Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[NUKE9.13]

Cavalry, anyone?

Atlantean Horses: Like everything from Atlantis, Atlantean Horses are just plain better- faster, stronger, more enduring. And now we have trained them for battle, and have recruited able riders to serve as cavalry in our armies. Their role will be to serve as scouts, flank the enemy, and run down any who flee.

[UristMcRiley]

+1 to Calvary

[frostgiant]

Wooden Scorpio -
A piece of field artillery created to be mounted on our Ships to Combat Enemy Ships at range and hopefully destroy Their Sun temples. The scorpio is made an enlarged bow with really thick arms and much thicker ropes to provide more force, set on a based with a channel to hold the ammunition in a channel to guide the shot, made from wood and twine Providing it a massive amount of force to launch its primary projectiles, Small fist sized balls of metal. These Metal balls are made from orichalcum Treated to radiate with heat enough to light pitch on fire and cause severe burns. These orichalcum balls are Covered in fired clay in order to be used and handled without burning the Loaders. The force of impact should be enough to break the clay and release the Hot orichalcum.
The Scoripio is cocked by use of a crank to ensure the massive draw weight can be pulled back.

Orichalcum Scopio-
A piece of field artillery created to be mounted on our Ships to Combat Enemy Ships at range and hopefully destroy Their Sun temples. The scorpio is made from enlarged, horizontal bow made from orichalcum to create a massive force when released, set on a based with a channel to hold the ammunition in a channel to guide the shot, A Small fist-sized balls of metal. These Metal balls are made from orichalcum Treated to radiate with heat enough to light pitch on fire and cause severe burns. These orichalcum balls are Covered in fired clay in order to be used and handled without burning the Loaders. The force of impact should be enough to break the clay and release the Hot orichalcum.
The Scoripio is cocked by use of a crank to ensure the massive draw weight can be pulled back.

[Chiefwaffles]

We need to focus on unlocking the potential of Orichalcum. It’s our version of their alien technology. It’s useful for more than just “good armor and pointy-er weapons”.

This may not work immediately, but it’s useful in its own right and should give us really useful experience.
Orichalcum Bomb
By superheating Orichalcum to irresponsible exceedingly high levels, we can, well, we can make it explode. For now, we'll use this knowledge to make "grenades"; small spheres with a toggle for the Orichalcum unreasonable-heating-function. Soldiers can hit the toggle, throw it, and have the sphere detonate once the Orichalcum reaches insane levels of heat.

[NUKE9.13]

So, no, I don't think we should prioritise explosives, if only to slow the inevitable shift from bronze age to WWI.
Mechanically, I also think cavalry will have a greater immediate impact- we have excellent infantry that can easily keep theirs busy, we just need some flankers to break them.
And, I mean, I doubt we'll have a hard time killing the enemy without grenades. They're unarmoured, and unless they cheapen their Sun Staves, won't have a good ranged weapon that can actually kill our dudes.
...and if they do cheapen them, grenades still won't be what we want to defeat them. They won't be fighting from trenches.

[Chiefwaffles]

Slowing the inevitable collapse to WW1 is certainly a noble goal, but even gunpowder grenades date back to the 11th century.

I just hate the idea of designing horses. Especially when the design is "horses but just better I guess." I want to actually use the unobtanium we have at our disposal. Our enemy has alien technology, and basic cavalry just seems like a mistake that may be useful at first, but that will be soon obsoleted.
I want to do something innovative. It doesn't have to be "move closer to kind-of-magical WW1", but I don't want to design horses out of all things.

[NUKE9.13]

Well, we can also design rideable lizards. Andrea has said we can invent one or two (non-mythological) critters.

And, like, cavalry was the king of the battlefield for thousands of years. It won't be outclassed until heavy artillery, and even then it won't go obsolete until machine guns (or equivalent).

[Chiefwaffles]

My main and primary point is, cavalry is boring. I play Arms Races to create cool settings, mostly, and cavalry is just bland and mundane to me. Others may disagree with me and that's fine (and I won't push this point further), but I really dislike it when Arms Races give players all these cool ways of solving problems then players immediately just take the closest thing from history that worked then design it in.
But regardless.

While it won't immediately obsolete cavalry, I'd like to point out that Egypt has handheld explosive energy weapons that are a single revision away from being Cheap, and giant even-more-explosive energy weapons that could easily be made into artillery. Again, it wouldn't immediately make cavalry useless, but the fact that they have such weapons and that they have the extreme potential from these weapons means that cavalry could very well be obsoleted in the nearish future.

Though rideable lizards/whatnot would be better. Would also make it easier to rationalize why they're better. I probably wouldn't vote for it still, but would be far more okay with it personally.

[andrea]

By the way, for the horse design or equivalent ones, I am interpreting them as creating cavalry, not designing just the animal.

[NUKE9.13]

Tromousavra Riding: Known as the apex predator of the Atlantean isles, the Tromousavra is a giant lizard that stands nearly as tall as a man, whose body is twice his height in length, and whose tail is half as long again. Its hide is reinforced with armoured scales, making it all but impervious to many weapons. Its maw is filled with two-inch long teeth, and its saliva is blood-tinged.
In short, you'd have to be a complete idiot to try and ride one.
Unless, that is, you were to find a Tromousavra egg in the wild, bring it home, hatch it, and raise the young lizard yourself. In that case, the beast develops a strong protective instinct towards its 'parent', and can be trained to obey commands- even to the point of allowing a saddle to be slung across its back, which its 'parent' can sit on, directing the beast with a sharp prod (it wouldn't even register blows with a lesser implement).
This could then be employed by the military as a terror weapon (kept a reasonable distance away from other troops), as the beast fearlessly charges into enemy lines and rips them apart with its bloody maw. Oh, and I guess the rider can poke people with a spear, to add insult to injury.


Per word of GM, this wouldn't be easy, and would certainly not be any cheaper than Very Expensive, but it is possible. So, you know, that's an option, if you want to go a little bit crazy.

[andrea]

Considering the number of proposals around, it would be very helpful if a votebox was created.
This will be my last poke until tomorrow evening, due to understanding that people are busy in the holidays. (and I'll be out most of tomorrow as well)

[NUKE9.13]

I'm having a hard time picking between horses and Tromousavra. Like, the horses are more sensible, I think, but the giant lizards are undeniably more fun.
...
I'll wait and see how others vote first. Here's a votebox with all the proposals so far (apologies if I missed one):

Atlantean Horses:
Wooden Scorpio:
Orichalcum Scorpio:
Orichalcum Bomb:
Tromousavra Riding:

[frostgiant]

Atlantean Horses:
Wooden Scorpio:
Orichalcum Scorpio:
Orichalcum Bomb:
Tromousavra Riding(1):Frostgiant

Eh giant lizards over horses for one, and horses at this time period have not been bred for the same size and strength as modern horses, so their much smaller and less ridable.

[Madman198237]

The present status of the normal "horse" species is meaningless, seeing as how we're considering LIZARD CAVALRY.

Sheesh, we've gone from "Greek but more magical" to "hideously ahistorical dinosaur-riding people".

[NUKE9.13]

It's not a dinosaur. It's more like a giant Komodo Dragon.

Also, lizard cavalry isn't locked in yet. We don't have to do it.

Although, I can tell you the GM likes the idea, so there's that.