Re: Orlanthi, Hoplites

From: Lee R. Insley <maelstrom_at_usa.net>
Date: Fri, 19 Dec 1997 12:58:21 -0500


Nick Brooke:
>No, the only evidence is the statement in our (pro-Yelmalion)
>source that the Sun Dome Templars invented the tactic. Now,
>in the boardgame "Dragon Pass", the Sun Domers get a defensive
>bonus which Lunar phalanxes don't; hence my assumption that
>they have a different formation -- the Macedonian pike-block
>phalanx (Sun Dome) rather than the classic hoplite line (the
>lesser phalanxes). You could argue a mythic case based upon
>flexibility vs. rigidity: the Lunars employ a looser, more
>readily varied formation (Fox), while the Templars stick to
>the stages of the Sacred Pike Drill and hold on whatever
>comes (Hedgehog). And, of course, the Lunars have native and
>auxiliary cavalry, missile troops, skirmishers and the like,
>while the Sun Domers must usually rely on their militia (if
>defending at home) or employers (if fighting away).

Actually, if you are comparing the Templars to a RW phalanx, the phalanx had a less rigid formation than the hoplites (at least when moving) and used different types of formations - though mostly the straight line. Also, the phalanx used the spear two-handed while the classic hoplite normally did not. The phalanx used 16 men-deep ranks as well, which is different from the SC Templar formation.

>Gee, it's almost too obvious, isn't it... Bunch of famous
>mercenaries, credited in Dragon Pass with *inventing* the
>most advanced form of warfare yet discovered, hired by the
>rulers of Pavis to march out to Prax and settle nearby --
>maybe, just maybe, they brought the techniques of hoplite
>warfare with them?

Except that SC give the impression that the people who came from Dragon Pass were horsemen - though they could very well have had a mixture of horsemen and infantry (text is not that clear). Rightly or wrongly, I have always assumed that they were mainly horsemen.


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