[freeciv-data] Re: Artillery and sea units

[Thanasis Kinias <tkinias@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

scripsit Sugih Jamin:
 
> My read of Verbruggen and Hanson is that strong infantry
> arises from having free people defending their communities.
> Hence strong Greek and Roman infantries associated with
> their cities, and the re-emergence of infantry power
> in the Flemish, Scottish, and Swiss communities.

(the first post just arrived, a half hour behind your reply!)

Recall that the Swiss pikemen were still feared when they were
mercenaries, about as far from "free men defending their communities" as
you can get.  

What Verbruggen and Hanson are apparently describing is one way of
getting strong infantry, but it is not the only one.  It rather tends to
imply that militia are inherently superior to professional troops, which
seems dubious to me.  Good infantry are possible when you have trained
and motivated men.  An excellent way to motivate men is communal spirit
and defence of the home -- but money and esprit de corps can also be
used.  Think of the Gurkhas, or the ANZACs in the World Wars.

-- 
Thanasis Kinias
Web Developer, Information Technology
Graduate Student, Department of History
Arizona State University
Tempe, Arizona, U.S.A.

Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul,
Ash nazg thrakatulûk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul