DeathWyrmNexus said:
Big problem, his mechanizations weren't sound. He attacked a powerful lord and divided the country.
The country was divided before he "attacked" any lord. The attacks were made in order to force compliance with his rule in the time of crisis.
DeathWyrmNexus said:
He quit the field after he received the signal.
Yes, he received the signal but my argument is that the signal arrived too late. The fixing force had been destroyed and should he commit his army to the fight the numerically superior darkspawn army could have simply turned their primary axis of attack and defense against the threat and the fixing force would be unable to contest this turn. Thus Loghain would be throwing his smaller army against a larger one across a wide front. That is, from a tactical standpoint,
suicide.
DeathWyrmNexus said:
So while you make a good argument for the necessity of multiple signals, one proved enough.
As I pointed out the problem was that the signal was disrupted by enemy action causing it to arrive late. A message that arrives late is no better than one that doesn't arrive at all.
DeathWyrmNexus said:
He quit the field when he could have made a difference.
His assault would have made a difference. It would, almost certainly, result in the destruction of both his and the King's force. He would have caused casualties in the Darkspawn army but it would seem that such a thing is trivial at best. The King's army won three battles decisively already and their strength only continued to grow. Even should he have pulled a victory out of the ordeal his force would be badly attritted and they would have to quit the field anyway as reinforcements were days if not weeks away.
DeathWyrmNexus said:
Leaving the Wardens to die nearly doomed the country.
My argument was that he had no reason to believe the Wardens were actually
necessary to defeat the darkspawn. The last blight was 400 years prior to the events of the game and any stories of the Wardens had passed from history into legend.
DeathWyrmNexus said:
His assassination attempt caused an intracountry power play, doing nothing to stop it.
That power play began with the death of the king. The king was important not because of his skill at rule but because his heredity was of historical significance (the first king had united the kingdom)
DeathWyrmNexus said:
So I don't quite get the whole Loghain was right side of things, I'm afraid.
I'm not saying that he was correct, I'm simply saying that he did not make the grievous tactical and strategic errors people accuse him of.
Because the signal was late, Loghain had to quit the field leaving the King to die. Because the King was dead he had to act quickly to keep the nobles in line in order to preserve their combined strength to face the Darkspawn horde. He had no reason to believe the Wardens were necessary or useful. What's more, given their history of high treason (the reason Warden's keep is a tomb for example), why would Loghain believe that the assistance from Orlais would be anything other than an excuse for them to reassert their rule (which he had spent much of his life overthrowing).
Of his actions, only one of them could be considered even remotely irrational (trying to assassinate the surviving Wardens) and even then, considering his experiences, even that was perfectly rational.
DeathWyrmNexus said:
EDIT: Also, his solution to dealing with people he considered treasonous is more treason?
Without a King (the person against whom treason is committed in the governing system in the game), it is impossible to commit treason. Was quitting the field treason? Probably. But it was also the only intelligent move to make. You do not reinforce a failed effort; such a path is foolhardy.
My point, in fact, is that Loghain made reasonable choices when handed the situation. I'm perfectly willing to believe that committing his force would not have saved the king or allowed the garrison to hold Ostagar for reasons I've clearly stated. Killing a single Arl to keep the nation from plunging into civil war would have been a perfectly reasonable exchange considering the circumstances. And, if killing the Grey Wardens ensured Orlais kept out of the matter (keeping in mind that Loghain had no reason to believe the Wardens were actually anything more than skilled warriors), that works too. After all, what use is saving the nation if you just give it right back to a hated enemy?
