User blog comment:Spritydove/Deeper Thought into the Civil War/@comment-5135631-20120707164216/@comment-5135631-20120714011050

Ulfric may be proud, but he knows the Dominion is something he can't entirely defeat on his own, whether he admits or not, so even if he wouldn't immediately be on good terms with the Empire, he would almost certaintly be on good terms with the Redguard, as they share the same interests: autonomy from the Empire and eventual battle with the Thalmor. Titus would be smart enough to help him eventually; the Empire can deal with the loss of Hammerfell, but being opposed to Skyrim for more than 40 years would prove bad for them.

The Nords may have less varied combat than the Redguard, but they do use a lot of archery and can do shield walls better than anyone. Their combination of Lightly equipped warriors with Two-Handed weapons means they can move more quickly in a war and strike harder when they meet. The Aldmeri mainly won the Great war due to suprise attack which gave them an unatturally large advantage, even for an attack of this nature. This wouldn't work with the Nords because the first thing on their agenda is preparing the land for an Aldmeri attack, regardless of which side wins the civil war. When the Empire was caught of guard in the great war, they couldn't do anything straight away because of the speed of the Thalmor attack. The Stormcloaks attack more quickly than the Empire and use a wider range of weapons; the Imperials only really use one-handed swords and bows and only Legates seem to use Shields, whereas the Stormcloaks use all of these, war axes, maces and two handed weapons.

The Redguard may utilise more types of combat, but the Nords seem to have a stronger mastery over less, and if they can adapt this to an ideal counter to Aldmeri tactics, then they have a really good chance of defeating them, especially considering that, in real life wars at least, being at home will give them shorter supply lines, faster reinforcement, and an ability to change their tactics to the ebb and flow of combat more effectively than the Aldmeri dominion, not to mention the harsher weather that the Nords have more experience and resistance to. You often say fighting at home is the only advantage the Nords would have, but it brings a lot to the table for one advantage.

You say the Thalmor are in a stronger position than the Nords right now in terms of manpower. This may be true, but we must not forget that humans grow more quickly; Elves live about 4 or 5 times as long as humans, perhaps longer, and they lost a large number of troops in the Great War and Redguard conflict, though almost certaintly less than the Empire. You are saying a country that was barely touched by the great war, in civil war that has not cost a very large amount of lives as far as we are aware (I can tell you this with much evidence, but the one I will use right now is when Galmar says to Ulfric, regarding the attack of Whiterun "You're ready to start this war in earnest then?" implying there hasn't been that much fierce fighting so far), fighting on home ground with all the strength that I previously mentioned it brings, newly united and having a few years to prepare for invasion, would have no chance of defeating an Empire that is taking 4 or 5 times as long to recover from a big loss of life, in the most hostile environment for them on Earth with long supply lines and troops being reinforced less and with longer gaps in between?

I'm not saying it will be easy, but Ulfric would win in the end.