Does Garlemald have enough for full out war?

[ObsidianFire]

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.

I don't this is stressed often enough. The only time we've seen legions "work together" in any sense of the word is the VIIth and XIVth Legions in 1.0. And by the end, Gaius was all but flat out countering Nael's plans by making sure the Eorzeans knew what Nael was up to. I wouldn't be all that surprised to find that the various Legatus are constantly trying to one-up themselves at each-other's expense (within reason). Or if things like the Legions in the border regions looking down on the Legions in the heartland and vice versa were commonplace.

At the very least, it seems as if the Legatus have a lot of freedom in how they run their legions (so long as they stay loyal to the crown and are effective at their job) and all the legions we've seen take after their legatus in one form or another. So far, none of the legions have been carbon copies of each other and I don't seen that trend stopping anytime soon.

[Enkidoh]

Ala Mhigo only collapsed into civil war because the Garleans were the ones directly responsible - Gaius spent a decade fuelling Theoduric's paranoia from the shadows, turning him against his own military (the Fists of Rhalgr) and after having the MNKs purged, made him into such a despot (who amongst other things Theoduric regarded himself as "blessed by Nymeia and outlawed the traditional worship of Rhalgr on punishment of death) that his own people became so fed up with his atrocities they overthrew him, with the natural result of the nation descending into a brief civil war.

Thus with the whole nation collapsed into civic strife, no wonder it was a simple matter for Gaius and the XIVth Legion to simply fly in and install the Garlean Imperial standard in the city - any hurried resistance that Ala Mhigo could still muster would, and was, easily dealt with by his troops (in fact, Minfilia even stated back in 1.0 that Ala Mhigo seemed "to fall so swiftly" to "the Imperial advance" and that Ala Mhigo's "meager swords and spells was no match for the Empire's machina." Well, no wonder, given that Gaius had deliberately conspired from behind the scenes for ten years to ensure that.

However, if Gaius had not used such a plan, things might have turned much differently- Ala Mhigo may have actually have been in a position to mount a significant defense. But how long they could have held out for is a good question, but one difficult, if not possible, to answer.

[Alleo]

I also never understood all the hate that Cid and other defectors get..I mean if you are in his shoes would you truly stay in a regime that was fine with constructing these weapons of mass destructions? He saw that magitek was used for wars and probably not that much for the people itself. This is also the reason why he does not want to use it for fighting. That guy probably still has some kind of trauma about the things that he witnessed. A whole place with who knows how many people destroyed by a weapon his father created. Eorzea nearly being completely destroyed by Nael and her followers. And on top of that we also found out that any kind of critisism is not allowed, even through arts. Why should he have stayed with them? What could he do in such a country?

[YianKutku]

And on top of that we also found out that any kind of critisism is not allowed, even through arts. Why should he have stayed with them? What could he do in such a country?

Nitpick: the increase in censorship in the arts happened during Varis's reign, long after Cid defected to Eorzea, so that was probably not a major factor in his decision to do so.

[Cilia]

The reasons for Cid's defection are twofold:

-He saw firsthand the brutality with which the Empire conducts war in Ala Mhigo, as he was present when Gaius took the city, and was appalled by it. (While the Empire took Ala Mhigo with little effort, it wasn't a bloodless conquest.)
-Solus decided that using Meteor was acceptable despite the devastation it caused at Bozja Citadel.

Just to clarify, I went and did research and I can't find anything stating that the Empire was responsible for catalyzing or magnifying Theodric's madness. Gauis did take advantage of the situation by having spies instigate the rebellion that led to Theodric's suicide, but the Empire was not responsible for anything prior.

I might dislike the Empire, but I dislike falsehoods even more. Not that I'm mad at anyone for believing as much, since I'm just as guilty.

[Enkidoh]

Just to clarify, I went and did research and I can't find anything stating that the Empire was responsible for catalyzing or magnifying Theodric's madness. Gauis did take advantage of the situation by having spies instigate the rebellion that led to Theodric's suicide, but the Empire was not responsible for anything prior.

I might dislike the Empire, but I dislike falsehoods even more. Not that I'm mad at anyone for believing as much, since I'm just as guilty.

Well, Gaius's profile on the Lodestone seemed to definitely point that way:

In subjugating Ala Mhigo, van Baelsar employed subterfuge to stoke the fires of civil unrest, a masterstroke which led to the nation’s capture without the need for a protracted siege.

Maybe it's just how I interpreted that, but to me it seemed a little suspicious that all of a sudden a nation's king goes off the deep end and turns against his own military, then just as the nation descends into anarchy the Empire moves in and takes over, and it's revealed the Empire had been 'stoking the fires of unrest' all along (to say nothing that the Ultima Weapon was revealed to be buried under Ala Mhigo so there was even greater incentive for the Empire to try and capture the city whole and intact instead of bombarding the city from above (like what happened to Rabanastre), even linking a possible Ascian connection behind the whole affair.

But hey, I've been proven wrong in my interpretations before so maybe you're right (and I'm always happy to be proven wrong with info to back it up, especially when I've simply used ambiguous statements made in game or on websites as my 'proof'. )

[Riardon]

I always wondered this ever since the Baelsar's Wall instance and onward. Most of Stormblood I thought to myself "We're poking the hive, we're gonna get it now."

Last time they tried, a huge Papa Dragon came out of nowhere and obliterated their flagship and they tasted a very sour defeat.
Primals were also unleashed and Garlemald ran away and hide behind their walls. They paused the efforts of conquerring Eorzea for the time being.
Also call me crazy but feels like they either deliberately let us taken over 2 of their territories or they are just too busy fighting each other back in their capital.
They just didn't respond almost at all on Ala Mhigo and Doma liberation which is very suspecious.
There is something really wrong going over in Garlemald or everything goes according to a dark plan.
That being said we indeed poked the hive really hard and I guess the next expansion will be about the hive coming at us.

[Zojha]

That being said we indeed poked the hive really hard and I guess the next expansion will be about the hive coming at us.

Either that, or we'll just break the hive walls and skip the bees with Hallowed Ground plot armor.

[Chewy2nd]

I think next expansion will be about the Garlean civil war, I think there is already cracks showing in the Empire, I wouldn't be surprised if it has been brewing ever since Varis seized the throne from his Uncle.

4.2 spoilers

4.2 already shed light on the schisms in Garlean society, we will somehow be dragged into the civil war, I think it is possible that Zenos will seize the throne from his father, which will kick off the war. Elidibus will of course be whispering in either Varis or Zenos' ear

This will allow us an in to Garlemald, and will also explain why Varis let Gyr Abania go, he could probably sense this coming.

[thegreatonemal]

They had the forces to invade but Varsi said no Zenos himself was confused about that.