''''''''''stylish and fashionable'''''''''' edition
>>46474737
>>46474747
Dare someone to post a better helmet then this.
>>46474759
>>46474759
Vendel Era every day!
>>46476350
swag
>>46476497
>>46476362
>There will never be a video game with armor this beautiful that doesn't shit all over it with stupid overstylization.
>>46477201
KIngdom Come? Battle Brothers?
Do halberd need numbers to be effective or would a lone guy like seen in D&D work?
>>46477201
Medieval 2?
>>46477789
Halberd typically depend on a unit of infantry, Poleaxes are a different matter in design.Woefully disregarding of course Dark Souls, where halberds are the most metal heralds of killing the shit out of everything forever and it's fucking awesome.
>>46477789
Length is probably more important in deciding whether a given polearm is better used alone/loose order fighting or as a formation weapon than the precise nature of the business end of the weapon. Especially as the definition of what exactly constitutes a halberd vs a pollaxe, bec de corbin or a dozen other variations is rather fluid- something not helped by the shift in terminology from the Middle Ages.
A shorter weapon is more likely to be used by a dismounted man-at-arms who could fight effecitvely alone, perhaps 4-7ft. 7-9ft is more likely to be used groups, and beyond this you get into the realm of half- and full pikes. This is only a rough guideline and sources in-period differ on what the "ideal" length of a weapon for a particular job should be. 7-8ft weapons can still be used to great effect alone or in a small fight and this is the average length for spears used in one hand.
George Silver argued that 5-6ft for black bills and halberds was the best compromise of reach, speed and handiness in a fight while forest bills were best at 8-9ft.
>>46474732
Mini-dump of images from the Almain/Jacob Album that records the various armours made for the courtiers of Elizabeth I by the Greenwich Armouries. This was armour as high art and public spectacle made by possibly the best workshop of the age.
All images and text are taken from the V&A website. Also check out the documentry "Metalworks (2)- The Knights Tale" hosted by Tobias Capwell about the development and output of the Greenwich workshop, which can be found on youtube. It's cracking stuff.
The image is of Henry Lee's cavalry helmet and one of the surviving components from the harness featured in the Jacob Album.
>>46478770
This is a design for armour for Sir Henry Lee (1533-1611), Master of the Armouries from 1578-1611.
This design shows a heavy cavalry armour for battle with supplementary pieces for use as infantry armour. The supplementary pieces include a shield, breastplate and tassets, a morion (infantry helmet), pauldron (shoulder defence) and saddle steels. These pieces and the main armour were imported, probably from southern Germany. They are annotated by the artist Jacob Halder with, 'This feld [field] armore was made beyond see'. Further supplementary pieces for tournament use are shown below a red, outlined banner and are annotated, 'Thes tilte peces were made by me Jacobe.' The design is unpainted but has highlights in light blue to denote that the armour should be finished in bright steel. Etched, blackened and gilded bands run vertically up the armour resembling embroidery on contemporary doublets., in between which are plain panels decorated with gilded chevrons. The designs in the album are stencilled, inked and painted with watercolour.
This design is annotated 'Sir Henry Lee'. This is one of three armour designs for Henry Lee in the Album. Sir Henry Lee was appointed Master of the Armoury in 1580, a position he held until his death in 1611. He was one of Elizabeth I's favourites assuming the role of Queen's Champion and reintroducing the Accession Day tilts to honour the Elizabeth. In 1597 he was became a Knight of the Order of the Garter.
>>46478815
This is a design for armour for George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland (1558-1605), courtier and politician. .
This design is one of the more spectacular in the album. The main figure is dressed in heavy cavalry armour for use in battle. On the facing page are extra pieces for converting the armour into light cavalry or tournament use. The supplementary pieces include a grandguard to protect the left shoulder and neck during a joust, vamplates to attach to a lance to protect the hand, and horse armour including saddle steels, shaffron (face-guard) and stirrups. A locking gauntlet, to give an unbreakable grip on a sword during a tourney (mock battle) is also shown with a close helmet, a pauldron and a reinforcing breastplate, but these are shown only in oputline. The design is painted reddish brown to denote that the armour should be heat-treated to turn is a deep blue. It is decorated with vertical bands of gilded etching and panes of Tudor roses and knots ornament rising up the armour. The designs in the album are stencilled, inked and painted with watercolour. Early colour depictions of this design show that it had faded by the time it came into the V&A's collection in the 1890s.
This design for armour is annotated, 'The Earle of Cumberland'. George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland, was a commander of the Navy who gained the Queen's notice for great gallantry during the Spanish Armada in 1588. He made his name and fortune as a privateer in the West Indies and, in 1592, was made a Knight of the Garter.
Clifford was an accomplished jouster, becoming Queen Elizabeth's second champion on the retirement of Sir Henry Lee. She made him a Knight of the Garter in 1592. A cabinet minitaure at the National Maritime Museum in London, painted by Nicholas Hilliard in around 1590, commemorates Clifford's appointment as the Queen's champion, showing him in a different tilting armour similarly blued and gilded.
>>46478880
This is a design for armour for Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester (1532/3-1588).
This design shows a heavy cavalry armour for battle with supplementary pieces for use as light cavalry or in jousts and tournaments. The supplementary pieces include a burgonet (open-faced helmet for light cavalry), a reinforcing breastplate and granguard (left shoulder and neck protector) for the joust, a locking gauntlet for the tourney to give Dudley and unbreakable grip on his sword, and horse armour including saddle steels and shaffron (face protector). The design is painted reddish brown to denote that the armour should be heat treated, in this period, to a dark blue, and is decorated with vertical bands of etched and gilded ornament in imitation of embroidery on contemporary doublets. The designs in the album are stencilled, inked and painted with watercolour. Some of the pieces are left plain in the design and may simply be indicative.
This design is annotated 'The Earle of Leiseter'. Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester was an English nobleman and the favourite and close friend of Elizabeth I. On Elizabeth I's accession in November 1558, Dudley was appointed Master of the Horse. He held many Royal appointments during his career, becoming a Privy Councillor in 1562 and Lord Steward of the Royal Household in 1587. In 1564 Dudley became Earl of Leicester, giving an earliest date for this armour design. Dudley hosted Elizabeth I at his seat, Kenliworth Castle, in 1575 in one of the most famous episodes of her reign, a monumentally expensive three-week festival of theatre, dancing, jousting, hunting, boating and fireworks displays. Dudley was a major supporter of the arts and literature. This armour does not survive.
>>46478921
This is a design for armour for Sir Christopher Hatton (ca. 1540-91), courtier and politician.
This design shows a heavy cavalry armour for battle with supplementary pieces for use as light cavalry or in jousts and tournaments. The supplementary pieces include a reinforcing breastplate, a buffe (face- guard), a locking gauntlet to give an unbreakable grip on a sword during a tourney (mock battle), a grandguard to protect the left shoulder and neck during a joust, and horse armour including saddle steels, shaffron (face-guard) and stirrups. The design is unpainted to denote that the armour should be finished in bright steel. It is decorated with vertical bands of gilded etching framing panes of ornament rising up the armour that are decorated with Tudor roses and lovers' knots.
This design for armour is labelled 'Sir Cristopher Hattone'. Sir Christopher Hatton was a prominent member of Elizabeth's court first coming to her notice as a skilful dancer and fighter in tournaments. Elizabeth appointed him Captain of the Guard in 1572. On the shaffron is drawn the arms Hatton bore until he was made Lord Chancellor in 1587. As Hatton was knighted in 1578, the design can be dated to between these years.
He was rumoured to be the lover of Elizabeth I. His correspondence with Elizabeth was often passionate and romantic. His choice of decoration for his armour, etched lovers' knots tied to the Tudor rose, was both a demonstration of his devotion and an appeal for favour.
Hatton amassed the wealth to support a lavish patronage of the arts. This armour commission was costly, made when Hatton was also building an enormous mansion called Holdenby House and part-financing the voyages of Sir Francis Drake. The design is a vivid expression of the great extravagance which left Hatton financially ruined when he died in 1591.
A vamplate (hand-guard on a lance) from the armour, not shown on the design, survives in the Royal Armouries, Leeds.
>>46478972
This is a design for armour for Sir John Smythe (1534-1607), soldier and diplomat,.
This design shows a light cavalry armour for battle. The design is unpainted and has highlights in light blue to denote that the armour should be finished in bright steel. It is decorated with vertical etched bands which have been blackened and gilded, resembling embroidery on contemporary doublets. The armour has no vambraces (arm defences) that were seen on heavy cavalry armour, and Smythe's undershirt is shown as a mailcoat. Similarly, Smythe wears black knee-length boots rather than armoured greaves (lower leg defences). This is the only design in the album in which the figure is depicted holding a firearm. Smithe holds a wheel-lock pistol. The designs in the album are stencilled, inked and painted with watercolour.
This design is annotated 'Sir John Smithe'. Smythe was a soldier and diplomat, and forceful writer on military matters. He advocated strong sumptuary laws to control soldiers' spending, preferring that they saved their money for equipping themselves with good weapons. His firearm is an emblem of his no-nonsense approach to warfare. He detested soldiers who too civilian rapiers into battle with them, sacrificing the safety of those around them on the altar of fashion, suggesting they 'lusted like men sick of a stange ague.'
The armour created from this design survives in excellent condition in the collection of the Royal Armouries, Leeds.
>>46479018
That's all for now, but these are only some of the highlights fom the Jacob Album which contains about 30 designs and can be seen below.
http://collections.vam.ac.uk/name/halder-jacob/1839/
>>46478880
This was trimmed from the description to come in under 2k characters; "The armour made from the design is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum or Art in New York and is the most spectacular survivor of the Elizabethan Greenwich armours. It retains its original bluing, although this may have darkened over the years."
>>46478880
And inferrate.
>>46477789
A halbed is pretty long, for maximum oomph and to make the spike part more useful, so it would be a little unwieldy as a solo weapon. It would be kinda like fighting with a very top heavy and too long staff, or an exceptionally top heavy spear.
Part of why the halberd is such a terrifying weapon is that when you're pressed together with your buddies around you, it's really difficult to sidestep some peasant with burly woodcutting arms who's winding up a big overhead swing.
The early accounts of halberd use (fairly simple ones that often emphasized the cutting and didn't have a very effectife thrusting point) basically says that the soldiers rushed in in a big pile and just started hacking people to pieces.
