crossbows and loose commanders

From: Robert McArthur <mcarthur_at_fit.qut.edu.au>
Date: Tue, 11 Feb 1997 15:02:00 +1000 (EST)


Peter postulates
> >Nevertheless it did have rollickingly
> >awesome battle scenes (directed by the second unit director, by the way),
>
> I would have felt the battles would be better if they had actually stuck
> to the original descriptions of the battles which would have been even
> more rollicking IMHO and also quite informative as to how most battles
> are won (by the least stupid commander).

Agreed. Actually, I find the same sort of thing when we try and suggest legions of crossbow firing peasants ;-) In reality (big :-) there were many strange and weird problems with doing such things. Maybe ethics of the day, or lack of actual weapons, or incompetent commander, etc. Back in the long past when I played one of my three games of Star Fleet Battles (gawd) the temptation was always there to make up the most up-to-date, bestest, greatest, fastest etc. space vehicle. Of course, in the Star Fleet universe there never was such a beast in that form: not enough supplies of something, so-and-so wouldn't place the order for you because they didn't like you, politics, someone shot someone in the foot 50 years earlier so the use of X was banned.

Take your pick.

The ramble was trying to say that hindsight is 20/20. Mongols with seige batistas on plesiosaurs probably *would* have wiped out Europe. I even think it's fun to think about it! But I wouldn't put it in my game.

Lunar legions to full field strength are few and far between. Typically they are far away so by the time they're close they've lost a lot, or politics has intervened to stop/hinder them. The Bat is *always* hungry. Outfitting a unit with crossbows would a) cost a fortune in equipment and training, b) last a couple of seconds as, if they're that good, heap big magic is directed their way (Dragon Pass has shown me *that*), and c) move and fire slowly. In short, you'd put so much $, time and effort into making them effective that you would have to deplete some other part of your defence/attack. Better to have the numbers with a gross more knights, or knight fodder.

All IMHO. Fun to talk about; may happen once in a blue moon...no, no! I didn't mean to say it! [thud]

Robert


End of Glorantha Digest V4 #187


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