Re: Daxdarius

From: donald_at_eEekYwRtWvArwdRyQM8X4tGslVvbXJp_ESwuK7kdmtTl2m8AvV2EwRsmIiwfj1pen5Ewf
Date: Thu, 05 Jan 2012 23:33:03 -0000


Richard Hayes

> The thread about Daxdarius had me wondering about how different kinds of Gloranthans fight
> with spear and shield combinations:

I've thought through how the Lunar army works and IMG -

>	1. Are Macedonian-style phalanxes armed with very long pikes and shields strapped to 

> the shoulder pretty much the preserve of the Yelmalio cult, or do other Pelorians fight
> this way too?

I understand this is Yelmalio specific - they have the magic which enables them to do it with a large shield.

> 2. Do the Men-and-a-Half use pikes as well (this was suggested in some reputable but
> unoffficial sources on Prax (Tales of the Reaching Moon #14- 15 and/or the Book of
> Drastic Resolutions on Prax iirc), or do their battle tactics and weapons owe more to
> Zulu warfare? Maybe they deploy a mixture of pikemen and skirmishers armed with
> assegais

I've never understood the idea of a small tribe in the wilderness of Prax specialising in using pikes. The idea probably arose from the idea that big men would make good pikemen. I'd interpret it as someone recruited Men-and-a-Half as mercenary pikemen and the association stuck.

> 3. How practical is it to combine the 2-handed spear or pike with a large shield (as in
> the Yelmalio write-up in Cults of Prax?), or do the Yelmalians now use a smaller shield?

It probably isn't but they have magic to do so successfully.

> 4. Do many/any Lunar heavy infantry regiments combine the large shield with a 2-handed
> longspear, as written up in Cults of Prax or illustrated in Genertela Crucible of the Hero

>	   Wars (which features someone looking a bit like a Roman legionary with a large 

> rectangular shield but holding their longspear with both hands) 

The Pavis boxed set describes the Marble Phalanx as having the front rank using the spear single handed with the shield while the second rank uses the spear two handed. This makes far more sense and an elite unit could well be trained to use both tactics as circumstances dictate. The stone phalanxes are Dara Happen rather than Lunar and I don't think they are representative of the Lunar army. My view is that the bulk of the troops are equiped with a shield and long spear which they are trained to use defensively with one hand. I don't think they are drilled well enough to maintain formation in an attack.

> 5. Alternatively do many/any Lunar heavy infantry regiments fight more like Spartan
> (or other Greek) hoplites, with a large round shield and a long spear held one-handed?

That's my view although I envisage them looking more like Late Romans than Greeks - simple helmets and only elite units with metal breast and backplates.

> 6. Do any Gloranthan infantry use the  very large but lightweight rectangular leather and

>	    wickerwork shield associated with the Persian Sparabara, combined with a not 
>	    especially long one-handed spear?

Probably, the Lunar army combines many separate traditions. I'm sure there's room for them somewhere.

> 7. Do any Gloranthan cavalry use a long two-handed lance (like a kontos)?

I think this is uncommon, the only possibility being some Carmenian cavalry which I see as being equiped like Roman cataphracts.

> 8. Are pole-arms pretty much the preserve of Western and Eastern Gloranthans,
> and little used in the barbarian belt?

These are the infantry counter to heavily armoured cavalry. As there is very little of that in central Genertala they probably aren't common.

> 9. Is the curved Lunar sword (still) like a medieval scimitar, or is it more like a kopis
> or khopesh?

I think the scimitar image is too ingrained to be changed now. However only a minority of units of the Lunar army are actually Lunar so there's plenty of room for units with alternative equipment.

-- 
Donald Oddy


           

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