Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-177.194.184.36-20130308025503/@comment-38101153-20190110211538

We are talking about a total war, right? Which means we have to look at several factors:

1: Argonian V.S. Khajiit Tactics,

2: Argonian V.S. Khajiit Strategies, 

3: Black Marsh & Elswyr's Climates & environment.

In interest to the first factor:

The Argonians use mostly hit-and-run, guerilla type tactics such as ambushes, and benefit from places like jungles or swamps, where the foliage is dense enough to easily hide. A common tatic they employed when the Empire attempted to invade was to lurk underwater, grab a man and simple hold him underwater until they drowned. It should also be noted that the Argonians did make underwater fortresses during that same war.

In the book Mixed Unit Tactics, it is said that the Khajiit make the most of the differences of their forms, with the Senche-raht being used as both large, intelligent steeds and as carriers of shields, while the small Dagi and Dagi-raht keeping themselves magically silenced while waiting for the opportune moment. All in all, Khajiit seem to prefer multi-layered attacks over hit-and-runs. It should be noted hear that the Khajiit abhor sailing, and will only do so if they must. It is unknown whether this extends to other aquatic activities.

In interest to the second factor:

Argonian stratagies seem mainly defensive in nature, though there are two offensives that we can look at: The Argonian Invasion of the Deadlands during the Oblivion crisis, and the Accession War, where the Argonians invaded Morrowind after the Red Year. For the Invasion of the Deadlands, the story goes that the Hist, psychically informed of the upcoming crisis,  gathered Argonains from all over Tamriel and used the Hist sap to genetically modify them to become stronger. When the Oblivion Crisis occurred, the Argonians actually entered into the gates and defeated the daedra on numerous occasions, eventually causing the Dremora lieutenants to actually close their gates to stop. The Accession War,  on the other hand, was nothing more then a revenge-driven bloodletting of the Dunmer people, when the Argonains slaughtering thousands of dark elves and almost completely wiping out House Telvanni, the Great House that employed Argonian slaves the most. Not much is known about the strategies employed in this war. From what we know, we can assume that the Argonians will mostly be content to stay in their swamps and hold out against a aggressor. However, if they are driven to attack, they will mostly like be ruthless and fanatical, probably  causing wide scale collateral damage.

We know all lot more about Khajiit Strategies, thanks to the Mixed Unit Tactics and a book known as Cherims Heart. In both of these, it is shown that Khajiit value mobility, and also prefere smaller skirmishes to large battles. It is also shown in Mixed Unit Tactics that the Khajiit will often times make symbolic and, in the view of the Wood Elves in the book, sinful attacks against soft targets, which in Valenwood was trees in general, and in Black Marsh would be the Hist. They then draw out the enemy into a well-staged and planned ambush. The most recent war the Khajiit faced, and the one referenced in both books, is the Five Year War against Valenwood, which began around 3E 390~, in which the Khajiit won with excellent (though mostly unnamed) tactics and strategies.

Considering the Third Factor:

The Black Marsh's geography, according to the lore page on it here: The majority of this province is a swampy marshland, with the southern half resembling a network of small islands, broken up by intersecting rivers. Little is known about the actual size of Argonia, except that Lilmolith is located fifteen miles from the Topal Bay. The province of Black Marsh encompasses the south-easternmost lands of the continent. Black Marsh is also subjected to a unique type of rain sometimes referred to by the region's inhabitants as "Hist Piss." Often accompanied by heavy thunder and fog, it has been described as "an inferno of foul-smelling, yellow-brown rain."

in the Argonian Account it is shown that it is a nightmare to traverse for non-argonians, and is logistically fraught with dangers, from sinking and drowning in the muck to getting attacked by any of the local wildlife, the vast majority of which are deadly. Because of all of this, any attempt to invade is, in all likelihood, going to fail (The Black Marsh and Morrowind are the only provinces that were peacefully annexed into the Empire)

Elsweyr's geography, on the other hand, is as follows:

Elsweyr's location has been fixed since the first entry in the series, Arena, where it was found in the southern half of the continent, bordering Cyrodiil to the north and northeast, Valenwood to the west, and the Topal Sea to the southeast. Elsweyr is primarily a province of "harsh badlands and dry plains," with fertile growing regions covered in jungle and rainforest to the south. Elsweyr's society is divided along these lines, with a stratified plantation aristocracy centered on production of the hallucinogenic 'Moon Sugar' occupying the southern groves, and a society of nomadic desert tribesmen occupying the badlands and desert. Elsweyr was explorable in Arena, but has not been accessible since until The Elder Scrolls Online. Small elements of Khajiit culture recur in each game. Skooma, a drug processed from Moon Sugar, figures in various plotlines and accompanying lore. Elsweyr's section in the Pocket Guide to the Empire, agrees with this. Due to the fact that it seems the wetter parts are mainly in the south (i.e. the farthest point from the Black Marsh), Argonians native to the Black Marsh will have a hard time invading via land.

In a war between the two, depending on the cause of the war, the Argonians will most likely attempt to simply wait it out, and stick strictly to the defensive. The Khajiit will most likely, do to their tribal nature, not have the cohesiveness needed to make a worthwhile attempt at invasion. However, if they do manage to send in a raiding party, most likely to the outskirts (Never in a attempt to get to the interior of the swamps) they will most likely attempt to find and destroy as many Hist trees as they can in a attempt to lure the Argonians into invading. If the Argonians fall for the bait, they still have a advantage, since the Argonians have been in offensive wars more recently than the Khajiit. The Argonians will most likely invade from the south and along the coastline, since Argonians have more experienced sailors then Khajiits. The Khajiits then will most likely attempt to draw the Argonians further inland, and will most likely attempt to divide any invasion force. Hope this was informative / entertaining!