IDW 0017: Legionary Armour [VOTING]

[Flip]

Topic: Legionary Armour

Background: The Pax Romana (prosperous years of the Roman Empire) did not end with Marcus Aurelius. After his death and the mysterious death of his son and successor a new leader has come into power. This new Emperor is a military genius, and has been pushing back the Germanic tribes and the Persians, expanding the Empire. He has found that while the current armour, lorica segmentata, has served the Empire well, these new battles have revealed some short-comings and so the Emperor has called for new armour designs for the new legionaries.


Brief:

1. Design armour for use by the Roman legionaries.

2. You aren't limited to just body armour, feel free to design the whole kit (shield, helmet, javelins, short sword, dagger, etc.).


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Chuck Wadey
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v692/ChuckWadey/IDOW/IDW017_MaternityArmour.jpg
Legionary commander Scipio Geta ascended the roman throne after a bloody military coup. Though he was a brilliant commander, he was insecure about being assassinated himself and overly anxious to secure the legacy and power of his bloodline. He eagerly went to work on creating an heir and had commissioned an armored shell to protect the future legionary during its most vulnerable gestation months. After birth, the shell was to serve as the child's first training throne. In actuality the armor was responsible for many a miscarriage and only a single daughter was able to live through its protection.



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Sogbad
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h155/sogbad/helmet.jpg
In 193 Septimius Severus became Emperor with the help of Legio XIV Gemina the legion he once commanded. After disbanding the Praetorian Guard and replacing it with his own men from Legio XIV Gemina he decided to train an elite Legion which would serve as his personal bodyguard and as shock troops against the enemies of Rome. In order to inspire terror in his enemies he dedicated these troops to the Roman god Orcus, a god of the underworld, the punisher of broken oaths, an evil punishing god who torments evildoers in the afterlife. Using Orcus as his influence Septimius Serevus commissioned a unique armor design for these troops alone, the armor took on the visage and devices of the demon god Orcus.


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cognition.sb
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f107/cognitionsb/cognitionsb-legion-oct06.jpg


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KuJo
http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/5587/legionaryarmorwd6.jpg


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Johnnyhorse
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k151/JohnnyhorseCA/IDW-17-1.jpg
Most commonly found in the burial chambers accompanying high ranking Legionaires, these ornate sets of interwoven plates are woven and crafted with such fine skill that they are as visually stunning as they are formidable. These sets are similar to the Lorica Segmentata armor preceding this generation of legionaires, save for a more striking visual appearance with more geometric and ornamented plates and a much more tightly knit and woven cuirass--finally with the addition of full arm protection. These suits found fewer blows reaching vitals and, more importantly, it noticably enhanced the morale on the battlefield.


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Sinix

[Johnnyhorse]

My vote went to Cognition. It was a simple design, semi-realistic (and semi-functional), was closest to the theme (and backstory) and a solid concept.
Chuck - A VERY close second. The concept and direction of this is really quite neat. It didn't quite follow the brief, and that is probably the main reason it didn't get my vote.
Sogbad - Nicely rendered, and it has a lot of character. I know that it's okay to just do pieces of the armor, but since your piece was so distinctive I really wanted to see what the rest of the armor would look like.
KuJo - Clean and a complete looking set of armor you have. I really wish you finished it!
Sinix - I like your style. It's indeed heavy, but probably not too functional (and that shield is much too oriental to be Roman or anywhere close!) The balance of the piece still bugs me a lot but I guess that nifty flail makes up for it. You also need a description!

[dragon4lunch]

uh, nice neck on neck, or is it neck to neck (?) race! I voted for cognition.sb because I can really see the romans running around in an outfit like that. It's not too far from the real one, but it is at the same time clearly different and functional. I like how the individual fighter's identity thus becomes obscured and the Romans as a whole seem more threatening than they already were.

[D-Holme]

I voted for cognition.sb after a long deliberation I felt it was the design the most filled the brief and resulted in a mass producible armour solution for a rank and file legionnaire.

Not really feeling skilled enough to discuss the art in any detail so I shall have to stay technical;
Chuck - a nice piece which cleverly interpreted the topic although the departure was a little too far by my feeling.
KuJo - I would like to have hear the detail behind your design and your interpretation of the brief - heavier armour and a longer spear (non-thrown) to stand against the Persian Cataphract?
Johnnyhorse - a nice evolution of the existing armours and something that would not feel out of place on the Roman battle field. It maybe did not feel as 'clean' a solution as others
Sinix - I really liked the style of the armour and could imagine a legion of these suits as truly a sight to behold but felt that it the impracticality of the piece took away from it.
Sogbad - I liked the reference to background material and how it was brought into the piece, I would really liked to have seen it as a full suit/harness but work always seams to be the enemy of IDW.

I thought the standard of concept and art (no pun intended) was very good overall and made for a hard choice in the end.

[Supervlieg]

I really liked Johnny horses piece, looks like a natural evolution to the original armour. I also like the asian influences in there. I also like that it is also designed to be more visually stunning to set apart the higher ranks. Also the slightly serene presentation really conveys the idea of an old armor very well.

Props to all who entered. And big-up to Chuck for great presentation.

[Johnnyhorse]

Dang, this one's close. ;)

Thanks SV. I'm a big fan of your creature creations... they're always so crisp

[Flip]

Well done, Johnnyhorse!