Thread: Questioning chirine ba kal

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

We try to share these bits of wisdom.

Me, I'd just yell 'SHOOT!', on the theory that when in Milumaniya it's better to do unto others before they can do unto you. As long as they stay out of range, I'm just as happy...

But isn't it true that an enemy that stays out of range is probably waiting reinforcements?

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

I remember that... Soviet avionics were frustrating some US countermeasure systems because the Soviet vacuum-tube based systems simply put out so much raw power they overwhelmed the US systems.

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

Oh, yes! I think what kept astonishing analysts was that Soviet gear was all right, but not over-engineered - and not finished to a high standard where it didn't need to be. Which should have surprised nobody, as the same observation was made about a captured T-34/76 at the beginning of 'Barbarossa'.

Which may be, now that I contemplate it, a lesson for game designers. Like we used to say in theater, "Perfection is the enemy of good enough." I'd rather have a set of rules that is good enough to play, rather then the perfect set of rules that can't be played in practice.

I don't remember that, but both of these are typical for Russian technology I've used.

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

So, here's a question for all of you. I tend to blather on and on and on about using miniatures in RPG game play, as well as talking about the model-making process. It's something that I like to do as a hobby, but I do wonder if there's a lot of relevance to modern game play. Should I 'compartmentalize' the model-making stuff over on my blog, and try to focus on RPG and generalist game stuff here?

Inquiring minds want to know...

I've said it and shall say the same again, Uncle. People do use miniatures when playing RPGs, and many players are also playing wargames, so I think it's relevant.
I just don't find it relevant to my interests, which are at least in part determined by my current lack of storage space. But the thread isn't about my interests, and shouldn't be.

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

Oh, yes! I think what kept astonishing analysts was that Soviet gear was all right, but not over-engineered - and not finished to a high standard where it didn't need to be. Which should have surprised nobody, as the same observation was made about a captured T-34/76 at the beginning of 'Barbarossa'.

<snip>

Typical Soviet design philosophy. Much like the AK47: drop it in muddy water, merely pour out the slurry and keep firing. Whereas with the M16 (or the StG 44 upon which the AK47 was based upon): drop it in muddy water, merely pour out the slurry and give it to the Weapons Tech for repair and refit.
Having extensively fired both, and participated in the above experiment with an old Russian made AK47 and a C7A1, I personally would sooner have the AK were I to be deployed into the field for an extended period, and with minimal support.

Shemek

Originally Posted by Shemek hiTankolel

Mighty Hrugga of the Epics, a nice find. I'll have to have a listen to that.

Shemek

Ahh, Lord Shemek, it is good to hear from you. I trust all is well with you and Pechano. I shall soon return from my travels in three months time. At which time, I will face my own personal Qu’u on the field of battle. I pray that the Twenty shall grace me with their blessings...!!! So for better or worse, I will be back with a plague of questions for Lord Chirine!!! Speak to you soon. Be well!!!

H;0)

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

So, here's a question for all of you. I tend to blather on and on and on about using miniatures in RPG game play, as well as talking about the model-making process. It's something that I like to do as a hobby, but I do wonder if there's a lot of relevance to modern game play. Should I 'compartmentalize' the model-making stuff over on my blog, and try to focus on RPG and generalist game stuff here?

Inquiring minds want to know...

Chirine,

I for one see no problem with model making and miniature usage, but that's just me. I don't think that it's necessary to do what you suggest.

Shemek

Originally Posted by Hrugga

Ahh, Lord Shemek, it is good to hear from you. I trust all is well with you and Pechano. I shall soon return from my travels in three months time. At which time, I will face my own personal Qu’u on the field of battle. I pray that the Twenty shall grace me with their blessings...!!! So for better or worse, I will be back with a plague of questions for Lord Chirine!!! Speak to you soon. Be well!!!

H;0)

You too Mighty Hrugga. I also hope that you are well! I can't wait for the questions to start pouring in. All is fine and I am busy as hell. Work is unjustly monopolizing all of my time and will probably continue to do so until Christmas. The beginning of the new year usually slows down to a snail's pace and gives me time to enjoy Tekumel.
Pechano is doing as well as can be expected, but I think the Ssu are trying to take advantage of my absence and have attacked some of my more northerly holdings. I'll need to have a word to the Chaegosh about mounting an expedition into Ssuyal. Didn't Lord Chirine mention that he sent a certain Tsolyani with a chlen-hide dagger to Pechano a while back? I'll have to step up my efforts to find this guy and have him "lead" the raid.

Shemek

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

Great merciful Crom, yes. Does dropping a rock on a man trying to climb a siege ladder really have a 1/3 chance of killing the climber, per CHAINMAIL?

Who the hell knows? But the game plays well.

This. I keep it simple, fast, and furious; it seems to work fine.

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

Personally I enjoy the digressions, but that's just me.

Understood. I'm still trying to chart the rocks and shoals in modern gaming, ahead of my very first 'real' D&D game in two weeks. I think I'm a little gun-shy from some of the responses I've had from people who didn't take well to D&D 4.0. (A game system which still baffles me, no matter how many times I've read it...)

Originally Posted by AsenRG

I've said it and shall say the same again, Uncle. People do use miniatures when playing RPGs, and many players are also playing wargames, so I think it's relevant.
I just don't find it relevant to my interests, which are at least in part determined by my current lack of storage space. But the thread isn't about my interests, and shouldn't be.

Understood! Your play style is what works for you and your players, and I am very happy to get to look in at that. My concern is being a boring old fart...

Originally Posted by Shemek hiTankolel

Typical Soviet design philosophy. Much like the AK47: drop it in muddy water, merely pour out the slurry and keep firing. Whereas with the M16 (or the StG 44 upon which the AK47 was based upon): drop it in muddy water, merely pour out the slurry and give it to the Weapons Tech for repair and refit.
Having extensively fired both, and participated in the above experiment with an old Russian made AK47 and a C7A1, I personally would sooner have the AK were I to be deployed into the field for an extended period, and with minimal support.

Shemek

Same here. I was issued with an M16A1 in Basic, and we were told many lurid and scary stories of how badly the things worked in typical field conditions by the cadre NCOs, who were all combat veterans. Luckily for me, the ancient M3 'grease gun' was still being issued as the stock close-in weapon in armor, and they are just impossible to mess up. As a demo, one of the cadre immersed one in a pool of liquid mud, and fired off an entire magazine down-range while under the surface with no stoppages. Guess what we all wanted to carry, after that?

Hence Chirine's preference for a nice solid mace, most of the time. No moving parts, easy to clean, and quite effective. Yeah, the big two-hander was nice for the big open-field fights, but give me a mace or a short sword for getting up close and personal in tight spaces.

For the record, if anyone wants the information, the usual load-out hung on the armor was:

Two-handed sword, over the shoulder on a baldric; short sword (a khepesh, actually) on the left hip; long triangular dagger on the right hip; two shorter daggers, on the belt in the small of the back on either side of the belt pouch; two even smaller throwing-knives / daggers in a concealed sheath on the inner face of the belt pouch; +4+5 mace in the right hand, buckler in the left, to be switched off as needed.

One learned to be prepared, with Phil, and to always have a little something in reserve. We'd have carried a pouch full of grenades, if they'd been invented. Phil, on one of his better nights, was awesomely lethal. Heck, I would have carried a bazooka, if we'd found one...