Mormon gives us a comparison of the military outfitting of the two armies. It is important to note similarities and differences.
Both armies carry offensive weapons. We are told that the shared catalog of weaponry consists of swords and cimeters. We hear of bows and arrows, stones and slings for the Lamanites, but not for the Nephites. This probably does not mean that they were absent, however, for we also have the indication that the Nephites had “all manner of weapons of war.”
The catalog of weaponry also includes slings, which were an important part of the Mesoamerican offensive weapon set:
“Completing the projectile triad were maguey0fiber slings (tematlatl) used to hurl stones at the enemy. The stones thrown by the slings were not casually collected at the battle site but were hand-shaped rounded stones stockpiled in advance, and these also were sent to Tenochtitlan as tribute.
Comparative data indicate that slings have a range in excess of 200 meters (660 feet) with randomly selected stones, exceeding 400 meters (1320 feet) with lead pellets in ancient Greece; slingers in the imperial Roman army could pierce chain mail at 500 paces. As with arrows, standardizing the pellet shape and size increases velocity, distance, and accuracy, and such pellets could be lethal against even armored targets. Diaz del Castillo admired the Indian’s use of bows, lances, and swords, but he commented that the sling stones were even more damaging, the hail of stones being so furious that even well-armored Spanish soldiers were sounded. Slings were sufficiently effective that the slinger and the archer were essentially equals; when both were used, they were complementary and usually served close together.” (Ross Hassig. Aztec Warfare. University of Oklahoma Press, 1995, p.80).
It would appear that the difference was not in offensive weapons, but in defensive protection. For the Nephites we have specific mention of breastplates, arm-shields, “shields to defend their heads, and also they were dressed with thick clothing…” This is contrasted to a Lamanite battle dress that has them “naked, save it were a skin which was girded about their loins; yea, all were naked, save it were the Zoramites and the Amalekites.” It would appear that the Zoramites and Amalekites, as apostate Nephites, had a different battle dress than the Lamanites, but it is doubtful that it consisted of the “thick clothing” since that is specifically noted for the Nephites.
The “thick clothing” is plausibly a description of a type of body armor best known from Aztec times:
“Quilted cotton armor (ichcahuipilli) was a common element of battle attire in Mesoamerica. It was constructed of unspun cotton tightly stitched between two layers of cloth and sewn to a leather border. The belief that the cotton was soaked in coarse salt to strengthen it derives from de Landa; but this account is unsubstantiated elsewhere, and Gates thinks this is a misinterpretation of taab, “to tie,” for tab, “salt,” and that the cotton was tied or quilted, not salted.
The ichcahuipilli was so think (one and a half to two fingers) that neither an arrow nor an atlatl dart could penetrate it. It was made in several styles: a type of jacket that tied at the back, a sleeveless jacket that tied in the front, a sleeveless pullover that hugged the body and reached to the top of the thigh, and a sleeveless pullover that flared and reached to midthigh.” (Ross Hassig. Aztec Warfare. University of Oklahoma Press, 1995, p.88).
This style of protective armor may also be painted on a Maya pot. Reents-Budet describes the scene on this particular pot:
“Lord Kan Xib Ahaw takes captives in battle. The victorious warrolrs are identified by their short-sleeved shirts, three of which are made from jaguar pelts. Perhaps these jaguar tops are a type of body protection stuffed swith cotton or reinforced in some other manner, similar to the effective armor worn by the later Aztecs and adopted by the invading Spanish in the sixteenth century.” (Dorie Reents-Budet. Painting the Maya Universe: Royal Ceramics of the Classic Period. Duke University Press, 1994, p. 259).
While it would be too precipitous to suggest that the Nephites invented this type of armor, we are certainly witnessing a time period before it had been widely accepted, and thus could be a distinguishing difference between the Nephite and Lamanite forces.
The defensive catalog of the Aztecs also included helmets and shields (Hassig p. 85). The breastplate is not among the later Aztec catalog, but there are several artistic representations of warriors with a plate affixed over their chests that may fit the description of the breastplate in our text.