Why would 800 years seem to be a problem for the people of Sun County? By all indications, they have held on to tradition much longer than most do. Is there any indication if the Yelmalions of DP in the year 877 are not of barbarian stock in the Celtic/Viking sense? I would think the Orlanthi and Yelmalions living there at that time would have some semblance of their barbarian heritage as it is viewed in 1620. Anyone have any information about society under the Empire of the Wyrm's Friends?
>> the all out attack method... every soldier was trying to prove he was
>> braver than the next soldier and the best way to accomplish this was
>> to engage the enemy and defeat him quickly.
>
>This is imbecilic in a hoplite formation, as a moment's thought will
>show. "Gee, I'm so brave I'll *break ranks* to rush at the enemy!"
>What a plonkerish attitude!
No one said anything about breaking ranks. What I was getting at was that the Sun Domers (IMO) were more offensive minded than defensive minded. They would attack head-on into the enemy formation and push them from the field trying to break the enemy ranks. Hoplites don't just walk up to the enemy and start hand-to-hand combat with them or just sit back and wait for the enemy to come to them. They approach, and when they get to within a short distance, they rush towards the enemy.
>Yelmalion myth is about enduring bad stuff so you will survive. This
>is very workable with a Hoplite ethos: yes, I *know* there's a trollkin
>gnawing my leg off, but if I drop my shield or break rank to deal with
>it, my comrades-in-arms will get shafted as well. Gives a very stoical,
>stiff-upper-lip, Spartan ("with your shield or on it"), English public-
>schoolboy feel to the Sun Domers, which works just fine IMG.
What does this have to do with breaking ranks? I would just take out my dagger, hold my spear with my shield hand, and stab the stupid thing. Magic would work too or giving the thing a swift kick.
>We all know (I sincerely hope) that the Sun Dome Templars do not, and
>never have, exerted military dominance over the Plaines of Prax. They
>have a nifty defensive formation which makes them too tough to crack
>easily, and they don't herd self-portable (raidable) wealth like the
>herds of the other tribes. So let's leave them to their dirt-scratching
>and ditch-digging: I fancy a bite of Bison!
No one has implied that they have exerted military dominance. Actually, I think the comments I have made are that there is a stalemate. The Templars are ineffective in the plains, and the nomads are ineffective in Sun County lands.
Sergio:
>Yet I feel there was something missing: magic. The whole discussion was
>based on exactly the same RW permisses on what affects tactical solutions
>in similar circunstances. Since Glorantha is an highly magical world, I
>would assume that magic usage would affect eavily both the 'technology' at
>the disposition of the contenders and their tactics. How? It requires a
>careful analysis and experimentation with the spells at the disposition of
>the different groups. My hipotesis is that magic can change the picture
>dramaticaly.
No question, magic does change everything. The use of magic, IMO, makes the use of a purely defensive roll meaningless. I would think one of the methods for countering magic is to get to the clash-of-arms quickly (one of the many reasons I view the Templars as more offensively minded). In that way, area effect type spells normally would effect both enemy and friendly troops - thus deterring from their use. If you sit back, then it becomes basically an *artillery* battle where massed troops would be at a disadvantage, and the side with the better long range/area effect type spells wins. At least in melee, you bring the common soldiers' spells (those of protection, weapon enhancers, etc) into play.
Personally, I think the Elves and Trolls have the best fighting methods for Glorantha (or any magic dominated world). They use ambush as their means. This way you get your magic off first and are immediately upon the enemy before they can react.
Powered by hypermail