>> The social structure of communism is a post industrial revolution
>> concept. Just as capitalism is. In both cases the amount of central
>> control requires modern tech communications.
>
>And half the point of the analogue is that it requires it, doesn't
>have it, and doesn't work. In fact, that's a pretty major flaw in
>Soviet Communism: it doesn't work!
Actually it did work, in spite of it's many failings. No other country moved from a mostly illiterate peasant economy to a mostly literate industrial one in 20 years as the SU did before WWII.
That it then lost an economic war with the US doesn't mean it doesn't work.
But this is getting horribly off topic.
>> >> The whole point is that no empire has ever existed with a single=20
>> >>set of cultural values.
>
>> >Who said anything about a single set of cultural values?
>
>> Culture determines what type of troops are available.
>
>well, if you're using "culture" that broadly.... so the lack of a
>single set of cultural values in the Roman Empire stopped them having
>a standard recognisable troop type, did it?
Outside the myths of Asterix and Hollywood, yes.
During the Republic when they were fighting Carthage the armies were mostly legions raised in Italy. Once they expanded into other areas they had to recruit from other cultures and ended up with all sorts of units. Within a couple of centuries the legions as you know them had disappeared along with the social base from which they were drawn.
>> The Lunar army has never had a standard military unit. That's a
>> variation in your Glorantha.
>
>No, it's what's found in every scenario that's ever said "you come
>round the corner and see some Lunar soldiers". Or "a group of Lunar
>soldiers come and demand taxes." There's never any need to specify
>what type of Lunar soldiers, they're a generic foe. Scimitars, red
>cloaks.
Which published scenarios are those? RQII Pavis details the Lunar units there and none of them are "generic foe". You may chose to ignore the details if they aren't important to your story but you seem to be saying they shouldn't exist.
>Sure, there's some special units, and "special" is the word.
>They're different from the normal ones. Look at "The Widow's Tale"
>- massive detail on the Lunars, they're even being used as viewpoint
>for half the book, but no-one worries about what *sort* of Lunar unit
>they are, because they're the standard sort.
Yes, the descriptions are vague but they don't describe the style of Roman legion you are talking about. E.g. pg. 12 "The soldiers again pulled back into two squares of long shields and bristling spears". Which is why I identify them as Tarsh Shieldwall troops. And yes I expect them to be the most common sort in Sartar - maybe as much as a third of all the occupation forces.
There is a Roman analogue - the legions of the 3rd and 4th Centuries which had become primarily garrisons. Totally different uniforms, equipment and style of fighting.
>>There's something odd going on with Pent anyway. What's all this
>>about 13 year olds with red hair? Why is anyone interested in
>>their hair colour?
>
>> I can't recall where that reference comes from.
>
>The main Pent write-up, Genertela book, Glorantha boxed set.
Ah RQIII, one of the bits I've never seen.
>Also one of the Coders - Eslas? is one such red-haired Pentan.
>
>> My immediate thought is that the red hair is a sign of the Goddess
>> so perhaps it's a sign that a leader will bring the Pentans in to
>> civilisation. :)
>
>If so, Vingans should be getting the same treatment? Which would make
>for interesting story, but AFAIK isn't happening.
And the Orlanthi would hate Vingans for consorting with the enemy.
I've assumed there's two very different shades of red involved. The Vingans use henna so get a reddish-brown effect whereas the Lunar red is a brighter crimson, really unnatural looking as a hair colour. As a dye it comes from the moon so isn't easy to get hold of even for most people in the Empire. Someone born with that shade of hair would be maked out by the Goddess.
-- Donald Oddy http://www.grove.demon.co.uk/
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