Board Thread:Skyrim/@comment-120.28.157.86-20140406014559/@comment-30317136-20170226135047

Sports72Xtrm wrote: That's because you are taking Galmar's hyperbole about the Stormcloaks' casualties of war out of context and dismissing any actual evidence that the Stormcloaks could be beating the Legion. Yes some Stormcloaks died during the civil war, and Galmar who trained these men used the word "massacre" to express his sentimentality over their loss. But that is no way indicative of the Empire dominating the Stormcloaks in the Civil War.

Take Bryling, an Imperial loyal thane, and her conversation with her unbiased housecarl, for example:

Bryling: "What news have you heard from the war, Irnskar?"

Irnskar: "You won't like it, my lady."

Bryling: "I'm well aware that I won't like it. But it's my duty to keep my people safe. Tell me."

Irnskar: "Possession of the holds change on an almost daily basis, but I can report that Haafingar is still secure. Your people are safe."

Bryling: "I'm not just talking about my subjects. I'm talking about my people: the proud Nords of Skyrim."

Irnskar: "I told you you wouldn't like the news." If the Stormcloaks were being dominated, then how is it that they are able to take whole Holds from Tullius on a daily basis?

Further corroborated by her talks with Falk Firebird:

Bryling: "There's something that's been troubling me, Falk. I am hesitant to share it, but I feel that I must."

Falk: "Speak your mind, Bryling. You're among friends here."

Bryling: "You know that I support the Empire, as we all do. However, I fear General Tullius is underestimating the Stormcloaks. Too often the general has lost good soldiers because he did not take Ulfric and his men seriously. If this continues, and the worst comes to pass, Solitude will pay the price. The Empire is headquartered here, after all."

Falk: "We don't have the luxury of hanging back to see who wins before choosing our friends, Bryling. You know this. And besides, no Nord with a shred of honor would consider it. We're no cowards. Have faith, Bryling. When this war is over and Ulfric is dead, you'll see that you were jumping at shadows, and nothing more." Where more than once has Ulfric's strategies have got the better of Tullius. And if the Legion's casualties are but a paltry sum, why does it concern Bryling so much?

Thus your claim that the Stormcloaks are being "massacred" by the Legion is inaccurate. If anything, they are giving as good as they are getting. Not bad for a divisive rebellion against an Empire with supposed more abundant allies and resources. If Ulfric wins the war, I'm optimistic with what he could accomplish with all of Skyrim's resources at his command. I've mentioned that there is no true way of estimating their actual loss. He went as far as claiming that Tullius only sent a few squads to die in Winterhold. But if the Imperial Legion can capture using more than a squad and Tullius still sends a few squads to die for nothing, that is just going to prove that Tullius and the Imperial Legion are incompetent fools wasitng the excessive resources at their disposal while the Stormcloaks are making better use of their resources.

If the Stormcloaks controlling 4/9 Holds of Skyrim can have enough resources to fight the Empire the way they are, even if Ulfric is an inferior tactican than Tullius he has people helping him, one of these people can just fill that space. If the Empire can't even beat a Stormcloak rebellion with merely 1 or 2 skilled tactician, the Empire is unworthy to be ruling government of Tamriel.