This kind of efficiency was routine about 5 or 6 years ago. Its how realms like Perdan, Sirion, CE, Abington, etc, were able to march around with 70KCS armies. The only thing new here is that they are controled/managed enough to do it under the new tax system.
Maybe so. I just haven't seen anything like it in my time here (since May 2008).
But it is weird that that kind of play has been absent from BM for so long, only to be seen again now in Aurvandil?
But that being said, we were in a federation, and it was rather silly of him to think that D'Hara wouldn't step in to help Barca. Especially when, you know, they detain what we require most: affordable food.
That's because Mendicant has some weird daddy issues about commitment and alliances and stuff. And it isn't even like "Oh, I don't like alliances so I won't be in one." It's a "Oh, I don't like alliances so I won't be in one, and if you are in one I'll be pissed at you about it." He's like that friend who is always pissy at you when you're in a relationship and he isn't.
I don't think that Aurvandil and the Falkirian Freestate are invincible. But I do think that the more we wait, the harder it will be, because we'll be weakening each other as they grow stronger.
The thing with Aurvandil is that they have a super efficient huge army. But with sea travel, their borders will be quite porous. Everyone could strike at them from everywhere. Indeed, everyone could gather right off the coast of Candiels, wait for them to wank at Terran, and then offload onto shore in a rural next door and then march into their capital. Or just go on a general looting run. If various realms decided to interfere, without even needing their whole army, they could send marauding squads to loot Aurvandil and the Freestate, earning gold for themselves while lowering southern wealth and productivity and forcing them to split up that huge army of theirs.
The biggest problem that is that no one seems willing to do this. The Northern realms don't care because they don't feel threatened (too far away). An alliance between the 'Moot and the Lurias was the only real solid chance we had, and the Lurias had to go and screw the pooch on that one (which is typical, I suppose).
