Re: Lunar Army

From: Sandy Petersen <sandyp_at_idgecko.idsoftware.com>
Date: Wed, 10 Jul 96 12:07:37 -0500


Jean Durupt
>I think that some regiment are owned by powerful families in the empire.

        Yes, I do too. There are private armies. Such units would typically either fall into the "UNATTACHED OTHER" or the "PROVINCIAL FORCES" category.

>In dragon pass (the wargame), we have another corp: the imperial
bodyguard.

        I view the Imperial Bodyguard as part of the Heartland Corps.

>The ancestral agimori were immortal until they drank water. Some
became Agimori, >ie normal black skinned humans, others became Men and a half, ie fire resistant
>black skinned humans. This bothered me for a long time

        The ancestral humans drank water and became mortal. But they were all superhuman in wisdom, prowess, etc. As the years went by, over the generations they dwindled in vitality until they became modern humans. The men-and-a-half just have maintained more of the original bloodline than others. They weren't different at the start - -- they've just degenerated less over time.

Ramos
>I expect Darra Happan units to keep a base 10 organization, giving
them a bigger >depth from normal Lunar units.

        The Dara Happan units _are_ normal Lunar units. I do not believe that they retain a base 10 organization. I believe that the standard Lunar length is 7, and that the Monitor is one of those 7. I also do not believe that the Lunars adopted a 7 man file because of the sacred number, at least not solely for this purpose.

Now I have to repost some stuff I wrote a long time ago. Note the reasons for the 7-man depth -- it's not a number I pulled out of the air.

The ancient Greek hoplites more often massed in depths of 8 men, though 12 or even 25 were not unknown (ie., there was no standard depth, it seems).

        HENCE, the traditional Pelorian file length of 8 sounds about right. The Yelmalions likely double this to 16, since they use much longer pikes and apparently have a different type of phalanx. Also, for what it's worth, the "classic" Alexandrian phalanx used a 16 man file (sometimes). Of course, only the Yelmalions use an Alexandrian-style phalanx -- the Lunars do not.

        Now, the Lunar army originally fought Dara Happans and Pelorians. Although hoplites were needed to hold off the enemy cavalry and hoplites, the major strike arm, even in the early days, was the magic colleges. Hence, the Lunar hoplites don't need the depth of the Dara Happans -- they just need to hold off the enemy long enough for the Chaos magics to take effect. However, because they have to guard the sorcerers, and hold off larger numbers of enemy troops, including superior numbers of cavalry, it makes sense to decrease the number of men per file, and widen the unit frontage.

        Therefore, early on in Lunar history, the file was shortened from 8 to 7. This meant that a Lunar phalanx of 1000 men had a frontage of 360 feet, while a Dara Happan phalanx was about 300 feet wide. This is enough to make a difference on the defense, while the pressure of 8 men vs. 7 isn't great enough to change much in the actual combat. Presumably the Lunars experimented with 5-man files, 6-man files, etc., to discover that 7 was the ideal for their purposes. Plus it has sacred significance, so what the hell!

        Now, how about Peltasts and Antelope Lancers? Well, obviously peltasts don't have "files", and neither do Lancers, really. Peltasts certainly have Monitors, and once the 7:1 ratio of monitors to troops became the norm, the Peltasts would be organized similarly. Hence, the Silver Shields are in 7-man groups, one of which is a monitor.

        Cavalry are different. They don't have monitors. It's too hard to do magic while trying to ride a horse. Besides, learning to be a mounted warrior is pretty damn tough, and most monitors spent their time learning magic, not horsemanship. So no monitors for the Lunar cavalry.

Sandy P.


End of Glorantha Digest V3 #27


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