>Windmasters has lots of shieldmen using classic heater shields, a
>few polearms, and almost no spears. They form a column about 6-8
>fighters wide and 6-8 deep, then charge straight in low and fast,
>pushing past the first rank of shields into the polearms and spears
>in the back. Atenveldt proved soft and squishy on the inside, year
>after year.
>Reforming a unit, even if not your original one, is every bit as
>important as movement. Units DO become disorganized. All of them.
>The question is--can they reform and begin organized action before
>the other side does?
What we have here is an interesting test of undrilled infantry vs. infantry combat. In the medieval times, there _weren't_ many professional infantry, and what there were didn't march in step, but "trotted along like a herd of goats or pigs" (period quote). The SCAers are probably about as trained and skilled as the real medieval footmen, though of course less frightened by the outcome of battle (do the SCAers ever run away, Mike?).
The Windmasters technique sounds a bit like the 5th and 6th century Franks -- tight masses of ferocious infantry who charged into battle at a run. Just before they crashed into their opponents, they'd unleash a volley of thrown axes, which the SCAers are unable to reproduce. These axes reportedly could split a shield with their impact (I've long thought that RQ devalued thrown axes too much).
What we _lack_ with SCA combat are cavalry and missile weapons. I know there's supposed to be guys who run fast "like cavalry", but they're not as fast as cavalry, and they're not as tough as cavalry, and they're more maneuverable than cavalry, and they're not nearly as scary as cavalry. The thought of holding my place with shield and sword while a guy on horseback thunders down turns my bowels to mush.
I nodded me head knowingly when Mike mentioned the problem with losing your formation. Let me tell you, it's no different in the Civil War. Even though you're not (often) in hand-to-hand combat (it's happened to me one (1) time in my years of re-enacting), losing your formation means you can't march forward, coordinate your volleys, form a defensive line ... I've done reading in modern war, and spoken with veterans and they agree that the same thing happens nowadays, though the "formations" that get broken up are not as obvious and rigid as the Civil War-era regiments or a Landsknecht pike mass. But once a modern platoon or brigade loses its coherency, it's all over, and it can no longer fight effectively.
Presumably the Lunar monitors play a role in re-organizing their army -- in fact, that's probably what the hexagon formation is for -- regrouping after the formation is shattered. Once the hexagons are together, the unit then reforms back into column or line. The hexagons aren't meant for combat use, but organizational assistance.
I said that the Kralori think that bad people recycle and good ones go to Vithela.
Alex retorts
>I'd be happier about this were it not for the rider than being
>"good" in this sense was the norm. It gives me more Feel Right
>Factor that one has to strive hard to be able to pass truly Onward,
>and they're not just weeding out obvious bad apples.
Not me. I picture the Kralori as being smug as all get-out. I believe that they assume that the norm is for most everyone to go to Vithela. Poor ol' foreigners and such dreck don't get to, of course, and neither does anyone who's personally offended _me_, but certainly all my friends and family and ancestors will be there.
Interesting Note from the good ol' days
Under Charlemagne, here was the cost of a warrior's equipment (in number of cows):
helmet 6 cows coat of mail 12 cows sword & scabbard 7 cows leg greaves 6 cows lance & shield 2 cows Battle steed 12 cows
The equipment of a single warrior was the value of 45 cows or 15 mares. (Three cows were considered the equal of a single mare.) This is not all, though. You need to provide your warrior with a draft animal or pack animal to carry his provisions, and a serving man to take care of the animal. Plus the cost of the provisions itself.
Basically, a single warrior was worth as much as the large domestic animals of an whole village.
I suspect that armor and weapons are way too common in most RQ campaigns.
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