Thread: Questioning chirine ba kal

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

Rewinding back a little bit in the thread, Gronan was talking about our play style. Back in the day, we were facing extermination at Third Mar; Phil had us in a really - and I do mean really - bad tactical situation with us being absurdly out-numbered and over-matched. We set up the figures, and I asked Gronan what tactical formation he wanted. he picked one that was very risky for the situation that we were in, but that did offer some great possibilities. Phil saw that I was not happy with his choice, but then was astonished that I went out there and did my best to carry out my general's orders.

It really threw him; in the vast majority of wargames like this, the differences between the players on one side could be used by the other side to win the battle. We, however, functioned as a unit; Phil couldn't get anything off us.

And Gronan pulled off a miracle - again. It was one of the very few times we trounced Phil.

Here's how it played out:

3.1401 The Might Of The Flame, And The Sharp Edge Of The Sword;

Summer, 2361 A. S.; A Dusty Plain Near The Town Of Mar


The two men looked down from the low rise at the enemy formation. There was just enough wind to blow the dust away from them and off the empty plain in front of them. Empty of any buildings or large vegetation, that is; aside from the road north, the plain was full of an army of Yan Koryani and their allies.

Chirine shaded his eyes against the facing sun. “My, my,” he observed mildly, “somebody sure has a lot of spare troops that seem to need to have something to do.”

Korunme nodded.”and they’re across our line of march – and across the army’s supply road, too. I suppose it’s our duty to do something about that.”

“Mmmm. With one legion of medium infantry, and a bunch of mercenary Shen replacements for the Shen legions with Prince Mirusiya? Kind of a tall order, there, Glorious General.”

The Glorious General shrugged. “We have what we have. Stone soup, and all that. Any ideas?”

Chirine thought for a moment, turned, and looked at their little force. It didn’t look like much, in comparison to what was out there awaiting them on the open plain. They were is a very, very bad position; just coming up the road, and with far too few troops for the job at hand. It looked to become a very bad day for the Tsolyani.

“If you offer battle at all, ‘Inexorable Sea’.”

“Ah.” The formation known as ‘The Inexorable Sea’ consisted of a strong central phalanx with two smaller phalanxes on either flank. “Solid and steady. You always did like to play a conservative game.” Korunme looked out again at the enemy. “I think we’ll use the ‘Bow of Hrugga’, this time.”

Chirine eyed him. “Well, you are the general.” Korunme gave him a long look. “I’d best get into my fighting armor, eh, Glorious General?”

“Yes. If you would, please.”

Chirine saluted, turned, and left for his tent. Korunme followed him with his eyes, and was interrupted by a polite cough from one of his officers.

“Sir,” the young officer started, “Sir, I know he’s your friend and all that, but… He’s a Vimuhla priest, and… Well, sir, I thought he was being insubordinate, there…” He trailed off into an uncomfortable silence, as his general turned his gaze on the young officer.

After a long moment, Korunme started talking – slowly, and in a very restrained tone of voice. “That priest is not my friend. He’s my staff officer. Later on, assuming that we both survive today and have time to go off duty, then he’ll be my friend. In the meantime, he’s being a good soldier – and a better staff officer, by giving me his best professional opinion on what course of action I should be taking. He thinks I’ve picked a bad formation to deploy into; he may very well be right, and I’ve made the mistake of my career – which may just get us all killed.” Korunme paused, and gave his officer a long, hard look.

“And because he’s a very good soldier, he’s taking my decision and carrying it out, no matter just how stupid he thinks it is, because I’m in command. That priest is going to go down onto that plain and hold our center, all by himself, and he’ll follow my orders and attack into the mass of our enemy all by himself – and kill just as many of them as he can before they can kill him, so that as many of us as possible will survive this battle. Because he’s a very good soldier, he’s going to die so that you and me and this legion will live to serve the Seal Imperium and fight another day.”

Korumne took a deep breath. “So. Think on that, young man, and deploy the legion. We have a battle to fight.”

- from "To Serve The Petal Throne", Book Three - "Advance Standards!"

Uncle, in relation to another thread, what were the actual odds of you dying in a fight like that? A missed roll away, several missed rolls away?
I suspect there were some odds for it, knowing you, but correct me if I'm wrong.

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

In general, I don't have a problem with the size; I think that my Barsoomians would be taller anyway, so it's not an issue.

Taller is a reasonable effect of the lower gravity on Barsoom.

Originally Posted by Bren

Taller is a reasonable effect of the lower gravity on Barsoom.

It can go either way. They're obviously marsupials, since they lay eggs!
So, maybe the Barsoomians are marsupials that wouldn't be tall enough if it wasn't for the gravity.

Originally Posted by AsenRG

It can go either way. They're obviously marsupials, since they lay eggs!
So, maybe the Barsoomians are marsupials that wouldn't be tall enough if it wasn't for the gravity.

But our perspective is that of John Carter who is a (more or less) normal earth man. On Barsoom, with it's lower gravity, he will be taller than he will be on Earth. Similarly, the Barsoomians will be taller on Barsoom than they would be on earth. (And all of them are shorter than they would be in zero gravity.)

Originally Posted by AsenRG

Uncle, in relation to another thread, what were the actual odds of you dying in a fight like that? A missed roll away, several missed rolls away?
I suspect there were some odds for it, knowing you, but correct me if I'm wrong.

Well, in a normal fight it usually took a 16 or better on a d20 to hit me, and then you'd have the damage - usually a d6. I'd normally be good for about four rounds of combat, say in an Underworld, before I'd have to lay down and bleed for a while.

In a mass fight like this, with most likely four to eight opponents attacking at once - and at a range where I can't get to them, them having spears - Phil had four to eight chances at a +16 or better on a d20 per turn. At that point, and given that once I'm down in a melee, I'm already behind the odds simply by being swamped by vastly superior numbers. About all Phil's missing dice rolls can do is give me another turn in which to kill more of them, and hope that they break and run.

(These were Vriddi. Not bloody likely.)

I didn't even bother crunching the numbers for this fight. We figured that is was survival at stake, pure and simple, and we went into this assuming that we weren't going to make it. At that point, the goal was to hit them as hard as we could and kill as many of them as possible, so s to break their hold on our army's supply line. Lose a legion and some Shen, save the army up at Sunraya. Pretty straightforward, if somewhat ruthless.

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

Korunme looked out again at the enemy. “I think we’ll use the ‘Bow of Hrugga’, this time.”

Damn, I was a ballsy little fucker.

Of course, if we failed I wouldn't have to worry about a court martial. "Audace, audace, tojours l'audace!"

Also, I don't have Chirine's memory... I don't remember if I was thinking "I have a cunning plan," or "If we're going to die anyway, let's do it in a way that hurts them as much as possible."

The latter, I very much suspect.

I HATED the Eastern Desert campaign.

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

Also, I don't have Chirine's memory... I don't remember if I was thinking "I have a cunning plan," or "If we're going to die anyway, let's do it in a way that hurts them as much as possible."

The latter, I very much suspect.

I HATED the Eastern Desert campaign.

I'm just plugging through Flamesong, and I had to laugh at how you are described Most Glorious General. Both the terms "parsimonious" and "miserly" are attributed to you. You must have really pissed off Phil with your exploits in the game. Didn't you mention in an earlier post that you trounced him on the battlefield? Would your victory at Mar also be part of the reason for Phil's wrath?
BTW, I also noticed that Captain Harchar is mentioned quite a few times. Were the Glorious General and Lord Chirine part of Captain Harchar's scheme to become the Governor of Mihallu?

Shemek

I thought Kutume was the parsimonious one. He'd squeeze a Hlash until it dripped molten copper.

General Korunme never got involved with Harchar.

PCs in Flamesong inlcude Kadarsha, Korunme, Kutume, and Qutmu (pronounced Kutmu).

Can't tell the K-name PCs without a scorecard...