Rules Clarification: Does TL10 Cloth Armor Stack with a TL12 Vacc Suit?

[Condottiere]

Layering is what Chobham, and Dorchester, armour is.

 

[Sigtrygg]

And the Whipple shield.

 

[Fluffy Bunny Feet]

Paper is never cover.

The Chinese used paper armour and against piercing/slashing weapons was as good as steel. Not so good against bludgeoning weapons.

 

[MasterGwydion]

The Chinese used paper armour and against piercing/slashing weapons was as good as steel. Not so good against bludgeoning weapons.

An edge case I hadn't considered...lol...

 

[MasterGwydion]

The Chinese used paper armour and against piercing/slashing weapons was as good as steel. Not so good against bludgeoning weapons.

Me: Bulletproofing a car with phonebooks?

My kids: Que es eso? (They have never seen a phonebook...lol...)

 

[Terry Mixon]

The Chinese used paper armour and against piercing/slashing weapons was as good as steel. Not so good against bludgeoning weapons.

I was thinking thinner, but you’re correct in that.

 

[J. L. Brown]

Does TL10 Cloth Armor Stack with a TL12 Vacc Suit?

It says Cloth is " indistinguishable from ordinary clothing".
Since you can wear clothing under a vac suit would this mean you could also wear tech level 10 cloth armor?
This would give a protection value of +18 if allowed.

Mg2e only please.

There is a vast gulf between 'can wear' and 'can benefit from'. The TL 12 protection is the best that TL 12 can do; a simple TL 10 'hack' like 'just wear a diplo vest!' would already be incorporated.

 

[rinku]

Against small arms, concealment can still provide some protection, but it's mostly along the lines of your body not being where they think it is, and that effect where bullets start tumbling chaotically after going through (more relevant if there's significant distance between the thing they went through and the target). So modifiers to hit model that fairly well, with actual cover providing armour values.

The Chinese paper armour wasn't paper thin, though:

"Paper armour

During the wars between the Later Zhou and Southern Tang, civilians on the Tang side formed "White Armor Armies", named after the white paper armour they wore. These Tang civilian armies experienced some success in driving off small contingents of Zhou forces but avoided confrontation with the larger army. The White Armour militia army was later revived to fight against the Song dynasty, but they were ineffective and disbanded.

Later Ming texts provide descriptions of paper armour. One version was made of silk paper and functioned as a gambeson, worn under other armour or by itself. Silk paper could also be used for arm guards. Another version used thicker, more flexible paper, hammered soft, and fastened with studs. It's said that this type of paper armour performed better when soaked with water.

Paper armour was still worn by the Hui people in Yunnan in the late 19th century. Bark paper armour in layers of thirty to sixty sheets in addition to silk and cotton was considered to be fairly good protection against musket balls and bayonets, which got stuck in the layers of paper, but not breech loading rifles at close quarters." (Wikipedia)

A couple of points there: Mostly silk or cotton fibre in use, not wood fibre aside from the bark version. Dozens of layers. Not used by professional soldiers.

Claims of it being as strong as steel seem to be quite overstated. Certainly the actual soldiers used metal armour and not paper.

 

[Condottiere]

I'm thinking plywood.

 

[MasterGwydion]

Just remember. Anything is bullet-resistant if it is thick enough.

 

[ProfGrizzlyJon]

I have allowed a tailored cloth trenchcoat or coveralls to stack with vacc suits or hardsuits/walkers. The Vargr armor rules provide a very easy to use method for upgrading vacc suits.

I have a particular faction that is well known for their reflec trenchcoats and fireproof vargr-inspired cloaks that they use for rescue crews.