Quote Originally Posted by Raven2014 View Post
Not to mentioned not very thought out as well. Gridania army isn't weak, it's just lack offensive power and more defense oriented with the healers they have, so it's contradictory to say they also week defensively because they're defensive oriented.

Also U'lduar is hardly the most defensive city. Unless you want to take it down in 3 days. The things is in the middle of a desert with very little way to sustain itself. Sure it's rich, but you can't eat coins in a siege. Gridania can hold out for years, U'lduar can last about a month top (it already had a food crisis before the calamity). Also I don't know why he say Kal-E-Senna as "not very smart" while she's constantly portrait as the wisest among the three. Her action sometime is constrainted by the whim of the elemental, but in term of vision she's the one who have the most foresight. Merlwyb is a head strong leader that had made a series of shortsighted decisions that she has been trying to fix in the last 2 expansion while Nanamo ... eh, let's not about Nanamo. And if you think the Syndicate is a good governance, that would be like mega corporation and mafia organization can be good governance.
Gridania is weak because it has been isolationist for a long time, their people are peaceful, they don't really have a defensive posture. Gridania has never reinforced any key place because they don't want to displease the spirits of the forest.

Gridania suffered an invasion from Ala Mhigo, and could not do much against the invader.

The mages of Gridania are quite powerful and some spearmen too but in general they prove to be the weakest.

Kal-E-Senna is naive compared to the other leaders, she thinks mostly about peace and protecting the forest, one could almost say that they are hippies.

Gridania has no defense structure and even worse, their lands have little chance of breaking the morale of the enemy troops. It is far from the freezing cold protecting Ishgard or the burning desert that protects Ul'Dah
Gridania has a mediocre economy also I precise what is a primordial aspect...

For example Ul'Dah is able to recruit mercenary troops / elite adventurers because it has large reserves

Ul'Dah has many commercial links in various parts of the world which is not the case for the others. As they say, money is the key to war