When you are debating the Imperial military its kinda hard not to get into minutia. Especially at the tactical level, at which much of this discussion has been based.
>I hope that this is a reflection of
>the questions being asked on the daily but if not then consider this a
>desperate plea for some "lunar" balance of focuss in SGU and Hero Wars.
SGU is a players book for the Empire, its not the military book for the Empire.
>Believe me, as an ex-wargamer, I know the temptation to debate and obsess
>about these things, but...
>The important fact that seems to be missed in all of the talk about
>combined arms and the superior doctrinal flexibility of the T'arnils
>officer corps is that, if you look at the history of the lunar empire,
>most of their major victories and defeats do not come from purely military
>means.
The flexibility of the Tarnils officer corps certainly does NOT come from purely military means. It is based on his magical and mythical past.
>The 1st and 2nd battles of Chaos, the four arrows of light, Jaranthir's
>revolt, Sheng's victories and defeats, the Battle of the Falling Hills,
>the Building Wall, the fall of Boldhome and whitewall, the campaigns of
>the conquering daughter, etc... These are all examples where it was
>superior magical or mythical understanding that gave victory to one side
>or other. Heck, even games of Dragon Pass are most commonly decided by
>the use of the exotics rather than "regular" troops.
Yes, true to a point. Like the proponents of air power in the RW and the prevalence of PGMs in the Force XXI and Army After Next doctrinal research, it is often forgotten that without the PBI, you have no ability to occupy anything and hold it.
The Imperial military integrates magical support at a operational level. No other state truly does this, rather using their priests at a tactical level. However, some exotics are so potent as to minimise this advantage.
>So, while the lunar army is powerful and does things that other armies
>(until the advent of Argrath) haven't learned to do, it is the deep
>insight of the lunar way and the underlying mythic strength of the empire
>that has allowed it to prosper.
It is the ability to coordinate forces from divergent cultures and belief systems into an effective whole that makes their army so dangerous. Periously the Dara Happans were unable to do this due to their cultural conservatism. The mythic past of the Goddess is of course the source of this military inclusiveness, as it is the source in civilian life.
>I concrete terms, I, for one, will be very dissapointed if, for example,
>the page count in SGU devoted to the lunar military and military cults is
>greater than that explaining the basis of the lunar way and philosophy.
The Imperial military has a small section in the book, this is a players book
and not one for GMs and wagamers, so the section is brief, perhaps 3000 words
total. Naturally I could put in a lot more, I have over 10000 words written
on Imperial tactics and doctrine but it is somewhat heavy and dry stuff, as
such doctrine usually is and has a whelks chance in a supernova of being in
SGU.
>I think that would be a great disservice to the lunars and those of us more
>interested in things other than whether a lance is used overhand or
>couched.
I don't think it would be a great disservice to the Lunars to show tactical detail to that degree. Its always been a complaint of mine that no military in fantasy has been well explained or propery researched and this is something I'd like to rectify with the Empire. On the other hand, its such specialised knowledge that it would have a fringe market at best. SGU is a mainstream book.
>I'm sure, knowing Martin, that my fears are unfounded but i felt it
>necesary to provide an antidote for the IMHO militarist bias that seems to
>be appearing.
Your worries are relatively unfounded, yes. On the other hand, I'm not going to bullshit you and tell you that SGU will be packed with Lunar philosophy, cos it won't be. This is a players book. Its designed to tell players how to play in the Empire. Who to play, what to do, how to spend money, how to earn money, where to go for fun, how to get arrested and to avoid arrest etc. It tells a player how to be a member of the Empire. Many of the cults are warlike and adventure orientated. There is no cult of Oria or Dayzatar for example. We simply don't have room. Advanced philosophy, dwelling on tantric immersion, mystical austerities and pantheonic specific rituals has no more place in this book that extremely detailed military info, no matter my personal predilictions.
Martin Laurie
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