Learning traveling will help the Seanchan, but the AS still have the advantage.
Logain Send a noteboard - 17/12/2009 01:13:32 AM
Traveling was a great tactical advantage for the AS, but everyone knew the Seanchan would eventually learn it. But there's a simple reason why the Aes Sedai still have a huge tactical advantage over the Seanchan: AES SEDAI CAN LINK, THE SEANCHAN CANNOT.
Learning traveling will not aid the Seanchan much. At least a quarter of all damane won't be strong enough to even open a gateway. Some damane will be able to open a gateway, but not make one big enough for a person to travel through. The remaining damane who can make a gateway big enough to travel through will NOT raise the Seanchan to an even playing field. Even if you have a damane of Alivia's strength, at best, any single damane can make a gateway large enough for 3 or 4 people to go through at once. Most damane that can make a gateway large enough to travel through will only be able to make a gateway large enough for 1 or 2 people to go through at a time. Thus, the Seanchan learning how to travel will not really help them move large numbers of troops.
Once the Seanchan learn to travel, their best use of traveling will be for surgical strikes by sending through a dozen or so sul'dam / damane pairs with an honor guard and hitting the enemy flanks. The mass of Seanchan soldiers will have to move the old fashioned way.
Compare what the Seanchan have (or will shortly have) with what the AS have. The AS can also travel, but because the AS can link, they can open 100 pace wide gateways and move tens of thousands of troops with ease. Imagine 6 sets of 13 women linked. That's 6 different gateways, each one 100 paces wide. The AS could move their entire army in less than an hour if they organized correctly and practiced the maneuvers to perfect it. In fact, considering Egwene has access to a couple thousand channelers, she could probably form a hundred companies of 13 AS each and make 100 gateways, each one 100 paces wide. She could move her entire army in 5 minutes.
So, to properly exploit traveling, the most important thing is the ability to link. The Seanchan will be limited to using traveling for surgical strikes and not much else.
The AS still have the main advantage. The question is, is Gareth Bryne smart enough to realize this? I doubt Captain Chubain is smart enough. Hopefully Gareth Bryne will take over command of all of Tar Valon's army now that Egwene is in control. Hopefully Gareth Bryne will also realize the potential that traveling has and hopefully he's smart enough to have his troops drilling and practicing moving by traveling on a regular basis. A good army commander has his troops practice the routine over and over again because the first time you don't realize what problems will crop up, so you practice it until you work out all the problems.
Learning traveling will not aid the Seanchan much. At least a quarter of all damane won't be strong enough to even open a gateway. Some damane will be able to open a gateway, but not make one big enough for a person to travel through. The remaining damane who can make a gateway big enough to travel through will NOT raise the Seanchan to an even playing field. Even if you have a damane of Alivia's strength, at best, any single damane can make a gateway large enough for 3 or 4 people to go through at once. Most damane that can make a gateway large enough to travel through will only be able to make a gateway large enough for 1 or 2 people to go through at a time. Thus, the Seanchan learning how to travel will not really help them move large numbers of troops.
Once the Seanchan learn to travel, their best use of traveling will be for surgical strikes by sending through a dozen or so sul'dam / damane pairs with an honor guard and hitting the enemy flanks. The mass of Seanchan soldiers will have to move the old fashioned way.
Compare what the Seanchan have (or will shortly have) with what the AS have. The AS can also travel, but because the AS can link, they can open 100 pace wide gateways and move tens of thousands of troops with ease. Imagine 6 sets of 13 women linked. That's 6 different gateways, each one 100 paces wide. The AS could move their entire army in less than an hour if they organized correctly and practiced the maneuvers to perfect it. In fact, considering Egwene has access to a couple thousand channelers, she could probably form a hundred companies of 13 AS each and make 100 gateways, each one 100 paces wide. She could move her entire army in 5 minutes.
So, to properly exploit traveling, the most important thing is the ability to link. The Seanchan will be limited to using traveling for surgical strikes and not much else.
The AS still have the main advantage. The question is, is Gareth Bryne smart enough to realize this? I doubt Captain Chubain is smart enough. Hopefully Gareth Bryne will take over command of all of Tar Valon's army now that Egwene is in control. Hopefully Gareth Bryne will also realize the potential that traveling has and hopefully he's smart enough to have his troops drilling and practicing moving by traveling on a regular basis. A good army commander has his troops practice the routine over and over again because the first time you don't realize what problems will crop up, so you practice it until you work out all the problems.
Learning traveling will help the Seanchan, but the AS still have the advantage.
- 17/12/2009 01:13:32 AM
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Re: Learning traveling will help the Seanchan, but the AS still have the advantage.
- 17/12/2009 01:39:32 AM
952 Views
Linking provides another benefit.
- 17/12/2009 02:02:05 AM
873 Views
Wow, if that happens, I will be her biggest fan
*NM*
- 17/12/2009 02:10:01 AM
475 Views
*NM*
- 17/12/2009 02:10:01 AM
475 Views
Me too! Destroying the White Tower would make even me like Egwene. *NM*
- 17/12/2009 11:36:03 AM
407 Views
Ideally, both would be destroyed! Along with the rest of Randland. Muahahahahaha!!
- 18/12/2009 12:40:55 AM
821 Views
What an utterly stupid idea.
- 17/12/2009 11:35:24 AM
802 Views
Your facts are incorrect.
- 17/12/2009 02:41:42 PM
840 Views
They were losing at Dumai's Wells. That's why they had to tie off Rand's shield
- 17/12/2009 08:18:32 PM
824 Views
The army of Night, fighting against the Seanchan Empire, surely have linked channelers
- 18/12/2009 04:34:52 AM
1372 Views
Is that the Superpower they're looking for all along? *NM*
- 17/12/2009 02:02:25 AM
393 Views
No, the superpower is the "atomic bomb-like" weapon at the Kin's farm that melted sand.
- 17/12/2009 03:10:01 AM
870 Views
another linking advantage
- 17/12/2009 02:10:56 AM
745 Views
All that will do is take the best fighters out of action.
- 17/12/2009 11:55:55 AM
803 Views
I have to agree with Cannoli on this, but with a twist.
- 17/12/2009 02:46:03 PM
846 Views
Why mace of air?
- 17/12/2009 05:58:32 PM
769 Views
I can't compete with deathgates to outer space, but damane can be rehabilitated.
- 17/12/2009 08:10:17 PM
714 Views
So can soldiers. Lots of Taraboners, Altarans, etc in Seanchan army.
- 17/12/2009 10:08:32 PM
768 Views
Oh, yes. Because damane NEVER fight soldiers, and would thus ignore them.
- 17/12/2009 09:00:41 PM
750 Views
- 17/12/2009 09:00:41 PM
750 Views
Re: All that will do is take the best fighters out of action.
- 19/12/2009 06:10:26 PM
986 Views
Do you really think the Aes Sedai would let them control the circles if they had a say?
- 21/12/2009 08:23:46 PM
807 Views
Re: Do you really think the Aes Sedai would let them control the circles if they had a say?
- 22/12/2009 02:04:11 AM
711 Views
Why did you post this?
- 17/12/2009 09:35:09 AM
830 Views
What post are you talking about?
- 17/12/2009 04:57:14 PM
636 Views
thanks for the credit... PS I'm a guy *NM*
- 18/12/2009 12:10:56 AM
423 Views
Ooops
- 18/12/2009 12:48:22 AM
744 Views
- 18/12/2009 12:48:22 AM
744 Views
I'm totally teasing you ... I added the "sedai" to be snarky
- 18/12/2009 12:55:51 AM
1156 Views
Yeah, I don't get that: Fantasy gender-nuetral honorific, plus Real World male name = female?
- 18/12/2009 05:35:17 AM
789 Views
Asha'man can' link either and they didn't have a problem moving an army
- 17/12/2009 08:16:48 PM
823 Views
Rand's campaign lasted more than a week. The AS could move the entire army in 5 minutes.
- 17/12/2009 08:28:40 PM
825 Views

*NM*
*NM*