The image above is of a late Roman standard bearer carrying a "draco"-style windsock standard.
I'm always on the lookout for inspirational imagery of warriors/armor/architecture from history to steal and integrate into my fantasy games. The late Roman period is a goldmine for these sorts of things (and nicely fits into my historical fetish for transitional periods that I wrote about in my Riverworld post, but that's just me). It's got a somewhat medieval feel to it, yet it's still rooted in the ancient world. Plus, since all the attention tends to get focused on the glory days of Imperial Rome, most people aren't the least bit familiar with later Roman imagery.
Back to the standard bearer, I especially like the literal "facemask" look of his helmet. So creepy! Great stuff. I could easily imagine knights of the Invincible Overlord sporting masks like that.
I love the look of this kind of stuff... I think I posted a nice Angus McBride image of some late-Roman British soldiers on my blog a while back.
ReplyDeleteThe "human face" helmet-masks are indeed awesome. Medieval Russian armor had a lot of that sort of thing, too, but even creepier looking.
The facemask is fierce, but the yellow feather-things just ruin it. I'd have more trouble not laughing at him.
ReplyDelete...laughing right up until he rides you down and grinds you into dogmeat under the hooves of his mount...
ReplyDeleteI think I saw this costume on an episode of Warriors, regarding the Germanic tribes vs. the Romans, on the History channel. Looked pretty awesome to me.
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ReplyDeleteVery nice.
ReplyDeleteI still recall being fascinating in Western Civ class to learn that the decline of the Western Roman Empire was prolonged and gradual--the 4th thru 6th centuries would've been eerie and appalling, but oh so gameable.
Medieval Russian armor had a lot of that sort of thing, too, but even creepier looking.
ReplyDeleteMedieval Russia's another one of my go-to imagery fonts. It's got the same sort of familiar/alien dynamic going on.
I'd have more trouble not laughing at him.
Like Badelaire said. Feathers and headdresses can look faintly ridiculous (I have a particular giggle weakness for Napoleonic headgear), but keep in mind that it was designed to increase an opponent's apparent height in battle. That shit works. Plus, I gotta say that in this example, I actually rather like the feathers--they look like jets of flame issuing from the head.
What's a good source for this stuff? That image is awesome.
ReplyDeleteIf I find a good one, I'll definitely post it here. This image came up during a Google search for Roman standards (related to a miniatures project I'm working on). Here's the original site:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.fectio.org.uk/articles/draco.htm
At a guess, I'd say the photo is from an historical re-enactment group. You can just make out in the background a regular cavalry trooper, also with metal facemask (and probably full metal armor!). Photos from re-enactment events are always a good bet for nice, crisp imagery.
It looks like they still don't got stirrups. How the hell do you ride carrying that big shield and standard without no stirrups? That's skill.
ReplyDeleteAnyone ever inflict stirrupless game world on their players? For me it falls under "Fun vs Historical Simulation" contest in which Fun always wins.
I noticed that too! Skill indeed.
ReplyDeleteAlthough, from what I understand, stirrups mainly help in bracing for impact/allowing better leverage rather than keeping a rider balanced on their horse.
So for a stirrupless world (and I'm definitely with you on having never run one because of Fun considerations), I suppose you could just outlaw lance charges and maybe put a damage cap on melee attacks versus infantry.
"Although, from what I understand, stirrups mainly help in bracing for impact/allowing better leverage rather than keeping a rider balanced on their horse."
ReplyDeleteTry this. Have someone sit on a horse without stirrups, and push them from the side with a stick. Watch how they have no means to prevent you from literally pushing them right off the horse, beyond how hard they can squeeze with their thighs.
Now try it with stirrups. Notice how the rider can simply brace themselves with the opposing leg, just like you would if someone was pushing you and you were standing on the ground.
Also, have you ever watched someone gallop or take a horse through a jumping / obstacle course? You don't "sit" while you're riding - you somewhat "stand" in your stirrups with your knees bent so your legs can absorb the shock of impact. No medieval knight could ever have had a chance of riding a charge home on a galloping mount wearing a plate harness and holding a lance and shield. They'd have bounced right over the side at the first hard bump.
Stirrups give you tremendous cutting power from horseback because you can stand up and use all the power of your back, buttocks, and thighs to drive home the blow. You can also lean over to cut to either side of the mount, something that'd be extremely dangerous without stirrups.
At the very least, in a moderately "realistic" system like GURPS or RM, I'd remove any bonuses a character received for "fighting mounted" against someone on foot. I'd also make stunts vastly more difficult, remove bonus damage from charges, and make it much harder for a character who takes damage to stay on their mount.
Before the stirrup, cavalry were fast, mobile, skirmishing forces best used to harass with missile weapons or run down fleeing infantry who weren't even putting up a fight.
After the stirrup, cavalry became, at their height, an unstoppable wall of steel and flesh that could crush a body of men where they stood in the blink of an eye, and a skilled rider with a strong arm could shatter a shield, helm, and skull with one blow from axe or mace and keep it up time after time after time.
It really did change western warfare in some pretty profound ways.
Thanks for expanding on that.
ReplyDeleteThat's essentially what I was trying to get at, albeit perhaps a bit poorly phrased. Where I was coming from was the expression of surprise at being able to port around a bunch of equipment without stirrups, in that it was totally possible and the main difference stirrups made was in combat. (And then some!)