Creator of Yoon-Suin and other materials. Propounding my half-baked ideas on role playing games. Jotting down and elaborating on ideas for campaigns, missions and adventures. Talking about general industry-related matters. Putting a new twist on gaming.
James, I'm sorry, but I don't really do reviews on the blog, and to be honest I don't have enough time to do even leisure reading at the moment (put it this way: I started the Lyonesse trilogy before Christmas and am not even half way through yet). I'm sorry to disappoint.
Not that anyone asked, but the fighter is a Mongol. Mongels had a outragous rate of march against opposition, approaching 20 miles a day for days on end. The only campaigns that came close were the Afrika Corps under Rommel during the Gazala breakout (but that was mechanized!) and the USN/USMC Central Pacific campaign (ships and amphibious assaults).
Every man carried a (small ) wicker shield covered in thick leather while on his left side hung two bows, one for long range and one for shorter range, and on his right side at least two quivers containing a minimum of sixty arrows (cartons of arrows were available in reserve; kept and distributed by in-ranks armorers assigned to that task). A lasso hung from his saddle and a dagger (‘kris' ) was strapped to the inside of his forearm. Apart from these, the light cavalrymen carried a short sword and two or three javelins, and the heavy cavalryman carried a (single edged, slightly curved) scimitar, a battle ax or mace, and a twelve foot lance with a horse-hair pennant and hook below the blade.
In their saddlebags they carried a change of clothing, a cooking pot, field rations, which were usually yoghurt, millet, dried meat and 'kumiz' (fermented mare's milk), a leather water bottle, a fishing line, files for sharpening arrows, a needle and thread and other tools for repairing equipment. Not only was the saddlebag waterproof, it could also be inflated to act as a crude life jacket for fording rivers.
The bow was easily the Mongol’s most important weapon. The mediaeval English longbow had a pull of seventy five pounds and a range of up to two hundred and fifty yards, but the smaller, reflex composite bows used by the Mongols had a pull of between a hundred and a hundred sixty pounds and a range of over three hundred fifty yards. The Mongol bow was made from layers of horn and sinew on a wooden frame and covered with waterproof lacquer. Unstrung it was shaped like three quarters of a circle, but when strung the outer curve of the circle bent towards its center to form the front of the bow, making a double curve with the 'ears' at either end bending away from the archer. (The composite bow was usually left in a 'strung' position, since this improves its strength rather than weakening it, whereas a constantly strung position does tend to weaken any other kind of bow.)
The layer nearest the archer (inside bow) was horn and the layer furthest from him (outside bow) was sinew. The string was more taut than on a longbow and when it was released the horn would snap back to it's original shape and the stretched sinew would contract, shooting the arrow faster and with more power than a bow made of wood. The velocity was further increased by the difficult technique known as the Mongolian thumb block: the string was drawn back by a stone ring on the right thumb which released it more suddenly than the fingers (* 'Thumb ring' - protects fingers from flaying, improves control of release-moment and therefore accuracy).
In his quivers a soldier carried arrows for every purpose: long range arrows and short range arrows, Three foot armour piercing arrows with (*iron) tips that had been hardened by being plunged into salt water when they were red-hot, whistling arrows for signaling and identifying targets, incendiary arrows and arrows tipped with tiny grenades. He could bend and string his bow in the saddle by placing one end between his foot and the stirrup and he could shoot in any direction at full gallop, carefully timing his release to come between the paces of his horse, so that his aim would not be deflected as the hooves pounded the ground.
- THE DEVIL’S HORSEMEN, James Chambers, p.p. 55 - 57
...cannon and the fundamentals of modern military method came to Europe with the Mongols. -The Outline of History, H. G. Wells, p. 816
I want to be all of them.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to be the magic-user the best.
DeleteThat illustration was in the first White Dwarf I ever bought and remains one of my all-time favorites. Great stuff.
DeleteJames, I'm sorry, but I don't really do reviews on the blog, and to be honest I don't have enough time to do even leisure reading at the moment (put it this way: I started the Lyonesse trilogy before Christmas and am not even half way through yet). I'm sorry to disappoint.
ReplyDeleteNo problem. Thanks anyway.
ReplyDeleteThose two photos are excellent. What country are those from? The cleric looks Indian, but the other one ... Nepalese cowboy?
ReplyDeleteThe cleric is Indian and the rogue is a (rather sexy in my opinion) Tibetan cowgirl.
ReplyDeleteNot that anyone asked, but the fighter is a Mongol. Mongels had a outragous rate of march against opposition, approaching 20 miles a day for days on end. The only campaigns that came close were the Afrika Corps under Rommel during the Gazala breakout (but that was mechanized!) and the USN/USMC Central Pacific campaign (ships and amphibious assaults).
ReplyDeleteEvery man carried a (small ) wicker shield covered in thick leather while on his left side hung two bows, one for long range and one for shorter range, and on his right side at least two quivers containing a minimum of sixty arrows (cartons of arrows were available in reserve; kept and distributed by in-ranks armorers assigned to that task). A lasso hung from his saddle and a dagger (‘kris' ) was strapped to the inside of his forearm. Apart from these, the light cavalrymen carried a short sword and two or three javelins, and the heavy cavalryman carried a (single edged, slightly curved) scimitar, a battle ax or mace, and a twelve foot lance with a horse-hair pennant and hook below the blade.
In their saddlebags they carried a change of clothing, a cooking pot, field rations, which were usually yoghurt, millet, dried meat and 'kumiz' (fermented mare's milk), a leather water bottle, a fishing line, files for sharpening arrows, a needle and thread and other tools for repairing equipment. Not only was the saddlebag waterproof, it could also be inflated to act as a crude life jacket for fording rivers.
The bow was easily the Mongol’s most important weapon. The mediaeval English longbow had a pull of seventy five pounds and a range of up to two hundred and fifty yards, but the smaller, reflex composite bows used by the Mongols had a pull of between a hundred and a hundred sixty pounds and a range of over three hundred fifty yards. The Mongol bow was made from layers of horn and sinew on a wooden frame and covered with waterproof lacquer. Unstrung it was shaped like three quarters of a circle, but when strung the outer curve of the circle bent towards its center to form the front of the bow, making a double curve with the 'ears' at either end bending away from the archer. (The composite bow was usually left in a 'strung' position, since this improves its strength rather than weakening it, whereas a constantly strung position does tend to weaken any other kind of bow.)
The layer nearest the archer (inside bow) was horn and the layer furthest from him (outside bow) was sinew. The string was more taut than on a longbow and when it was released the horn would snap back to it's original shape and the stretched sinew would contract, shooting the arrow faster and with more power than a bow made of wood. The velocity was further increased by the difficult technique known as the Mongolian thumb block: the string was drawn back by a stone ring on the right thumb which released it more suddenly than the fingers (* 'Thumb ring' - protects fingers from flaying, improves control of release-moment and therefore accuracy).
In his quivers a soldier carried arrows for every purpose: long range arrows and short range arrows, Three foot armour piercing arrows with (*iron) tips that had been hardened by being plunged into salt water when they were red-hot, whistling arrows for signaling and identifying targets, incendiary arrows and arrows tipped with tiny grenades. He could bend and string his bow in the saddle by placing one end between his foot and the stirrup and he could shoot in any direction at full gallop, carefully timing his release to come between the paces of his horse, so
that his aim would not be deflected as the hooves pounded the ground.
- THE DEVIL’S HORSEMEN, James Chambers, p.p. 55 - 57
...cannon and the fundamentals of modern military method came to Europe with the Mongols. -The Outline of History, H. G. Wells, p. 816