Re: Bison vs. Impala

From: Sandy Petersen <sandyp_at_idgecko.idsoftware.com>
Date: Tue, 26 Mar 96 12:01:06 -0600


Kevin Rose asked me a question with regards to Prax, and I got carried away enough with the answer I thought I should post it to the list, so it could do double duty.

Kevin asked
>how do the shock oriented Praxian cultures survive contact with
the >bow armed ones? Particularly I'm thinking of the Bison riders, who >use javelins, and the Rhino riders. A fight between the bow-armed >Impala riders and Sable riders seem fairly balanced, but the
>sable/impala riders vs bison/rhino riders seems somewhat unbalanced.

My reply

        Given that it was created that way in the beginning for a wargame, it is still our responsibility to mesh the written Truth with the facts to come out with a comprehensive whole. (Right, Nick?)

        The key to the matter is to remember that there is an enormous difference between the situations in Prax and on Earth. Namely, the animals ridden by the tribes are not identical.         

  1. Note that Bison Riders and Rhino Riders wear the heaviest armor of all Praxians, and are also the likeliest to carry shields.
  2. Note that Bison Riders and Rhino Riders are famed as the most dogged and persistent tribes in Prax. These facts are no coincidence, IMO. Take point #1: armor is resistant to missile penetration, and shields are even better. Consider the tactics. Bison can charge as fast as Impalas can flee. If the Bison charge the Impalas on sight, the pygmies must fight by fleeing at top speed while loosing volleys to the rear. They're good at this, but let's face it -- firing missiles over your steed's rump at a fast-moving, heavily-armored, shielded foe isn't the easiest task in the world. Arrow-for-arrow, the Impala riders probably get fewer kills off Bison Riders than any other major tribe. Now consider point #2 above. Impalas have far less endurance than Bison. When your Impalas are blown, and the Bison riders catch you, a massacre ensues. So, the question really is whether or not the Impala folk can inflict enough casualties to discourage the Bison folk before their impalas give out. Since Bison Riders are notorious for doggedness and persistence, it is exceedingly possible that the Bison Riders may choose to take their losses and run down the foe. Also, many Bison Riders are skilled in the use of javelins. Javelins are a perfectly good missile weapon, and have a reasonable range, especially when you consider that an arrow loses penetration with distance. More to the point, javelin-armed Bison Riders can break into skirmish order, and under such conditions a mob of Bison Riders can be as fast (though not as agile) as a group of Impalas. The Impalas have better training in skirmishing, but this is cancelled out by lack of armor & melee ability. Hence, a group of skirmishing Bison can protect the main force from the Impalas, until the skirmishers are driven off by the Impalas. This, of course, always happens, because the Impalas invariably outnumber the Bison skirmishers (since all the Impalas are skirmishers and only a fraction of the Bisons are). But while the bison skirmishers remain active, the impalas must still flee, and the bison still charge, and the impalas move that much closer to exhaustion while the main bison force is untouched by the missiles. Another interesting Impala/Bison tactic -- if the Impalas just fire a few volleys, then scatter, the main force of Bison Riders can only chase down one of the Impala sub-groups. Of course, if the Bison Riders scatter, they can chase down them all, but if the Impalas then regroup, they can outnumber and overwhelm the selected now-separated Bison band. Of course, they take the risk that their own warbands, while regrouping, can be intercepted by one of the Bison bands, or that the Bisons may regroup, too and take them in the rear. It is bad for the Impalas to face Bison Riders on two sides, of course, because one of the two forces can usually make physical contact. Bison riders on three sides means disaster. Anyway, the Impala/Bison interaction is rather interesting, I think.

Sandy P.


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