Gate opens up to Gor, because Hardy wants to laugh.

[Chiron]

As the Tin says.

The Gate opens up in the Margin of Desolation of Ar, in Constanta Ar 10,108 on the first day of En'Var ( June 19th, 1958 on Earth)

Hardy 'forgets' to tell the Imperials about wearing breastplates on Gor which is forbidden. Of course the Priest Kings have not had a chance to secretly implant kill switches in them yet for the Flame Death and are just as fucking confused. In the Sardar, the Priest Kings get to work checking all their instruments, making sure the gravity of the world ship of Gor is correct, calling up their agents, and checking on Earth before deciding fuck it. Let the metal breastplates slide and inform everyone they can adopt full suits of armor. Firearms are still banned and they send an Embassy to make that clear to the Saderan Empire. They can take whatever land they can gain, but no firearms, and demonstrate they mean business by glassing a portion of the Desolation and letting the Saderans observe and inspect the area.

Because of where they came out, the Saderan Army's main concern is water and food. The other concern is Marlenus of Ar quickly becomes aware of them and his Tarnsmen begin attacking them. So overhead the Tarnsmen of Gor fight the Wyvern Flyers of Sadera in aerial combat. The aerial fight quickly becoming a stalemate as both sides adjust their tactics and doctrines. Elite Ar warriors being dropped off by Tarns to launch raids are a constant thorn in the side of the Saderans whose own Wyvern Riders consider such a tactic beneath their dignity but quickly change their minds as its effectiveness forces a pragmatic change in tactics. As things heat up, Wyvern Flyers are forced by pragmatism to lift supplies by air.

So a full 3 months pass before the Saderans can even get out of the Desolation to besiege the first City on their path, "Venna," which is ready for them and has been reinforced. During that time, they had thousands fall out, had to build a proper logistic line back to Sadera, are having second thoughts that maybe Hardy sent them to their deaths. (She totally did for shits and giggles.)

Released from the prohibitions on full suits of armor, and having captured quite a bit from the Saderans, Marlenus of Ar has re-equipped the Standing Warriors forming his best regiments in breastplates. Some 10,000 in total. Most of his troops only have shield, helm, greaves, and bracers. Linen and cotton armor are not used on Gor, leather is more for weather protection than weapons protection.

Weapons wise, the Saderans have an edge as they were never barred from full body armor and have a wide range of AP weapons which the Goreans never had a need to invent/modify from utility tools. They also are more uniformly armored up.

But Marlenus has the numbers, has recruited large numbers of Tarns, has hired mercenaries galore, and has a wink and nudge from the Priest Kings (actually he bribed the initiates and they fooled the masses), and has decades of experience as a general (majority of Goreans are functionally immortal) and knows when to fold them and retreat in good order.

Who do you favor:

Option A
Option B
Option C

 

[Agent23]

You have lore knowledge of Gor...I hope your head didn't hurt too much after reading through all that stuff.
Such a feat warrants early retirement and a statue commemorating your sheer, bloody-minded autism.

Back on topic, I tried reading some Gor once upon a time in my younger days, and even back then I thought it was bad, and I did manage to slog through all of L. Ron Hubbard's Mission Earth as well as some of Tom Kratman's stuff.
IMHO Saderans probably take this fairly easily if there isn't an act of God to prevent their victory.
The little I recall felt like outright plagiarism from the various low fantasy favorites from the Pulp Era, like Conan, with the Goreans being fairly unsophisticated where warfare is concerned, and just out to LARP as TNG Klingons.
Also, didn't their "planet" have a much lower gravity than earth, but somehow produce people that were stronger, pound for pound, as compared to the average Earth human?

 

[Chiron]

You have lore knowledge of Gor...I hope your head didn't hurt too much after reading through all that stuff.
Such a feat warrants early retirement and a statue commemorating your sheer, bloody-minded autism.

Back on topic, I tried reading some Gor once upon a time in my younger days, and even back then I thought it was bad, and I did manage to slog through all of L. Ron Hubbard's Mission Earth as well as some of Tom Kratman's stuff.
IMHO Saderans probably take this fairly easily if there isn't an act of God to prevent their victory.
The little I recall felt like outright plagiarism from the various low fantasy favorites from the Pulp Era, like Conan, with the Goreans being fairly unsophisticated where warfare is concerned, and just out to LARP as TNG Klingons.
Also, didn't their "planet" have a much lower gravity than earth, but somehow produce people that were stronger, pound for pound, as compared to the average Earth human?

Well when multiple modern conveniences are banned and you are really limited in warfare, you have to spend long hours perfecting weapons craft which leads to muscular guys. Also the Goreans are functionally immortal having figured out the science of aging and developed vaccines against aging. They also have tasers and working cold fusion without the waste and translator machines.

If released from the strictures of the Priest Kings, they can rapidly build up a large industrial base power powered by cold fusion and produce militarily useful Directed Energy Weapons and Spaceships.

Overall, the Empire of Ar can stalemate the Saderans who can take a few cities, but then lose them. They are hampered logistically by the Margin of Desolation which their mages have to work overtime to fix, they at parity in the air, and Marlenus has the gold to bribe mages and Saderan Mercenaries to switch sides. Ar itself is surrounded by Swamps who spiderfolk (large sentient spiders of the like in LOTR, not spidergirls like in Anime/Manga) while neutral, do owe allegiance to Ar and will do minor indirect things to slow down any Saderan push to Ar itself, buying time for Marlenus to check them.

Ultimately after a few years, stalemate. The Saderans simply can't replace Wyverns faster than the Goreans can replace Tarns which in turn means the Goreans can move mercenaries in faster. The Margin of Desolation becomes a Saderan controlled Buffer Zone they furiously work to make a stable base while Venna is the frontline, changing hands often and becoming depopulated. Horses, Dogs, and Elephants are reintroduced onto Gor while Tarns, Kailla, Tharlarions, and Sleen are introduced to Sadera. The stabilization serums wind up going to Sadera, making the people there functionally immortal which will have larger effects over time, eliminating retirement, and allowing soldiers to stay in the Army longer which in turn drives more pressure to defeat Marlenus.

As long as the Saderans and Goreans adhere to the no gunpowder weaponry rule, the Priest Kings don't interfere.

Round 2 gets really interesting as the Kur decide to get involved and throw gasoline on the fire and skirt the rules by introducing militarily useful air rifles that don't violate the letter of the law. (Priest-Kings go by the letter, not spirit).

Into all this comes young Tarl Cabot whose original use in the plans of the Priest Kings is altered to secure a balancing act between the Saderans and the Empire of Ar that sees both locked in mutual stalemate.

 

[Agent23]

Well when multiple modern conveniences are banned and you are really limited in warfare, you have to spend long hours perfecting weapons craft which leads to muscular guys. Also the Goreans are functionally immortal having figured out the science of aging and developed vaccines against aging. They also have tasers and working cold fusion without the waste and translator machines.

If released from the strictures of the Priest Kings, they can rapidly build up a large industrial base power powered by cold fusion and produce militarily useful Directed Energy Weapons and Spaceships.

Overall, the Empire of Ar can stalemate the Saderans who can take a few cities, but then lose them. They are hampered logistically by the Margin of Desolation which their mages have to work overtime to fix, they at parity in the air, and Marlenus has the gold to bribe mages and Saderan Mercenaries to switch sides. Ar itself is surrounded by Swamps who spiderfolk (large sentient spiders of the like in LOTR, not spidergirls like in Anime/Manga) while neutral, do owe allegiance to Ar and will do minor indirect things to slow down any Saderan push to Ar itself, buying time for Marlenus to check them.

Ultimately after a few years, stalemate. The Saderans simply can't replace Wyverns faster than the Goreans can replace Tarns which in turn means the Goreans can move mercenaries in faster. The Margin of Desolation becomes a Saderan controlled Buffer Zone they furiously work to make a stable base while Venna is the frontline, changing hands often and becoming depopulated. Horses, Dogs, and Elephants are reintroduced onto Gor while Tarns, Kailla, Tharlarions, and Sleen are introduced to Sadera. The stabilization serums wind up going to Sadera, making the people there functionally immortal which will have larger effects over time, eliminating retirement, and allowing soldiers to stay in the Army longer which in turn drives more pressure to defeat Marlenus.

As long as the Saderans and Goreans adhere to the no gunpowder weaponry rule, the Priest Kings don't interfere.

Round 2 gets really interesting as the Kur decide to get involved and throw gasoline on the fire and skirt the rules by introducing militarily useful air rifles that don't violate the letter of the law. (Priest-Kings go by the letter, not spirit).

Into all this comes young Tarl Cabot whose original use in the plans of the Priest Kings is altered to secure a balancing act between the Saderans and the Empire of Ar that sees both locked in mutual stalemate.

Well, since you have actually managed to read through all that mind-numbing dreck you probably have a far better understanding of what they can and can not do.

The part of one book I read basically led me to believe that they were a lot more fractious and less well organized, and that they were all more or less would-be Conan the barbarians with a few token evil city state leaders.

I think it involved a rando from earth getting sent there and getting turned into a warrior, but I can not recall specifics.

So, I am guess Whankverines don't just steamroll the Goreans?

 

[Chiron]

Well, since you have actually managed to read through all that mind-numbing dreck you probably have a far better understanding of what they can and can not do.

The part of one book I read basically led me to believe that they were a lot more fractious and less well organized, and that they were all more or less would-be Conan the barbarians with a few token evil city state leaders.

I think it involved a rando from earth getting sent there and getting turned into a warrior, but I can not recall specifics.

So, I am guess Whankverines don't just steamroll the Goreans?

Absent the Tarns, they would indeed steamroll till the Priest Kings decided to intervene or the Kur step in to curry favor. Tarns even the odds and their sheer numbers relative to Wyverns and faster breeding and growth phase means they can sustain high attrition rates the Wyverns can't which in turn forces them to simply deny airspace over the Saderan Army as opposed to fighting for air supremacy.

Mages could help, but they are needed to secure the Margin of Desolation which is a wasteland of salted earth, poisoned water, and few bugs dwell. Then there is the ability of Goreans to do night raids to target Mages once they realize their import, which will tie down more troops to protect the Mages so their work isn't disrupted by having to fend off attacks themselves.

So the first few years are indeed stalemate due to logistics. Victory thus goes to the better politician and alliance builder. Toss up as to who does better.

Emperor Molt Sol Augustus has his daughter and her posse he can marry off to City-States opposed to Ar to gain their aid and with Gorean Medicine, he doesn't have to worry about the succession as much.

But Marlenus is also a wily politician and has a daughter to marry off and can play the card of "Hey, I am Gorean, honor the Priest-Kings, and keep to the traditions. These Outlanders don't, join me and let us drive them from our world and seize theirs." Then in a private conference with the Council of Ar, "I thought Earth was the only other world Humans lived on, did the Priest-Kings seed Humanity on more worlds?"