20 Images of Women in Practical Armor

[Buster's Uncle]

Santa's enforcer...

[Rusty Edge]

I think she should lose the sash and wear a sword.

[Valka]

I'm just surprised you've had nothing to say about my armor design.

I've been distracted by running Iron Pen (voting ends Saturday morning, at which time I'll announce the winner/not-winner and some closing remarks). And I was in the mood for some reading, so I've just gotten back from Mars, courtesy of one of my Ben Bova novels.

I've been thinking about this, though, and will post some comments on Saturday.

[Unorthodox]

lose the white wtf at the knee, switch the green to navy, the gloves to black, give her a flail, and call her Nemo.  (extremely obscure, I know, don't expect anyone to know that one.  One of Uther's knights.)

[Buster's Uncle]

I hereby call her Nemo.

I thought I knew my Arthurian mythos - this is definitely from that magic kings game you like, isn't it?

[Buster's Uncle]

You suck, Uno - I turned your request around in 20 minutes or so -I did most of the work on the non-fur version of the boots last night, coincidentally- and you've been by multiple times w/o having a look and saying anything.

-In the plus column, Mylochka loved your variation, and we're going to make a Poser model...

[Unorthodox]

I hereby call her Nemo.

I thought I knew my Arthurian mythos - this is definitely from that magic kings game you like, isn't it?

Hell no.  Far too obscure for the game.  In fact, googling won't help either. 

She never lived long enough to be a knight of the round table.  In fact she performs the suicide mission to kill Gorlois while Uther is busy with Igraine because she knows if he don't die the war's not going to stop. 

The red boots were for Uther's personal guard, despite the blue being the accepted army color. 

I've been by but not free to browse.   

Origin in Jack Whyte's Camulod Chronicles, but claims her actions as those of an unnamed knight's from the Vulgate Chronicles and Le Muerte de Artur.  Camulod Chronicles are pretty decent read, if sometimes long.  Attempts to be historically plausible, less mystical. 

[Buster's Uncle]

Well, for a Lady Knight in that (fictionalized) milieu, the armor's all wrong.  She would have lost the chest window and the loincloth flaps and worn a full mail shirt - or at least the upper part w/o chest hole closed over a quilted gambeson and/or cuir bouilli leather armor, (the latter of which is probably the best bet for something vaguely form-fitting for hotness purposes).

Much depends on how late the particular version of Arthur is set, of course.  Bits of plate circa the 1200s would make some things easy, and reason that a woman fighter has to rely on speed and fight light, which I do for these bikini-esque purposes.  If there had been a real Nemo, she probably would have worn something Roman.  I don't know that the civilized Britons had any of their own armor style variations left by the 500s...

But chick knight, so why bring realism into it?

[Unorthodox]

 

If there had been a real Nemo, she probably would have worn something Roman.

Yep, actually. 

The books begin with the Romans leaving England, and Camulod is a bunch that stay behind. 

But chick knight, so why bring realism into it?

In the books, Uther is the son of one of the Romans that intermarried with the locals.  Nemo joins when they begin to train locals, and the issue of her being female is brought up by the Romans, and shot down by the locals.  You wouldn't know she's a chick once in her armor in the books.  (Short black hair and fugly, but that's kinda not the point here for your project.) 

Why do I bring it up?  Cause she's been my go to warrior character in any RPG for ages, and always opting for the most realistic armor the game allows. 

[Buster's Uncle]

Yes, Arturus Dux Bellorum and all that.

I still must never have seen anything about Nemo, 'cause this should have jarred it loose.  The only knight of Uther's I remember from Mallory is --- Ulfas, was it?

Again, for realism, you want real armor, but lightest possible - cuir bouilli torso/shoulder/neck armor, maybe arm and leg half-plates strapped on, maybe not.  No horse-and-lance action -she shouldn't be heavy enough- and a light sword for speed, so no fighting heavily-plated/equipped strapping male opponents w/o a lot of room to maneuver and time to find/strike at chinks enough to win.

[Buster's Uncle]

Sir Ulfius, googling tells me...

BTW, what we think of as Roman wasn't by the 500s, certainly not in northern theaters after hundreds of years experience...

[Unorthodox]

Ulfias is the base of many of my online names as well...

I have a copy of Mallory's work that is far more substantial than the one available online.  I don't know why...I'll have to dig it out and figure it out somehow.  2700 page monstrosity, that. 

The Camulod books make the claim that stirrups were the primary technological advantage of the knights (where older saddles didn't have them), allowing them to stand in the saddle and thus lend much more strength to their swings.  It goes through a lot of the changing equipment as well, but I'm 10+ years removed from the last time I read them (VERY detailed books on the equipment and tactics). 

[Valka]

But chick knight, so why bring realism into it?

A comment like that would earn you more than a few dirty looks at an SCA fighters' practice. Any women fighters are expected to go for authenticity every bit as much as the men (within reason, of course). That means the cut-out chainmail in the model above would definitely not be approved for entering the lists.

[Buster's Uncle]

Hey - the first thing I said was that it was bad armor.  The midriff exposure is right out, too, and the loin flaps are a joke.  It's just better armor than a bikini-cut Red Sonya getup.  If I was a woman and actually going to get in real for-keeps sword fights, leather armor and speed, as I told Uno above.

And did you see the Celebrity Boxing when Chyna the wrestler took on Joey Buttafuco?

[Mylochka]

BU requested that I try to do a version of his Chain Mail design for Poser.  Here is actually try #2...