Armor, traditionally here on Earth anyway, has never been a
foolproof way of keeping the wearer alive, but it's helped. Body
armor on today's modern soldier for instance can stop a weak
shot, deflected shot, glancing shot, etc... It also can protect
against some shrapnel and other combat hazards. In World War I,
Trench Raiders often donned armor because of close-quarters
combat situations that were fairly routine, but they obviously
wouldn't protect the wearer perfectly. Going all the way back to
the Middle Ages and the advent of plate armor, the plate armor
was quite protective against long bows, and it certainly helped
protect the wearer against some melee combat, but the crossbow
put an end to that, and finding the chinks in the armor became
the norm for the common footsoldier... Weapons specially
designed to draw the armored soldier off his horse and then
systematically hack/slash at him till you opened up his shiny
duds was the rule on the battlefield... And then there was the
ever-present "blunt force t