Peter Metcalfe said this about the Iron Dwarves:
>But in battle they are completely hampered by their taciturn, conservative
>nature. They go by the book for everything and flately refuse to innovate.
I think this quote actually applies to the Horali! In fact, I'm inclined to think the reverse for the Dwarves, who possess the most advanced military technology on the lozenge and are by nature inquisitive, innovative and creative (though only within their caste-defined areas of expertise).
Frank Rafaelson says,
>They (the Horali) most likely have vast ammounts of literature on how to
>do battles. A tactic for any occation if you like. The Horali strike me
>as an army with only one objective: To win, no matter what.
And I'm sure the copious manuals they have collected over the ages reflects this. However, as Frank also suggests:
>I rather think their first concern is to get home alive
>(this could be their weakness though).
Indeed! Which highlights the great flaw in their military effectiveness: nobody wants to risk death! What a shame if the best tactic they have in the book calls for even modest losses. For the Brithini, there is no Solace as reward for the supreme sacrifice, and little religious or cultural incentive for such a gesture.
We here at the Megacorp play it that the Brithini who rule Sog City grimly and resolutely hang on to the belief that Sog is still the dazzling metropolis it was a thousand years ago (see "The Lonely Lozenge Guide to Sog City" in the 'Sog Uni Guide'). It takes every fibre of their being to do so, but if they waver, the inevitable result is death by aging. Maybe the Brithini in Arolanit are the same, and the Horali maintain a magnificent, arrogant but ultimately self-deluding charade that they are still a world superpower. Like the Byzantines after Manzikert ("Emperor of the Cosmos" was a groovy title for someone whose crown was made of leather painted to look like gold, and who ruled little more the ruins of Constantinople and a few strips of land in the Peloponnese) or the Manchu Chinese in the 19th century*, the Brithini in Arolanit are a relic of a bygone era.
*or the modern day Amish?
Sure, there's no doubt the Horali are tough customers, but there simply ain't enough of them to go round, their mind-set is implacably set in the past, and the 'ape-men' just don't fight by the rules anymore...
Frank also said:
>MOB allso had some enjoing examples of British concervatism.
Well, here's a few more (that originally came from Sandy):
"I cannot help wondering why none of us realized what the most
modern rifle, the machine gun, motor traction, the aeroplane, and
wireless telegraphy would bring about. It seems so simple when
judged by the results."
- -- Sir John French, 1919 (Note that this man was deemed worthy to lead
the BEF in 1914.)
"Soldiers should have no politics, but should cultivate a
freemasonry of their own and, emulating the knights of old, should
honor a brave enemy second only to a comrade, and, like them,
rejoice to split a friendly lance today and ride boot to boot in the
charge tomorrow".
- -- Sir John French, 1919, (in one of the most amazing statements ever
made in the history of modern warfare.)
"The machinegun is a much overrated weapon". - -- Douglas Haig. 1915(!)
"Battles cannot be stopped like tennis matches for showers." - -- Haig's head of intelligence, (replying to Lloyd George's remarks about the horrendous fighting conditions in and around Passchendaele, 1917)
"England is able to run the show herself." - -- Haig, 12 March, 1918. (Nine days after making the above profound statement, Ludendorff unleashed his great offensive. "Rarely has complacency received so immediate a punishment.")
"The French! They're the fellows we shall be fighting next!" - -- the ever-prescient Douglas Haig, 1919
"The tank was a freak. The circumstances which called it into
existence and are not likely to recur. If they do, they can be dealt
with by other means."
- -- Major General Sir Louis Jackson, 1919
"I believe that defenses of the type you wish to throw up are bad for the morale of troops and civilians." - -- General Percival, Singapore, December 1941
...and just to show the Brits don't have embarrassingly unfortunate utterances sewn up for themselves:
"They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist..." Last words of Union Gen. John Sedgewick, looking over the parapet at enemy lines, Spotsylvania Court House, 1864.
Cheers
MOB
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