Ender's earth alliance

[Shadow War-Chief]

Ender\'s earth alliance

I have a simple question for you all. If Ender (from Ender's Game) had been head admiral of the Earth Alliance during the Minbari war, do you think we would have won?

Ender is a tacticlal genius a million times better than the greatest war hero to date. It's quite possible that WE would be the ones bombarding the minbari homeworld ith Ender commanding the fleet.

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[Lorien]

Re: Ender\'s earth alliance

If ender did win. then the war against the shadows would probably be lost. However if Ender and Macgyver were fighting each other in an arts and crafts store Id say Macgyver would win. In fact Macgyver would probably be able to take on an army of minbari in surface battle.

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"I really hate it when you do that"

"Good"

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Re: Ender\'s earth alliance

As far as I remember the Minbari didn't use means of mass destruction. Some planned to, and would have used them on Earth, but during the war they were never used... They simply blasted Earth ships out of the skies, leaving most colonies intact and heading for Earth itself.

I imagine that they had plenty of fusion bombs in stock and even nastier things engineered by Deathwalker for the Wind Swords. Against a tactically better opponent they might have brought in the worst part of their technology... but wasn't Earth Force tactically good enough? I think it was. It was a matter of technology - it's hard to shoot something that you can't target.

[This message has been edited by Lennier (edited May 05, 2001).]

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Re: Ender\'s earth alliance

It think its the fact that more tactics were open to the Minbari because of their technology. Because their jump engines were so precise they could jump into the middle of an EA convoy or fleet and tear 'em up before they knew what hit them. Also, tactics that wouldn't have worked for humans because their ships couldn't take much damage without being disabled would work for Minbari because their ships were so much tougher and had automatic repair mechanisms. It was definately a matter of technology in space.

On the ground, however, I think it was another matter. Minbari are smaller, faster, and even stronger in spite of their size. They can also go much further on less blood than a human with comparable blood loss (As seen in Soul Hunter). I don't know if it's ever said how many ground battles the humans lost or won, but I think that our winnings would have been much fewer than the Minbari's.

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You are finite. Zathras is finite. This...is wrong tool.

jtk724@hotmail.com

 

[Shadow War-Chief]

Re: Ender\'s earth alliance

Even though the minbari would have had more advanced technology, Ender is the greatest tactician that ever was. Ender only needs one battle, win or lose,before he gets the hang of B5 space war. After that, the Minbari would be toast. EVen as advanced as the minbari are, their ships still try to move on a 2-d plane. This is a grae mistake as seeing that ender uses all three dimensions to his advantage. He defeated an army of equal size with 3 CASUALTIES!!! 3 CASUALTIES OUT OF AN ARMY OF 50 against an army of 50 with 50 casualties. that's a 17:1 kill ratio better than that of the minbari during the war. However, the minbari do have technology. But think about it.

Alexandar the great's army can beat dennis the menace's army even if dennis has the bows and arrows and alexander has the slingshots



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[**DONOTDELETE**]

Re: Ender\'s earth alliance

In such a situation Ender wouldn't be of more use than General Lefcourt or Shai Alyt Branmer. I wouldn't estimate tactics so highly in a strategic conflict. I'll try to explain why...

In a strategic conflict both sides have time to learn, adapt and discover their technological advantages. Even if it would be possible to outsmart an equal enemy in an unlimited playing field, it is quite impossible to defeat a technically more advanced enemy while you are cornered. Desperation and clever tactics can't be underestimated but they won't stop overwhelming fleets - only weapons and resources can.

Imagine thet you've got a planet to defend. You can't play tactical games when someone jumps in, ready to launch fusion bombs and viruses at your homeworld. You have to simply confront them with what you have. If what you have is not enough... then you can hope that the Universe blinks...

that someone named Jeffrey Sinclair tries to ram the Grey Council cruiser.

Both opponents learn. Use an advanced tactical measure and the opponent will learn how to counter it, even turn it against you. In an extended war, technology and strategical resources are what count, tactics are quickly exhausted.

Technology, resources and people will limit the usage of advanced tactics. Imagine a situation where your communications and jump engines can be jammed, orders won't get through, ships will be outgunned and outrun, gunners have to target manually, weapons will encounter stronger shields and armor...

If all of these strategic factors are piled up they will outweigh even the most perfect tactical skills.

Even if the admiral would be a First One, the captains, pilots and soldiers would still be ordinary people - they would panic, get tired, make errors, have their own agendas. Tactics can't cut through a ship if weapons can't.

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An addition: Shadow tactics are an intersting one - as their usual practice is to attack randomly, creating confusion and defying any logical approach.

[This message has been edited by Lennier (edited May 05, 2001).]