The great wine producing areas of France are not particularly Mediterranean in climate, so I suppose that the vineyards of the Oslir drainage system are planted with similar types of grapes as those of the Rhine and Rhone. Being smiled on by Yelm helps too. This brings me to one of my wacky pet theories that, due to their use of Sunripen, Yelmie crops tend to be laid out in circles while those who rely on Bless Crops have rectangular or square fields. Anyone who has flown over the Plains States has seen the kind of field layout I'm thinking of.
On Char-Un organization, such as it is...
If we follow the Cossack pattern, a Char-Un tribe or 'host' would be organised
into an army or 'voisko' lead by an 'ataman'. The 'voisko' was sub-divided into
regiments or 'starshinii' lead by a 'starshina' like Hetman Ignatieff. Each
'starshinii' took the name of the area where it was recruited. 'Starshinii'
were
in turn divided into squadrons or 'sotnias' (meaning 'hundreds') of between
100 to 200 riders. These were further divided into troops or 'kurens' of
25-50 men. A 'starshinii' (later called a 'pulk') usually consisted of 5
'sotnias'
with the Ataman's 'starshinii' having 10 'sotnias'.
So the Char-un regiment in Tarsh Wars is fairly typical, with 5 'sotnias' of
roughly 90 men, each divided into 3-4 'kurens' of 25 or so which could easily
provide the small groups that players love to ambush. Hetman Ignatieff being
the distrustful sort he seems to be, it's likely that he keeps his 'sotnia'
fairly
up to strength while Anatoliy and the other 'sotnia' commanders ('sots?') have
to make do with 50-75 riders and the dirtier jobs.
Gary R Switzer
Aero Hobbies
"But when the Emperor of all the Lunars, the commander-in-chief of uncounted horse-guards, foot-guards, Mothers-Guards and Char-Un, begins to talk sweetly of brotherly love, it is time for all decent people to reach for their whetstones." Willen the Loon of Hendrikiland.
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