>I thought when people talked about Phalangites they meant Macedonian
>pikemen, and the word for Greek spear and large shield-men was
>Hoplites.
Many do, but not all. AIUI the original sources aren't consistant as phalangite merely means "soldier who fights in the phalanx". Which is why I suggested people should make it clear what they do mean.
>Back to Glorantha, pikemen/phalangites are a Yelmalion creation,
>while (shorter) spear warriors (hoplites) belong to Yelmic, Lodrili,
>and Argan Argar traditions.
Yet a lot of the artwork and references show Yelmalions carrying a large shield which is totally impractical with a Macedonian length of pike. There is also the problem that the pike phalanx requires a lot of supporting troops to operate successfully and most Sun Dome temples are rather small for providing both phalanx and support troops.
>Alda-Churi Yelmalions might be hoplites rather than phalangites as
>it should be easier to train Orlanthi used to fighting with shields
>and spears to fight in a spear-phalanx rather than a shieldwall.
>
>Converting to a pike-phalanx would require more radical training as
>not only do they need to learn a new formation, but they have to
>abandon their spears and shields for super-long pikes.
>
>Eventually, say after a generation, the Alda-Churi could go the
>whole hog and train and fight as phalangites.
This idea doesn't make much sense in a society where each generation of veterans trains the next. Orlanthi adopting the closer order of the phalanx as part of adopting the Yelmalion religion makes perfect sense. However a mere generation later adopting another weapon, lightening their armour and dropping or replacing their shield seems unlikely.
-- Donald Oddy http://www.grove.demon.co.uk/
Powered by hypermail