I'll certainly agree that the guys in charge *were* idiots. I'm just saying that *Broyan* shouldn't expect it (assuming your enemy is a complete tactical idiot is another good way to get your donkey handed to you...).
And the quote is "elephant", not "barn gate", just btw. (http://www.civilwarhome.com/sedgwickdeath.htm)
> Sure. So, what calming powers over storm can you field?
> Solar magic? Do I need to spell the elemental succession to you? Storm
> beats Fire, and Earth nags Storm.
Hmm, you better recalibrate your elemental wheel there, chief. Storm beats *Water*, not Fire. Air and Fire are neutral to each other on the Elemental Wheel. (Water beats Fire). Now, where in the Empire might we find Earth... say, is that Lodril over there?
> Lunar magic? Wait, we have the Bat, and it will eat the enemy magic.
> Whichever it is.
Which is why I was advocating that Broyan try something devious, not a head-on power-on-power attack. See, I'm trying to give the Sartarites a chance of defeating the Bat, whether the Lunar commanders are idiots or not.
> Great. So they know everything about taming the Sky Bear and infiltrating
> Earth ceremonies.
While there are differences between Alakoring and Heortling Orlanthi, there's still a *lot* of correspondences between them. The Lunars have been dealing with Orlanthi for a few years by now, they know more than just the Star Bear.
>> Using tacnukes against a few rebels isn't exactly the hallmark of a great
>> general. Especially when they can go off in your hand (mixed metaphor
>> alert...).
>
> Using the fuel bomb to smoke out a nest of resistance is accepted military
> doctrine, right?
I won't go into the idiocies of modern generals - too touchy a subject for many people. But yes, Fuel-Air Bombs are considered okay to use - they don't have the fallout (political as well as radioactive) of a Nuke. Still not an *great* solution. It's shooting ants with a flame thrower.
>> All I'm saying is that a Power-on-Power attack is something the Lunars
>> *should* expect, *especially* Storm Power, and something the Orlanthi
>> should give a *lot* of thought to.
>
> Sure. So, if you cannot counter the storm, make sure it won't harm you.
Yep. But from the Seattle folks, I was getting flack that they wouldn't even bother to do that much.
>> And Broyan is an innovative thinker, or at least an practitioner
>> of unexpected tactics - "He has won wars with words, battles
>> with winds, and debates with swords". Thinking outside the box seems to
>> be
>> natural for him.
>
> Broyan has faced Lunars only during the recent raids against southern
> Sartar - a totally different scale of warfare. Otherwise, he is very much
> a non-entity, as far as Dara Happan field commanders are concerned.
Umm, so? You should be more cautious of a general you *don't* know much more than one you do - he might just have a trick up his sleeve... Broyan's reputatin with the Lunars isn't the question, the question is how will he take on the Bat.
> Fact is that Lunar magicians will swear that no storm nor thunderbolt nor
> can stop the Bat. (Neither could Sunspears, or similar effects.) The Bat
> is a magic-stopper.
But that's not *just* because of the bat, but defensive magics and precautions *as well as* the bat's natural defenses. Or at least, that's how *I* would run it as a narrator. Use Solar Magics to ensure a clear day, etc.
Which is why you need to be devious. Teleporting onto the bat to take out the controllers has (seemed to) work in every incarnation of the battle I've heard of...
I'm not saying the Lunars aren't idiots (at least *this* bunch). I'm saying that *should* have defenses in place against the obvious threat from Storm Worshippers.And that Broyan, being an out-of-the-box thinker, should try a devious attack rather than a power attack.
He knows that the Bat went head to head with a real live Dragon. They both destroyed the other, so we know the bat can be taken out by something powerful enough. Broyan probably doesn't have anything at his disposal that has the power of a Dragon, so he should be looking at alternatives.
RR
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