Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-25343239-20150319182007/@comment-17114085-20150321011501

Hjalti clearly spent plenty of time in Skyrim, as when he was 20 he was leading a large force of Nords against the Reachmen. They wouldn't let an outsider lead them into battle. Also there is actually nothing pointing at Hjalti being a Breton, people just assume that. Just because he was born in Alcaire that doesn't make him a Breton. A Nord can be born in High Rock, so can a Redguard, an Imperial, a Dunmer, etc. Being born in High Rock doesn't mean anything.

The Stormcloaks are guerrilla fighters, which is why they don't usually participate in open combat. That is common amongst militias. As for the veterans, I was just pointing out that not all of them were inexperience citizens. As for the Hold guards, the same can be said about the Stormcloak Holds. We never see any Rift, Pale, Winterhold or Eastmarch guards fighting the Legion. All we see are Stormcloaks, so mentioning the Hold guards on the Imperial side isn't a valid point. (Yes there is a difference between Eastmarch guards and Stormcloaks, their armor may look the same but they are two different factions.)

I don't recall any official mention but the game makes it pretty clear. With all the talk from the Dunmer at Raven Rock about how House Hlaalu, the biggest Imperial supporter, is no longer considered a Great House by the Dunmer and the fact that their members are in exile. How the Imperials talk about invading Morrowind. How House Redoran, which doesn't really like the Empire, is in charge now. Everything points to them being independent. The Dunmer don't hold any love for the Empire now.

Anyway I would give my two cents about the subject but I've talked this to death on other forums. All I will say is that the Empire wouldn't be able to defeat the Dominion when they still have Thalmor running around their territories and causing trouble to thin their numbers and essentially bleeding the Empire till the Dominion's army invades. The Empire can't regain its strength while this is happening either, as they are constantly undermined by the Thalmor and as General Tullius mentions they have been dealing with more than one rebellion (He says he has gotten good at dealing with rebels, meaning that he has experience putting them down. Which suggests that the Stormcloaks were the first to rise up against the Empire after the Great War.). The Empire also won't have any outside help, both Hammerfell and Morrowind dislike the Empire for things they did, or failed to do, in the past.

The Stormcloaks on the other hand, while they will have trouble at first as they would need to change from a militia to a proper army, have the potential to be able to defeat the Dominion. Stormcloak ideology is very similar to that of the Redguards (namely the Forebears) and House Redoran, and unlike the Empire they don't have a poor relationship with those factions. Meaning that they could possibly ally with them in the future. They have also shown interest in allying with the Bretons, who might chose them over the dying Empire if they win the Civil War. That already gives them a numerical advantage, as it would be 4 provinces fighting instead of the 3 the Empire, if they win the Civil War, would have. With all of Skyrim's resources at their disposal they could turn themselves into a significant military power and their location gives them some safety against the Dominion as there is no direct route to them that doesn't pass by or through another province.

For all those reasons and a few more, that I am too lazy to list (if you want to know them just search around for other Civil War discussions people have talked about this to death), I believe that the best suited to defeat the Dominion are the Stormcloaks. The Empire is already a lost cause at this point.