V9: Rating Armor

This page is part of the Official Amtgard V9 Alpha-Playtest Rulebook.

• The Amtwiki is the official home and primary source for Amtgard V9 Rules as of February 25, 2023.
• These rules are currently in Open Alpha Playtest. See the Playtest Disclaimer for more details.
• To learn more about Amtgard V9 Development, please visit Amtgard.com.
• To view the current Amtgard V8 ruleset, please see the Amtgard V8 Rulebook.

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Rating Worn Armor

Each piece of Worn Armor must be inspected and assigned an Armor Rating in order to be used for Amtgard combat.

1. Worn Armor pieces must be examined and rated by an Equipment Inspector.
   
   
2. Each piece of worn armor will be assigned to an Armor Tier that will outline its Base Armor Rating and Maximum Armor Rating. Armor that cannot be assigned to a tier does not count as armor and cannot be used as such.
   
   
3. Pieces are then granted bonuses or penalties based on the quality of construction or appearance (see below).
   • The final combination bonuses cannot exceed the Maximum Armor Rating listed for its tier.
   • Armor with a final rating of zero (0) does not count as Armor and cannot be used as such.
     
     
4. Armor Pieces must be rated individually but will be averaged together when worn to produce a final Armor Point Total for each Hit Location.
   
   
5. Easily damaged materials (such as paper, cardboard, foam, and tinfoil) and obviously modern materials (such as shin pads and chest pads) may never be considered armor on their own. Such materials and items may be used as components for armor but the final product must go beyond these core materials to create a noteworthy piece that is not at odds with the more typical examples presented in this document and seen on the battlefield.
   
   

PRO TIP: EQUIPMENT REFERENCE SHEETS
Armor rating can be subjective at times. To help mitigate this, it is recommended that players keep a reference sheet with a list of details for their Worn Armor pieces including descriptions, construction details, and previously assigned ratings to help Inspectors make quick and confident assessments. Keeping signatures and inspection dates from other Inspectors will add further credibility to your notes.

Reference Sheets are not necessary but they will greatly improve your odds of getting consistent armor ratings at every event you attend.

Armor Tiers

Each tier includes a list of common armor styles that fall under that tier. For unlisted or ambiguous pieces, compare it to the examples under each tier and assign it based on which tier it most closely resembles in terms of style, materials, and appearance.

ARMOR TIERS
TIER	BASE RATING	MAX RATING	INCLUDES
T1	1	2	Catch-All (Non-Metal) Cloth/Padded
T2	2	3	Light Leather & Synthetic Variants Ringmesh, Sharkmail, and similar.
T3	3	4	Strong Leather & Synthetic Variants Rigid, Non-Metal Armor Chainmail
T4	4	5	Catch-All (Metal)
T5	5	6	Scale Butted Plate (Splint, Kikko, etc.)
T6	6	7	Lamellar, Laminar Brigandine Plate

General Armor Modifier Rules

Each piece of Worn Armor can be granted additional bonuses or penalties.

1. Multiple points can be awarded and penalized simultaneously as long as they each correspond to each unique feature or collection of features that would still warrant the bonus or penalty if viewed on its own.
   
   
2. The sum total of all modifiers cannot increase a piece's armor rating beyond the maxiumum allowable for its tier (see above). Surplus bonuses confer no additional benefit.
   
   
3. Armor with a final rating of zero or less (due to penalties) does not count as Armor and cannot be used as such.
   
   
4. Regardless of modifiers, armor pieces must still meet certain minimum specifications (see chart below) as well as fully adhere to the Universal Equipment Requirements in order to be used as armor.

Appearance Modifiers

Superior Appearance
Bonus points may be awarded to armor that displays an exceptional appearance above and beyond the typical appearance of similar pieces in its style. This includes but is not limited to: tooling, etching, gilding, and fluting, as well as notable use of colors, shapes, weaves, etc. These examples do not represent an exhaustive list and consideration should be given to any piece that obviously goes above and beyond the base construction requires to create an aesthetically pleasing piece.

Inferior Appearance
Points may be deducted from armor that displays an appearance well below the typical standard expected for similar pieces in that style. Examples include tarnished/poorly-maintained armor as well as visibly inauthentic or degrading materials. This penalty does not apply when the piece is worn as a part of a complete outfit that is intentionally designed to look shoddy or battle-worn.

Construction Modifiers

Superior Construction
Bonus points may be awarded to armor constructed with exceptional techniques that provide a meaningful increase in durability over the standard requirements. This includes but is not limited to: solid/riveted rings, hardened material, affixing to a rigid backing, tighter spacing than required, greater overlap than required, etc. These examples do not represent an exhaustive list and consideration should be given to any piece that obviously goes above and beyond the base requirements to create a more durable piece.

Inferior Construction
Points may be deducted from armor for inferior construction or a meaningful reduction in expected durability when compared to the standard requirements. Examples include but are not limited to: obviously unfinished armor, brittle/cracked material, loose connection points, and shoddy workmanship.

Material Thickness
Each piece of worn armor must include certain materials that meet a specific thickness criteria to qualify as a valid armor. Multiple layers of material may permanently affixed to each other to increase thickness however extra thickness caused by adhesives or empty space should not be factored into the new measurements. One bonus point may be awarded or deducted for Superior or Inferior thickness according to the chart below.

MATERIAL THICKNESS REFERENCE CHART
Material	Inferior (Minimum)		Standard		Superior		Notes
Catch-All	Cannot be less than standard		1/16" 1.60mm		1/8" 3.18mm
Cloth
Light Leather	4oz 1/16" 1.60mm		6oz 3/32" 2.39mm		8oz 1/8" 3.18mm
Strong Leather	10oz 5/32" 3.96mm		12oz 3/16" 4.78mm		14oz 7/32" 5.57mm
Rigid, Non-Metal	1/8" 3.18mm		3/16" 4.78mm		1/4" 6.36mm		Material Density at least 0.9g/cm3 (equivalent to HDPE)
	Aluminum	Steel	Aluminum	Steel	Aluminum	Steel
Round Rings	18awg 0.040" 1.024mm	20awg 0.032" 0.813mm	16awg 0.051" 1.290mm	18awg 0.040" 1.024mm	14awg 0.064" 1.628mm	16awg 0.051" 1.290mm
Flat Rings	18ga 0.403" 1.024mm	20ga 0.036" 0.911mm	16ga 0.051" 1.291mm	18ga 0.048" 1.214mm	14ga 0.064" 1.628mm	16ga 0.060 1.518mm	Measure along thinnest axis
Sheet Metal

Layered and Overlapping Armor

An example of layered and non-layered armor.

1. When calculating the Armor Point Total, if multiple pieces of Worn Armor are layered on top of each other, the rating of any layered/overlapping areas will be rating of the highest-tier piece plus 1, up to that tier’s max. A piece of armor already at max rating will not receive any additional value from layering.
   
   
2. Each layered piece must be able to act as armor on its own if it were not layered. Any part of layered armor that extends beyond the layering is calculated as its normal rating. There is no additional bonus for layering more than two pieces.
   
   
3. All layered armor pieces must be at least partially visible in a way that does not misrepresent the wearer’s armor point total or armor coverage when observed by another player from 20ft away. This especially true in the cases where a lower-tier armor is layered on top of a higher-tier piece.
   
   

Supplemental Armor

1. When calculating the Armor Point Total, armor worn on the head (above the neck), hands (above the wrist), or feet (below the ankle) will not contribute a normal rating towards calculations. However, pieces that meets the construction criteria listed below will grant an additional +1 bonus to its respective location (torso, right arm, left arm, right leg, left leg) after all armor point totals have been calculated.
   • Supplemental armor pieces must cover at least 50% of the surface area of the head, hand, or foot, not including space between fingers and toes.
   • They meet the Universal Equipment Requirements, as well as be constructed in a way would place them in Tier 3 or greater.
   • To ensure safety in the cases of accidental hand contact, hand armor cannot include rigid, abrasive, or metal materials on the back of the hand above the knuckles. To offset this, Hand Armor can also be constructed as a Tier 2 armor so long as the final piece still looks like armor.
     
     
2. This bonus can cause the armor point total to exceed tier maximums, however it will still be affected by armor point limits imposed by class or game modes.
   
   
3. If hand or foot armor is the only armor piece worn on that location, then it should be compared to the normal armor tiers and assigned a value as best as possible.
   
   

Calculating Armor Point Totals

Once the pieces are rated, Armor Point Totals are calculated for each Hit Location based on these ratings and approximate physical coverage that each piece bestows.

To calculate this total, average the ratings of all worn armor pieces in the Hit Location across the areas based on the percentage of coverage they provide, rounding the result to the nearest whole number. Areas not covered by any armor whatsoever, such as gaps or garb, are not factored into this averaging.

Developer Note: You do not need to be precise when determining the coverage. "Eyeballing" it is perfectly fine and even encouraged as long as it is done in good faith.

Example: Padded Bracer, Chainmail Sleeve, and Gauntlets.

Lorathana is wearing a padded bracer (rated 2pts) on her right forearm, a chainmail tunic (rated 4pts) with sleeves covering some of her arms, and a leather gauntlet. The two pieces together cover about 70% of her arms, leaving a gap at the elbow.

To make their calculations, the Equipment Inspector only has to focus on the area covered by armor. Looking at her arm, they determine that the bracer takes up about 40% of the armored area and the chainmail sleeve takes up about 60% of the armored area. The Gauntlets are Supplemental Armor so they are ignored until later.

[Bracer] 2pts x 40% = 2 x 0.40 = 0.8
[Sleeve] 4pts x 60% = 4 x 0.60 = 2.4
0.8 + 2.4 = 3.2 rounds down to 3.

Now that the total has been calculated, Lorathana can add the Supplemental Armor bonus for her Gauntlets, granting an additional +1.

Therefore, Lorathana’s right arm has an Armor Point Total of 4pts in the areas covered by armor (the bracer, the sleeve, and the gauntlets) and an exposed gap between them.

Still confused? More examples can be found here.