Chain armour

Chain armour, also known as "chainmail" or simply "mail" (known as "bronze armour" in the Nintendo Port of Ultima III) is armour which has been crafted out of a series of interlinked metal rings, which are usually riveted shut on high quality pieces. It is available in Ultima I,  II,  III,  IV,  V,  VI,  VII,  VII Part Two,  VIII, and  IX, as well as in the Ultima Underworld series.

Description
A full set of standard Britannian mail generally consists of a coif, a mail shirt (termed a haubereon in comparable  Terran ages) and mail leggings (chausses). At times, mail gauntlets (mitons), mail boots and mail arm extensions for the haubereon would also figure into the ensemble.

Throughout the Age of Darkness and into the early Age of Enlightenment, chainmail armour was presumably always sold as a set. As time progressed (and as the Ultima game engine grew more complex and better able to support differing armour slots), mail became a commodity sold by the piece, and it could take some shopping around on the part of an enterprising adventurer to assemble a full outfit. In terms of blanket protection, the woven mesh of good mail is almost always preferable to boiled leather or padded canvas in terms of keeping its bearer from bodily harm, although there is an understandable trade-off with regards to expense and weight. While not as sure a defense as full plate, the comparative lightness and flexibility of mail often makes it the wiser choice in situations where encumbrance is of issue.

Ultima VII
In Ultima VII, a complete set of chainmail armour contains the following pieces. The numbers listed after indicate the relative effectiveness of the armour:

Ultima VIII
In Ultima VIII, the components and defensive values of chain armour were as follows:

Ultima IX
In Ultima IX, the components and defensive values of chainmail were as follows:

Trivia

 * At the time of Ultima II, a minimum strength of 19 was required to wear chain armour.


 * The term "chainmail" is actually a neologism - at least as far as Earth is concerned. In the real world history of the armour it was only called by this name in eras later than the 1700s.


 * Chain boots were planned for Ultima VII Part Two, but dropped from the game. Their paperdoll graphics can be found in the code.