Lars smiled when the legions hit the second force of Exquaestio pike. Sir Arsra had tried to spread out the horizontal spacing of the first pike force while closing up on the vertical distance. The result had been a slaughter of the first pikes, but the second force was more conventional, and the rush of the legion had left bodies behind. Then Lars's smile turned into a curse. The Cedonians might have lost some men on the charge, but once within the pike formation they were far more effective. He'd thought the axes that had been issued would help against the cedonians' close-in techniques, but _using_ those axes meant openings in the pike wall, which only ended up letting more Cedonians in. Seeing the problem, the third and fourth pike forces advanced, but, though they took more losses, the pikes couldn't penetrate the legion's formation. All the advancing pike forces ended up doing was pushing the cedonians further into the second pikes. Lars watched until the second pike force fell apart and then turned away shaking his head. He was pouring a drink when he heard gasps from his staff and a muttered, "For the stupidity of our enemies, may Feroze make us truly grateful." Dropping the cup, Lars sprinted back to the observation point. "What happened?" "The Cedonian commander ordered a strike against the fourth pikes without stopping to reform his men," Karmin Valsilda replied in disgust. "He should have tried to get a little distance first." Lars had never known why Karmin had left the Cedonian legions for mercenary work on Orasaren. He was just glad that the mercenary had converted to Exquaestio so his expertise could be applied to the current maneuvers. "So, how realistic is it?" "Oh, it might happen once or twice, but it's nothing we can count on." "Does it invalidate the maneuvers?" asked one of the junior staff members. Lars considered a moment, "I don't think so, let's see how well the pikes do against disorganized Cedonians." He glanced to one side, "How are the mages holding up?" "Fine, so far sir." "Then we'll keep the illusions going a bit longer and see how the game plays out." Exquaestio's pikes managed to press the Cedonians so they never managed to truly reform and won the battle in the end. The butcher's bill, however, stood at three to one in the Cedonians' favor when the illusions were ended. "So, rohain, what are your opinions?" "If we had fought them in a marsh their heavier equipment would have made it more difficult for them to maneuver." "Maybe, but the real key would be disrupting their formation." "We'd still take horrendous casualties." As the discussion continued Lars looked at each man in turn until he reached the most junior member of his staff. Closing his eyes and saying a prayer for patience he interrupted the discussion, "Squire Kelper. You wanted to say something?" "Longbows!" burst out of the young man. "If we put a force of longbows in the field, that will disrupt oncoming troops." Even prepared Lars had to remind himself that Kelper was only rohain because he'd managed to get a group of friends together to perform the ceremony in secret. He also reminded himself that Feroze taught that no idea should be rejected out of hand. Still, he only managed to speak calmly after he reminded himself that one of his toughest ex-mercenaries had agreed to boot the boy's backside if he didn't start showing some sense. "Enough. Yes, we could probably import yew cheaply enough to outfit some of our militia if we had to. But where would that yew come from?" "Cedonia!" Kelper said, and then, "Oh." "Finally!" Lars thought. "And if it happens to be Cedonia we're fighting?" he said, hammering the point in. "So gentlemen, if we're going to disorganize formations in armor we need striking power more than range. Sir Kerim has won his point. Bows and slings will be designated as skirmish and scout weapons, and our militia will be trained with atlatls." Lars laughed, "At least until someone invents a cheaper crossbow." Jefferson (Exquaestio) http://www.picotech.net/~jeff_wilson63/rpg/Exq_Main.html ---------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send mail to celandra-off@phoenyx.net.
