who is your favorite military leader?

[HarryScull]

for me its the duke of wellington (sir arthur wellesley) for 2 reasons

1. he was a huge military genius, he won battles that others thought were un-winnable like assaye or gawilghur (at assay he led a force of 9,500 me and 17 cannons to attack a force of 60,000 men and over 100 cannons who were guarding a river....and won, later saying it was his proudest achievement) he would always get the best out of his men morale wise and they like him (mostly because he gave them confidence), frequently destroy much larger enemy army's in both france and india and dominated the peninsular war, stepping in when all hope seamed lost he used superior campaign and battle tactics to destroy a huge french force and would go on to liberate all of Portugal and would even win battles against good generals like marshal Ney and of course Napoleon himself and was even known to do it with inferior forces at his disposal

2. he was a badass, he would ride at the front of cavalry charges and frequently had horses shot from underneath him (this happened 3 times at assaye alone) and wouldnt even flinch as round shot flew past him, giving off a cool and calm disposition that inspired those around him to remain calm and do their duty even under heavy fire

so who is your favorite military leader?

 

[SeeIn2D]

Erwin Rommel. Because the guy was a brilliant military strategist (even if he was with the Nazis), he was part of the plot to kill Hitler, he was a little crazy, and he gained the respect not just of his own men, but also the men he fought.

Captcha: roid rage
Alright captcha, calm down.

 

[triggrhappy94]

The Anti-tank commander for the Panzer Elite. What, how isn't this thread about Company of Heroes.
Ahhh it seems like I'm the only person on this site that plays that game.

 

[BathorysGraveland]

Probably Vercingetorix. He just seemed like a true hero of his people in my eyes and had huge balls, even in defeat.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

I like Scipio, for developing the perfect anti Elephant Strategy to beat Hannibal. When the Elephants charge, step to the side and let them pass. It's so flipping obvious, and yet it crushed Hannibal.

 

[octafish]

Australia's hero of WW2 Lieutenant Colonel Sir Ernest Edward "Weary" Dunlop. He fought no battles, killed no enemy soldiers, and captured no territory. Instead he was a doctor and after being captured by the Japanese in 1942 when he refused to abandon his patients he went on to become the Australian Commander in charge of the prisoners on the Thai Burma railway, because of his defiance of the Japanese guards and his skills as a doctor he was able to ease the pain of the dying and to help many more survive the disease and mistreatment in the camps. After years of hell he then after the war forgave his captors and set about strengthening ties between Australia and Asia.

Other than that, well Subotai, because well, Subotai. If the Khan hadn't died we would all be speaking Mongolian now.

 

[Kolby Jack]

John Paul Jones. Father of the US Navy, sayer of "I have not yet begun to fight!" and all around bad ass mo fo. Dude had balls, and the brilliance and ferocity to back them up. When America was fighting the Brits for independence and everyone else said "Let's just focus on protecting out waters" JPJ was like "Fuck that! I'ma go fuck their shit up like a BOSS!" (paraphrased). When his ship was in pieces and sinking during a battle with a much larger British one, he was asked to surrender, uttered those famous words, and proceeded to WIN. Again, like a boss.

 

[WolfThomas]

Sir John Monash. Because he practiced basically modern warfare in the hell that was WW1

... the true role of infantry was not to expend itself upon heroic physical effort, not to wither away under merciless machine-gun fire, not to impale itself on hostile bayonets, nor to tear itself to pieces in hostile entanglements?(I am thinking of Pozières and Stormy Trench and Bullecourt, and other bloody fields)?but on the contrary, to advance under the maximum possible protection of the maximum possible array of mechanical resources, in the form of guns, machine-guns, tanks, mortars and aeroplanes; to advance with as little impediment as possible; to be relieved as far as possible of the obligation to fight their way forward; to march, resolutely, regardless of the din and tumult of battle, to the appointed goal; and there to hold and defend the territory gained; and to gather in the form of prisoners, guns and stores, the fruits of victory.

 

[JaceArveduin]

Add a second vote to Rommel, guy was just fucking badass and a beastly tactician. No anti-tank guns? Hell, let's turn the AA guns over and shoot the tanks with those!

 

[Thaluikhain]

Gaius Julius Caesar, the man who lead Rome on a path towards being an Empire.

You've got to admit, it takes BALLS to do half the things he did. He broke years upon years of tradition by marching to Rome without disbanding his army, he started his own war and conquered all of modern day france just to pay off his debts, he gambled all his savings on Bids to power and it paid off.

The cream of the cake has to be when he entered Germania. The whole territory was separated from Rome by the MASSIVE Rhine River, it wasn't that useful economically, but it was known to have some of the fiercest barbarians Rome ever saw. To cross the Rhine, he chopped down the nearby forest while the German barbarians looked on, then he had his legion form a bridge across the Rhine, despite the length of the river and it's heavy current, using the wood from the massive area he deforested. After the bridge was complete, he mapped out more of Germania then any previous Roman, and he had the "Fearsome" Barbarians so terrified that his legion was completely unharassed as they explored the land. Then, to top it all off as one massive "Screw you!"/one final way to stroke his ego past it's limit, he tore down the entire bridge that his men spent months working on.

Well, Pompeius and Sulla could have been said to have led Rome down that path, and IIRC, Pompeius marched an army worrying close to Rome, just not quite all the way, but yeah.

Oh, IIRC, he didn't map much after crossing the bridge, he only stayed on the far side for a day or so. The whole point was to show the Germanics they weren't safe.

...

Alexander the Great, because he was playing on God mode. Not only did he conquer much of the known world before he was 35, he conquered places that no Greek had even heard of before he started. Also, he should have died many times over in the fighting. A stone from a catapult glanced his head, gave him blurry vision for months, he kept going. An arrow punctured his lung, so he got on a horse and rode up and down in front of his army to show how unhurt he was, and so on.

I personally feel that Celestial Bureaucracy mucked up badly for many years, and his death was the result of them correcting an error once they'd found it, rather than mere mortal concerns.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

Spoiler: Horatio Nelson

For sailing constantly to keep the French (and Spanish) at bay, beating the French fleet at the Nile, being adored by all his men and for having subordinates who knew exactly what he wanted to do before battle.... This guy at Trafalgar delivered a vital "Fuck you" to Napoleon and his armada at a time where the Third Coalition was leading up to Austerlitz. Lost an arm and an eye, he still kicked ass until the end. It's not for nothing that officers during the first world war pointed to this guy and said "We need to be like this guy.".

 

[Supertegwyn]

The Anti-tank commander for the Panzer Elite. What, how isn't this thread about Company of Heroes.
Ahhh it seems like I'm the only person on this site that plays that game.

Liesssssss.

I am well versed with that which is Company of Heroes.

 

[Ix Rebound]

Australia's hero of WW2 Lieutenant Colonel Sir Ernest Edward "Weary" Dunlop. He fought no battles, killed no enemy soldiers, and captured no territory. Instead he was a doctor and after being captured by the Japanese in 1942 when he refused to abandon his patients he went on to become the Australian Commander in charge of the prisoners on the Thai Burma railway, because of his defiance of the Japanese guards and his skills as a doctor he was able to ease the pain of the dying and to help many more survive the disease and mistreatment in the camps. After years of hell he then after the war forgave his captors and set about strengthening ties between Australia and Asia.

seconded
hell i did a project on him in my forth year of school

 

[JesterRaiin]

Fictional ? Admiral Hackett / Mass Effect
Real world ? Hmmmm, though one... I'll choose http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinz_Guderian

 

[dietrichrieper]

how about Greek hero-king Leonidas of Sparta... most of the snappy comebacks he had in the movie are actually from recorded history... he was like a B.C.E. renegade Shepard

 

[Ilikemilkshake]

Hitler.
Yes Hitler, He was the single greatest Allied military leader of the war.
Why? Because he was such a crazy bastard that he never listened to his Generals and basically won the war for the Allies with all his stupid plans.

 

[thethird0611]

General George S. Patton. He was one crazy son of a gun. Made him a darn good General, and he knew how to motivate his troops (most of the time).

Though, ill put Rommel up there with him. Damn good tank commander. The armor division of the Nazi's would of been long gone with him.

 

[getoffmycloud]

Air chief marshal Hugh Dowding he led the royal air force in the battle of Britain and despite large numbers of his pilots having recently fled from their countries in Europe being unable to speak English and having only a few weeks training he defeated the large majority of the Luftwaffe and stop the invasion of Britain.