mercenary captain would be wearing. Nanban Gusoku is a little different since it's designed based on portuguese examples, nanban literally meaning "southern barbarian" referring to the europeans of course. In my world plate armour is developed indigenously, so I'm going to do my best to represent a smooth developmental curve with it:)

@@powerfantasychannel I understand that this was just a short introduction video. some day I would love to see more indepth illustrations ranging from time period, region, and wealth

You're absolutely right, I mean even a simple gambeson would be punishing to wear in intense heat. I intend to take these sorts of considerations into account, rest assured. In future videos if you see something that doesn't make sense please call it out, although I hope you won't have to! Also regarding the mounts in this universe they'll be closer to a modern mount in terms of size and strength, such is the beauty of creative freedom :) I intend to make a video about the animals of this world in future

I'm not sure quite what gave you that impression, don't worry though I'm fully aware of how protective plate armour is! Full plate harnesses are stunning pieces of technology, I've done a decent amount of research on its capabilities and it continues to impress me

@@powerfantasychannel yeah, cuirasses, specially, saw successful use into ww1 as part of the equipment for assault troops

It's tough haha, since starting this project the amount of research it's required to even just get off the ground has been almost overwhelming. I'm not sure if you're looking for advice, but if you can identify time periods/cultures you'd like to take inspiration from I think that's a solid start

Thank you Peter! No, there's no magic in this universe, there will be some unique creatures but nothing fantastical or otherwise implausible. The next video I make will be a breakdown of what this project is and isn't, hopefully that will clear up potential misconceptions:)) it should be out within a couple of weeks if all goes well I do realise the irony in having a channel with fantasy in the title not having any fantasy elements, I personally find it quite funny haha

Sounds cool! Thank you for the answer. :)

The island or a corner of a continent itselve on the map looks to be only a small part of the whole continent. I think its good to first focuse on one culture. There are clearly more land and even more continent to come.

In short, yes, but not soon. As for Thai and Korea I'd love to take more inspiration from them, it's just hard to find good, authentic resources online to use as reference The main setting does take inspiration from Europe as well, not just for armour but also for architecture, politics, society, I'm going for a real mix. There will be a nation to the east that I'd like to base more or less on India as well but I haven't fleshed it out, it just exists in my head currently. If you have any good resources on Thai/Korean armour/aesthetics etc please send them! ideally in my discord

Thanks for the comment dude, sorry I'm very late replying. Looking back on it I agree, I based it on sallets but I haven't really given him a wide enough field of vision, and I could defo widen the front plate to cover more. I think I initially intended for the aventail to be brigandine which would've compensated for the narrower visor, can't remember why I switched it to just be gambeson. I don't think the visor is actually that far off being wide enough when you look at it in relation to his eyes (I'm comparing to some other images I've seen of guys wearing sallets) but I've drawn it kinda wonky in relation to his eyes. I will do better!

It was the most common armor in Classical and Medieval Europe specifically, but this setting is clearly based mainly on China where it was always rare. The evolution of lamellar to brigandine is also more direct since they both use small metal plates, and it also occurred in China irl so it's an easy trend to mirror. Of course, none of these armors directly "evolved" into the next irl, they were gradually replaced but had long periods of overlap.

Hey dude thanks for commenting, sorry my reply's so delayed :) I've left out maille because I wanted to portray a society where it doesn't naturally arise, similar as the other reply said to ancient China. That said, I do want maille to be present in other parts of the world in my setting, and I'm gradually coming round to the idea of it appearing in the Central Plains as well, likely only in use by very high-level individuals though (maille takes a heavy time investment to produce, and the industry of the plains won't be set up for it, so it'll likely be a case of it only being produced by a small number of specialised artisans. Most soldiers will use extra padded armour to compensate for the lack of maille, as the plains' high agricultural capacity can support the increased textile usage)

Hi there, thank you for your kind comment. If you'd like, you can join my discord server, I often hang out there and sometimes stream what I'm working on, plus there are a lot of other wonderful artists there that you can get tips from :) I hope you see this comment, see you there potentially

Thanks Heronman, thanks for watching and joining the discord:)) it's great to have you

@@ludwigthedumpling heronman’s a w frfr

Thank you for your comment, I'm not going to be taking on work for other people but you're more than welcome to join my discord and come discuss/talk through things:) you might come across someone who'd like to work with you

Thanks! :) Interested in seeing more of your content, I hope your next video's going well

@@SirRoboB0b no way you’re the heavenly flesh guy from that thread in monstergarden

@@HaroldTinPot No way!!!!!11!!!

The brigandine is the way it is in my setting due to the evolution from previous patterns for regular clothes and padded armour and such, similar to how European brigandine evolved based on European clothing styles. If you think the plate aesthetic is clashing, that's understandable but ultimately subjective, I personally quite like the look :) hence why I've drawn it in that way

The Ming and Qing never adopted plate armour because it was far past the appropriate usage with that stage of firearms development. Huge armies clashing with cannons and cavalry rendered vulnerable, slow moving knights obsolete. China had a warrior class, and an entire martial class, they just didn’t make use of it for the warfare of that time. Japan never experienced those same kinds of battles, and when they were faced with it during the Imjin War, they were defeated handily.

@@team3am149 And the reason there is huge army in the first place is due to China centralization effort. It was not until the Ming that China had a huge army, huge army had been the staple of China since the Qin dynasty. And contrary to popular belief, knight are not slow. Sure you could argue that knight are not suited for China battlefield climate that utilised archer calvary, but that is a different arguement. And China do not have a warrior class for most of its dynasty the same way Europe or Japan did. Sure you could say there is a noble class that are enlisted as commander and general in the army, but their role are fundementally different from the warrior class that spawned due to the decentralized feudalism in Europe or Japan. The Qing dynasty did introduce the Bannermen, which is a warrior class, but that is short lived.

@@team3am149 This is so incorrect and reductionist I barely know where to start. Plate armor remained in use in Europe well into the 16th century and even partway into the 17th century. This is a good chunk of the early Qing dynasty, and of course the Ming dynasty overlapped with the Medieval/Renaissance transition where knights were still in use. And by the way, knights and non-knight men-at-arms were distinguished by being _mounted,_ so I have no idea where you got the idea of "slow moving knights" from. Now while the full plate of knights was indeed rendered impractical somewhere around the mid-16th century, there was still a very long stretch of time before and after where partial plate armor (especially munitions plate) was widespread due to economy of scale and streamlined production methods. So pretty much the majority of the pike and shot era. Speaking of, you are also overestimating how important field artillery was during the pike and shot era - artillery in general was still primarily for siege warfare and defense, as practical light artillery was only adopted after the early 17th century. Before that, it was certainly used in field battles, but not nearly as decisive (as evident by the continued use of large _slow moving_ infantry blocks which would otherwise be torn to pieces by accurate artillery fire.) Japan struggled against Ming intervention in the Imjin War due in part to Chinese artillery, yes. But you are purposely neglecting to mention that their wider use of arquebuses also gave the Ming a lot of trouble. You are also neglecting the greater logistical difficulties the Japanese faced, and the role of Ming cavalry in providing superior tactical flexibility to the Japanese. Both sides were all things considered actually quite evenly matched, and the Ming were right to take the Japanese threat very seriously (because they absolutely did not see this as a minor policing action.)

@@phongnguyen-we8fu You're right in a lot of ways, that dude has a bunch of details mixed up and is evidently very unfamiliar with European warfare. Knights being heavy _cavalry_ were not phased out because they were slow, and indeed they weren't even the slow part of European armies. They were phased out partly because their social role became less important (in which case people simply used non-knight heavy cavalry like the gendarmes), and partly because they became too expensive for what they could accomplish.

It looks most likely based on Chinese mirror armor, especially considering the brigandine robes underneath.

@@perrytran9504 just looked it up, you’re probably right. Interesting how two wildly removed cultures independently thought up “what if we put a big metal circle on our chests”

Not at the moment no, my focus is on this channel

Sorry you found it boring dude. I'm well aware that there are many more factors besides metallurgy impacting armour design, there was only so much I could fit into a sub-3 minute video. The armour design is still something I'm working on and refining, you're welcome to stay and watch my future releases to see how things develop, I'm not going to hold it against you if you don't though :)