What changed my mind was not their weaponry but two facts that make
yelmalion very similar to the swiss:
1. They are mercenaries, 'piques for sold' unlike the macedonians AFAIK.
2. Their impact was based on an high degree of social cohesiveness based on
strong personal and social relations. People from the same family or region
training together to become soldiers and latter fighting side by side.
Lee R. Insley:
> The Swiss used various types of weapons, each with a specific
> purpose (the long spears to fight cavalry, the halberds to fight
> infantry, the riflemen to fight long distance).
If we disregard the arquebus (which anyway the swiss didn't use originaly and were not the weapon that made them famous), you have a point here. Of course, the more dangerous enemies the yelmalion face in Prax are mounted nomads, not infantry.
Russ Massey:
> Not always the case. Macedonian pikes were made of two
> seperate pieces joined by a bronze sleeve, and I believe this was
> fairly common throughout the ancient period. I'm not sure about
> the later pikemen though.
So we can assume yelmalion piques are made of two pieces of wood each one about 2,5 to 3 methers long. It makes things a little easy.
Lee R. Insley:
> However, south of Chomoro, the river valley is full of dwarf pine and
> hardwood trees.
Pasanen Panu:
> In my Prax, the southern Zola Fel valley has trees, and even some
> forest. Not very grand, but enough for building purposes.
Oliver D. Bernuetz:
> Prax is a plains, not a desert. Trees grow along the Zola Fel in
> spots, most notably the Great Bog, as well in the hills to the north
> and west of Prax. Both are adequate supplies for poles for pikes,
> tents and travois (...). The Yemalians need wood for a lot of purposes
> besides pikes most notably building houses and temples.
IMO the small spots of trees or florest that exist in Prax and the ZF valley are unsuited to this purpose. They will not grow the kind of trees you need to produce pique's shafts: they require long, straigh and very hard wood. It can be used to other purposes (like the ones you mentioned). (BTW my RW examples for praxian trees are not central and northern Europe but the mediterranean basin.)
Pasanen Panu:
> I'd say the weapons are heirlooms.
You can't mantain an army for centuries based on inerited weapons.
Lee R. Insley:
> It is probably through trade from the north and trade from the south
> that the Templars get their wood (and in times of great need, maybe
> the armies occupy some of the forests to the south).
Oliver D. Bernuetz:
> The other possibility is trade. The Praxians and Yemalians do trade
> with their neighbours to a certain extent.
Russ Massey:
> they could just send a once a decade expedition to Dragon Pass to
> cut wood and bring it back themselves. It's not as if Prax is too
> dangerous to preclude trade (cf Caravan Alley).
Piques are critical to Sun County people. They cannot rely on distant
sources for its main and more fragile component: the pole.
- - Exploring faraway sources, be it in DP or near the ZF mouth, is to risky:
you have to send an expedition with all the risks involved of being spoted
and attacked by your enemies, and you always find someone living in those
forested regions that will see you as an invader destroing their precious
trees. Yelmalion could do it if they had a permanent settlement there but
they never did.
- - Trade was not a reliable source for most of the time because of wars in
Prax or in DP. Notice that for most of the third era the trade routs were
not operating. And for merchants, exporting wood poles to Prax is
uneconomical (they're bigh and eavy) unless they command a very high price
for it. The price of the poles would be excessive to SC people.
johnjmedway:
>> A final question: what about Agimori? Where do they get the poles >> for their lances and piques?
I can agree with this. It seems much more acceptable then the notion of the Agimori piquemen. Aflter all, piquemen are only effective fighting in great numbers togheter and I don't think you can find all that agimori in the same place at the same time.
I had another idea that can solve the whole question: they might use bambu instead of wood to produce the poles. They would grow the bambu in the bogs they control.
Best,
Sergio
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