The Blue Room
Mailing List Archive
Messages 516 - 520
Message 516: More on Miniatures and Legions
[Moderator’s Note: This message is a group of messages in response to the previous message about miniatures and Legions. The Professor adds a comment, and Joe Saul asks a question that Professor Barker answers, and another question about the Mourners in Sable is asked by Dwight Grosso.
The Professor wanted this added to the last message, but a few other messages came in, so I just grouped it into this message instead.]
Professor Barker’s addition:
I see that I forgot to mention that Tsolyani troops enganged in combat do not wear their fancy parade dress uniforms, which are what the miniatures represent. At a siege they are usually issued ‘siege coats’ of leather with bronze plates sewn inside at crucial places, plus helmets with a wider, deeper brim and greater thickness. It is hard to tell which Legion is which at a siege, thus.
Joe Saul’s question: On Thu, 7 Aug 1997, The Blue Room Mailing List wrote:
... sometimes it doesn’t. Reminds me of a siege at the beginning of the war with Yan Kor a few years back: the great Ahanbasrim, who later perished in “Flamesong,“ was given a dose of amnesia by an enemy; he was wandering ...
Could someone tell me who this refers to, exactly? “Basrim“ sounds familiar, but I don’t have my Tsolyani dictionary to hand...
Professor Barker’s answer:
Joe asks about ‘Ahanbasrim’, which means ‘Iron Man’ in Tsolyanu: /ahan/‘iron’ + /basrim/ ‘man’. It was the nickname taken by Craig Smith, who used to game Tekumel. He was a wonderful player and a good artist who drew some of the earlier pictures of Tekumel. He lost interest eventually and drifted away.
[Moderator’s Note: I thought Joe might be remembering Bazhan, the General that impaled Yilrana when he took the castle she was residing in.]
Dwight’s question:
I have a question regarding figures for Mu’ugalavya and the Ahoggya. First, has anyone produced a figure for the Company of the Mourners in Sable? Would figures for the Legion of Destroy in Glory be a likely substitute, and would the overall color scheme be more black rather than red? As far as the ahoggya are concerned, does anybody have any of the tall armored or unarmed ahoggya figures available? I didn’t see any in PHD’s downloaded pricelist.
Does anybody use Legions of the Petal Throne for their wargames? I have a copy of it and like the simple mechanics utilised in it. I am picking up a copy of Missum fairly soon to add to my collection of Tekumel wargames. Anybody in the Washington area play any of the games? I’d love to hear from you.
[Moderator’s Note: We don’t do much rule discussion, but please feel free to email Dwight directly at the address below to discuss rules.]
One last question. Does anybody have information about painting the various legions of the five empires? The only information I have is from Vol. One of the Best of the Journals.
Dwight Grosso
[Moderator’s Note: I believe there is some painting information in the Army lists. While I don’t think they detail all the legions,they do cover some. I believe they are available from Carl Brodt. I just checked. The last page of all the Army lists is a painting guide for the specific Legions.]
Message 517: Miscellaneous Questions
[Moderator’s Note: Charlie Goering asks numerous miscellaneous questions.]
I have been reading through the Blue Room items you sent me some time ago. This has generated a number of questions. These are in no particular order, as I have been reading items out of sequence due to time constraints (don’t you hate when the mundane world interrupts your life on Tekumel?).
I remember seeing a article years ago in the Tekumel Digest or the Imperial Courier that dealt with the metals, jewels, etc. favored by the various Gods and Cohorts. Any chance of getting info on this? I would also like to find out about sacred numbers (3 for Vimuhla for ex,), favored days of the week and the like.
I recall that article. I looked for this morning but can’t lay my hands on it. Can anybody else help this noble person?
[Moderator’s Note: I looked through all my JTAs and ICs. I don’t have the Best of the Journal series. I bet if anyone knew the answer to this stuff it would be Bob Alberti. How about it Bob, do you know the answer to this?
Are there any published military histories of the war with Yan Kor? Anyone from my unit, the 22nd Imperial Heavy Infantry, have details abut the battle mentioned in Deeds of the Ever-Glorious? When was it fought? Which Yan Koryani legion was bested?
The only published battle report was the battle of the Temple of Chanis, which does not relate to the war in Yan Kor per se. This article was originally issued in The Wargamer, about 1974 (?). It was later republished in vol. one of the Best of the Journal magazines. Another article, ’The Battle of Ry’, [i.e. /r/ + an umlaut u) was published in Vol. three of The Best of the Journals. Perhaps Carl Brodt might still have a copy of these? Or be willing to republish them?
I don’t have a battle array list of the forces for this battle, which was fought in a straggling, unruly fashion in the copses north of Chene Ho. The Mighty of Jakalla faced one of the Gurek of the Valiant of Ke’er, but I don’t recall which commander it was. I know that Lord Fu Hsi was not there. The Yan Koryani tried to advance through brush and stands of trees and got pounded.
Did Prince Surundano really renounce the Gold? Where is he now? Certain members of the Monastery of Sublime Equilibrium and the Sikukh (Justice) faction of the Grey Short Spear Clan are very interested.
He did indeed renounce the Gold. Once this step is taken, it cannot ever be taken back or undone. Your factions know about this but are hoping against hope that all of the present Princes will kill themselves off and require a rewriting of Imperial law. They really are aware that this cannot be done, and that there are enough witnesses and documentary evidence to prove irrefutably that Surundano really did give up the Gold. My advice? Try to join Rereshqala or Eselne.
Re chlen-hide. Would armorer at the Legion level be trained chlen workers with tanners skills? Is armor repaired at the Legion level or sent to a depot-level mauntainence unit? Since each Legion is uniquly equipped, I would expect the former.
Legion-level armourers usually have skills in cutting and fitting armour. Few are trained as tanners, since tanning hides is considered a smelly and somewhat degrading occupation. If time and supply considerations permit, most arms and armour are sent to supply depots, there to be junked or remade into something serviceable. (At Aqesha, one officer’s batman sent a rusted steel sword for polishing; the armourer misunderstood and ground the blade down into dagger-length. He now has the sharpest, brightest dagger in Empire—and the only dagger with an Engsvanyali court sword hilt!
Re Dhich’une’s child and the question of undead being unable to reproduce. If Dhich’une sired a child either a) he is not undead, or b) he is a higher class undead than the Jajgi. Also, is Sarku’s final goal to replace the living with a population of undead on a one-for-one basis?
These questions should really be put to a priest of Sarku. If Dhich’une wished, he could “sire“ a child through one or another of the machines of the Ancients. What it would look like no one can guess. Not pretty, probably...
[Moderator’s Note: In previous messages the Professor has told us that Dhich’une may not be undead, but may have an Aspect of Lord Sarku laid upon him at certain times. It appears that it does affect Dhich’une, but I don’t think he is an undead creature, yet. In that case, he is still human and could certainly sire offspring. In talking with the Professor today, he also stated that this Aspect might also be able to impregnate a woman, and there is no telling what the “child“ would be or look like! ]
Lord Sarku has shown no imperialist tendencies. Turning all the world into Undead-land would create problems for him, and the citizens of other nations would certainly band together to halt this move. Remember, there have been Sarku-worshipping emperors before, and they worked fairly hard for the benefit of the Empire. The only quibble with Dhich’une is they way he got onto the Petal Throne.
Does anyone have a map of my home town of Paya Gupa?
Not I, alas....
Re the use of one of the Keys to the Blue Room. Per the articles, the Thumis Key was the one used and this would requie a devotee of Thumis to operate. Does this mean an alliance between Thumis and Ksarul factions? or, was it a rogue Priest?
The priesthoods are not as hostile to one another as some Terran groups and factions here. They cooperate in various ways and try to stay out of each other’s faces. Yes, the priesthoods agreed long ago that the Keys would be operated each by its respective temple, and that there would always be a trained priest or priestess available to do this task (it can’t be performed without long physical and spiritual training).
Enjoy! Regards, Phil
Message 518: OAL Question and a Bonus
[Moderator’s Note: Jeff Myhre asks about the OAL. And as an added bonus we get more news of things happening in the empire!]
I have a question for the blueroom crowd. With the civil war raging in Tsolyanu, what has happened to the Omnipotent Azure Legion? If one can say that Tsolyanu has a “national“ institution, OAL is it -- much like the only “modern“ institution in Latin American in the 1950s was the military.
Has the OAL fragmented, or is it working to secure peace? And if so what kind of peace? Is it focusing on regaining lost territory? Or has it become a tool of one interest or another?
The OAL is used to the changing religious affiliations of the reigning Emperors. It is rumoured that they had a candidate ready to take over the generalship as soon as Dhich’une took power. The legion has been mostly colourless and inactive since the change: many of the troops were worshippers of Stability, or of the ‘war’ factions of Karakan, Chegarra, Vimuhla, or Chiteng, and they preferred to stay out of the action until they could see their course more clearly. Some of the Legion’s officers did want peace, with Dhich’une or without him, but this did not transpire. Instead, they ended up in fragments that tend to go with the Prince ruling their area: those in Thraya, etc. are loyal to Rereshqala, while those in Paya Gupa are loyal to Eselne; those in Tumissa follow a neutralist policy preferring local autonomy; in Fasiltum many of the old OAL were killed, due to the Vriddi hatred of central Imperial control; in Bey Su the youngest revealed Prince, Taksuru, has sent some of the military arm of the OAL into battle on the walls of Avanthar. A lot of bright young bureaucrats took the awful plunge down the cliffs into the foaming Missuma River...
The biggest fragment of the OAL military arm right now is that of Prince Eselne. These troops are based at Chene Ho and are readying themselves to march east to take the City of Sarku (a terrible and near-impossible task!). If Eselne decides this is too difficult, he may send them down to Tsuru to confront Taksuru’s rearguard. Mirusiya will then have to take action, using units of his Red Devastation legion posted there.
A busy day in good old Tsolyanu...
Regards, Phil
Message 519: More on Miniatures and Legions
[Moderator’s Note: The Professor answers Dwights followup questions on Miniatures and Legions.]
I have a question regarding figures for Mu’ugalavya and the Ahoggya. First, has anyone produced a figure for the Company of the Mourners in Sable? Would figures for the Legion of Destroy in Glory be a likely substitute, and would the overall color scheme be more black rather than red? As far as the Ahoggya are concerned, does anybody have any of the tall armored or unarmed ahoggya figures available? I didn’t see any in PHD’s downloaded pricelist.
To my knowledge there never was a figure for the Mourners in Sable. The figure would not be much needed on the battlefield, although it would look very nice in a palace scene. Destroy in Glory can be used as a substitute, but might need some modification. Compare the pictures in the third Army List: Mu’ugalavya.
[Moderator’s Note: So, the Mourners in Sable are not structured like the OAL, in that there is no military arm of the MIS, just the intelligence gathering arm. Is this also true of Yan Kor’s Surgeth? (I hope I spelled that right.)]
Does anybody use Legions of the Petal Throne for their wargames? I have a copy of it and like the simple mechanics utilised in it. I am picking up a copy of Missum fairly soon to add to my collection of Tekumel wargames. Anybody in the Washington area play any of the games? I’d love to hear from you.
I just heard from the author of Legions of the PT, Dave Sutherland. He is now out in Seattle, apparently with new plans after leaving TSR. He is a wonderful sculptor and artist. His rules were never all that popular, mostly because the casualty rate was so high. Missum did better.
[Moderator’s Note: I’ll certainly second the Professor’s opinion of David’s artistic ability. His Tekumel art is among my favorite.]
One last question. Does anybody have information about painting the various legions of the five empires? The only information I have is from Vol. one of the Best of the Journals.
[Moderator’s Note: I believe there is some painting information in the Army lists. While I don’t think they detail all the legions, they do cover some. I believe they are available from Carl Brodt. I just checked. The last page of all the Army lists is a painting guide for the specific Legions.]
Yes, each of the five army lists (Tsolyanu, Yan Kor & allies, Mu’ugalavya, Salarvya, and Livyanu) contains a single page at the end giving colour abbreviations and which legions use these colours for their uniforms. The republished army lists can be had from Carl Brodt
. He has also republished Missum.
Phil
Message 520: Rereshqala
[Moderator’s Note: Joe Saul asks about Rereshqala. The top part of this post is the Professor’s answer to a similar question about Surundano.]
He did indeed renounce the Gold. Once this step is taken, it cannot ever be taken back or undone.
I take it, then, that despite popular guessing, Rereshqala never did renounce the Gold?
[Moderator’s Note: I’ll take a shot at this one. The Professor can correct me if I am wrong. Rereshqala never renounced the gold, it was just assumed that he would. He spent most of his time partying at his villa in Jakalla. Recent events show that he learned his lessons well early in life, or he was doing a bit more than partying all the time he was in Jakalla. :)]
(By the way, aren’t even renunciates eligible in the event the current Emperor dies without issue?)
[Moderator’s Note: Theoretically, this is absolutely forbidden. However, as we know, Tsolyani politics are a wonderfully malleable beast. If the candidate that had renounced was popular, I could see how the rules might be bent a bit. If I am wrong, let us know Professor.]
