Does Garlemald have enough for full out war?

[lycropath]

Whats so important about Ala Mhigo that the Empire wants it.

Ala Mhigo is the only land route to the Eorzean Subcontinent, so even if its not a resource rich area, its still a very important strategic stronghold.

On the subject of the Air Force of Garlemald vs Eorzea, prior to the fall of Ala Mhigo, they had the Griffin Cavalry which was probably the biggest asset they had against them. True they aren't giant metal monstrosities but they are potentially very powerful magical beasts.

[Enkidoh]

Not a single spellcaster could reach one of these cruiser and I'm pretty sure you would need more than 5 or 6 savages riding big birds shooting fireball to take that down. Even including some OP character such as Estinien and the WoL, being raided by a dozen of those ships would be a huge deal in itself.

And yet the Agrius was destroyed by a mere dragon (okay, it was not just any old dragon but none other than Midgardsormr in his god mode that laid the Empire's flagship low), and it's replacement the Gration has likewise been rendered a big useless lump of metal permanently affixed to Azys Lla by a single Primal freezing it's engines (specifically, the aether in the ceruleum).

To say nothing of the countless wrecked airships you see littering the Fringes, or the many wrecked Juggernauts in various places of Eorzea (East Shroud, Northern Thanalan to name but two locations). We ourselves even manage to shoot down a Garlean airship during Operation Archon when infiltrating Castrum Meridanium (okay we do it with a Garlean anti-aircraft cannon ironically but my point still stands).

Garlean airships are not invincible, they are clearly vulnerable to sustained artillery fire or a powerful enough aetheric blast - someone else mentioned it already but it is needed to be repeated here: the Empire's initial victories with it's magitek weapons like airships were simply because no one had seen such weapons used before and thus did not know how to adequately defend against it.

That is no longer the case, and unsurprisingly their victories are being turned around because their weapons are being used against them - whether because of arrogance or just foolishness they have not adapted their strategy accordingly, they're still trying to zerg-rush everything with magitek and wondering why their airships are now being destroyed and their weapons sufficiently resisted (and it has nothing to do with Cid's defection to Eorzea either, blaming him and the Ironworks for Garlemald's losses is just sour grapes).

And if you're still thinking that Garlean airships are invincible, just look at the liberation of Doma Castle, a couple of au ra on yols ran rings around those Juggernauts, even destroying them with little more than a few whacks from an axe!

[Alleo]

This most likely isn't as uncommon as some would hope, Nero also cut down one of his own soldiers. He did accuss him of being a traitor, and given that he was most likely a conscript there is a good chance he was by virtue of, well, being from a conquered nation and probably not liking Garlemald much. But it still points to Zenos not being the only one to do so. And of course our favorite Garlean Roe using his own forces as essentially meat shields to the point that his own attacks could kill them.

But the one he kills is probably a traitor (seeing how he reacted) and not a pureblood Garlean. The ones that Zenos killed are pureblood Garlean (since they do react bad to Fordola) so he is killing their own "race". I mean if that is an acceptable way to handle loss then I would not want to be in that army.

[Kallera]

But the one he kills is probably a traitor (seeing how he reacted) and not a pureblood Garlean. The ones that Zenos killed are pureblood Garlean (since they do react bad to Fordola) so he is killing their own "race". I mean if that is an acceptable way to handle loss then I would not want to be in that army.

Yeah, sounded like Nero worked with what sounded like a Internal Affairs or Intelligence Agency and just wanted to off the man in style.

Zenos is just, Dr. Evil style management.

It was mentioned that the political atmosphere of the Garlean military is one laced in subterfuge and assassinations, where even claimants to the throne are not safe. while not everyone(I hope) Is like Zenos, there is a culture of fear that may have grown into its own thing, making players of both the legatii and the royal family.

THAT SAID:

They are not making very good opponents, Zenos only soldified the various ways they can be crushed, including a potentially crippling weakness to their magitek industry.(the scientist makes mention of the vast amounts of ceruleum in their heartlands, iirc.)

[NoblePigeon]

It's just one of the many reasons as to why I loathe Cid.

You loathe Cid because he didn't want to work with a regime that thinks its okay to drop moons onto continents to reduce them to molten slag (and yes, I'm aware some people opposed it. The Empire's government then, as a whole did not)? Or used another weapon of mass destruction to try subjugating it, and uses magitek technology only to benefit themselves and their core population, ruthlessly mow down nations that have the nerve to oppose them, and, as we've seen on the Prima Vista, suppress any criticism of their rule?

We've never seen the exact circumstances of him leaving, and we don't know if it's something or the other defectors that went with him was something they took lightly. Maybe they do have some guilt. But you're going to be hard pressed to find crippling, overwhelming guilt to not wanting to serve such a jingoistic regime.

Pinning the deaths of Imperial soldiers on Cid is kind of silly, given that it was the Empire that's sending out these (mostly non-pureblood) soldiers on dreams of conquests of faraway lands.

Yes, you can find nuance in Garlemald's people, and I'm absolutely confident that SE is going to show those, as we've seen in the recent MSQ and Prima Vista. But finding nuance in the leadership that rules over Garlemald is going to be much harder, and that's an important distinction to make. There's not a lot of shades of grey you can make from a regime willing to use brute force and intimidation to achieve deluded goals of world domination. Goals that came well before the Empire became aware of the primals, so the idea that they're trying to unify the world against the primal threat is blatant propaganda.

I'd always be interested in a character that's similar to Regula, and it's a damn shame he died. But unless this character is genuinely interested in reform and does not think its okay to go on a national policy of "join us or die", they are without a doubt going to be relegated to status of a villain, and rightfully so.

[ObsidianFire]

Yeah, sounded like Nero worked with what sounded like a Internal Affairs or Intelligence Agency and just wanted to off the man in style.

Zenos is just, Dr. Evil style management.

It was mentioned that the political atmosphere of the Garlean military is one laced in subterfuge and assassinations, where even claimants to the throne are not safe. while not everyone(I hope) Is like Zenos, there is a culture of fear that may have grown into its own thing, making players of both the legatii and the royal family.

Nero's first line in the entire game references the Frumentari, Garlemald's intelligence operatives. Given that Nero is Gaius' second-in-command, it's more then likely that he has access to everything they do. The thing with the guy Nero kills is that he was stupid enough to start taking in front of the Legatus and all the Tribunus of the XIVth Legion. Like... all he had to do was not talk and Nero wouldn't have had the perfect opportunity to ask him where he was from. And apparently Nero is either familiar enough with who should be in the XIVth to know that this guy shouldn't be there or has a pretty good idea of who the agents of the Resistance are. Part of that scene is definetly about what lengths the XIVth will go to to root out traitors, but part of me is thinking whoever the Resistance had infiltrate the XIVth isn't the best at undercover work either (which goes hand-in-hand with how we see the Resistance at the start of SB).

Either way, it has a very different feeling then the death in Zenos' intro montage does, which is probably the point. Both Zenos and Gaius' intro montages have the same basic structure (view of the legion, view of the legatus, view of the officers, explanation as to what the legion is trying to do, somebody ends up dead) but the circumstances surrounding all that are completely different. Zenos is board out of his mind and is playing head-games with his officers who are terrified of him. And he kills someone because they thought it was better if they didn't go on a suicide run against the WoL. Gaius is bringing in Ultima Weapon and his officers genuinely respect him. And one of them is using the opportunity to kill off a spy.

Speaking of Giaus, his gunblade is named Heirsbane because he's killed several aspirants to the Garlean throne with it. Given that he doesn't have a problem with getting rid of people who he thinks don't have Garlemald's best interests in mind (Nael), I wonder if Varius or Zenos were on his radar as people to eventually kill, he just never got around to doing it before the Garlean civil war started...

[Cilia]

OK, now that the other thing is taken care of and I have some time to unwind...

The Empire definitely has enough for a full-out war. It could crush any other nation on Hydaelyn... probably, if it got its act together.

While Garlemald's unity is touted heavily, when it comes down to it the Empire as a whole doesn't seem to be a very coherent fighting force. Each individual Legion functions well enough, but... if that Legion should fall, the Empire doesn't seem to respond by diverting forces twofold to deal with the threat. The VIIth, the XIVth, the VIth, and the XIIth have all been repelled or completely destroyed... and the Empire seems content to not do anything about it. With how much territory it holds, and how those forces are need to keep rebellions in check, it might not be able to - much like ancient Sparta, it needs domestic troops at home.

Now, this might make it look weak, and the Eorzeans' and Domans' ability to overcome the XIIth might not paint the best picture of the Imperial army. However... that's disregarding the fact that it took the combined martial might of Eorzea and Othard to liberate Ala Mhigo and Doma, respectively, along with a few stratagems and an enemy commander who wasn't concerned with whether he won or lost. All that, and it still took everything they had to beat one Legion spread across two territories, and it was a close shave. I think the battle that most showed how powerful the XIIth was wasn't one of the big battles, but the one for Castellum Velodyna. That one was won with deception; the Eozean military was badly outmatched and only won because the Imperials were fooled into thinking the Eorzeans had taken the Castellum while they weren't looking, leading them to run with their tails between their legs. From there on the Eorzeans just picked up steam while Zenos ordered retreats to set up his grand hunt, but the Quest Log notes that just about every battle we had took a heavy toll on the Eorzean forces.

With the XIIth downed, the Empire now has at least 10 Legions left. That's probably way more than enough military might to accomplish anything feasible... assuming they could work together, and that the Empire could afford to send them all abroad. The XIIth fell due to its opponents using every advantage they could against it, poor leadership on the Imperials' side, and a big flaw in the Imperial system. If it came down to raw military might, the Empire... probably would have won.

[Dualblade]

Ala Mhigo is the only land route to the Eorzean Subcontinent, so even if its not a resource rich area, its still a very important strategic stronghold.

On the subject of the Air Force of Garlemald vs Eorzea, prior to the fall of Ala Mhigo, they had the Griffin Cavalry which was probably the biggest asset they had against them. True they aren't giant metal monstrosities but they are potentially very powerful magical beasts.

Ala Mhigo was also the strongest single nation-state in Eorzea. The Alliance overall was/is stronger but they were pretty fractured till recently on what to do for the most part. Taking out Ala Mhigo ensured that the strongest nation was out of the way, and without Midgarsomr's sudden intervention things would probably look very different in Eorzea by the current time period.

The VIIth, the XIVth, the VIth, and the XIVth

I believe you are counting the XIVth a couple times to many in place of the XIIth there.

But the one he kills is probably a traitor (seeing how he reacted) and not a pureblood Garlean. The ones that Zenos killed are pureblood Garlean (since they do react bad to Fordola) so he is killing their own "race". I mean if that is an acceptable way to handle loss then I would not want to be in that army.

Varis himself rose to Emperor via killing his uncle if I remember right. While it probably wasn't as overt as Zenos killing his own officers it also points to this not exactly being uncommon. Also a case of bad parenting.

[Cilia]

I believe you are counting the XIVth a couple times to many in place of the XIIth there.

Fixed, being up for 20 hours is a little discombobulating. Just a little. (And I'll still probably be up a while longer, lol.)

Varis himself rose to Emperor via killing his uncle if I remember right. While it probably wasn't as overt as Zenos killing his own officers it also points to this not exactly being uncommon. Also a case of bad parenting.

He became Emperor by defeating his uncle in a civil war; whether or not said uncle was killed is unknown but very likely. With my recent time away letting me look at the issue in a new light, this civil war just entrenches my belief that Varis is not going to turn the new leaf Garlean fans want him to; Varis was willing to start up a civil war so he could be Emperor and continue his grandfather's aggressive campaigns and fight against his own countrymen who were backing up his uncle who wanted to end the aggressive expansion. In other words, he was willing to kill kith and kin so he could lead more of his countrymen to their deaths... fighting wars that are ultimately counterproductive, as Hien pointed out.

[RobinMalvin]

Ala Mhigo was also the strongest single nation-state in Eorzea. The Alliance overall was/is stronger but they were pretty fractured till recently on what to do for the most part. Taking out Ala Mhigo ensured that the strongest nation was out of the way, and without Midgarsomr's sudden intervention things would probably look very different in Eorzea by the current time period.

Ala Mhigo wasn't at its best when Gaius came over and took control; the city-state was pretty much fractured since the civil war that overthrew Theodoric. That, and the other city-states didn't as much as wink when Ala Mhigo was conquered, since Ala Mhigo had made less than stellar reputation with the rest of Eorzea, especially Gridania. Garlemald took it as golden opportunity to secure a very strategic spot to open their path to invasion of Eorzea.

Some NPC veterans of Ala Mhigo like to boast that Ala Mhigo was the only obstacle that prevented Garlemald from attempting full Eorzea invasion. The fact of this statement is likely up for debate, since as mentioned, Garlemald only took Ala Mhigo because of internal strife. Personally, if Ala Mhigo was at full power, they might be able to hold Garlemald at bay for a time but would eventually fall, but not without cost for Garlemald and any attempt to proceed to the rest of Eorzea would have to be delayed, unless the XIVth got backup from any other Legion.