Re: Aldryami Equipment; female fighters; teaching battle magic

From: David Dunham <dunham_at_pensee.com>
Date: Mon, 22 Apr 1996 12:13:17 -0700


Howard Fielding restated

> As i have stated before, i believe all Aldyrami weapons/armour are grown,
> not made. It occurs to me that the Elf Bow/Blowpipe and anything grown of
> copper would still be used in a live state ...

Yes, but... I suspect Elf Bows and Elf Strings are two separate objects. The act of combining them is a Making.

> The leaves would
> be entwined/woven using techniques similar to those used by RW
> Bonsai-artists. Don't THEY use COPPER wire to manipulate their plants?

Weaving isn't Making? (Bonsai artists do use copper wire...)

Martin Laurie talks of

> my experience in many different martial arts including fencing and Muay Tai
> and I have sparred with many very tough women, some were high level
>competition
> winners and had been training many more years than I but they still lost.
>Why?
> Because I was stronger, faster and more aggressive.

Strength isn't that much of a factor in fencing; the best foil fencer I faced was a woman. Even if your statement is true, it ignores the fact that any strength differences would be much less important in auxiliaries. Perhaps women-propelled slings, arrows, and crossbow bolts wouldn't have quite the range, but they would still be mighty effective.

And cavalry might be another equalizer. We know there are Scythian burials of women with combat equipment...

Peter Metcalfe responded to me

> >> This sort of tactic means it's not cost effective to teach them
> >> battle magic.
>
> >I'm not sure I believe this is their strategy, but even if it is, it makes
> >a great deal of sense to teach them battle magic. Firstly, it's extremely
> >cheap (especially in RQ3).
>
> I'd never thought I'd see you make an argument from the roolz and RQ3
> at that! Secondly I believe the primary factor that determines a troops'
> effectiveness on the battlefield is their equipment. The amount of magic
> known IMO is directly related to their experience and ability. Since
> IMO the Esrolians don't go in for elite spearmen, I believe that the
> spearman don't know much battle magic.

Well, you think it's expensive to teach battle magic. There is no source of information on the cost of learning magic, short of the rules. It seems evident that there is some cost, but no Gloranthan documents shed much light, so we're reduced to using RQ. RQ3 implies it's too expensive to give every 20 year old 13 points of spells, but not so expensive that farmers don't learn spells. (A conclusion so broad I'm sure you'll agree :-)

Your additional opinions don't address the basic question. Is it cost effective? I believe it is. It takes one day for a godi to give this training. Arguably it's more efficient for a Spear Master to spend one day training all the militia at once (in that it's a many to one situation, as opposed to the godi who has to spend one day per individual), but this militia training requires the entire group to muster, and (again by the rules) one day's training isn't very useful.

So (assuming adequate supply of godi magic), it could be MORE cost effective to teach battle magic. Besides, you've given your people spells which are often useful in real life (i.e. Plowsharp).

As for equipment, that certainly costs real money, and it's probably not cost effective giving expensive armor to someone unless you intend to train them.

David Dunham Pensee Corporation dunham_at_pensee.com Voice/Fax: 206 783 7404 http://www.pensee.com/dunham/

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