Re-enactors!!! Post your pics

**FliegerAD** · September 09, 2010, 02:24 PM

Originally Posted by Leeham991

I been putting lots of thought into which helm I'm going to buy, though I think these three are my fav so far

They are Deepeeka produced I think. That is not bad, because they have vastly improved over the years, but be alert they make rather small helmets, and their ear holes are not well placed. That can be a big problem if you have a large head.

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z...ons/Byron1.jpg

As with all military gear you should try them first before going to battle or buying it.

Originally Posted by LaSallian

So during a Roman reenactment do you fight battles? If so who are the enemy, and how do you fight the battles considering a great deal of it will be hand to hand combat?

Mostly from second hand experience, there are two different approaches. First is some kind of choreography/script executed in a more or less rigid way. The second is more practical: the armour is not just for show, you can have some fights provided you take precautions (blunt or wooden blades, low powered bows, more padding). Actually well made mail with quality padding is virtually impenetrable as the Royal Armouries in Leeds concluded after tests.
However I have never seen a Roman battle with people hammering each other with full force like plate armoured reenactors sometimes do.

Late Roman battle:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOS8sy3Ho_c

Problem is indeed to find enemies of Rome since few people actually reenact them. Sure there are a lot Celtic groups, a lot migration age groups, but few groups for the time between them (i.e. opponents for 'segmentata legionaries').
During the events last year celebrating the battle of Teutoburg Forest, there were innumerable (German) legionaries but very few reenacting Arminius' men...

However since late antiquity is really a growing interest, shows of late Romans vs migration age Barbarians are not that rare anymore.

hundreds of impressive photos of such an event:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21711359@N08/sets/

Just one to show it is worth browsing the site:

**Leeham991** · September 09, 2010, 02:58 PM

Originally Posted by FliegerAD

They are Deepeeka produced I think. That is not bad, because they have vastly improved over the years, but be alert they make rather small helmets, and their ear holes are not well placed. That can be a big problem if you have a large head.

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z...ons/Byron1.jpg

As with all military gear you should try them first before going to battle or buying it.

Thanks for the advice, I'll try to get a good look at any helm I buy.

Also I would very much like to put a red circle around that guy's ear and use it as my desktop background if you don't mind xD

+rep for hilarious, yet informative pic

**LaSallian** · September 09, 2010, 06:05 PM

Great video and pics, looks like a lot of fun. I can imagine that it would be easy to get hurt in a melee reenactment. The guys would have to be very disciplined to not get carried away. I'd like to watch one of those events for real.

It certainly seems I have it easier in my War of 1812 re-enacting, where we can blaze away at each other with muskets from a distance and there are always plenty of enemy units to fight.

Its always good to see other eras, appreciate it!

**LaSallian** · September 09, 2010, 08:16 AM

I really like the Roman photo's.

So during a Roman reenactment do you fight battles? If so who are the enemy, and how do you fight the battles considering a great deal of it will be hand to hand combat?

I've seen a few Romans at a history timeline reenactment camp I went to. They always look very impressive.

**Leeham991** · September 09, 2010, 01:34 PM

I always wondered about that too.

I imagine that ancient battles require a great deal of good acting and practice. It's not at all like the guys who clamp on 10 gauge steel knights clothing and go hit each other for a while. Ancient uniforms and tactics are much like how modern armies work I seen.
Men with a helmet, their weapon and an armored shirt. A battle line locks to the other while the specialized troops and weapons system play ballet around the lines. Seems a little like today's army is repeating this xD

Anyways... Ya with the vital parts only armour and the specialized formations I would imagine the easy answer would be: with much acting skill.

**Dr. Croccer** · September 09, 2010, 03:02 PM

Ah this thread makes me so jealous of you guys.

**Marcus Aemilius Longinus** · September 12, 2010, 03:41 PM

Thats a nice photo.

The uniform is a little of a mash up, things from republic and things from the end of the empire all on one body. Still it makes up for the distinct lack of Romans on this thread xD

I am not a re-enactor... Yet... But I am saving up lots of money to buy gear. So far all I have is a Pompeii Gladius, but I'm waiting on Lorica Segmentata plus my grandma is going to send me up some leather and hard felt in the post so I can make a Tunic and a few other things for free

What's republican about it? The helm is a coolus helm, a first century AD imperial helmet while the shoulder doubled mail is believed to have been worn until around 130 AD.
I have to admit though that the Trajanic era greaves and manica are probably a little too late to go with the helmet even though the Romans were great at reusing gear (a montefortino type helm was found at a 69 AD battlefield.)

If your planning on making your own tunic I would advise you to go for woven wool rather than felt. A good guide for making a first century BC/AD tunic is http://www.romanarmytalk.com/rat/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=16795&hilit=tunics+crispus&sid=b2a00955efbc455581917c192d4c3d0a.

As for the helmets that you have shown that you are thinking of buying, well it depends on what period that you are planning to reenact. The 2nd and the 3rd helmets are both 1st century AD helmets although I should warn you that the 3rd helmet is rather dodgy in that it is actually an old prototype helmet by Depeeka. The 1st helmet is a late 2nd to mid 3rd century helmet.

**brammmo** · September 13, 2010, 09:41 AM

Ah this thread makes me so jealous of you guys.

I agree, I wish I had the money

**Leeham991** · September 13, 2010, 05:07 PM

Don't need an awfully large large amount of money. I think most reenactment groups supply the gear anyway as long as you pay your member fee and promise to eventually buy your own xD

Really though. I don't get much money at all, but if I go for like 5 weeks sticking to cheaper foods and not paying anything unneeded I had £100 to put into stuff like this. In June I got a Gladius for £100($150?) and I just bought a Lorica Segmentata for £130($200?) which I would have got sooner if I haven't decided I needed new clothes in July xD

Still it is expensive, but if you really go for it then you can afford pretty much anything after a time. I guess anyone with a better job than me could do better too, though I cheat a little coz I make my father pay for my broadband

**Dr. Croccer** · September 14, 2010, 02:01 PM

Getting military stuff isn't really that hard. There's plenty of shops here that sell it. I ran into an old Belgian guy in West-Flanders at a market who sold military hats and helmets, ranging from East German stuff to old Confederate caps. I bought an East German infantry cap for €30. In Ypres you had alot of unforms, but for ridiculously high prices.

The problem is that most re-enactments are set in the Ancient to ealy modern periods, and replicas of those uniforms and weapons are a bit harder to find, and more expensive.

**Okuto** · September 15, 2010, 08:22 PM

anything ancient is a hard find, medieval reenacting is expensive business. I just do WW2 and I've done 1812 once along with ACW and even thats pretty expensive.

**Marcus Aemilius Longinus** · September 16, 2010, 11:19 AM

Well I guess it depends on what you want to portray within a certain period. For example a brythonic(british celt) tribesman kit would be only cloth and maybe a spear and shield

**♔Charles the Bold♔** · September 20, 2010, 04:29 PM

...from my group this summer.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

**Taxandrius** · September 20, 2010, 05:30 PM

This might be a bad question in a thread completely dedicated to reenactment, but
does anyone of you guys know where I can get a German Feldmütze/Bergmütze M43 or a Finnish Kenttälakki M36 for a reasonable price (no dodgy sites)

**♔Charles the Bold♔** · September 21, 2010, 05:40 AM

Originally Posted by Taxandrius

This might be a bad question in a thread completely dedicated to reenactment, but
does anyone of you guys know where I can get a German Feldmütze/Bergmütze M43 or a Finnish Kenttälakki M36 for a reasonable price (no dodgy sites)

Try 'Soldier of Fortune' and check their reenactors catalogue. I don't use the stuff from them cause it doesn't meet the authenticity requirements of my group but you can go ahead. Also try 'Epic Militaria' and 'At the Front' which have better quality stuff for a bit more than 'SOF'.

**Okuto** · September 21, 2010, 02:39 PM

yes! another WW2 reenactor! wonderful mate, I was starting to feel a bit outnumbered

**saxdude** · September 21, 2010, 03:26 PM

Im currently strating the construction of a lorica segmentata, i would have preferably gone for a lorica hamata but it must be a absolute pain to make and expensive, i assume.

Also i would be very pleased to know if anyone knows were i can get an accurate and most importantly cheap roman helmet or greek helmet (corinthian, attic, phyrigian, i dont care.)?

**Leeham991** · September 21, 2010, 07:43 PM

Accurate helmets are really hard to find. The only advice I can give is to try not to get deepeeka, though research is always better than my drunken ramblings O.O

**Marcus Aemilius Longinus** · September 22, 2010, 01:01 PM

Depeeka arent that bad now. While their earlier helmets were pretty awful their new stock is quite good for both authenticity and your wallet. Prices for depeeka helmets vary between vendors but the best place I have seen to get their updated helmet lineup is http://www.battlemerchant.com/Romans...s:::54_55.html
Be careful to get a helmet that is right for your time period though and as leeham says do some research before buying a helmet. For example some of the helmets on that link I posted are pretty awful for reenactment such as ''roman centurion helmet with plume'' or gallic I (mainz).

**43rdFoot** · September 27, 2010, 10:34 AM

This past weekend the 43rd took the field at Brandywine Creek State Park, DE. This park isn't actually part of the Battlefield of Brandywine; that park is closed by the state of Pennsylvania because of funding troubles, unfortunately. Nevertheless, the Delaware park is very nice, and made for great ground to shoot doodles.