JQBogus wrote:fredgiblet wrote:Or as in the case of the Romans, win against foes with superior skills and weapons by virtue of vastly superior tactics and strategy. Technology isn't everything.
The Romans were probably only down one tech generation at most. Humanity in this story is down 2 or 3. And it is a naval war, rather than a land one, which means tech is all that much more important.
I think the difference is more like the modern US Navy vs the Imperial Japanese Navy of 1905. Sure, if the US navy stumbles within 10,000 yards it can get hurt, but odds are pretty stacked against that happening.
Actually, the Romans quite reliably hired mercenaries, so they probably weren't even down a generation in terms of their neighbors. We tend to focus on the Legions, but apparently something like half of Roman units were "Auxiliaries" of multiple combatant types, and apparently those units were often more effective than the legions.
A big thing that the Romans
did have was fairly standardized fort designs. Apparently a legion could usually get one setup over the course of a few hours,
while under attack. I would assume that most of their enemies didn't have this, and the ones that either did, or fought them in areas where they couldn't construct them effectively (e.g. areas without trees), were likely to be (in a strategic sense) their most difficult opponents.
icekatze wrote:hi hi
I watched "The Battle of the Bulge," and everyone just couldn't stop talking about getting to the fuel depot. If humans can produce fuel that Loroi ships can use, that alone will make them a valuable ally. (This impertinent movie reference was brought to you in a joint venture by icekatze and the AMC channel.)
This, I think, is the
real way that Humanity possesses a strategic position: we're way off
in the general direction that the expansion efforts are moving (or at least the direction that the front is moving), which means that we approximately hold the same position as Britain or the Philippines in WW2. If you get us, then you get a general-purpose base of operations. If you don't have us, then operating in that general area is much the same as a German WW2 U-boat attacking western Atlantic shipping. You can do it, but you're going to have serious supply problems. To the best of my memory the Umiak are fairly close to one entrance to a navigable loop, while Humanity is close to the other end of the same loop, so that adds to the strategic situation: if the Loroi can get the TCA to provide fuel capabilities, then they can start a program of recruiting allies in the Tunnel quite some time before the Umiak get to them. Especially the combination of Historian tech sales, + Humanity and/or Barsam diplomats, + Loroi Mizol "attachés", could pose a quite formidable diplomatic "task force". Add a semi-autonomous fusion "mobile starbase" with attendant Historian, Barsam, and Loroi courier vessels, and you might be able to get most (or all) of the Loop on your side before the Umiak had a chance to start invading them in earnest.