Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-1600847-20161103125247/@comment-26893431-20161118201521

Sports72Xtrm wrote: And yet for all his alleged strategic genius, Tullius is unable to capture Ulfric again without Dragonborn interference. In fact, Elisif the Fair's dialogue suggests that to even go toe to toe with an upstart rebel who according to you is inept, he has to run Solitude's economy to the ground and conscript nearly all of its Hold Guards to bring Ulfric down. Even if the Legion wins, they did so through a Pyrrhic victory. And yet, Tullius is supposed to muster a defense against the entire Aldmeri Dominion? They couldn't even take down Ulfric and his rebels without scorching the earth of his own home base of Solitude.

Tullius mismanaged his resources, sent men to their deaths in vain in Winterhold, and thinks his bravado will win wars. It doesn't. Tullius' subsequent failures point out Ulfric's ambush was more of a fluke than an indication of Tullius' capability. Tullius has limited resources at his disposal, his Legion consists of scouts and skirmishers. The Skyrim civil war is funded by Skyrim, who do you think pays for the Imperial equipment? The Elder Council? The East Empire Company? No. The Holds do. It's also for this same reason why Tullius conscripts men, men, I might add, who are Legion soldiers to begin with. The Legion will win by a lot, a normal Legion is assembling at Pale Pass. This army won't just be Skirmishers and scouts, it will have cavalry, it will have foot knights, pikemen, frontline infantry, mages, and we can go on and on.

Tullius being able to halt the Stormcloaks with a Legion of scouts and skirmishers shows his tactical brilliance.

No he didn't. Tullius is known for dealing with these kind of problems, he knows what he's doing. An ambush is set up by the enemy, Tullius knew where and when Ulfric would be at Darkwater Crossing, the fact that he is able to infiltrate this far into Stormcloak territory and capture Ulfric shows how puny the Stormcloaks are.