[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Dargaron

Considering that your party has a large quantity of really good cavalry mounts (and the Raurin Horses are specified as being good at surviving harsh environments), not to mention is almost twenty times smaller. that might bump up the effective speed of the herd, since the Mongol forces just described probably had a core of heavy cavalry horses for the armored lancers, which would have slowed them down. Your super-horses, on the other hand, will not.

Even the cavalry remounts are much superior to Mongol steppe ponies. The setting actually includes such mounts, but they are viewed as far inferior to the local stock and this is actually reflected in game stats. The average Rauthen horse (the name of the most common 'breed' of less-than-pure horses) has better speed and endurance than the average steppe pony.

There is a 'breed' of Clearflow hunters, up in the north of the region which borders the steppe, which is a mix of Raurin and steppe horses, and they are famous for their endurance and ability to survive on little fodder. The Mongol-equivalents of the setting desire them greatly and will exchange at least three ponies for each specimen.

The PCs, however, will be limited to the speed of the least remarkable horses in their collection. That will be horses which are more-or-less as fast and hardy as 19th century light cavalry horses which we have sources about in the real world. Better than many real ancient and medieval horses, certainly.

Originally Posted by Dargaron

On a semi-related note, non-steppe cavalry armies (that is, with fewer remounts), such as Alexander the Great's personal strike force in the eastern campaigns, are described as making 20-25 miles a day in Northern Iran, and may have gotten as high as 40 miles when they had a dry riverbed and made a night march. That said, only 60 of the cavalry (out of several thousand) actually made it to the end of the march in that time, the rest having fallen behind.

I have a fairly good idea about how much you can push mounted horses. What I have little idea about is how much it tires horses that aren't carrying men to walk, trot or run for 40-80 miles in a day.

Originally Posted by Dargaron

Regarding their current plan: it might be best to take the non-desert sections slow, then pick up the pace once they are on the road to the oasis towns, then forced-march over the last stretch of desert.

Best for the horses, undoubtedly. Unfortunately, not best for the raiders, who will face attacks from the Bey's cavalry which will be eager to reclaim the horses.

Gathering more than the 300-400 men garrisoning the next town may take time, but there is certainly not time to linger. And it would be best if the raiders could be far away by the time even that smaller force arrives, as having to manage the horses will make it impossible for the full force of the raiders to face the soldiers in a cavalry battle.

80 miles away from where the horses were being fattened is another town, one with a garrison that the raiders plan to bribe to join them (and have some confidence that they'll succeed in this). All the same, within 2-5 days, depending on a lot of political factors, there will probably be nearly a thousand good cavalry assembled on their heels.

By that time, they'll want to be in lands where the cavalry of the Bey has to spend valuable time securing local permission for crossing lands in large armed groups. Ideally, the PCs would want to reach the hinterlands of Zindalankh, beyond which city good grasslands start to give way to the outskirts of desert (i.e. around 200 miles away from where they steal the horses), within three days.

I suspect that this is too hard on the horses, though, and that's why an alternate plan is to race the 80 miles to Somraggah, subvert the garrison there and spread the horses around in the excellent grazing around that town.

While as many men are needed to manage the horses for a day to recover from their dash stay with them, the rest take good Raurin horses, probably still in good fettle even after such a ride, and prepare for a cavalry battle. The subverted garrison will form up as infantry and the cavalry, once the riders feel that their horses are rested enough to fight, will flank the Bey's men and scatter them around the countryside.

Some 400 hobgoblin mercenary infantry that were acquired along with the horses claim to be able to run 80 miles to Somraggah and fight a battle at the end of it.* If true, that would be a major help, especially as 200 of them are archers. Even if they are dead on their feet when they arrive, as long as they can form up, they'll be enough to make light cavalry that only equals their numbers extremely wary of entering bow range.

Very possibly, the Bey's men wouldn't attack until another kurin had reached them, putting their numbers up to around 800-1,000, and allowing the horses and hobgoblins to rest for at least a day in Somraggah. A single, sharp battle would serve to scatter most of the Bey's men immediately available and after that, there would not be effective pursuit that could catch them before they reached Zindalankh on the evening of the fifth day since they started.**

*Hobgoblins are born soldiers and their culture puts an extreme value on endurance and tolerance for pain. Anyone who cannot continue to soldier despite extreme conditions or wounds is simply expected to die with dishonour. And these hobgoblins claim to be used to soldiering with horse soldieres, while not being considered 'worth' mounting. They run everywhere they go.
**Yes, I'm assuming 80 miles the first day, a day of rest and then three days of 40 miles per day. I'd love to be able to cut that last down to two days, if that's not totally crazy, but I think the horses would be too fatigued to face the desert after more forced drives.

Originally Posted by Dargaron

What's awaiting them on the other side? Is there any danger of them crossing the desert, only to find a new danger, or will they be among friends?

They'll enter a ruined city, with all kinds of dangers, but being mounted won't help against any of them. Immediately upon arrival in the ruined Imarscari city of Broaspu, the horses and the raiders who stole them are meant to be met by wizards of the Enclave, who will open an ancient dimensional gate that will take them away from the ruined city and the desert and into a friendly land. There it will be raining, plenty of vegetation and at least several days of rest and recovery will be possible.

That's not to say that the PCs want to leave the horses somewhere to recover for a long time. There will be plenty of work for cavalry in the near future and they'll be wanting to use at least 3,000 of the horses for military operations on the other side of the gate as soon as possible.

Originally Posted by Dargaron

Also, you mentioned camels. I assume the camels will not be accompanying the party on their 50-mile dash?

Racing camels are actually pretty fast and can cover large distances. But no, the plan is for the camels and some caretakers to fall back on a nice shady spring and verdant oasis at the outskirt of the desert which the raiders came out of and rest there while pursuers presumably race after the herd of stolen horses.

After recovering from their five-day ordeal in getting there, the camels and those who prefered the desert to a race over roads and grasslands with cavalry in pursuit, will travel back over the desert to their home. Well, they might stop to take advantage of the confusion and all the cavalry soldiers having ridden after the other raiders to relieve the locals of some few extra camels, sheep, goats, coins and other valuables. Maybe a few women, assuming that the chief left in charge isn't as strict about that sort of thing as the new sheikh, what with his 'stolen women must be married if they are to be enjoyed' rule.

Actually, some of the raiders may even prefer to go on a little vacation there before going home. Assuming that the soldiers remain away for some time, it might be pleasant to linger. Anyone helping the enemy, i.e. the empire the tribute was to be paid to, can be considered a traitor and collaborator, after all.