Re: The Glorantha Digest V6 #588

From: Joerg Baumgartner <joe_at_toppoint.de>
Date: Tue, 11 May 1999 07:19:52 +0000


Ian aka <arkat_at_telstra.easymail.com.au>

> The PCs will be visiting Whitewall, taking some info to the rebels, whilst ostensibly on a mission for the Lunars (complicated innit!)

> What I am interested in asking the Lunar and Dragon Pass experts is:
> Whats the battle like?
> (The battle when the Crimson Bat is defeated and the Whitewall defenders suffer heavy losses.)

> I can't find a description anywhere, and maybe there isn't one?

I fear that's correct. Apart from a paragraph in KoS (CHDP) and a short note about Fazzur's subcommander Jorkandros Blinder in Genertela Book there is no solid information on that assault. Theories abound about how the Bat was repelled - the most popular involves teleporting on its back and offing the directing priests...

You might want to check Caesar's De Bello Gallico about the battle of Gergovia for inspiration for the ground action.

> The PCs will observe this from a hilltop not too far away (and not too close either), and I'm thinking that the mortally wounded Bat will run amok, at least a bit, and perhaps crashland dead just close to the PCs (nice bit of drama).

I wholeheartedly agree about the Bat running amok, but if the PCs are close to the crashing area, they are darn close to the Lunar forces IMHO.

> However I'd love for someone with more experience at large scale battles, and especially the Bat, to give me an idea of what took place.

> I can make up a lot of it from RQA: Fall of Whitewall (set in 1621), however I haven't a clue how the Bat would be applied - alone or with ground support? ...

>From what I've read (Fall of Boldhome), the Bat was employed as the great tactical weapon brought up against the enemy at an early stage. My tactic (and I'm no field commander to speak of) would be to keep troops under order to follow up the bat assault and take the weakened section of the wall.
Some of the heavy losses could result from these troops carrying out the orders even after the bat failed to produce results, but more likely the losses result from the bat's feeding frenzy after being wounded / losing the controlling priests.

The Lunar forces involved in the siege detachment are most likely the less mobile elements of the invasion force, likely more Heartland than Tarshite troops given the slightly different goals the Heartlanders and the Provincials follow.


End of The Glorantha Digest V6 #592


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