(11-17-2014, 05:28 PM)Zelmanov Wrote: How much of a force was dedicated to conquering Ala Mhigo? Is it known?
Very little force was used against Ala Mhigo, only the XIVth legion was used to the best of our knowledge. Gaius van Baelsar and the Garleans sewed civil unrest into the nation until driven mad with conspiracy plots and false claims to divine right, the King of Ruin led his standing army of Lancers (the main force of Ala Mhigo's military might and acclaimed greatest lancer legions in the world) against his own people and slaughtered the Order of the Fists of Rhalgr (monks) crippling his own military. After 5 years of living under his mad tyranny, the Ala Mhigans hated their King, and when the Garleans presented themselves as saviors to the Ala Mhigans and assassinated the King of Ruin, they took Ala Mhigo in a single night. Any who resisted were slaughtered.
As for their military might before that, Ala Mhigo was one of the greatest military powers in Eorzea. In the time of the Autumn War, it took the combined strength of Ishgard, Ul'dah, and Limsa to repel their advance into Gridanian territory.
However, before Commander Vainchelon of the Gridanian armies fell ill, Gridania was expected to single-handedly defeat the advancing Ala Mhigans at the start of the Autumn War. However, upon his death, his successor, a man named Osbern ordered a full out offensive of the Ala Mhigan line. The Gridanians were decimated by the Ala Mhigans. Where once they were poised for victory, the Gridanians had been utterly defeated by Osbern's inexperience as a leader and tactician. It was then that the Ishgardians rallied the other nations of the Eorzean Alliance to aid Gridania in repelling Ala Mhigo from the Twelveswood.
