The size of the Garlean Empire's military

[lord_naarghul]

The Garlean Empire is said to have quite the impressive military force. But just how big is it in term of manpower?

The Final Fantasy wiki gives some idea of it's size, but it's a wiki, and its valdity is in question. The wiki lists it this way:

14 Legions

1 Legion = 10 Cohors

1 Cohor = 3 Manipulae

1 Manipulae = 2 Centuries

If this is true, then the size of the army is dependent on how big a "century" actually is. In real-life Roman military terms, a century could consist of anywhere between 100-1000 soldiers. Assuming the usual definition, you get 100x2 = 200 as one manipulus. 200x3 = 600 as one cohor. 600x10 = 6000 as one legion.

Ultimately, this means that Garlemald's military force is 84000 total. that's...really, really small. In today's terms, that's at most 4-8 divisions. By real life comparison, the initial force that Germany attacked with in the Battle of the Bulge in WWII was about 13 divisions with 200,000 soldiers, and that was with a severely depleted military.

Given what I've seen, I find this hard to believe, even given the Empire's technology advantage. Watching some cinematic scenes (Like End of an Era) I suspect that the Garlean Empire's manpower is considerably greater, especially given the disposable nature the tribunes seem to think of the legionnaires.

It's not made clear just how large of a military the Garleans have.

This is important for me as I'm writing a fanfiction in which the Empire invades another country, and the smaller legion wouldn't have a hope in hell of winning that fight because of numbers.

[Toranja]

I'm going to call the Final Fantasy Wiki wrong, until I see some sources. In principal, a Manipulus(?) should have 5 underlings beneath him.

[Catapult]

Things are designed such that they explicitly conceal the true size of Garlemald's forces. Garlean tactics tend to centre on crack-squads rather than presenting a large standing army.
We also have the size of the planet to consider. By Earth standards, what we see in Aldenard would suggest it isn't much larger than the Brittish Isles. Small planet.

And on that planet, people can cast return. Now imagine how strong armies are and what tactics they can employ with this skill at their disposal. Having actual respawn points at your home base changes everything.

[Enkidoh]

Well, considering the main FFXIV site specifically states that Garlemald's forces are actually not as extensive as they may at first appear to be, the FF Wiki estimate is probably accurate. After all, they can easily make up in lack of regular infantry with magitek weaponry - Juggernauts and Reapers alone could easily fill in for several normal troops alone, and that's not even including airship bombardment, something the Eorzean Alliance simply cannot match, so it's their use of magitek weaponry in battle that gives them their edge and not the size of their infantry units.

It's why Gaius had to flee with his tail between his legs during the Battle of Silvertear Skies - his forces were simply outmatched in power against the dragons and Midgardsormr, and the loss of their main flagship, the Agrius, only drove home that message - that the Empire's forces are nowhere near as extensive as they're made out to be.

As for Return and Teleport, considering those only work after first attuning yourself to an aethertye, it's not as useful in a military sense, as Imperial troops would have all had to have first attuned themselves to an aethertye in Eorzea before they could use it. Not to mention both Return and Teleport are actually classed as spells, and considering that Garleans are naturally lackluster at magic, I doubt somewhat they have anything similar in concept to aetherytes in Garlemald (may I be proven wrong though!)

[lord_naarghul]

In End of an Era, we see the Empire fielding an army of considerable size - far bigger than 6000. It could be as high as 100,000 or even 200,000, and that is just the 7th Legion.

Things are designed such that they explicitly conceal the true size of Garlemald's forces. Garlean tactics tend to centre on crack-squads rather than presenting a large standing army.
We also have the size of the planet to consider. By Earth standards, what we see in Aldenard would suggest it isn't much larger than the British Isles. Small planet.

Video games in general don't ever realistically display actual distances in the world they are creating. The only game that ever did that was Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, and it had a huge slew of issues associated with it.

I really don't like there being a small size for the Garlean Empire's military. It makes a story about a lengthy military campaign impossible to write well, because attrition by numbers would defeat them.

[Anonymoose]

Don't forget that they have two continents worth of natural resources at their disposal for building airships, juggernauts, vanguards, colossi, etc. Think about how many magitek you see for every soldier. Hell, we only saw a few hundred individual soldiers in the storyline; Gaius' welcome wagon when he and the Tribuni showed up was like 50 people, tops. I'm not promising that SE stuck to the Roman convention I used when building the page I think you're talking about (though the division names, groupings, and officer titles are correct), but it sounds about right with everything we know so far.

And on that planet, people can cast return.

I'm not sure the Garleans can. I don't think they can cast much of anything. They're bollocks with magick.

[Catapult]

I'm not sure the Garleans can. I don't think they can cast much of anything. They're bollocks with magick.

I expected better from you, Moose. While it is true that the pure-blooded Garlean elite are bollocks with magic, their average subjugated soldier from Othard or Ala Mhigo is not. Gaius knows what he's working with.

[Anonymoose]

I expected better from you, Moose. While it is true that the pure-blooded Garlean elite are bollocks with magic, their average subjugated soldier from Othard or Ala Mhigo is not. Gaius knows what he's working with.

Well, that's where they get the signifers and medici; I was just arguing against the idea that Garlean military strategy, as standardized by the homeland, relies too heavily on tactics that homegrown Garleans cannot use. It implies that there are units made entirely of defectors from conquered enemy nations who are encouraged to use techniques that Garlemald can neither truly comprehend nor control. That doesn't sound like wise military leadership. That sounds like a good way to get your legati assassinated.

[Catapult]

Well, that's where they get the signifers and medici; I was just arguing against the idea that Garlean military strategy, as standardized by the homeland, relies too heavily on tactics that homegrown Garleans cannot use. It implies that there are units made entirely of defectors from conquered enemy nations who are encouraged to use techniques that Garlemald can neither truly comprehend nor control. That doesn't sound like wise military leadership. That sounds like a good way to get your legati assassinated.

Based on that logic, using Signifers and Medici would also be off-limits.

[Anonymoose]

Based on that logic, using Signifers and Medici would also be off-limits.

How so? Medici just heal things - and nobody's gonna treacherously heal someone to death while no one's looking. And, sure, the Signifer could throw a flame across the room in a way no Garlean can ... but Garleans have guns. I don't think any of that is quite on par in terms of new and uncontrollable threats with being able to collapse onesself into aether and travel vast distances instantly. Hell, I bet a turncoat Signifer would eliminate casting time entirely and just blow him away with one of the guns before hitting the Return button and getting a 50 malm head start.

Again, all I'm saying is that the size of the Garlean army is probably not tied [in either direction] to the Return ability. Probably. We can debate the little things all day, though, just because it's fun.