Thread: Questioning chirine ba kal

You guys have been busy typing.

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

Hey - maybe I should do a paint chart or something, that gives phil's old coors and the modern paints that match them... ?

That would be a very useful resource. You should add that as a page or something on your blog.

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

I have a huge backlog of stuff to do; would there be any interest in my commenting on useful figures for Tekumel someplace?

And this also.

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

I was running a demo game at the first Minnesota Campaign game convention that I ran for Arneson, and the Yan Koryani were defending a walled town. The Tsolyani were attacking, and had about three times more troops then the defenders - which is considered normal. One of the YK players whined to high heaven that I wasn't being fair to him, and demanded that he get as many figures as the attackers so that the game would be a fair one. Haven't played with him since, and won't.

Makes one wonder if these guys are aware that there's this game called Chess...

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

You are in good company. The use of 'real-world' tactics has been viewed as cheating for decades. Refuse a flank? Cheating. Refuse the center? Cheating. Use the terrain? Cheating. Reading and using military history? Cheating.

Guess who doesn't game outside the basement either?

More than a couple of real world generals have tried to rationalize losing a battle due to the ignoble and dishonorable tactics employed by of their enemies. So in that sense the whiners are doing a first class job roleplaying a dumb general in defeat. Extra XPs for the dumb general.

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

More than once I've thought, in a variety of games, "I wish this was a real war so I could have you taken out and shot."

One of the first things we learned in business school was that “fire all the incompetent managers” was not allowed as a case study solution. Near as I can tell from history, commanders were seldom allowed to have all the incompetent commanders taken out and shot. In unstable regimes, too much military competence could be grounds for a general's execution.

Well then how about "I wish this were a real war so the enemy would do me the courtesy of doing away with you."

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

Well then how about "I wish this were a real war so the enemy would do me the courtesy of doing away with you."

That was one virtue of the lead from the front style of warfare practiced by a lot of the Classical Greek city states and by Philip and Alexander of Macedon. There was a decent chance that any dumb general was in the front rank of the phalanx or the point of a cavalry wedge and so would get croaked in any given disaster he authored.

For Asen:

Yeah, Eyloa was the one who got turned into a blue fish by Lord Fu Shi. We all laughed. I scooped him up and put him my helmet with some water, and eventually got him a nice glass fishbowl. Carried it around for ages, until we got him turned back.

Understood about the 18+ rule. I like to ask players what their 'hot buttons' might be, and I try really hard to avoid them. In this case, the guest GM didn't even try.

I also didn't clarify why Phil's beloved Egyptians were such a weak army, sorry. They are basically guys in a loincloth with stone clubs, pointy sticks, and shields. The chariots are nice, but are pretty much very mobile archers, and the same ground that favors them is a real disadvantage for the infantry, Up against local tribes, they're great, or in a defensive position. As an offensive force, they usually get hammered by anybody in any kind of armor, and tend to head back to the Nile at top speed.

For Bren:

Yeah, ok, I can do this; it's a matter of gathering my scattered notes that I've done over the years. I'll have to update the miniatures list, as several of the companies have stopped trading sine I first did the list about a decade ago.

For Asen:

I'll send you a copy of the draft - Carl is no longer publishing Tekumel materials, but he is selling off the old stock.

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

For Bren:

Yeah, ok, I can do this; it's a matter of gathering my scattered notes that I've done over the years. I'll have to update the miniatures list, as several of the companies have stopped trading sine I first did the list about a decade ago.

Hey, we aren't paying you. So SOP for pretty much all of your work on Tekumel ever. So don't kill yourself.* Do it when and as it entertains you.

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

I also didn't clarify why Phil's beloved Egyptians were such a weak army...

Five millennium ago or so ago chariot archers were a cutting edge and revolutionary combat system. They widely kicked the ass of pre-chariot forces. One of my regrets in RPG gaming is the dearth of true Bronze Age settings with actual chariot battles.



* And just for Gronan, "Yes literally."

Originally Posted by Bren

Hey, we aren't paying you. So SOP for pretty much all of your work on Tekumel ever. So don't kill yourself.* Do it when and as it entertains you.

Five millennium ago or so ago chariot archers were a cutting edge and revolutionary combat system. They widely kicked the ass of pre-chariot forces. One of my regrets in RPG gaming is the dearth of true Bronze Age settings with actual chariot battles.

* And just for Gronan, "Yes literally."

I will do what I an, when I can...

Agreed; if Phil had been up against the Egyptian's historical foes, he would have been just fine. But, those were the days of WRG 6th and lots of historical mismatches; everybody else had Assyrians, Greek hoplites, or - to Phil's disgust - Roman Imperials. Phil's guys just couldn't stand up to them, sorry to say.

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

For Asen:

Yeah, Eyloa was the one who got turned into a blue fish by Lord Fu Shi. We all laughed. I scooped him up and put him my helmet with some water, and eventually got him a nice glass fishbowl. Carried it around for ages, until we got him turned back.

Understood about the 18+ rule. I like to ask players what their 'hot buttons' might be, and I try really hard to avoid them. In this case, the guest GM didn't even try.

I prefer to ask what their "hot buttons" are, but people with too many of those are simply not a good fit for the group. Luckily, I haven't met many people that have that problem.

I also didn't clarify why Phil's beloved Egyptians were such a weak army, sorry. They are basically guys in a loincloth with stone clubs, pointy sticks, and shields. The chariots are nice, but are pretty much very mobile archers, and the same ground that favors them is a real disadvantage for the infantry, Up against local tribes, they're great, or in a defensive position. As an offensive force, they usually get hammered by anybody in any kind of armor, and tend to head back to the Nile at top speed.

Ouch. Didn't he have Egyptian Archers? A detachment of Nubians behind the spearmen might have helped.
Especially if he could just carry his own sand dunes!
But armour makes a huge difference, regardless of training and weapons. Loincloths ain't cutting it, in the absence of big shields, and even then leather might be quite the life-saving protection...

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

For Asen:

I'll send you a copy of the draft - Carl is no longer publishing Tekumel materials, but he is selling off the old stock.

That would be very kind of you!

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

Agreed; if Phil had been up against the Egyptian's historical foes, he would have been just fine. But, those were the days of WRG 6th and lots of historical mismatches; everybody else had Assyrians, Greek hoplites, or - to Phil's disgust - Roman Imperials. Phil's guys just couldn't stand up to them, sorry to say.

Didn't he think to just announce victory against the Vikings (and am I right somebody always has troops in horned helmets he calls Vikings)?
"We march against your lightly armoured troops".
"We run, and you die from the heat of chasing us in chain!"