(SPOILERS) The solution to Baron Green Valley's logistic qua

PeterZ wrote:

AClone wrote:Didn't RFC rebut (extinguish, belay) the "iceboats on canals" theory already, prior to LAMA?

I believe he did. The sleigh with the steel runners has been shown. I believe bishop Cahnyr rode in one to Glacierheart.

I don't remember Bishop Cahnyr doing it... But there was a nice section where Earl Coris has that wonderful ride across the lake on the final approach to Zion.

Don

I think I'm missing something here unless the ships were pre-positioned last fall.

EdThomas wrote:I think I'm missing something here unless the ships were pre-positioned last fall.

Not ice sailers. Animal drawn sleighs on the canals moved Cahnyr.

PeterZ wrote:

EdThomas wrote:I think I'm missing something here unless the ships were pre-positioned last fall.

Not ice sailers. Animal drawn sleighs on the canals moved Cahnyr.

Ok, what we are talking about then is the good archbishop's trip back into Glacierhart with Byrk's reinforcements to rally the Reformists from Siddar City... I remember that now.

Don

n7axw wrote:Then the question of getting the sleds past the locks which has already been mentioned. We know that the iceboats work for the temple, but that is actually crossing a lake where there is lots of room and no locks. It might work as Lyonheart has described, but I think that there could well be some problems to be solved to make it so.

Don

Has anyone considered that the locks may be left open to prevent damage when ice starts to form?

-- Bob G

PeterZ wrote:

EdThomas wrote:I think I'm missing something here unless the ships were pre-positioned last fall.

Not ice sailers. Animal drawn sleighs on the canals moved Cahnyr.

I think that Ed was talking about the need for any ice-sailships to be pre-positioned at Rainshyr Bay, before the winter freeze set in the Icewind Sea!

Whilst it sounds facinating, I have to say that I don't feel very convinced about this proposal. I haven't seen any hint at all in the texts of ice-ships or support for BGV from that direction.

Relying on essential support from such a vast distance/direction with very poor/very slow communications and thru what is definitely hostile terratory would seem to be hanging onself on a thread that you didn't need to.

Still - we shall see...

Well, currently none of the locks on the Guarnak-Ice Ash have more that one intact set of gates per flight anyway. In fact, once he was across the height of land into the Hildermoss basin, Bahrns wouldn't have had any reason to leave any gate intact behind him, and may not have done so.

However, yes, you're right: lock chambers are emptied and the lower gates left open to prevent ice damage to the lock. I think that the up-stream gates are left open or closed depending on water supply: afaik the preference is to drain the canal entirely, but if there's too much water at the upper end because the source level never drops below the canal bed even in winter the upper gates will be left closed to limit flow in the canal itself. The Rideau Canal at Ottawa is a good example: except for the highest one, the gates in the final flight of locks are left open and all the chambers drained, while the canal upstream to the next flight is half-drained - and turned into the world's longest skating rink.

What the current water levels are in the Guarnak-Ice Ash is impossible to guess. They're also impossible to manage.

BobG wrote:

n7axw wrote:Then the question of getting the sleds past the locks which has already been mentioned. We know that the iceboats work for the temple, but that is actually crossing a lake where there is lots of room and no locks. It might work as Lyonheart has described, but I think that there could well be some problems to be solved to make it so.

Don

Has anyone considered that the locks may be left open to prevent damage when ice starts to form?

-- Bob G

I believe the particular pack animals that BGV's army has with him are capable of foraging for their food under the snow. Also, if he gets around The AOG flank, the AOG will likely try to turn and face him, which means the EOC troops at the Gap can punch through to provide resupply. Finally, we have to figure that he will capture some AOG supplies which he can live on.

GCM wrote:I believe the particular pack animals that BGV's army has with him are capable of foraging for their food under the snow. Also, if he gets around The AOG flank, the AOG will likely try to turn and face him, which means the EOC troops at the Gap can punch through to provide resupply. Finally, we have to figure that he will capture some AOG supplies which he can live on.

Is there any textev to suggest that BGV has a logistics issue at all? I can see the logic of the discussion, given the length of his supply lines, but no evidence from the text?

Don

Hi everybody!

I'm very sorry for the delay in making my responses, but it's amazing how other life requirements eat up the time needed here, but I'm going to respond in order, ifthat's OK.

Thank you Jeff, for your cautious observations, especially regarding getting around the canal locks.

Given the AoG expected to use sleighs for winter transport before what Cayleb dubbed the GCR, I inferred the locks were kept open during the winter to prevent ice expansion damage, and the AoG was going to take advantage of this traditional wintertime transport opportunity, which another poster has also recognised up thread.

Dismantling the runners and their struts might be all that's needed to convert the ice boats to to barges, albeit not very big ones, yet ones that the snow lizards, caribou and Morgan-High Hallow horses could still tow fairly easily.

L

JeffEngel wrote:

lyonheart wrote:Granted there are navigation concerns on such a narrow canal, but the potential rate of advance appears to be the only solution possible.

I invite your comments and look forward to the positive ones.

L

It's an intriguing idea, but I can feel my remaining hair going gray thinking of threading fast-flying ice ships through narrow canals.

And are there locks along that route? They won't work frozen, and - depending on how frequent they are - portage of the ice ships over them and/or unloading, moving, and reloading cargo to another one already on the far side of a lock would be the slow, difficult, and irritating response to those locks.

You may work through some of that a bit with much smaller boats in much greater number, sailed slowly and dragged as sleighs when need be. In effect - though much less exciting, I'll grant you - sleighs with sails for when you can use them, and often slowly and perhaps in combination with a snow lizard team more for control than for actual traction in moderate sailing conditions.

If the sleighs can be made little barges come the thaw with a bit of field carpentry, so much the better later on.