The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum - View Single Post - Why did the Nazgul not succeed in Bree and on Weathertop?

William Cloud Hicklin · 02-20-2008, 05:27 PM

Well, let's not underestimate the value of fear as a weapon.

Tolkien understood this thoroughly, having survived the Somme. When he spoke of Gondor's men under the Nazguls' wings going fetal, 'thinking only of crawling and hiding, and of death,' I'm sure he had seen that very thing, and probably experienced a touch of it himself.

Napoleon described battle as 'two large groups of men trying to frighten each other.' And of course Boney knew exactly what he was talking about. A battle is not won by killing everyone on the other side (usually only a small percentage get killed)- but rather inflicting so much punishment on them that their morale- that complex of factors involving discipline, training, tactical position, loyalty, esprit-de-corps etc etc etc, gives way to the basic instinct for self-preservation. You win by making the other side give up.

The so-called 'Third Generation' of board wargames began to incorporate this understanding back in the 1970s; units had a 'morale factor' which could be raised or lowered by various things, and when reduced to a certain point retreat, rout or surrender ensued. Many, many times I would have *loved* to have a couple of 'morale-killer' units which did no physical harm, but simply hit every enemy within range with a -5 morale penalty.

And that's just what the Nazgul were.

02-20-2008, 05:27 PM	#34
William Cloud Hicklin Loremaster of Annúminas Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 2,330	Well, let's not underestimate the value of fear as a weapon. Tolkien understood this thoroughly, having survived the Somme. When he spoke of Gondor's men under the Nazguls' wings going fetal, 'thinking only of crawling and hiding, and of death,' I'm sure he had seen that very thing, and probably experienced a touch of it himself. Napoleon described battle as 'two large groups of men trying to frighten each other.' And of course Boney knew exactly what he was talking about. A battle is not won by killing everyone on the other side (usually only a small percentage get killed)- but rather inflicting so much punishment on them that their morale- that complex of factors involving discipline, training, tactical position, loyalty, esprit-de-corps etc etc etc, gives way to the basic instinct for self-preservation. You win by making the other side give up. The so-called 'Third Generation' of board wargames began to incorporate this understanding back in the 1970s; units had a 'morale factor' which could be raised or lowered by various things, and when reduced to a certain point retreat, rout or surrender ensued. Many, many times I would have loved to have a couple of 'morale-killer' units which did no physical harm, but simply hit every enemy within range with a -5 morale penalty. And that's just what the Nazgul were. __________________ The entire plot of The Lord of the Rings could be said to turn on what Sauron didn’t know, and when he didn’t know it.