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Greatest military commander in history

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admin
By admin | Jan 24 2014 6:31 PM
Alexander the Great? Sun Tzu? Hannibal? Saladin? Napoleon? Who do you think was the greatest historical commander of armies.
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Pinkie
By Pinkie | Jan 24 2014 6:39 PM
admin: I'm not sure. Wbu?
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Pinkie
By Pinkie | Jan 24 2014 6:39 PM
admin: I'm not sure. Wbu?
Please excuse me as I'm not super creative when it comes to forum signatures.
admin
By admin | Jan 24 2014 7:39 PM
Pinkie: Hmmm... well, I've always thought Subutai was pretty fantastic at strategy. Hannibal deserves a pretty big honorable mention though. Khalid ibn al-Walid is underrated by everybody who isn't Muslim and overrated by everyone who is Muslim, but he'd be a comfortable third place in my books.
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nzlockie
By nzlockie | Jan 24 2014 8:38 PM
I'll take Robert E Lee in my team. Based on working successfully from a losing position, and taking into account leadership qualities that earned genuine respect from both sides.

My #2 goes to Rommel for ability to follow orders but willingness to use iniative in the field if the situation demands it. I feel like he would compliment Lee perfectly.

I'll also have Keith Park as my bolter for calm organisational ability, again with minimal resources and in the clutch. Plus he's a kiwi and that would put God on our side.
Pinkie
By Pinkie | Jan 25 2014 11:35 AM
Cool. :)
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admin
By admin | Jan 25 2014 12:21 PM
Pinkie: Come on, give us your pick!
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Pinkie
By Pinkie | Jan 25 2014 12:28 PM
admin: Lol, I don't know them very well, I never payed attention in history. *Walks away shamefully*
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nzlockie
By nzlockie | Apr 14 2014 11:06 PM
I always this was a pretty interesting thread that never went anywhere at the time. Now that there are some different faces on here, what do you think?

Three person military leadership team, to handle a war in an unknown location under unknown circumstances. Go!
ADreamOfLiberty
By ADreamOfLiberty | Apr 15 2014 7:47 AM
Napoleon Bonaparte, Alexander the Great. (not sure which)

Sun Tzu would be in there except that he is far more legend than those, i.e. we can't be sure what he actually did rather than what he wrote.
nzlockie
By nzlockie | Apr 15 2014 8:08 AM
ADreamOfLiberty: Couple of big egos there! Do you think they'd work together? Who'd be in charge?
ADreamOfLiberty
By ADreamOfLiberty | Apr 15 2014 9:33 AM
nzlockie: Don't confuse cause and effect, their accomplishments led to their egos, especially Napoleon.

I think they would work together when they had common cause (as all people tend to do).

They both claimed to fight wars of conquest for the benefit of the people under the defeated government, and I think they both believed it. Both of them however became progressively more interested in furthering their personal, their army's, and their nations glory.

So it would depend, if you tried to stick them together near the end of their careers nothing would work because they were both completely addled with delusions of grandeur at that point. i.e. even if they both agreed on the correct strategy they would fight over who gets to ride in and strike the killing blow.
admin
By admin | Apr 15 2014 1:49 PM
nzlockie's team would focus on morale and fighting to the end against seemingly impossible odds;
ADOL's team would be aggressive and focus on seizing the initiative at every opportunity;
And my team would focus on strategy, outmaneuvering every opponent they face.
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18Karl
By 18Karl | Apr 17 2014 9:51 AM
I hold Heinz Guideran in high respect; after all, he defeated a force that outnumbered him two to one in an offensive war. Zhukov too; survived all odds under Stalin. But the greatest, let's see, I dunno. I don't think it would be fair to compare them.
"Oi you! Yeah you! How many commies have you shot today"
nzlockie
By nzlockie | Apr 17 2014 1:34 PM
OK, having done my "Defensive Clutch" team, here is my "Guerilla Warfare" team!


George Skanderberg for his proven track record of holding off armies up to 20 times larger than his by using the environment to his advantage. He is going to control the majority of my troops, my "main" army.

Orde Windgate for his unconventional way of thinking and his ability to teach and train locals. His job will be to identify, train and co-ordinate the specialist crack teams that will specifically target critical sections of the opposing forces.

Alexander the Great for his cool name, his overall military genius, his proven track record in handling unknown armies in a range of different environments often with less troops but most of all because I need someone highly skilled in co-ordination and military logistics. Alexander the Great will fill this role for me as the commander in chief of my army.

This was a tricky list to put together. There are several notable names missing and I really tried to find a place for many of them. Ultimately I decided that this team would have the best compromise of a defensive and offensive guerrilla tactics and would be able to function effectively whenever and where ever it was required.
18Karl
By 18Karl | Apr 17 2014 1:36 PM
nzlockie: You......how could you miss Vo Nguyen Giap......you deserve to be punished!
"Oi you! Yeah you! How many commies have you shot today"
nzlockie
By nzlockie | Apr 17 2014 1:40 PM
18Karl: Yeah I know, I had him on there first actually, but when my other roles got filled in, it was a choice between him or Alexander. Alexander had the better experience at a range of different environments.

nzlockie
By nzlockie | Apr 17 2014 1:42 PM
nzlockie: I wanted to get the Afghan Mujideen in there somehow too, but they didn't make the cut. If I was picking armies instead of generals though...
18Karl
By 18Karl | Apr 17 2014 1:50 PM
nzlockie: I would replace Windgate with Giap actually. Giap led a ragtag army against the most powerful army in the world, whereas Windgate received help from them.
"Oi you! Yeah you! How many commies have you shot today"
nzlockie
By nzlockie | Apr 17 2014 3:11 PM
18Karl: Do your team! I'd be keen to see it!

Re: Windgate, I think he'd do a good job working with foreign nationals and coming up with adaptive strategies on the fly. I need someone to handle the trickier missions which is what he's there for. If I was going to replace him I'd be looking at someone with similar skills, like T E Lawrence.

Giap I had down as my overall commander, for his logistical ability especially in communications, and his strategic mind and ability to know when it was time to react and when it was time to withdraw; but part of the reason I ditched him, in addition to the ones I already said, was the amount of help the VC got from China and Russia. And while I want to be VERY clear that I'm not belittling their achievement at all, the USA did not really approach that war very well. They didn't really provide the VC with as stiff a competition as say, the Russians gave the Afghans. (IMO)
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