wrote a nice piece but a few comments:
>It should also be noted that in Glorantha they [The Lunars] are one of the
>few countries (anyone think of another) with a permanently recruited light
>infantry force of high quality.
I think the Kingdom of War and the Kralori are two that come too mind. The Kralori do have crossbow units and perhaps some special units (like Sandy's Mantis Warriors). The Kingdom of War probably know every battleplan that has existed and certainly know the value of such untis. Loskalm could have professional light infantry in their army but are too engrossed in maintaining their idealism to come to terms with the harsh necessities of military realism. Which is why the Kingdom of War is beating them...
>The odd times the Lunars attempted to meet the Sartarites on their own
>ground ie when Euglyptus sent a force of 4,000 that was ambushed show
>their weaknesses in rough and unfamiliar terrain.
But the Lunars weren't attempting to fight the Sartarites on their tactics there. They were travelling to a holy place with the aim of forcing the Sartarites to give battle there. The Sartarite ambush was the usual sartarite tactics which turned out to be widely successful (perhaps the CO was bribed to be negligent?). Normally the Sartarites ambush a lot of the time and come away empty handed IMO.
>Nomads rarely are unless they
>subjugate a farming slave race to keep them fed (eg Sheng or the Sun
>Nomads who fought the First Council, or the Mongols in China) Can
>you imagine trying to keep 10,000 animals in one spot for more than
>a week?
Just a short note. The Horse Nomads that fought the First Council are a wee bit more technologically sophisticated than protrayed by Dara Happan records. They apparently had access to siege engines which they either got from Dwarves around Imther or perhaps Kralorela. Given that some of them were still riding in chariots, it's not too hard to suppose they had access to baggage trains.
Sheng on the other hand managed to unify the tribes (or most of them) before invading Peloria. This is what made the empires of Attila and Ghengis and the would-be Empire of Timur the lame. Normally the nomads are far too busy fighting each other (over millenia old slights) to pose a grave threat to more sedentary folk. When the nomads started to show signs of unification, they were unstoppable. Supply for the first few years is not too much of a problem as the nomads normally take it from people who don't need it (from the nomads PoV). It's only when they rule the place that they start taking an interest in the well being of their subjects.
End of Glorantha Digest V2 #156
WWW material at http://hops.wharton.upenn.edu/~loren/rolegame.html
Powered by hypermail