who is your favorite military leader?

[loc978]

I would take a figure from history, but I never served under any of 'em. One thing I do know about living commanders, though... General David Petraeus seemed to have a gift for seeing how things were going to play out. He's also a tough son of a *****.

 

[Dwarfman]

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.

I'll second this vote.

A brilliant man both in the army and in civilian life. Practically wrote the book on how modern warfare should be waged. Respected and with his keen intellect and ability did his best to preserve the lives of all his soldiers where possible. Was promoted to command by his deeds and not by his name in an age of class and racial intolerance (He was Prussian-Jew by ancestry). And was knighted in the field of battle by King George V.

Yeah I say the man kicks a bit of arse.

 

[Simonism451]

Kim Jong Il.
He's also my favourite film director, author, composer of operas, fighter jet pilot, astronaut, doctor, teacher, alpinist, musician, political figure, visionary, hunter of rare animals, coal-mine worker, dairy farmer and sun glasses model.

 

[RustlessPotato]

Kim Jong Il.
He's also my favourite film director, author, composer of operas, fighter jet pilot, astronaut, doctor, teacher, alpinist, musician, political figure, visionary, hunter of rare animals, coal-mine worker, dairy farmer and sun glasses model.

Don't forget a great cook, he invented the burger after all...

 

[SckizoBoy]

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.

He was really hard done by, actually, him and AVM Park (Leigh-Mallory, the bastard basically took the credit for the victory even though his methods were widely debunked... despite having Bader on his side). He was sacked in 1942 and basically told to shovel shit (almost literally). Also, he's got a badass full name: Hugh Caswall Tremenheere 'Stuffy' Dowding.

heinz guderian was damn good and willing to step forward and refuse orders that could of had him shot.

The only reason he never GFM was because of his constant arguing with Hitler... even Manstein got promoted and even though he got sacked just as much.

snip

Wellington was ridiculed at first for being cautious (trenchworks and defensive war at the beginning of the Peninsular War) but Salamanca put paid to that opinion, and he was much like Scipio: demoralised army/political situation, unreliable allies, turned them into a nigh unbeatable army (which he did twice, once in Spain, once in Belgium... sort of, though his army was full of idiots - cavalry - or useless militias - no disrespect to the Dutch/Belgians, and had only a few thousand of his Iberian veterans).

Anyway, I first read that as 'best military leader', then I would've vented my spleen and gone on a diatribe about the definition of 'best' in this context and what makes a good military leader in and out of context.

Still, this [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/18.368819.14319301] is my answer, 'cos I can't be bothered to write out all the crap in my head agin...

 

[Johnny Reb]

Lt. Gen. Lewis "Chesty" Puller, USMC

- "They are in front of us, behind us, and we are flanked on both sides by an enemy that outnumbers us 29:1. They can't get away from us now!"

- "Where do you put the bayonet?" (upon seeing a flamethrower for the first time)

 

[themyrmidon]

Basil the Bulgar Slayer. How many leaders have killed a rival from shock by blinding their entire army?

John Paul Jones is a close second though.

 

[Exocet]

The award for best military leader still goes to Alexander the Great.
Never lost a battle? Check
Defeating an age old rival and possessor of the biggest empire of it's time in under 10 years? Check
Established long term plans to educate and integrate every conquered nation to the empire? Check


If ever Zeus was real and had a son, then Alexander was him.

 

[Hawk eye1466]

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.

You are not alone my friend!

It's a tie between Patton and Rommel both brilliant generals that did things no one thought they could and revolutionized warfare.

 

[SckizoBoy]

The award for best military leader still goes to Alexander the Great.
Never lost a battle? Check
Defeating an age old rival and possessor of the biggest empire of it's time in under 10 years? Check
Established long term plans to educate and integrate every conquered nation to the empire? Check


If ever Zeus was real and had a son, then Alexander was him.

Sure you meant Ares by that... sure as hell wouldn't've been Athena...

Anyway:

Adversity reveals the greatness of a man, good fortune conceals it.

Relevantly, would Alexander have been so successful had his father not developed so strong an army for him to inherit?

While I am loathe to outright disagree, with the exception of Memnon, Darius and his court were, from a military perspective, useless, and broadly speaking, only Porus was competent among Alexander's opposite numbers, a fact of which Hannibal should've viewed with distaste, if Livy's anecdote is to be believed.