User blog comment:Spritydove/Deeper Thought into the Civil War/@comment-4976111-20120616024123/@comment-166.82.245.89-20120616064838

I would like to add that the whole Hammerfell defense that people keep talking about is due to a large number of factors other than they simply held them off, here is a fairly compiled list of the factors:

"The Empire wouldn't have been able to defeat the Thalmor as easily as you seem to imply purely because the Redguards "won" their war. Which is largely up in the air. Sure, it was a technical victory. But only after years of war that devastated their homeland. A war in a desert I might add. Historically fighting your enemies on their home territory is bad enough, but when said homeland is a desert filled with rocky mountains and vast expanses of sand? Have you seen the size of Hammerfell? It's a geruella fighter's dreamland. Not to mention the Redguard are, as a race, physically perfect for war. The Altmer, on the other hand, and perfectly built for magic. Magic from TES lore needs preparation and planning to use effectively in a large scale application. This would most likely mean any magic heavy army caught off guard by a hardened band of warriors would likely be in a pretty bad place."