markusschaber wrote:penny wrote:Are you mad? Nobody can replace Honor. Not a single solitary soul. Especially over in the Attacking Darius thread.
Anyone other than Honor stick their head in that meat grounder is going to become hamburger. They might have become hamburger at Galton. Honor changed her tactics, but anyone else would not have. And died.
Why do you think "anyone else would not have"? It's an unknown enemy, and the best other leaders are also smart, well above average, so what makes you confident that noone else could have had that idea? After all, David Weber came up with that idea, and he's a great author, but not a genetically improved, trained and experienced military leader.
And if you have a choice of a handful excellent officers, each one has different preferred tactics, so how should the enemy even know which one to expect?
Also, though Honor was the one to take the final decision about tactics, she discussed everything with others during the planning meetings, including some people who stayed back in Manticore. She's not infallible, and she knows it, so it would be stupid to not brainstorm together, and try to craft the best out of the whole team.
Honor might be the best, but there are quite a few others which are also excellent. I also think if you team up some of the best ones (Tourville, Henke, Terekhof, White Haven, Alfredo Yu and a few others, especially the officers who had served with her, or Andrea Jaruwalski who has been her deputy at the Advanced Tactical Course at Saganami Island), together, they're better than Honor.
Shall we mount this horse from the other end.
Do shut up Pavel Young. LOL
There is no one in the whole of the RMN that could even handle Trevor's Star. McQueen kept putting her foot in every Manty's ass that hypered in, while she was on a shoestring naval budget! Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if McQueen was defending Trevor's star with a bunch of decrepit old destroyers! Heck, she wasn't being supported by her government. Yet, she sure kicked some Manty ass. Her 'smoke and mirrors' baffled the mighty Manty machine.
Admittedly, the author had to put me in my place regarding Hamish and McQueen. He said it wasn't Hamish whose ass McQueen constantly put her foot in. Too bad. Because I can't let go of this scene ...
Imagine McQueen constantly bending Hamish over her lap, like Uma Thurman did the young swordsman in Kill Bill and proceeded to warm up his backside with a sword ... "Didn't. Your. Momma. Tell. You. Not. To. Play. With. Warships!!! Now go home to your mother!" WHACK!
As I said the author denied that it was Hamish who took an ass whipping from McQueen. The drunken wiki seems to disagree which reminds me to reread as much about that as possible. Although, it would be nice if the author gave us that scene.
Wiki: He (Hamish) led the primary thrust at the People's Republic of Haven after war was declared and was only stopped in the Nightingale System. He continued his drive on the Trevor's Star System and considered making a direct attack despite his reputation as a master of the indirect approach. He also managed to incorporate certain ideas of the jeune ecole despite his general distaste for it. (HH4, HH6)
Darius is going to be a lot more difficult than Trevor's Star.
Synopsis:Hamish was part of the traditional school of tactical thought. He preferred tactics over brute force. Which is commendable. But it made it ironic that Honor had to browbeat him to accept Apollo. But, utilizing tactics in favor of brute force would get Hamish in trouble at Darius.
Honor was a member of the jeune ecole, a school that preferred material based warfare. It opposed the traditional school which preferred tactics.
So, against Darius it will come down to tactics (traditional school) or a big hammer, jeune ecole. If the MAN's stealth is successful, it will render the big hammer impotent by preventing Manty systems from "acquiring a lock," preventing engaging. One cannot engage an enemy one cannot see.
The jeune ecole's toys have been rendered impotent until a target can be acquired. Enter tactics, the traditional school.
Honor is the only tactician who is an expert in both schools of tactics.
The author won't tell, but if it wasn't Hamish who took a Queen's, er, a McQueen's ass whipping, I will assume whoever's sore ass it was is still alive and certainly isn't the best officer to send to Darius.
P.S. IINM, I seem to recall at the last minute that what the author actually said was that it
was Hamish at Trevor's Star, but by the time he got there McQueen had been recalled.
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The artist formerly known as cthia.
Now I can talk in the third person.