Re: Birds of War?

From: Mark Galeotti <mark_at_...>
Date: Thu, 14 Oct 2004 19:12:43 -0000

• In HeroQuest-RPG_at_yahoogroups.com, Andrew Barton <AndrewBarton_at_c...> wrote:
  > My first reaction to all this was to think - if one weapon could
  do all
  > these good things, why didn't anyone use them historically?
  >
  > Then I remembered that there is a historical example which fits a
  lot of
  > this - the Japanese Naginata (looking much like a curved sword on
  the end
  > of a stick). I've seen pictures of armoured warriors using them
  from
  > horseback. By some accounts samurai class women were trained to
  use them
  > in self-defence - the sword-like blade was suitable to their rank,
  and the
  > pole cancelled out the disadvantage of reach they might otherwise
  have had.

The naginata is a good parallel. But the real answer is that this Rinliddi spear is the classic jack of all trades/master of none. Solid DH phalanxes with longer, heavier spears will have more impact in close-order assault; a sword or the like is more flexible in the melee; a lance has better reach and clout when mounted. However, this way the Rinliddi have much greater flexibility. Sure, a DH hoplite has his khopis (a curved sword a little like a falcata), but he is not happy in or especially well prepared and trained for the melee -- his job is to stay in formation. Likewise, the lancer. Meanwhile, the warrior with the shorted melee weapon is at a disadvantage against serried ranks of Rinliddi spears and lacks the reach in looser combat.

And this also, IMO, tells us something about the real difference between DH and Rinliddi. Yes, both Solar cultures, but the DH want to do one thing and do it very well, and keep doing it. The Rinliddi also exalt tradition and cultural continuity, but central to this tradition is flexibility.

There you go: to understand a culture, look at its arsenal!

All the best

Mark