(08-28-2014, 01:28 PM)Dogberry Wrote: Historically, a naval based force will always beat a land based force.
I wouldn't agree.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peloponnesian_War
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punic_Wars
I would say that a Naval based force can rarely lose to a land based force, because there is no way for the land based troops to fight it. Likewise control of the sea doesn't help you much if you don't have the offensive land troops needed. See world war II for an example.
Sea based forces can only win when they bring a land force capable of defeating the enemy land force. Sea allows you to move force around faster, but against a concentrated city state like Ul'dah that doesn't matter. Also it's stated that the currents of vesper bay changed with the calamity, which is why there are no large ships there. So Limsa wouldn't be able to say, shell the city from the sea.
