(11-19-2014, 10:57 PM)Zyrusticae Wrote: I have to note that, numerically, Ul'dah would be the largest city-state by a considerable margin at least partly thanks to all the refugees from Ala Mhigo and elsewhere. I can't imagine Limsa Lominsa being appreciably larger than Gridania because, frankly, Vylbrand is just not very big to begin with and the bulk of their populace lives by the seashore. It's not a massive land-based city like Ul'dah is and they're unlikely to have the resources to support a large standing army to begin with.
That being said, their armies are more than likely roughly equivalent in raw fighting ability, with specific advantages in certain kinds of warfare and terrain. And as it is a work of fiction, the intent by the writers is pretty clear in that they are definitely meant to be roughly equivalent factions with no clear "winner" as it were. Attempting to gauge their strengths against one another is an entertaining intellectual exercise, but ultimately nothing more.
That being said, Garlemald could very easily crush the combined might of Eorzea in open warfare if they so desired. That is simply not under question.
But Ul'dah is, as the main story has shown, very unstable and divided. The strongest force won't matter if Garlemald succeeds in their psychological game (again) and start a major uprising (again). Limsa is not much better. I still find it a stretch that they manage to have any military at all. Ishgard is all but confirmed to have its leader subverted to nefarious ends.
Garlemald plays the information game too well. They could probably get Eorzea to invert upon itself without much effort.
