M Helsdon

Starting on the small ones... [And noticed that the new Bestiary has an illustration of all Praxian beasts - but not to scale].

Not in Time, though there were earlier moons in the God Time. Many of the planets are quite bright (Lightfore and the Red Planet especially). The Red Moon of course has its own (invisible) moon which casts a shadow upon it, and smaller orbiters.

Several regiments took losses: the Seven of Vistur, as previously mentioned, the Mirinite Swords, and others. Jarsandron Tenherds the Luminous Stallion King of the Grazelanders also died.

Unfortunately the motion of being in a pannier would affect the development of the embryos, having an adverse effect on breeding success (the effect is known as addling). There's a reason why eggs of most species of bird are laid instead of being brought to term inside the mother. Therefore, guarding the nest sites would be beneficial.

They do in the breeding season. If Praxian ostriches are anything like African ostriches, they'll defend their communal nest for the incubation period of 35 to 45 days. If they don't the eggs will be predated. The ostrich tribe and bolo-lizard tribes probably shared this vulnerability, which may be a factor in their lesser population and status.

There was a very long treatment of the Ostrich Tribe in one of the issues of Heroes magazine which makes interesting reading. No idea if it is at all canonical (some parts certainly are not). A while ago, I attempted to analyze the weapons and tactics of each tribe... Whilst based on canonical information, it isn't canonical. Favored Weapons Preferred Formation Tribe Primary Secondary Tertiary Bison Lance Sword Javelin Shock/Open Melee Bolo-Lizard Bolas Spear Dagger Open Melee High Llama Lance Javelin Broadsword Shock Impala Composite Bow Darts Short sword Open Melee Morokanth Claws Spear Thrown rock Shield-wall Ostrich Boomerang Javelin/Spear Short sword Open Melee Pol-Joni Lance Sword Bow Shock/Open Melee Rhino Lance Axe Mace Shock Sable Any Any Any Open Melee/Shock Unicorn Composite Bow Sword Lance Open Melee/Shock Zebra Composite Bow Lance Sword Open Melee/Shock Primary denotes the most common and preferred weaponry. Metal swords and axes are rare and expensive in Prax. Other weaponry may be carried.

Well, this is Glorantha, not whatever D&D world you are assuming. 8-) In central Genertela, the most common giants you are likely to encounter (and they aren't common) are Mountain Giants, known as Hecolonti, who are huge, dumb people. The typical giant is six meters or so in height, but smaller and larger individuals are common. A few giants are double this size. Few giants exceed 15 meters in height. These giants have low intelligence and are aggressive and argumentative, even amongst themselves. They lack the tools necessary for even simple culture. Almost all other races fear the mindless destruction that giants often cause. They have a fondness for human flesh and the smell of carnage and carrion will lure them from their mountain lairs in the hope of easy feasting.

Which is why the impala tribe use numbers, and the other pygmy tribes are minor tribes. If giants used such weapons they would have an impact closer to an artillery piece. However, most giants don't have such weapons, and tend to use simple things like tree trunks as clubs or throw rocks. These can be devastating to a human mass target, but giants tend not to fight en masse.

Which is why they avoid shock combat, relying upon missile combat. The impala, ostriches and bolo-lizards are not smaller than normal, but normal 'small' animals. An impala can run at 80 km/h in zig-zags, though the weight of a rider will slow it; an ostrich at 70 km/h, again slowed by a rider; a bolo-lizard probably at the same rate. A full-sized human can run at no more than 45 km/h, so these animals will be faster than any infantry, light or heavy. Their speed and agility is greater than the larger mounts: bison 56 km/h without a rider; rhino 40 to 50 km/h and so it goes. Prax and the Wastelands are up on a plateau, compared with the coastal plain, but the terrain is far more variable than atop an ordinary fairly small plateau: there are river valleys, some dry much of the year, hills, grasslands, and even scattered mountain ranges. Even where 'flat', the terrain is not level, but with numerous variations. Despite the size of their mounts, the Mongols overran a very large portion of Eurasia, and were successful in their invasions of Europe, China and the Near East. What caused the relatively short duration of their world empire was a lack of central control, so that on the death of the Great Khan their empire tended to fragment. Praxian warfare is rarely 'organized'.

Probably both, and in some cases you might only see the third eye if you too are illuminated...

The riders of ostriches, bolo-lizards and impala are pygmies, and ride smaller animals so they are effectively in scale with their mounts. Their mounts all effectively count as 'light cavalry' compared with high llama, bison, and rhinos and so fight as dispersed skirmishers. Their animals are comparatively nimble, and able to avoid larger creatures unless ambushed, and ostriches and bolo-lizards are better adapted to traversing severely broken ground than larger adversaries, and all tend to avoid hand-to-hand combats, with tactics more like a swarm missile attack, with arrows, bolas, boomerangs... Their smaller size also means they are smaller targets, and with their highly maneuverable mounts, issues regarding range and size tend to even out. If they attempted shock combat against larger heavier animals and riders, they would be in severe trouble. Prax and the Wastelands are an ongoing arena between the different tribes (unless they are united by a powerful war leader). The tribe in the most trouble, and closest to extinction are the rhino tribe who ride one of the largest animals (but also with the most specialized tactics). You may find the following of interest: https://www.pensee.com/dunham/glorantha/gaow.html https://www.pensee.com/dunham/glorantha/prax_ambush.html

Throughout history, there have been a few attempts to prevent spent arrows being shot back. One was to have heads that would become detached on striking the target (also making extraction more difficult) with one method being the arrow head socket simply pushed onto the shaft, and the other was to use short arrows and an arrow guide. The latter were known to some steppe cultures, but are best known by the Korean name Pyeonjeon or Pyunjun. Unless the enemy also had suitable arrow guides, they couldn't return the short arrows, which also gave a few other advantages: being lighter they flew at a higher velocity. There are numerous examples of arrows being collected and shot back (if they are embedded in something or someone, recovery is unlikely, but missed arrows could be reused). Some armies had boys tasked with collecting them; at Poitiers in 1356 the archers ran forward to recover spent arrows. At Towton in 1461 the Lancastrian archers ran out of arrows, and suffered the indignity of having the Yorkists shoot their own arrows back at them... [Both sides were using long bows.] http://www.battlefieldsofbritain.co.uk/battle_towton_1461.html

The howdah is a bit smaller. Latest, with corrected high llama height (loaded after third attempt). Although I already have a height comparison chart for the majority of mounts, suspect I'm now going to have to draw most of the Praxian mounts in this manner. Camptosaurus was a bit too big. Looking at the Khan of Khans game, the bolo-lizard seems to have a different build - and a frill of feathers? I'm sure that Praxians have all sorts of styles, and probably games involving mounting and dismounting in different ways.

I've based it on one description of the Aepycamelus, on which I believe the high llama is broadly based, which makes them this tall, but chatting with a paleontologist, the more common description makes them a bit smaller - about eight feet at the shoulder (I'd assumed ten)... So have some rework to do tomorrow. Fortunately, the rider is drawn separately to the animal, so there's just a need to rescale... Regarding mounting one of these beasts - would assume that they are trained to kneel on command, which makes it easier, though still not a simple action, even using toe loops/stirrups attached to the saddle.

Drawing (and doing pretty much everything) in slow time... The larger version of the High Llama isn't finished, because I realised the full-sized picture resulted in too much white space. So I need to draw some smaller creatures in the 'foreground'. Impala, ostrich or bolo lizard? Not certain what the latter should look like.

Sorry people: the last few days have not been good with major real world issues, compounded, I now know, by my arthritis resuming after being in remission for more than a year, possibly triggered by colder and wet weather. No drawing likely today: instead some notes on Pentan herds and kerts, neither of which might seem relevant to warfare, but different herds will require different migration patterns as many of the herd animals are not well suited to Pentan winters. Horses are far better adapted than cattle and sheep... Here's the latest with annotation. There's a smaller battlefield version as an illustration for the Army Lists, with an unmanned howdah. Chapter Number of sketches Additional sketches required Introduction 0 0 Fundamentals of Warfare 0 6-8 Arms and Armor 10 0 Regional Warfare 18 1-2 The Battlefield 16 0 Transport and Mobility 0 0 Fortifications and Siege Warfare 1 0 Arcane Warfare 3 0 Gods of War 0 0 Armies of Central Genertela 0 0-2 Hero Wars Army Lists 41 miniatures Appendices 0 0

As Metcalph has said, infantry regiments have roughly a paper strength of a thousand, cavalry five hundred. However, not all elements will be in the field, or at the same place, and Lunar regiments often have elements seconded to vexillae. The Lunar regiments at Whitewall included Standfast (heavy mounted infantry), the Doblian Dogeaters (light infantry; half the regiment seems to have been stationed at Jonstown during the siege, so no more than half strength at Whitewall), Drenthi Grims (light infantry), elements of the Full Moon Corps, and the magical regiment the Seven of Vistur (who were later eaten in the Dragonrise). The seven had special magic to raise siege ramps. Other regiments were also present, but I have no details of which ones. The organization of Lunar (and pre-Lunar) regiments probably varies enormously. Regiments, whether imperial or provincial have a definite organization, with standards at both regiment and company levels. None are merely militia. For the 1619 invasion of Heortland, the empire mustered: · 3,000 Heartland infantry · 9,500 Provincial Infantry · 5,000 Heartland Cavalry · 2,400 Provincial Cavalry · 800 Siege and Supply specialists · 1,300 Provincial priests and guards · 3,500 magicians and guards from the Lunar College of Magic. Not all of these would have remained after the conquest, and not all of the remainder would have been used to besiege Whitewall, but it may provide an idea of the proportion of forces.

Yes, you're right Joerg. I should just give up. [This was actually an illustration for the Fortifications chapter, as darvan are mentioned as being used as mobile siege engines.] Sorry folks, no more sketches will appear here.

I've altered it a little. [Note the mini version just posted doesn't include the latest modifications to the horse archer.]

Terminus Est.

Possible, though this is a little larger than it appears in the 'book'. Now working on the next sketch, which is very... different.

V3.0

Yes, concur regarding the leg; not so sure about the torso? Will see what I can do tomorrow. Started sketching out the next one, which will the largest yet, but not, initially, involving any human anatomy.

I see what you mean - a reworked version below. The upper leg is, I hope, truncated by the seating position, and partially covered by the robe. Deliberating if I can make that more obvious with shading... Not at all. Drawing someone mounted brings its own set of problems, which is why, until recently, I've avoided drawing them. As you are only having to draw one leg (in this position) it ought to be easier, but of course there's added perspective, and the issue of a seat which isn't level. This horse archer is riding in the ancient Hyaloring style - no saddle or pad, just a woven leather saddle 'cloth'. A saddle might ease the drawing, as it would be more level, but wouldn't match what I was attempting to illustrate. [Not all Hyaloring saddle cloths are woven leather - it's just what I decided to draw.] Just noticed that the two tassels should be of a size... Corrected, but not shown here.

Came to the conclusion that the leg was too large and wrong, before admitting that the shooting position was suspect, so the entire archer has been redrawn and merged with the horse (I tend to draw rider, mount and reins separately, the latter on tracing paper, so that a disaster with one doesn't result in everything being thrown away). Usually start drawing the face, then the hands, because if those go wrong the image isn't going to improve. The Wasp Rider doesn't have any reference point for size, though I believe the Giant Wasps are about the size of a small horse. In the book the image appears thus: