Sure. They suck at ability to react to new ideas, and respond ineffectively to a good battle plan. But when's all said and done, you have to go in and _kill_ them, after all (since neither surrender, except to others of their own kind). And killing them is kind of like stepping into a threshing machine. A human army may be able to trap them in a blind canyon with no escape route, but then no one wants to go in and winkle them out.
>I certainly disagree with KoW being a 6 because I regard excellent
officers and >NCOs as the difference between 3 "quite good" and 4
"top notch".
Or from 2 to 3. Or 5 to 6.
>Thus in terms of equipment Kow is a 3, aand leadership kicks it up to 5.
Their equipment is a 4 -- it's as good as the best any large-scale army has, if not better. Think of Romans, Macedonian Hypaspists, or Mongols. None of their soldier had amazingly superior equipment. The KoW's is clearly as good as any's, and better than most's.
>plethora of useful combat magics and fanaticism takes it to 4,
Except that a combination of total fanaticism and a top-grade army has only been encountered twice in the history of the Earth -- at the time of the Moslem Conquests and Japan during WWII. And even then you have to wonder about them being top-grade. Nonetheless, the initial Moslem wars were so fast and so amazing that military commentators ever since have remarked on their inexplicable nature. Of course, soon enough the fanaticism ceased, or at least subsided to a more normal level. The Japanese in WWII were only beatable by starving them for months ahead of time, then applying a colossal material advantage. No other army I know of has been able to exact better than a 1:1 casualty ratio when totally outnumbered, totally outgunned, unable to maneuver, and unable to reinforce, as the Japanese were at Iwo Jima, for instance.
>Actually, you have to wonder a bit about the equipment level of a
nation that >Taps it's economic base
To be clear. the KoW metabolizes its own economic base to enable it to grow. The Tapping and vast destruction powers up the fringe of expansion, so that it can keep on growing exponentially. Every other nation in Glorantha at least believes that it wishes to achieve a state of stability -- a final state in which it is no longer expansionist. For the KoW, this is anathema. This is their Death. If they can be held to their own little territory, they will consume themselves. So long as they can keep growing, their flame will continue to spread and blacken the world.
>and the notion that a kingdom packed with Urox and ZZ >berserks,
grim fearless >Humakti fanatics, and vengeful Babeester Gor devotees
>has the most subtle and >sophisticated leaders is amusing
Be real, William. You ought to know perfectly well that being grim, fearless, and fanatic doesn't mean your generals can't be deadly. Subotai's Mongols were subtly led, as were Tamerlane's men, Geronimo's band, the Norman knights bred for war, etc. etc.
Sandy P.
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