>RD: There are NO 12 consecutive hexes of mountains on the map!
>I understand your point, but the situation simply does not arise.
Yes it does, you've moved characters from one end of the Misty Mountains
to the other, and so have I.
RD: It is theoretically possible to move a character/company along 9 (never
12) mountain hexes in the Misties, 2408-2016. But i) how often does this
actually happen, given all the other possible directions? Can anyone recall
one single instance? ii) More often than not, a character/company does NOT
use the full 12 hexes movement allowance anyway, so the majority of such
moves are closer to the fed cav move which you advocate. Also note that fed
cav can force-march. Characters do not have this ability. In fact, it is a
damn sight easier for a character/company to force-march than it is for an
army, so, when characters/companies do cross more than one mountain hex,
just think of them as force-marching.
When drawing up rules which simulate real life, or a book, you need such
rules to reflect - SIMPLY - what is reasonable and likely to happen most
often. OK, you are going to get the occaisonal idiosyncracy of a character,
once in a blue moon, walking the length of the Misty Mts. You'll never get
100% accurate simulation, and small sacrifices have to be made in the
interests of playability.
>Why is it crazy that a
>company can cross open seas? They only need a boat, not a troopship or
>warship, and therefore not a port or harbour. No self-respecting sea
>monster or pirates would bother with such a craft. As for storms, heroes
>and villains in every story brave the elements successfully (indeed,
often
>against overwhelming odds!) when the plot calls for it.
We're in a pseudo dark age / feudal age. Small craft do not cross open
seas. Gaining passage aboard a sea going vessel involves going via a
harbour, and often a very long wait before one finds a vessel going to
the right place.
RD: Wrong! The Saxons and vikings crossed the North Sea in craft which were
basically rowing boats with a single sail. As I'm sure you know, the
vikings went much further afield, to Iceland, Greenland, America and the
Mediterranean via the Atlantic. A sea-going vessel does not have to be big
to be seaworthy! Indeed in the Age we are discussing, the opposite is true;
big ships which were basicly floating platforms for troops to fight over
were only used on rivers or close to land in fair weather.
Nor did Saxon and viking ships need harbours. With their shallow draught
they could be beached on sand, gravel or mud, and launched again with equal
ease. Now, I'm not suggesting that a Middle-earth company walking the
beaches of Anfalas would find a longship lying about. But if the company
commander knew he needed to cross open seas, he would seek help from the
local populace if friendly, or use rougher methods if hostile, and
persuade/compel them to place a seagoing craft of some kind at his service
where he wanted it.
>
>So please, no changes to character/company movement. I know that some of
>the things they can do in theory, they should not be allowed to do, but
in
>practice, such things are rarely if ever attempted. There is no point
going
>to all the effort of altering movement rules if all you do is complicate
>things without some real benefit at the end.
It doesn't complicate, it simplifies, if they use the same method as for
fed cavalry. YOU are the one often calling for a more Tolkienesque
Middle Earth. Just look at the trouble that the Fellowship had in
crossing the Misties in LotR, or the fact that Mirkwood was only
passable to Thorin's company by sticking to the Old Road in The Hobbit.
Regards,
Laurence G. Tilley http://www.lgtilley.freeserve.co.uk/
RD: You are talking about a company which wishes to cross open seas having
to go to a harbour and pay gold to hire a ship! That is a complication.
I DO want to see any rule changes be compatible with Tolkien. But there are
times when you have to use a bit of imagination, as when finding a vessel to
cross open seas, in the interests of playability.
When the Fellowship tried to cross the Misties, it wasn't the terrain which
stopped them, it was malevolent sorcery influencing the weather, whether
from the mountain itself or from Sauron or one of his minions.
Thorin's company were enjoined to stay on the Old Road because the forest on
either side was under the influence of Elves, who had no love for Dwarves.
No doubt elf-friends, such as the Woodmen, were allowed to pass freely; and
whatever influence the Elves had, it did not stop giant spiders from setting
up home there, or orc warbands from raiding!
Regards,
Richard.
···
Richard John Devereux <devereux@lineone.net> wrote
Not ME - I think you are
The number's