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Calling all armchair generals! Boudica's Last Stand.
(12-14-2017, 12:13 PM)Nathan Ross Wrote:
(12-14-2017, 08:02 AM)MonsGraupius Wrote: Your time scale looks a bit like this

I would urge you to look at the sources again.

While marching Romans and British carts have certain average and maximum probable speeds etc, the timescale for the revolt is determined by the need to fit a number of events within the period between late spring and autumn.

Allowing for travel between known points, the movement of messages to and from Rome and reinforcements from the Rhine, and Turpilianus replacing Paulinus as governor in late 61 or 62, that does not leave much time for wandering about the landscape.

You say you don't know how you've come up with a longer timescale - fine, you can think what you like! - but perhaps you could explain why you think the shorter one is improbable?

I'm not saying the shorter timescale is improbable, I am merely saying that if you have a different concept of how fast armies move, then you will come to very different conclusions about constraints. You have troops galloping up and down Watling Street, I have troops capable of building an entirely new road if needed, the constraints are very different. That doesn't mean they wouldn't dash down the road and enter into battle - that is an effective strategy that many have used after all.

The best analogy is that I'm playing chess, and just as in chess, a single bold move can be decisive and win the game. And in a sense, all battles are won by people "charging up and down" so you are always right in a sense that battles are won by the final charge. However, the limitation of chess is usually not how long or far the next piece can move, but a series of moves and counter moves where you are trying to get into a strategically strong position.

At any point, a single move could win the game and the game is won in the end by a single decisive move. But I don't have the details to know the individual moves, so I can't think of it in terms of daily movements, just strategy. In contrast, you have a quick dash and that dramatically changes the way you can view the situation such that you can think about it in terms of individual moves.
Oh the grand oh Duke Suetonius, he had a Roman legion, he galloped rushed down to (a minor settlement called) Londinium then he galloped rushed back again. Londinium Bridge is falling down, falling down ... HOLD IT ... change of plans, we're leaving the bridge for Boudica and galloping rushing north.
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Messages In This Thread
Re: Calling all armchair generals! - by Ensifer - 03-11-2010, 03:13 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-18-2012, 06:26 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-19-2012, 12:02 AM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-19-2012, 02:50 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-19-2012, 05:40 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 02-19-2012, 11:26 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-24-2012, 05:11 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-24-2012, 09:42 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-24-2012, 10:10 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-25-2012, 03:11 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-25-2012, 03:25 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-25-2012, 08:36 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-26-2012, 02:57 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 04-27-2012, 01:50 PM
Re: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by Steve Kaye - 08-05-2012, 02:24 PM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-07-2014, 02:18 PM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-08-2014, 01:50 AM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-11-2014, 02:03 AM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-18-2014, 07:54 AM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-20-2014, 02:37 AM
Calling all armchair generals! Boudica\'s Last Stand. - by antiochus - 11-25-2014, 08:29 AM
RE: Calling all armchair generals! Boudica's Last Stand. - by MonsGraupius - 12-14-2017, 01:22 PM

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