I Wanna Submit a new thread!

[Mbmul175]

i want to make a 14th century milanese harness with the same features as this one, except without all the inacuracies

14centuryHarness_large.jpg (42.81 KiB) Viewed 2411 times

[Friethjoph]

I want to be an Ashigaru.

I try to aim somewhere close to the end of the Sengoku era, at least 1546. This is when Nanban trade started with the Portoguese, and shortly after the first matchlock regiments were put up. Iconic they are for wearing the conical Jingasa, but a lot of them also carried tiny sashimoto on their back, allowing to identify whole regiments.

While many of them were conscripted soldiers, that seems not to have been true for all of them, as some sources indicate that some of the ashigaru were likely samurai castes, at least if the possession of a daisho in those regiments can be seen as an indicator.

My problems are with identifying the proper do type and if the rest of the armor differs from the samurai-only regiments other than the Jingasa and weaponry (but don't forget, that due to Nobunaga and other samurai, death by the Tanegashima in battle was the second most honorable death just after death in single combat after the advent of firearms!)


Depictions from Gejutsu hiden Zue, ca 1855:


Photo of ca 1864

Note this in contrast to the pictures of 10 or 20 years earlier!

depiction of 1847 of the fourth (?) Battle of Kawanakajima (1561)

Note the Flagbearer and the jingasa in the top left. Remember that the status of Flagbearer was often reserved for (low ranking) samurai.

1649 Zohyo Monogatari:

Note the Daisho.



Undated?

again, note several here seem to have a daisho pair, others just a single Katana or Tashi (that is if the bend of the blade is an indicator and not artistic license)


Analyzing these pictorial findings, they wear either no lower leg protection or kneeless 3-splint (or 2 times 3 with metal bits between) suneate, some possibly on a kikko base.
Do could be Nuinobe Dô (upper row), Hotoke, sendai or even hatomune dô for the rest (hard to tell, it just looks like a solid plate... or is just missing distinction and could be ANY do style). Lord Effingham once said on Tousando:

Oh, heck, yeah. Basic hotoke do and okegawa do are classic ashigaru fodder. Want to be even *more* ashigaru? Just use the front (a maekake dô) and it *screams* ashigaru armour.

No Sode are evident, but all have haidate with sugake odoshi or no apparent lacing.
Kote are various: they reach from 'apparently none' over 2-solid-plates+elbow(+shoulder)(+back of hand) over 2-sets-lower-arm+1-set-upper-arm-no-glove Full-arm-kikko. Possibly some of these might be removeable tekko tyle.
The helmet is always the jingasa type, in one case affixed with a curtain made clearly of fablic.

[Friethjoph]

A lot of extra reading, especially on Toyotomi Hideyoshi as well as the Takedas, added new facets:

In the Takeda Clan of the sengoku period, ashigaru served as some kind of border guard/province scout system with posts all around the provinces held by them, allowing to mobilize the standing forces as well as additional peasant troops within a short time. That they seemed to have made little difference between samurai and (standing) ashigaru in terms of training might be best seen in 1961, when they and their (former)allies, the Uesugi, fought in the fourth battle of Kawanakajima: reports vary about the numbers fielded and fallen, but they must have been of a very high discipline and training, indicated by the numbers (some speak of 62 to 72% losses for both sides) and complexity of the maneuvers described in the reports about it.

In 1588, Hideyoshi repeated a procedure his former lord Oda Nobunaga had used against the ikki-ikki monks: he had all weapons owned by peasants confiscated. This did seemingly not extend to groups like standing ashigaru troops but it did so for monks, so they might have been considered a (very low?) part of the bushi-class (in Europe the closest equivalent would be nobles), or it simply didn't account for peasants serving with their daimyo's weaponry.

Before 1591, ashigaru were either conscripted soldiers (akin to a standing army or border guards), mercenaries of no status (mostly in the early periods), non-bushi called to arms (as a means to defend the own province or boost the own province's military) or low(est) level samurai. But with Hideyoshi's 身分統制令 Mibun Tōsei Rei (“Social Status Control Edict”) all people who had served as ashigaru between July of 1590 and its proclamation were effectively made samurai. It didn't state that it 'uplifted' them, but it banned them (or rather the social castes of chugen & komono that served as the main body of ashigaru) from becoming peasants or traders. On the other hand, it did not forbid them to get uplifted to proper 'samurai' positions like the personal retainers, flag-bearers, sandal-bearers or to serve in the personal bodyguard - all of which were very honorable positions because of the trust into them.

[Friethjoph]

Pictures of the 雑兵物語 (Zohyo Monogatari), one of them seems to be an extract:

http://webarchives.tnm.jp/imgsearch/show/C0046153
http://webarchives.tnm.jp/imgsearch/show/C0023427

[dstorrer]

I would like to represent a Scottish red shank mercenary in Ireland during the 15 century. Specifically from the Clan Gregor of the central highlands. This was a clan that had expanded it's territory through most of the 14 century and whose power started to wain in this time period loosing much of it's territory to the Clan Campbell towards the end of the 15th century and all of it's land in the 16th century. Also eventually having it's name all together abolished for 200 years in the 17-18 centuries.

Though poor the MacGregors consistently produced some of the finest warriors in Scotland and were often used by other Scottish clans and mercenaries as well.

What am I looking for in terms of both armor and clothing?

Also the Gallowglass look does not really work as red shanks tended to be from poorer/landless clans.

[mjaay]

Pretty simple. I want to build a kit around a bad ass black and gold Sutton hoo. I understand of course it's Saxon, what else should I be aware of?

[Die4Metal]

i wanna be a 16th century redshank
must haves: Great kilt + big ass sword

[brianjcarroll]

I wanna be a 16th century highland scot
Hope it can include Kilt and greatsword
Would prefer it not require chainmail
This is for an SCA persona. I'm open to persona background. The wider variation on armor the better for me. I have read that jacks were popular, but arm armour was not so much unless it was those extended length gauntlets. Any help would greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Karl Helweg]

I wanna be a 16th century highland scot
Hope it can include Kilt and greatsword
Would prefer it not require chainmail
This is for an SCA persona. I'm open to persona background. The wider variation on armor the better for me. I have read that jacks were popular, but arm armour was not so much unless it was those extended length gauntlets. Any help would greatly appreciated. Thanks!

You might start with this thread: viewtopic.php?f=14&t=44846&hilit=scott