> The threat of the KoW to Loskalm and Jonatela becomes twofold -- not simply
> as a territorial threat to their frontiers, but also in the risk of those
> nations _becoming_ the KoW. As they marshal more and more of their human,
> cultural and economic resources towards fighting the KoW, Loskalm and
> Jonatela are, in effect, giving birth to their own War Machines, risking,
> in the end, that they will become nothing more than mirror-images of the
> culture they are fighting ("we have met the enemy...", etc.).
Just what I've always thought (esp. in re: Loskalm).
I like this "pure military" version of the KoW more than either the Krjalki Horrors or the Troll Stooges versions presented earlier. After all, that's how they like to think of themselves. I always feel rather Balkan when considering the goings-on in Syanor, and so my mental image of the KoW on the march owes a lot to the Ottoman Turks in Europe: a vast, unstoppable professional army marching against beautiful, civilized cities (Byzantium, Vienna) and being met by ragtag or disorganised opposition, for the most part. It's also the quintessential "Evil Army On The March" so beloved of Sword & Sorcery authors everywhere: Moorcock's Granbretan, those hosts Conan and Elric always seem to run into, etc. I've probably said as much before.
Jonatela, I imagine, is as yet uncommitted to this struggle. If War wins against Loskalm, King Congern would dearly love to be on the same side. He probably has to worry that his more disloyal boyars are doing deals with Lord Death (or some others) behind his back. (In Sandy's analysis of how KoW forces could destabilise a kingdom, Gundreken is the "Weak King" and Congern the "Harsh King"). I doubt Congern is yet marshalling his resources towards fighting the KoW -- Jonatela's resources are always marshalled for fighting, in any case, especially with the gradual reconquest of Karstall and Timms, its former provinces. As for its cultural and economic resources...
I don't think the KoW needs to have a "hidden agenda". OTOH, I think it's likely that Lord Death will go for the Big Finish against Loskalm, and launch an "unimaginable" attack through the "impassible" terrain and obstacles to attack the "impregnable" walls of Northpoint.
As for the tactics/strategy/unit types debate: some of this is interesting, but it's not worth the bandwidth and has little to do with Glorantha. I hope it goes offline soon.
The Closedhandist Heresy is hilarious: a piece of perfect Gloranthan inspiration. The name is the ideal capstone to the thought itself. These guys exist for sure in my Glorantha...
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