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Post by StyxD on Sept 5, 2015 18:54:07 GMT
I like the powers described here, but they're quite disjoint. It would be nice to connect them.
How about the Storm Sworn would produce lumpy protrusions of ice / snow from their bodies, while they're berseking? Not to the extend of Junlock ice armor, these would be quite randomly spread and misshapen. They might actually make it harder for the Karak to fight. But they would represent both the power and risk in letting one's magic run wild.
Also, would it be possible for the Karak to make things from ice other than weapons?
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Post by Canuovea on Sept 5, 2015 18:57:00 GMT
We know that the Isthmus were in a severely weakened state following their annexation (practically speaking) by the Galdrasai, and so seem like they'd be in a tough spot in defending themselves from the Northern raiders. Naturally, the Galdrasai would have used this as an opportunity to demonstrate their strength and win political brownie points with the Isthmus in an attempt to prove they are better off on the side of the Galdrasai.
But yeah. I don't see the lightly armoured Isthmus being in a particularly good place against the Karak.
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Post by Harkovast on Sept 5, 2015 19:05:01 GMT
Styxd I think their magic is pretty fighty, so it would mainly be weapon making in kind of a warrior focus in battle kinda way. Though there could be exceptional ones who could make other stuff.
The idea of mishapen ice protrusions sounds quite cool. What do people think of that idea?
Canuovea the Karrack were powerful warriors but they were more like raiders and warbands than a proper army. If they had come into conflict with the might of the Galdrasai or Levengroust directly they wouldn't have stood much chance.
The Ishmus armies could handle fighting raiding hordes, so they did okay against the Karack and Naljat since they were more organised and could deploy large, coordinated armies, with large amounts of bowmen, and retreat back to their walled cities to avoid reprisals. The Immortals built their reputation driving off the northern hordes. The Ishmus werent weaklings, their armies would just out moded by the rapidly growing powers to the south. For a time, they were a formidible military power. Even after being reduced to a second rate power, their army was still able to fight against less organised forces.
The Ishmus got their advantage from having a centralised, organised government and a formalised military. Unfortunately for them, they didn't realise that other people were catching up on them and eventually over taking them until it was too late.
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Post by Canuovea on Sept 5, 2015 19:10:16 GMT
On the beserker types, yeah, the ice lumps make sense. The question then becomes "as the Storm Sworn get better at what do they do, do the lumps increase or decrease?" An increase could mean greater magical power, but little control. A decrease would mean that maybe they learn to harness it better.
A small Galdrasai expeditionary force against Karak would still be an interesting fight.
And of course all this makes me more curious about the Naljat.
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Post by Harkovast on Sept 5, 2015 19:14:34 GMT
I would always bet on the Galdrasai, but the karack would be very dangerous to a small force, especially with a home turf advantage.
I like the idea that the ice lumps are a side effect and they try to get less of that and more of the lightning. Though the ice they do get ca still be used to kill people, it can inhbit their movement and so is viewed as undesirable. Of course, their enemies wouldn't know the difference and would just see them all as deformed, ice spouting, electrified maniacs.
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Post by Canuovea on Sept 5, 2015 19:19:39 GMT
That would be more of an RP possibility than anything else.
Everyone else would be entirely more worried about the maniac running at them than the specifics of their frosty lumps.
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Post by Harkovast on Sept 5, 2015 19:24:20 GMT
The Galdrasai are the high water mark for bad ass military butt kicking. The Levengroust had to look for round about ways, such as strange weapons and equipment and unorthodox units and tactics to even the score against them and the Levengroust were highly disciplined and militant themselves. The Levengroust weren't a weak army trying to compensate, they were a strong army trying to desperate to find a way to match the most fearsome fighting forces the world had ever seen at that point.
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Post by Canuovea on Sept 5, 2015 19:31:33 GMT
At that point?
Aside from the West, who is the most fearsome fighting force in the world now?
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Post by Harkovast on Sept 5, 2015 19:51:27 GMT
The White Kingdom's armies would be the most powerful. Probably then the Knarl Empire, then the Tendu and Al-Saigal.
The Eslum would rank higher (they are very good at war!) but they are divided with their three principalities always squabbling with each other.
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Post by Canuovea on Sept 5, 2015 20:39:05 GMT
The Gotetra are in a horrible place at the moment...
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Post by Harkovast on Sept 5, 2015 22:34:22 GMT
They are one of the only nations to have some limited diplomatic relations with the Knarl Empire, due to their historic friendship with the Tolpish. So at least there's that! Also the Al-Saigal and Tendu are pretty much chalk and cheese about everything, so tend to focus on menacing each other.
Bet you had the Tendu pegged as whimps didn't you?
In Jaydian warfare, the primary weapon is archery by cavalry, which is less common in Vellastrom.
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Post by Canuovea on Sept 5, 2015 22:44:23 GMT
Nah, we've been over the Tendu. It is just their nobles who are wimps.
Ah, because cav archers are, in fact, useless for pretty much everything but harassment. They can't hold ground, they can't break disciplined infantry quickly, they're not good when your opponent has massed archers... but they'll fuck you up because they'll get around you, screwing your formations up, ruining discipline, and staying out of reach of anything but other archers the entire time. Turns out "harassment" is quite a lot.
Frankly though, Vellastrom's terrain doesn't seem suited for cav archers quite as much.
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Post by Harkovast on Sept 5, 2015 23:02:08 GMT
I should make clear, in Jaydia they have infantry and heavy cavalry etc. They just view the mounted archer as the primary thing that wins the battle, as opposed to Darsai viewing knights this way, or Ivos viewing heavy infantry as decisive. Its just important to be clear that they have armies that are as well balanced as those elsewhere, but they havea different idea on how battles should be fought.
Even heavy cavalry in Jaydia, like Cataphracts, Winged Hussars, heavily equipped mamluks and sipahis often carry a bow, using that to weaken the enemy before committing to a charge. Even a heavily armoured warrior on a steed is a lot quickly and more manueverable than foot slogging infantry. The complex tactics and organisation involved in directing these types of formations is more sophisticated then what we would expect in Vellastrom.
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Post by Canuovea on Sept 6, 2015 1:09:56 GMT
More organized than the Ivos? The pigs need to get their act together! The Romans would be sadly disappointed in their porcine counterparts.
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Post by Harkovast on Sept 6, 2015 1:18:01 GMT
The people in vellastrom aren't incompetent, their armies wouldn't be useless against Jaydian ones or anything. They are still all fighting in a pretty low tech way. But Jaydian forces would have the advantage. If nothing else, their bigger infrastructures allow them to field larger armies for longer periods.
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