Doesn’t war during the Age of Sail provide the basic model?
What strikes me as the major difference (which you don’t discuss) is that the battlefield consists of a discrete graph, star systems as vertices connected via jump points as edges. As Dick McGee mentioned in a previous post, this yields choke points, and you might look at discussions of play in previous strategy games (like Starfire, Fifth Frontier War, etc.) to see its handling and that of communication lagging events.
I fear my previous comment may come across as intemperate. James, I am sure you’re familiar with “Fifth Frontier War” and that it has been used in conjunction with role play in the Spinward Marches, even if you didn’t use it; granted, strategic movement is more flexible without jump points, which is why I mentioned “Starfire”. I just wonder why this facet of “Thousand Suns” requires much serious thought, given the prior art.
I mean, the obvious parallel is distant wars conducted on Earth prior to the invention of the telegraph. Lots of power would necessarily be vested in regional lords or governors, which means that a big danger of this system wasn't just two different commanders coming up with conflicting interpretations of a general policy (especially since their areas of influence rarely overlapped), but of regional lords setting themselves up as rulers in their own right -- including by becoming popular and powerful enough through victory in battle to challenge or overthrow, or at least cause headaches for, the central government.
The tyranny of distance makes me think someone, sometime must have tried the a-clone (or chatbot) -of-the-emperor-in-every-system approach, like Ann Leckie's Radch. Given the idea is a bit odd, they might be villains (or sinister and extinct). The Radch practice of taking prisoners, mind-wiping them, and using them as soldiers is also odd/villainous/sinister.
Doesn’t war during the Age of Sail provide the basic model?
ReplyDeleteWhat strikes me as the major difference (which you don’t discuss) is that the battlefield consists of a discrete graph, star systems as vertices connected via jump points as edges. As Dick McGee mentioned in a previous post, this yields choke points, and you might look at discussions of play in previous strategy games (like Starfire, Fifth Frontier War, etc.) to see its handling and that of communication lagging events.
I fear my previous comment may come across as intemperate. James, I am sure you’re familiar with “Fifth Frontier War” and that it has been used in conjunction with role play in the Spinward Marches, even if you didn’t use it; granted, strategic movement is more flexible without jump points, which is why I mentioned “Starfire”. I just wonder why this facet of “Thousand Suns” requires much serious thought, given the prior art.
ReplyDeleteI mean, the obvious parallel is distant wars conducted on Earth prior to the invention of the telegraph. Lots of power would necessarily be vested in regional lords or governors, which means that a big danger of this system wasn't just two different commanders coming up with conflicting interpretations of a general policy (especially since their areas of influence rarely overlapped), but of regional lords setting themselves up as rulers in their own right -- including by becoming popular and powerful enough through victory in battle to challenge or overthrow, or at least cause headaches for, the central government.
ReplyDeleteThe tyranny of distance makes me think someone, sometime must have tried the a-clone (or chatbot) -of-the-emperor-in-every-system approach, like Ann Leckie's Radch. Given the idea is a bit odd, they might be villains (or sinister and extinct). The Radch practice of taking prisoners, mind-wiping them, and using them as soldiers is also odd/villainous/sinister.
ReplyDelete