Express scepticism that the regular troops in Esrolia are female:
>(1). Irregardless of anything else, women are statistically weaker
>than men.
Just because the best troops in Esrolia are female is not the same as saying that they are the equal of or better than male troops. The reason Esrolia has survived unto the present day is that they outnumber whatever enemy that can be sent against them. Esrolia has a population of 1.8 million whereas its potential enemies number little more than half a million. And some of those nations have been allied to Esrolia most of the time since the Dawn.
Yes, Esrolia can be heaps stronger militarily if they allowed men to do all the fighting rather than the women. But they do not do this because it will lead to women being confined to the kitchens, kids and kirks (look at the surrounding states), and get the males all killed (cf rastagandar in the Sword and Helm quest). Most importantly they can survive amply with what they have. Besides if they were more 'masculine-minded', they would have conquered everything within marching distance by now.
>(2). Women tend to be less aggressive than men. This is largely due to
>testosterone and social conditioning so there are exceptions but as a rule
>aggressive states are hard for women to keep up in action.
'Social Conditioning'. Obviously the fact that we're discussing a die-in-wool matriachy has escaped Martin. Not all women in Esrolia are warriors but there are significant Even if the average woman warrior was only 75% of the capability of the equivalent male warrior, they still got the numbers.
>Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with women warriors but any
>country whose regular forces were entirely made up of women and who
>were surrounded by male warrior cultures wouldn't last ten minutes.
When Esrolia has been conquered (Bright Empire, Arkat, God Learners and the Pharoah), the invaders found it more convienent to _keep_ the traditional social structure intact rather then risk harming the grain exports and the revenue that can be gained from it.
>Then there is the social problem. If the Esrolian queens kept summoning
>me from my farm to get slaughtered and kept giving me shitty weapons and
>told me to hold the line against a horde of cav while the women warriors
>took it easy behind us until the enemy were tired, I'd turn round, join
>the enemy and kill the snotty bitch who gave me the order for the callous
>coward that she was.
For starters look up human wave tactics in the first world war. The infantrymen there held their officiers in worse disregard than being 'snotty bitches' but still went over the top. Also look at peasant armies fielded by feudal lords during the middle ages. They didn't side with the enemy, did they?
Secondly, cavalry is not common amongst Esrolia's enemies, which is fortunate for them because it's a serious military weakness of the Esrolians. If the men were to hold a line of cavalry, they would drop spears and run. The Grazers number only 40,000 tops and would simply be knackered by sheer numbers if they tried to conquer Esrolia. The Caladralanders, Shadow Plateau Uz and Wenelian Barbarians don't have significant amounts of cavalry and are loosely disorganized to boot. The Heortlings do have some cavalry to pose a serious threat (under King Richard) but the geography limits the potential forces that can be brought to bear.
Thirdly, the men are used to charge the enemy rather than hold formation. After the inital shock, either the enemy is trampled in the mud, or the men are repulsed. If repulsed, they generally 'retire' rather than duke it out and get slaughtered. Then the female forces move in to knacker the enemy who has been tired by the recent onslaught. Sometimes the female officiers among the men can rally the 'retirees' to have a third go at the enemy.
>Heres how I see the Esrolian military:
>20% Female. Units of Babeester Gor, Vingans, Female Humakti Elites,
>Light cav, Skirmishing archers mostly.
>80% Male. Humakti mercs, Regular spear, heavy cav.
Esrolians don't have significant amounts of cavalry troops. Humakt is not a War God for the Esrolians AFAIK (Holy Country Humakti are generally foppish Duelists rather than grim huscarls). The main War Goddess is Babeester Gor whose followers qualify as *infantry* rather than skirmishing archers or light cavalry. Vinga is not an Esrolian diety being an outlet for warrior women in Orlanthi Society.
End of Glorantha Digest V2 #488
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