I must confess I skip over most stories and campaign retellings in Glorantha Digest (not that I object to their presence - -- I'm sure others appreciate them). But I enjoyed the Tale of the Normal Newts, and look forward to the next installment.
Paul Watson
>One factor I've been considering in an inevitable KoW/Loskalm
clash >is the elf reforestation. How will this affect the KoW's
strategy?
Well, probably the KoW is going to be totally surprised by this. The most obvious effect will be that good cavalry ground is going to become much rarer. It will also be easier to put up a guerrilla war of opposition to an occupying power, and to send raids into enemy lands. Gigantic magics like this are going to be hard for the KoW to counter, unless they have some secret magic of their own that will counteract it in some way. Like a colossal death spell that completely exterminates all life in a vast area. This would get rid of the trees, but has obvious drawbacks.
Jonatings vs. KoW
I agree that the Jonatings are going to be tougher opponents of the KoW than will be the Loskalmi. On the other hand, it's my belief that the Loskalmi will be more effective against the Jonatings than against the KoW. The Loskalmi strengths play into the weaknesses of the Jonating forces.
The Loskalmi have pretty good magic. The Jonatings have comparatively poor magic. Traditionally, sorcerers have been able to best rune priests in major Gloranthan wars.
The Loskalmi people are unified in support of their king and country. If the Jonatings invaded, there would be constant uprest and uprisings. On the other hand, the Jonating serfs hate and fear their rulers. They would welcome Loskalmi invaders with flowers and recruits. (I doubt they'd do the same for KoW men.)
The Jonatings have been fighting wars, certainly, but they've been rather like the Wars of the Roses -- small groups of elites squabbling over control of towns and murdering each other's leaders, while the peasants just keep plowing. I doubt the Jonatings have learned much of grand tactics. Both the Jonatings and the Loskalmi, in open field battles, fight as courageous individuals, not as formed units. They are "knights", not "cavalry", if you get my meaning. And in individual combats, the experience of the Loskalmi will tell, as the typical Jonating killer was born into his status, and did not earn it out of merit.
Anyway, that's how I see it. The KoW can beat the Loskalmi, the Loskalmi can beat the Jonatings, and the Jonatings, if not able to beat the KoW, are at least much harder _to_ beat for same. Perhaps one way of putting it is that the KoW is offensively superior to the Loskalmi, the Loskalmi are offensively superior to the Jonatings, and the Jonatings are defensively superior to the KoW.
Make sense?
Powered by hypermail