Google isn't being entirely helpful, so I thought I'd

>>1460287
Medieval?

Mail. But in the sun it gets very hot, so it's usually worn under clothing which is why they always look unarmoured.

Later they'd wear mail with plates linked into it. They never adopted full plate armour but this seems to have been something of a compromise to it.

>>1460287
Mail and quilted cloth, sometimes felt.

Also lamellar was used more often in Syria, Iraq and Egypt as more Turkic peoples migrated in.

Basically, it was very similar to Byzantine/Persian armors, since they often adopted and looted those styles.

So, mostly quilted armor (just fabrics, or was there any kind of hide?) and cloth with interwoven plates?

What about ring / chain mail? How about shields?

File: Mamluk Armour Vienna.jpg (105KB, 512x700px) Image search: [Google]

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Mamluke armour from Ottoman Egypt.

File: Shirt of Mail and Plate (15th century Iran).jpg (3MB, 3912x4000px) Image search: [Google]

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Timurid mail

File: Helmet, Egyptian, c. 1293-1341.jpg (44KB, 225x550px) Image search: [Google]

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Mamluke Helmet, 14th century

File: Single combat of Iskandar and Fur (Alexander and Porus).jpg (4MB, 2129x3000px) Image search: [Google]

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Some early 14th century depictions of armour from Mongol Iran.

File: Rashnavad Battles the Rumis.jpg (227KB, 749x1024px) Image search: [Google]

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>>1460522

File: Ardawan Captured by Ardashir.jpg (1MB, 1515x2048px) Image search: [Google]

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>>1460525

File: umpsecure_uma-145856AE522133B8114.jpg (271KB, 1263x869px) Image search: [Google]

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>>1460527

File: King Minuchihr of Iran kills the fleeing Turanians, Tabriz, second half of 14th century.jpg (692KB, 926x1125px) Image search: [Google]

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>>1460531
From later in the 14th century.

File: Isfandiyar fights with the Wolves Shah-nama. From the Sarai Albums Tabriz, ca. 1370.jpg (461KB, 893x1000px) Image search: [Google]

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>>1460540

File: Persian caliph armor.jpg (251KB, 600x1200px) Image search: [Google]

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>>1460287
The exceptionally rich and nobles had interesting armor. Like >>1460294 said: mail was common in the Middle East for its breathability, but small plates were included for greater protection of vital areas.

File: Episode from a Battle between the Iranians and the Turanians, Tabriz, second half of 14th century.jpg (377KB, 1100x718px) Image search: [Google]

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>>1460544

File: back plate.jpg (844KB, 1933x2900px) Image search: [Google]

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>>1460547
Another example

File: Eastern riveted armor.jpg (2MB, 2736x3648px) Image search: [Google]

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>>1460522
>>1460525
>>1460527
>>1460531
>>1460540
>>1460544
>>1460549
Keep going, these are great

>>1460552
One more example

File: mughal chainmail.jpg (3MB, 4000x3001px) Image search: [Google]

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>>1460553
The Mughals got this idea from their Islamic heritage and Arab influences

File: Mughal chest plate.jpg (3MB, 2000x1468px) Image search: [Google]

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>>1460557
Ornate as it may look, the stuff worked well

File: Cuirass (Char-aina), 17th century AD.jpg (4MB, 4000x4000px) Image search: [Google]

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A Safavid cuirass.

File: persian cataphract.png (953KB, 1120x651px) Image search: [Google]

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>>1460558
Chainmail was in Persia for a long time as well

File: Cuirass (17th century AD).jpg (2MB, 3465x4000px) Image search: [Google]

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>>1460563
Another

File: arab cavalryman, 12th century.jpg (2MB, 2185x2835px) Image search: [Google]

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>>1460563
Gimme a lance or a pike, I'd find a way inbetween those ornate plates!

>>1460565
It was great for cavalry too

File: Iranian battle-mask, from the Safavid Dynasty (16th-18th c.) (Shahada inscribed on the top).jpg (156KB, 469x750px) Image search: [Google]

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>>1460568
Safavid battle-mask.

File: caucasian duelists.jpg (198KB, 1000x698px) Image search: [Google]

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>>1460568
Beautiful

>>1460569
The Caucasians loved their chainmail too

File: disdain for plebs.jpg (44KB, 360x480px) Image search: [Google]

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>>1460571
I love masks in an armor set

File: Kamal-ud-din Bihzad, Battleground of Timur and the Egyptian king (1515 AD).jpg (1MB, 1500x2090px) Image search: [Google]

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Safavid war scene.

>>1460553
I'll post a few more then.

File: The Tenth Joust of the Rooks Barta versus Kuhram.jpg (2MB, 1657x2401px) Image search: [Google]

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>>1460581
Early 16th century armour.

File: Zal Slays Khazarvan with the Ox-head Mace.jpg (2MB, 1673x2449px) Image search: [Google]

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>>1460595

File: The Prophet Muhammad and the Muslim Army at the Battle of Uhud, 1594.jpg (4MB, 2528x3431px) Image search: [Google]

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>>1460597
I don't have much Ottoman stuff, but here's a late 16th century one.

File: Payag, The siege of Qandahar, 1636.jpg (2MB, 1470x2000px) Image search: [Google]

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>>1460606
Some Mughal stuff

File: Execution Of Lodi And Supporters, Padshahnama, 1636.jpg (1MB, 1306x1936px) Image search: [Google]

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>>1460615

>>1460595
That early 16th century armor didn't help the fellow...

File: Padshahnama, Khan Dawran receiving the heads of Jujhar Singh and his son Bikramajit, Deccan 1636, Attributed to Payag.jpg (699KB, 1600x1526px) Image search: [Google]

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>>1460619
That's all I've got.

File: 17th century Indian Elephant armour.jpg (701KB, 1318x1000px) Image search: [Google]

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Also some Mughal elephant armour, because I love it.

>>1460623
He seems to be mostly covered in silk, so I guess he had it coming.

File: Army of Abbas Ali, battle of Karbalya.jpg (471KB, 1600x1117px) Image search: [Google]

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>>1460626
I have a gift for you then, thanks for the dump

File: Mughal war elephant.jpg (177KB, 820x1200px) Image search: [Google]

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>>1460639
Hey, he looked /fa/ as fuck though

And I could not imagine having to fight a war elephant with melee weapons

>>1460547
Why can't museums ever get properly sized mannequins to dress up in armor and clothes so they don't look like goofballs?

>>1460606
Those feathers look like dicks.

Or those dicks look like feathers.

>>1460667

Budget.

>>1460294
>Later they'd wear mail with plates linked into it
So did the maile started to get less hot or did they also wear clothing over that?

OP here. This is research for an RPG campaign setting, so I was kind of hoping for replies that might provide a more tangible selection of equipment. For instance, if I were drawing up a table of equipment that characters in the game could purchase and use, what would said equipment be called, and how would it rank in terms of power?

I'm going to assume that full plate armor might not be practical for characters in this setting, because they're going to be adventuring across vast expanses of deserts. So that might leave me with something like:

Quilted armor
Brigandine - Quilted armor with plates sewn in?
Lamellar armor - Segmented plates? (does this differ from brigandine?)
Riveted mail - Any armor formed by linked or interwoven rings?

I'm not sure what these types of armor might be referred to as in more region-specific terms, for that matter.

>>1460705
At some point looking fancy takes precedent over being uncomfortable.

>>1460788
>Riveted mail - Any armor formed by linked or interwoven rings?
99% of mail was riveted. Non riveted "butted" mail just falls apart under any blow, so you can just say Mail.

>>1460359
Hide won't breathe as well as fabric.

>>1460287
Shields make good sandboards.
FACT: Any loss during this time is attributed to Arabian soldiers wasting more time catching radical air rather then training or preparedness.