Re: The Genertelan Art of War

From: Robert McArthur <mcarthur_at_fit.qut.edu.au>
Date: Sun, 15 Oct 1995 17:44:23 +1000 (EST)


Thanks Sandy!

There's still a few things which I think make all Gloranthan warfare unique as compared to Real Earth (TM). The first is magic to let you see either large distances directly, or go through the spirit world a large distance. The second is the existence of flying troops. As (at least) the first world war showed, any reconaisance is extremely useful, and aerial reccies are even more so!

I can easily see that at the start (whenever that was!) recon. via these methods was ignored by the "generals" as much as it was here on Earth when it was new. However, it was soon both obvious that it was beneficial and, after a number of wars, the ability of the general staff to plan for and with it grew.

Imagine the first world war fought with aeroplanes (griffins, wind children, priests on sylphs, wyverns et al) but on the ground it was swords and lances, with the occasional artillery fire from the Red Moon or Stormwalkers... it changes the whole plot IMHO.

We can't simply look at how is was in the middle or earlier bronze ages here and extrapolate through. Aerial recon. changes battles and combats much more that the addition of bladesharp, protection, fanaticism, demoralise, slow, mobility etc. Each of the others can be countered. Once you have recon. countering it so that it doesn't exist is virtually impossible. Sure, you can send up your own air-to-air troops to stop the other side seeing what you're doing. That's about it.

Illusion magic, as it is written up thus far in Glorantha, IMHO, sucks. To make a modest illusion with 2 or 3 senses, in a minute area, takes 5-6 POW sacrificed. A look at other spells with wider ranging effects that are much more powerful for a *lot* less power (Humakti Battle, KL battle-like drum ritual (I think...), even Sever Spirit could take out two of the enemy commanders for this POW cost...). AND you have to a hated Eurmali or minstrel ("Sure, haven't you *always* seen them playing in the middle of a battle?") to even get the spells... <Diatribe over the sorry state of Greg's illusion magic off>

Sooooooo, it's also very difficult to hide troops via magic.

Now, I can see that the number of troops involved in even large battles in Glorantha do not rival our 20th century carnages, and maybe even 19C for all I know. So it could be argued that camouflage plays a large part in Gloranthan warfare. Fine. But you only need some second sight or detect spells to see much more, especially from the air.

All of this gets even worse with sorcerers (spit!) with their ability to extend the range of their spells.

One of the projects I am toying with (and being part way through) is a very basic Dragon Pass boardgame on computer. One thing I would like to add in, and see how it changes the whole game, is that troops can only see enemy troops in their range factor. This may or may not clarify things but it would certainly make playing those "boardgames" closer to how a commander (Argrath et al) sees 'da woild'.

Comments?

Robert McArthur


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