Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord armor mods: European plate, Rus, and Vikings

Bahamut’s Armory (RBM compatible)

A professional 3D artist brought 40 armor pieces from a canceled commercial project into Bannerlord. The focus is on late-medieval knightly plate that sits naturally alongside vanilla equipment while standing out for its detail and imposing appearance.

• 3 complete plate armor sets and 1 heraldic tabard
• 15 helmet variations, including closed sallets, large pauldrons, and great helms
• 5 Aserai helmets, 3 types of gauntlets and greaves
• 2 gorgets and 2 cloaks for customization
• Higher protection stats: this armor is rare and expensive

✅ How gameplay changes: The armor mainly appears in Vlandian shops, or through cheats and merchants after some time has passed, turning the search for elite equipment into a quest of its own. Its stats exceed top-tier vanilla armor, so your lord really will look like a tank on the battlefield. A separate patch provides Realistic Battle Mod compatibility.

Norman Armory — Reworked

A reworked version of the classic Norman Armory focused on historical accuracy in the 11th century. The author cleaned up the meshes, improved the textures, and integrated everything so smoothly that it feels like original game content.

• Reworked Norman, Byzantine, and early-medieval armor sets
• Improved fluted helmets, eastern hauberks, and klibanion armor
• Varangian pieces with clan-color variations
• Vanilla-plus sword reworks for balance
• A wide selection of shields and helmets

✅ Impact on the game: Choose this if you want western troops that look historical rather than like fantasy knights from a cheap film. The armor is slimmer and more detailed than vanilla, with painstaking attention to the 11th century. It works well with troop mods such as Retinues, letting your units look like a real Norman army.

Rus Helmets OSP

A small project adding authentic early Rus helmets. No grand claims or mountains of content: just good historical models for Sturgia or custom Eastern European troops.

• Gnezdovo-1 and Gnezdovo-2
• Nemiya, Babichi, and Gulbishche
• Kamenets-Podolsky
• Several variations of each model

✅ Why use it: Vanilla Sturgia looks like a mixture of Scandinavians and something hard to place. This mod gives your eastern troops a proper regional appearance without a major overhaul. It is small, has no conflicts, and mixes easily with other armor packs. An RBM patch is available for realistic setups.

Open Source Armory

A large but modular pack combining hundreds of community-made helmets and armor pieces in one convenient file. It adds variety across all cultures, from the Aserai to Battania.

• 900+ new helmets and armor pieces
• Complete sets for troops, lords, and the player character
• Exclusive items covering every faction
• Optional weapon and saddle add-ons
• Regular bug fixes and optimization

✅ Practical use: A strong choice if you want every lord to look distinctive or your troops to have more variety. Shops refresh over time, so the armor appears gradually instead of arriving in one heap on day one. It works well with major troop overhauls such as Retinues. If visual bugs appear after installing through Steam, delete the shader folder.

Anno Domini — Dark Ages

The Anno Domini team ported historically accurate assets from Total War: Attila to Bannerlord. The result is an armor pack restyling factions around the 8th-11th centuries, the classic early-medieval Dark Ages.

• Armor for all major factions, with minor factions in development
• Detailed equipment inspired by the 8th-11th centuries
• Reworked helmets, body armor, and accessories
• Modular installation: extract the XML files to use only the armor

✅ What changes: If you want an early-medieval campaign instead of vanilla’s loosely 13th-century setting, this makes Calradia feel much more historical. Initial loading takes time because shaders need compiling, but the result is worth it. Update to game version 1.3.13 or later; older releases are unsupported.

Vlandian Steel — New Armors-Weapons and Troops Replacer

A Vlandian overhaul adding around 200 equipment pieces and dressing the entire Vlandian roster in European knightly plate and mail.

• 100+ body armor pieces
• 50 helmets of various types
• 30 shoulder pieces, 20 bracers, and 10 greaves
• 2 new Vlandian polearms
• Customizable sets for combat, civilians, nobles, militia, and merchants

✅ How it works: Vlandia looks like a proper knightly kingdom instead of a crowd of clones in identical armor. It supports War Sails: place the DLC below the mod in the load order. It works with existing saves and does not conflict with other Vlandian mods. An items-only light version is available if you do not want the troop changes.

Viking Storm Armoury

A standalone armor pack from Viking Storm, with 90+ distinctive Viking and Saxon pieces. It leans toward fantasy while taking historical cues from The Last Kingdom and The Northman.

• 90+ armor pieces, cloaks, and helmets
• Nord culture for Vikings and Vlandia for Saxons
• Full cloth physics on every piece
• Slim meshes for easy customization
• Vanilla balancing, with more male sets planned

✅ Who it suits: Ideal for Nord or pirate campaigns, especially with War Sails. The armor is not strictly historical, but it looks striking and suits northern raiders well.

Terra Armarium (with Medieval Arsenal Pack)

A modular collection of eastern and western armor with Byzantine, Rus, and Mongol influences. The separate Medieval Arsenal expansion adds even more variety.

• Armor sets for multiple cultures, focusing on Byzantium, Rus, and the Mongols
• Regionally distinctive shields and helmets
• Medieval Arsenal Pack with additional medieval equipment
• A shield bug fix in the expanded pack
• Straightforward installation by editing SubModule.xml

✅ Using it in practice: A light, modular mod giving eastern factions a proper, distinctive appearance. It does not overload the game and combines easily with other packs. Delete the shaders as part of the standard installation procedure. It runs stably on 1.3.15+ with War Sails.

EOE Flavour Pack

An interesting pack of helmets, body armor, weapons, and accessories for extra visual variety. A light addition that fits naturally into a mod collection.

• Custom armor and helmets with cultural character
• Extra equipment for every region
• Small size and few conflicts
• Delete weapons.xml if you only want the armor
• Shader cleanup required

✅ Why install it: This is for adding variety without a sweeping overhaul. Think of it as seasoning: it improves the flavor without overpowering the main dish. It is stable on 1.3.x with War Sails and often appears in modpacks alongside other armor selections.

Sarranid Armory

A fan update to an armor pack featuring Sarranid equipment and cloth physics. It expands eastern cultures for more atmospheric Aserai roleplaying.

• 7 new body armor pieces
• 2 plate bracers and 2 plate boots
• 7 helmets plus crafting parts
• Cloth physics on most pieces
• A dedicated February 2026 update for 1.3.14+

✅ In-game use: Plate armor elements and traditional eastern patterns add atmosphere to an Aserai campaign. It is lightweight, fits the lore, and works with War Sails without issues.

How to install armor mods correctly

Most armor mods follow the standard installation process, but a few details can save you a headache:

1. Use a mod manager: Nexus Mods’ Vortex automates the process and helps with load order
2. Delete shader folders: after installing a visual mod, open the game directory and delete “shader_cache”; the game recreates it automatically
3. Set the correct load order: War Sails should sit below most armor mods
4. Check compatibility: read descriptions for conflicts with RBM or other major overhauls
5. Back up your saves: copy the save folder before adding a large armor pack, just in case

Before installing an armor mod, I recommend learning the basics of mod installation, where I explain the common pitfalls.

Which armor mods should you install first?

It depends on what you want. For historical accuracy, combine Norman Armory Reworked, Rus Helmets OSP, and Anno Domini. Your Calradia will look like the real early Middle Ages.

Want maximum variety without overloading the game? Start with Open Source Armory, add Bahamut’s Armory for elite plate, and Terra Armarium for eastern flavor. These three cover every faction without conflicting with one another.

If you favor a particular faction, specialized mods such as Vlandian Steel or Sarranid Armory provide more atmosphere than general packs. Viking Storm Armoury is a separate attraction for Nord campaigns with War Sails.

Armor mods tackle visual sameness, but work best alongside other changes. New faction equipment feels natural when armies are reworked, towns are atmospheric, and weapons are balanced too. My complete Bannerlord collection guide explains how to combine these into a working setup without conflicts or crashes, in the right category-by-category installation order.

If I missed a worthwhile Bannerlord armor mod, send it my way: I will test it and may add it to the list. Modders keep creating new projects, and no one can keep track of them all. To bring these ideas together, use my Bannerlord mod collection guide to plan the rest of your setup.