Most medieval soldiers never wore a scrap of steel, and were far from defenceless. The workhorse armour of the age was cloth: the gambeson, a jacket of fifteen to thirty layers of linen quilted together in the diamond pattern you can see on this archer's tunic. Stuffed and stitched, it was light enough to shoot and march in all day, yet stiff enough to soften a sword-cut and even turn a spent arrow. For the poorer fighter it was the only armour he owned; the knight wore one too, under his mail, to keep the iron rings from biting into his skin. Cheap, quiet and everywhere, padded cloth protected more men on crusade than plate ever did.

This archer stands ready in exactly that kit — a quilted green gambeson with a fringed skirt over blue hose, a red hood at his throat and a steel kettle-hat crowned with a wreath of leaves, the arrow drawn to its head. He is the standing companion to the Kneeling Crusader Archer; together they make a shooting line. Rank the pair behind the Fighting Crusader with Mace and step them off to the beat of the Medieval Drummer for a full infantry company. In a diorama he holds the second rank, loosing over the heads of the men in front — the ordinary soldier in his ordinary armour, doing the extraordinary work of war.

Model: MK218 / King & Country / 1/30 (60mm) scale / matte finish / 1 piece set