RE: [HeroWars] Phalanxes

At 22:56 1/08/01 -0400, you wrote:
>Again, Alexander had a mixed force army. The Sun Domers apparently do not,
>judging by the previous comment that "the clan needs vigilant guardians and
>individual heroes, not a bloody phalanx!"

Sun Domers also have mounted archers (Kuschile) and have access to cult weapons of the bow and javelin. I do not believe that Sun Domers can only fight in Phalanx but that they usually have a small number of other troops available.

Nevertheless I do think that Yelmalio wants his followers to fight in Phalanxes and thus every Sun Dome Temple has its own phalanx regiment (even if, as might be the case of Balazar, the regiments are largely ceremonial).

There probably exists a mythical justification as to why Phalanxes are So Great for Yelmalions to fight in (as opposed to being Peltasts for example). Something like:

         War was made by the Cruel Gods to destroy the
         Peace of Yelm's Empire.  Many tried to remain peaceful
         despite War.  They were slaughtered.  Others tries
         to fight the Cruel Gods using their creation.  They
         themselves became Cruel Gods.

         Yelmalio did not want this and so he summoned the
         surviving men.  First he commanded them to count of
         in files of eight.  Then, through his skill of
         leadership he commanded them to arrange who among them
         would face the enemy first and who would be second,
         and so on.  Then he made them line up that way, and
         practice lining up that way, and then moving that
         way in line.  And then he placed many files together
         to create the phalanx.  The phalanx practiced marching
         together in line and in column.  This way discipline,
         that helps us fight war without becoming cruel, was
         made.

Some bits (most actually) are swiped from a myth about how one of the Dara Happan Emperors invented war. The remaining segments will probably explain why the Phalanx fights with spear and shield, and not on horseback...

--Peter Metcalfe             Received on Thu 02 Aug 2001 - 03:29:30 EEST