Detached Jack Arms 

For the last decade or so I have done my armoured combat with detached arms on my jack (other terms are ackerton or gambeson - it is my padded armoured combat jacket). One was made for me as a custom piece by BP. It had all the cooling technology: disconnected arms, and bamboo wadding. This lovely piece is on its way out after 10 years of service. As a rush job I am modifying an existing red and white jack for my new job as Baron Politarchopolis starting March 2023. The jack will also have two gores put in to allow some space under the garment for my lendenier (leather waist piece that has ties to support the leg padding and leg armour.)

Two of the reasons for this modification are heat and full reach. 

How to cut off the arms: 

Pin the arms on either side of the armscye (seam around armpit end of arm where it connects to the shoulder)

Cut / quick unpick the armscye.

Using bias binding seal the top edges of the arms and the body of the jack where the arm was detached.

Sew in the side gores:

While the arms are off, unpick the side seam of the body, and insert gores.

Reattach the arms to the jack with a connector:

Cut a piece of horse blanket or similar multi-layered thick piles of wool as long as your fingers and as wide as two fingers.

Cover the horse blanket / wool with compatible cloth.

I used red on one side and white on the other to match.

This is your shoulder protector and connector.

Attach the connector so it is over the rotator cuff, and attaches to the jack on the top line of the shoulder.

This is the location of modern military epaulettes.

Sew the connector to the arm and the jack.

I used stab stitch on the eight compass points of the connector, then whip stitched it down.

Shoulder Connector. quilted, stab stitched, whip stitched. This is also where you can sew down ties for shoulder armour.

If your jack doesn't let you touch your ear straight over your head, there are multiple shots your gear will not let you throw. On the red arm, you can see the line of the bias binding. In cool weather, I wear a white shirt underneath, in warm weather I wear a modern wicking garment. I'm very lucky that it is bright red :)

All in all the project took about two movies of machine sewing and two movies of hand sewing.

 

 Pell Drills

What is a Pell?

A pell is human sized target used to practice martil arts. I use one to practice medieval style stick combat under the SCA rules

Who made these?

I was taught 1-6 in the 1990's, and the rest have been morphed over time and their provedence is lost. I know credit goes to Sirs Fabian, Uther, Seb, Alaric, Stpehn and Cornelius, and solid thanks to Erik and his wonderful printouts. We still need to get them and video the results one day!

1-6 drill - Basic.

In this drill you mark the pell with markings one to six, and hit them in a pattern. 

Numbers: Numbers one to six are on the foreahand shot side, on the side to be struck most easily by the dominant hand. 1 is at the lower leg target, one inch above the knee on an average combatant. 2 is in the torse, one inch above the hip socket, and 3 is on the head, one inch below the average eye line. Numbers 4-6 are on the 'backhand' shots, where the sword travel to the other side of the body from the doiminant hand. 4 is a backhand to one inch below the eye, 5 is a backhand to one inch above the hip, 6 is a backhand to one inch above the knee.

Pattern: Keep one number standard, then advance the other numbers through the sequence. So 1,1 1,2 1,3 1,4 1,5 1,6 is the start, then 2,1 2,2 3,2 4,2 5,2 6,2 and proceed until 6,1 6,2 6,3 6,4 6,5 6,6.

Aims: This drill gets the sword moving from target to target, and gets the armoured combatant used to choosing the long selction shots like 1,4 and the hard repeats like 5,5 and 6,6. 

1-6 drill - Advanced

Numbers - you can add more numbers and add in 7 wrap to one inch above the leg, 8 wrap to one inch above the hips, 9 wrap to the back of the head, and 10 the face thrust.

Aim: Integrate the wraps and thrusts to the drill

Cutout Pell

I used one of these made by Count Stephen. The pell is a suspended oblong of wood or butchers block plastic, with cuts made just larger than the sword you are practing with. The aim is to throw your shots with sufificent precision that you travel very cleanly into the very small gap for both the strikes and the thrusts.

Multiple Pells

One of the drills I do the most is my war drills - these drills involve using two pells to simulate common war situations. 

Shield Wall - I have three pells in front of me in a line, and I practice standing in front of the middle one and hitting the other two. This simulates the fact that the person in front of you is generally watching you, making the other two easier to hit.

Polearm clearance - in this drill you have two pell with one right in front of you and one further behind you to simulate a shield and a polearm. In this drill you simulate engaging with the shield and practicing the passing shots to engage the polearm.

More later

I hope to expand this out later...

Thanks for the question that inspired the post, StBo! 

 Roleplaying research

I'm about to commence a bit of roleplayying and I'm using this page as a links repository.

Pisa

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pisa

Maratime mercantile city west of Florence. River Arno. 

ADP Ysambarts 1400 kit

 ADP Ysambarts 1400 kit

Armour Decision Point Worksheet

·                     Silhouette – Half Plate armour

·                     Time period - 1400

·                     Geographical Area - France

·                     Historical Example – mixed depicitions

·                     Social Status – Country French Knight

·                     Leg suspension – c-belt

·                     Correct layers V your layers – not enough mail

·                     Weapon Fitout - SCA rule set compliant rattan long sword and rattan dagger

·                     My Compromises – faceplate, modern gorget, less mail, fuller leg articulation, less elbow articulation different gauntlets, leather gutters and thigh plates, wrong shoes.

Silhouette

Half Plate armour

Time period

1400

Geographical Area

 France, with an Italian supplier

Historical Example

 mixed depicitions - I have no known French heavy infrantry depiction for 1400s.

Social Status

 Country French Knight

Leg suspension

 c-belt

Correct layers V your layers

Not enough mail, body armour should be over the fabric layer

Weapon Fitout

 SCA rule set compliant rattan long sword and rattan dagger

My Compromises

faceplate is a required peice for the SCA ruleset

modern gorget is supplemental to the missing mail

less mail - this kit should have more mail and less visible cloth

fuller leg articulation & less elbow articulation - swapped due to the availability at the time

different gauntlets - finger gauntlets illegal. These steel covered leather ones are incorrect for the kit

leather gutters and thigh plates - I choose leather gutters and thigh plates for a sports ruleset reason - If I have steel gutters (forearms) and steel thigh plates I cannot even notice correctly thrown shots I need to register as hits.

wrong shoes - I get consant injury with flat soled medieval shoes.

Back to the ADP

ADP Migration Period Coppergate base

 

ADP Migration Period Coppergate Base

 

Armour Decision Point Worksheet

·                     Silhouette – Late Roman/Migration/Viking

·                     Time period – 867

·                     Geographical Area – York, England

·                     Historical Example – Extant Coppergate helmet

·                     Social Status – Northumbrian Captain of the Yeomanry

·                     Leg suspension - none

·                     Correct layers V your layers – none – but have not made the set.

·                     Weapon Fitout - SCA rule set compliant rattan single handed sword, rattan spear, rattan dagger, and a round shield

·                     My Compromises – Face, neck, kidney protection, gauntlets, hidden elbows, forearms, thighs and knees.

 

Silhouette:

Late Roman/Migration/Viking

Time period:

867

Geographical Area:

York, Kingdom of Northumbria (present day England) 

Historical Example:

Extant Coppergate helmet

Social Status:

Northumbrian Captain of the Yeomanry, I believe at this rank a metal helmet would be expected and affordable.

Leg suspension:

The leg armour for this type of warrior was cloth trews and wraps.

Correct layers V your layers:

I have not made the set.

Weapon Fitout:

SCA rule set compliant rattan single handed sword, rattan spear, rattan dagger, and a round shield

My Compromises:

Face/ head the open face is illegal so a full face or protective bars are needed, as would extra blacked or hidden plates to full cover the head.

Neck needs full mail, or preferably full mail and a hidden gorget.

Kidney protection is needed – a hidden one integrated into the lendenier would work well.

Gauntlets there are no known gauntlets from this period, so a sports leather copy is needed, a common option in Australia are the “Count Olfus” designed leather covered steel plate gauntlets.

Hidden elbows and forearms are best. While only elbows are technically needed, forearm protection is highly recommended.

Hidden thighs knees are best. While only knees are technically needed, thigh protection is highly recommended.

Return to the ADP guide

ADP 1450 Suit adapted to SCA Ruleset

 

1450 Suit adapted to SCA Ruleset

armour decision point example

Armour Decision Point Worksheet

·                     Silhouette – Plate armour

·                     Time period - 1450

·                     Geographical Area - France

·                     Historical Example - Gunther von Schwarzburg 1349 Effigy

·                     Social Status - French Knight

·                     Leg suspension - Purpoint

·                     Correct layers V your layers – none – but have not made the set.

·                     Weapon Fitout - SCA rule set compliant rattan long sword and rattan dagger

·                     My Compromises – Bevor and gauntlets

 

 

 

Silhouette:

German Plate

Time period:

1450-60

Geographical Area:

France, but a customer of a German armoury

Historical Example:

extant suit Historisches Museum, Vienna

http://myarmoury.com/feature_gothic_armour.html

Social Status:

French Knight

Leg suspension:

Purpoint

Correct layers V your layer:

I have not made a suit in this style yet

Weapon Fitout:

SCA rule set compliant rattan long sword and rattan dagger

My Compromises:

To make this suit SCA legal would require two main compromises, at the gauntlets and at the neck. The guantlets appear to have separated fingers which is generally illegal in the SCA ruleset, and the ruleset has definite definitions where helmets must protect head to the jaw. The ruleset does not allow the jaw to be protected by the bevor.

Return to the ADP

Getting WaT 15mm tanks in Australia

 Getting WaT 15mm tanks in Australia 

https://toofatlardies.co.uk/product-category/what-a-tanker/

What a Tanker in my area (Canberra Australia) uses 15mm (1/100) miniatures to play this great 'beer and pretzels' level miniatures wargame.

One of my friends asked how to get miniatures, and I am the sort to head off being asked a questions a few times by making a blog post. (Hi Mr C!)

The game only needs a few tanks per side to get going, and on your first game and large team games, you may only need a single tank, easily borrowed from your teacher or game runner. After that, you will naturally want your own collection. 

STORES

http://store.aetherworks.com.au/

Super Biased first pick! Aetherworks are my friends of 20+ years and I have even done bits of work for them. I declare my bias :)   

An easy start point would be the "Fury" boxed set with three US and two germans.  

You can drill down in the store to Miniature/ Flames of War/ country and then pick the miniatures you want. This is a very easy way to get what you want miniature by miniature. They are located in Sydney, so postage is fast. For example, this link should go to the German vehicles. Vehicles this way are about $15 each. 

If you want to start a collection in one box and don't want to paint, you could get the World of Tanks Miniatures game and get four base coated tanks and a whole other rule set for $71. This is a rebrand of Gale Force 9's (GF9) old "Tanks!" game adding in the basecoat painting and bumping the price. Singles are not out yet, but look like they are $22 each. Great if you have no interest in painting, or if you only want to detail the tanks yourself.

https://www.warandpeacegames.com.au/15mm_Plastic_WWII_s/2469.htm

War and Peace stock a few different companies than Aetherworks. they link above goes to 15mm WW2. The bargain of the moment seems to be that they are clearing their GF9 TANKS games miniatures for $7.50 each. Good price! Limited Stock.

https://www.mightyape.com.au/brands/zvezda

Mighty Ape stock Zvezda models. They are inexpensive models, recently endorsed by Jygdrasil. He was very happy with them arriving in a couple of weeks at very, low prices. He put his toe in with s $20 starter order and order #2 at $40 is underway.

https://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1313&_nkw=15mm+tanks&_sacat=0

Everyone knows ebay. You can watch carefully for bargains @ $5 a pop, or go spend $250 on someones complete pre painted collection of everything you want. Search 15mm tanks or 1/100 tanks

http://www.thecombatcompany.com/categories/miniatures-historical/plastic-soldier-company/15mm-world-war-ii.html

The Combat Company main differentiator here is stocking Plastic Soldier Compoany brand miniatures. They came through ompeteing with Flames of War by offering inexpensive simple pose plastic miniatures. They sell cheap tanks in boxes of five to match the FoW ruleset. 

3D PRINTING

Down at the 15mm level, 3D printing is just fine. If you have a friend with skills in the area, the polite thing to do is for you to make all the tank decisions by picking what you want from https://www.thingiverse.com/ and sending them the links. Then, offer them about $5 per tank for filament and setup labour. I have 6/25 3d printed tanks, and unless you have a good eye you won't be able to spot them from my plastic and metal tanks until you pick them up.