Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-1600847-20161103125247/@comment-30317136-20161114193307

S&#039;Dalaar the Snowcat wrote: True that, but maybe it could not be helped? Maybe there is something important for the war effort that required Ulfric's direct attention. Ulfric was at disadvantage because Skyrim, being an Imperial province, most likely have Imperial spies around every corner. It is impressive that it took Tullius THIS long to finally capture Ulfric since the war has, according to Hadvar, going on for a few months already. Which is more the reason why I believe Ulfric's capture by Tullius was more based on trial and error than of an actual strategy. But even so, Ulfric learns his lesson and stays hidden in the safety of his Hold and Tullius never captures him again.

But if we are going to use your logic, Tullius screwed up too. When Tullius actually captured Ulfric, he decided to execute him within Skyrim rather than, according to both Ralof and Hadvar, going with the original plan of dragging him to Cyrodiil and execute him there. Had Tullius brought Ulfric out of Skyrim, he would have been executed long ago. Instead Tullius decided to execute him in the middle of a war zone where Stormcloaks and other factions could have interrupted the execution. Now, I know you might say that it was an extremely unusual event that Alduin would return and crash up Helgen. But as the leader of an army meant to put down the rebellion and restore peace, it was Tullius responsibility to make sure that Ulfric was dealt with appropriately once he got captured. Ulfric's escape and continuation of the rebellion is Tullius' fault for not killing him when he had the chance. But Tullius too learns from his mistake and executes Ulfric on spot when he captures Windhelm.

I wasn't talking about destroying the Aldmeri Dominion. I was talking about who can run Skyrim most properly to make it stay strong and prosper. In this case, I can tell you that I trust Ulfric more than Tullius. And here is my reasoning: Tullius is merely a bureaucrat. He takes his orders for the Emperor himself. The Emperor and the Imperials will ultimately care more about themselves than the other provinces. Ulfric, among many things, wants to be High King. Ulfric has a bigger incentive to make sure Skyrim survives than the Empire. After all, what point is there to become king only to have your kingdom fall within months. Ulfric plans to stop funding the Empire with their resources and use them instead to focus on the welfare of his country. Basically, to Ulfric, Skyrim is a personal investment that he payed dearly for and wishes to see it succeed. To the Empire, Skyrim is merely an asset to them. A means to an end. Perhaps even expendable.

As for your evaluation of their armies, while I do like how you added everything together, you are over-thinking it a bit. Here is why I think their armies are equal. Mind you, we are only talking about the troops stationed in Skyrim; The Stormcloaks and Tullius' Legion.

Army size: More or less the same, as I explained before.

Soldier types: Warriors and bowmen. No battlemages are seen, since they are all probably stationed in Cyrodiil.

Tactics: Both sides use the same guerilla warfare due to both sides having limited troops. I mentioned some of them earlier.

Your whole argument that Ulfric is a poor tactician comes from a single piece of dialogue from Galmar, where he expresses his frustration over Ulfric taking a slow approach to the war. Him saying that his men is "getting massacred" is more him being melodramatic due to his fiery and passionate personality. My reasoning to why the armies are equal comes from direct experience by doing the quest-lines. They fight with the exact same tactics and one side isn't getting any more massacred than the other.

I agree. The Empire isn't trying their best. And if they did send an additional 150 troops to tip the even scales, they would probably win. But that's the point. They don't have 150 troops to spare. They have 0. The Legion stationed in Skyrim is all they got. In fact, they didn't even have that much to begin with. The Legion legates admits that they are stretched thin and needed to recruit locally to even match Ulfric's army. Without them, Ulfric would have run over Tullius' forces. More the evidence that the Empire is only capable of defending themselves properly and only stall their enemies elsewhere. As I said before, for an Empire to run another province they need to be capable to manage it while being able to take care of themselves. This is not the case here. If the Dragonborn knows what he is doing, I figure about 10 is all he needs to bring down the entire Stormcloak and the Dragonborn doesn't even need to take action on his own.

1 Assassin. 1 Politican, 2 Merchants, 3 Mercenary, 2 Soldiers and 1 beggar, plus about 1 month 4 days or so is all I need to utterly destroy the Stormcloaks and bring Ulfric's head to Tullius on a platter. Realistically, war is not as simple as the game shows but it also allow for far more diverse strategies to defeat your enemy.

It isn't a trial and error, when it comes to the safety of your VIP, President or King is concerned nothing is trial and error or luck. It is strategy. It simply took Tullius that long to outsmart and capture Ulfric.