George W. Herbert wrote a whole lot, most of it based on the premise that
the Rebellion Wars were still going full throttle during the timeframe of
'Hard Times'. I replied:
> It seems more to me that we're arguing about wether the civil war has
> tapered off by 1128 or not. I don't have my 'Hard Times' with me, so
> I may be misremembering. If so, I apologize. I'll check when I get
> home and let you know.
I've checked it. By 1125, when 'Hard Times' starts, the wars are mostly
over. Lucan is still making warlike noices in the breaks between his
tantrums, but, and I quote, "The fighting is effectively over: The com-
batants are too drained to mount the massive campaigns that caracterized
the first five years of the Rebellion." (p. 8). (Also: "By the beginning
of 1125, the factional core areas have achieved basic stability. Military
forces have withdrawn to lines that can be reliably defended..." (p. 12)).
'Hard Times' then shows us how to figure out how planets outside the
Safes are affected in the next three years. By the _end_ of this period
we have, in the three sample sub-sectors that GDW has published, these
planets (among many other): Khavle; Pop. 7 billion, Starport C, Tech B.
Aight; Pop. 70 billion, Starport C, Tech A. Westfir; Pop. 600 million,
Starport B, Tech B. Exeter; Pop. 400 million, Starport C, Tech B. And
the pearl of them all, Promise; Pop. 5 billion, Starport B, Tech D. This
is in 1128, mind you. These planets have all been through the Hard Times
wringer, and this is what they look like _after_ the ordeal. And these
are the planets that GDW claims are seriously threathened by pirate bands
with a few thousand tons worth of motley starships.
I wouldn't have complained if GDW had said that all these planets had
been bombed down to TL 3 in the war years, but to claim that they were
reduced to TL A-D and will slide the rest of the way by themselves,
nudged over the edge by the likes of Indro the Lightless and Cymon
Milligan, is just plain silly. If GDW wants these worlds to slide
further, they should provide believable menaces like renegade fleet
units. And there you run into the problem that these fleet units may
destroy some planets, but at the same time they will protect other.
To get half the Outlands and the Wilds to destroy the other half is
quite believable; but to get them _all_ to destroy each other calls
for a masterpiece of choreography worthy of a Hiver Manipulator.
Hmmm.... you don't suppose...
Nah!
Hans Rancke
University of Copenhagen
[email removed]
- ------------
"And now to conclude and to finish my song.
Let us hope that these hard times, they will not last long.
I hope soon to have occasion to alter my song;
and sing: All the good times of the Empire.
In the Empire are jolly good times."