Me>>For starters look up human wave tactics in the first world war. The
>>infantrymen there held their officers 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?
>Uh, the majority of the French army mutinied during the First World War,
>precisely because of this sort of thing.
But the Esrolians haven't been stuck in the trenches for 3.5 years, have they? I don't think any army of glorantha has suffered to that extent save maybe a few Lunar Units in Sheng's Dance across Peloria. If the Esrolians were thrown into a continous war with heavy fighting, then they would suffer drastic morale problems of the type that afflicted the french. But Esrolia's current problems stem from the fact that they are unable to stop the hit-and-run raiders.
Me>>Likewise I do not believe the Esrolians consider it wise to teach their
>>spearmen fanaticism for this end. If the spearmen morale is improved,
>>they risk the danger of getting stuck in the battle and consequently
>>being wiped out.
>Normally it's the side that breaks and runs is the one that gets
>slaughtered. Once a spear armed unit breaks formation they are doomed.
>How does encouraging your troops to rout when decisively engaged reduce
>their chance of being killed in large numbers?
I had previously said the spearmen retires rather than routs. If the spearmen rout, the unarmoured Esrolians can run faster than the more heavily armoured invaders (equipped with shield, weapons etc). If the invading infantry do pursue the retreating spearmen, then they will be at a significant disdavantage when the Axemaidens move in IMO. All this falls down if the invaders have significant cavalry which I acknowleged as a weakness of the Esrolians (In KoS, Tatius the Bright asked at one point to reinforce the Red Earth Coalition sends a regiment of grazers to help them out - this is painted as a bad thing by the pro-fazzur chronicles).
Doyle Wayne:
>I should also note that many of the Female centered Gloranthan Goddess
>cults seem very much born out of masculine fears and fantasies. Barbeester
>Gor seems little more than the sum of male fears about women (they will
>take away our virility, they will eat our penuses with their toothed
>vaginas).
That's Gorgorma. Babeester IMO is the adoscelent female suffering the pains of growing up.
Mark Smylie:
Me>>The Queen says something like 'I am the Land Goddess of them hills' or
>>'I am the incarnation of Esrolia'. The rest follows naturally IMO.
>Maybe I'm just being dense, but I'm not sure what "the rest" is. I agree
>that this is probably the language of the Queens and Ernalda/Esrola
>priestesses, but I was wondering more about the language and laws at the
>level of the actual farmer, whether Barntar or Ernalda follower.
This arose out of terminology of owning the land. Since the Queen *is* the land in Esrolian Eyes, all terminology would arise from whatever the local Queen sees fit. I think that each Queendom of Esrolia has its own customary laws and usage rather than observe a Pharaonic Constitution of the Rights of Man.
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