Outfit a Foot Soldier with the Best Pre-firearm Arms and Armor from Around the World

Chronos · March 7, 2011, 5:07pm

What sort of battlefield will we be fighting on? If it’s anywhere other than an open flat plain, I’m sure I can find some pre-firearm culture from somewhere in the world that used effective camouflage. When one side is using camouflage and the other isn’t, and there are no enhanced-senses devices available beyond crude spyglasses, that’s going to be a huge advantage.

Malthus · March 7, 2011, 10:46pm

Acid_Lamp:

Meh, depends on your point of view. There were better performing steels available but the quality of the swordsmithing was quite hit and miss. Well made Japanese blades were, and still are high works of metal craft. I’ll take a lower quality material with a consistent high level of workmanship over a better material with a mediocre track record. Don’t take that as knocking the great European swordmiths BTW, there are plenty of masters there as well.

Anyhoo,

I’d have two sets of archers, Horse mounted with mongol recurves and on foot with crossbow, longbow combination. Different archers for different situations. All archers would be fitted with a spanish style breastplate, a lightweight helm and hardened leather laminate armour. They are valuable and to be kept at a distance. They are allowed whatever hand to hand weapon they favor as a back up and will be grouped into units that can fight together efficiently.

Heavy cavalry shall be outfitted with Steel plate, spear, sabre and mace or seax.

Well, if we are allowed cavalry - make mine mostly steppe nomad in equipment. As far as I can see, they mostly dominated any other combo of troops pre-gunpowder, however equipped.

Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor · March 8, 2011, 1:34am

Flammenschwein.
For those who know.

Acid_Lamp · March 8, 2011, 2:17am

Whoops. forgot about that, still I’ll stand by my OP in this thread for footies.