Not all that useful if you can't transport food and spare weapons and big war machines etc... sure you can send tons of men from one spot to another. But, as DREWRULESWOT said, it more useful for a raid than practical army needs that they will be unable to meet easily.
Enough 6 by 8 gateways could transport all the food, equipment, and weapons an army would need on a campaign. Big war machines and siege weapons would generally be broken down for transport however they were moved(gateway or traditional), or an army would make them after they reached their destination.
Also consider how many times have we seen 100 damane/sul'dam paires in one place, even Ituralde only encountered a few pairs at a time. And how many women have the strength to open Gateways 6 feet by 10 feet tall to allow for horse/grolm/torm riders through? Seems to me that there are only a handful of channelers who possess enough strength/Talent to generate these gateways. More likely by far that there would only be 5-10 women with any given group of Seanchan with maybe a couple strong enough to make a gateway big enough for more than a single man to pass through at once. Even if they had women strong enough to open gateways large enough for carts and mounted soldiers they would exhaust themselves to the point of uselessness quickly.
The Seanchan recently captured between 400 and 500 trained Shaido channelers, even if only 1 in 4 can create a gateway, there is your 100 Damane. Cavalry can be led through. With a bit of practice they could become quite proficient in moving large numbers of mounted soldiers in an efficient manner.
Take Perrin and his Asha'man for example. They where moving his forces, but after only a few weeks of moving a relatively tiny force (some 5000-odd people) they were so exhausted they could hardly Channel. Grady and Neald are fairly strong, but neither of them could do much after a day of holding the Gateways open for the whole force to Travel through.
This is a good example of why linking would not be necessary for moving a large army. 2 individual channels could move a group of 5000 people. This group would include mounted cavalry and carts. They did not merely do this once but multiple times over several weeks time. Now consider how much a group of 100 channels who can make gateways transport.
With plenty of carts and narrow wagons and a whole lot of military and Seanchan discipline and organization, the Seanchan could move a well supplied and large army anywhere they wish.
All good things come to those who wait.
Signing reports
06/06/2010 07:30:37 PM
- 2006 Views
Interesting
06/06/2010 07:41:56 PM
- 1071 Views
BS said Demandred's identity is the greatest secret in the story, and will pay off in the end...
06/06/2010 08:05:51 PM
- 1285 Views
militarily perhaps, but not a duel
07/06/2010 04:56:55 AM
- 1061 Views
Re: militarily perhaps, but not a duel
07/06/2010 01:34:04 PM
- 858 Views
Re: militarily perhaps, but not a duel
07/06/2010 04:17:26 PM
- 931 Views
Oh I like the villains to lose everything before they die
07/06/2010 04:18:43 PM
- 839 Views
Bah
07/06/2010 04:38:36 PM
- 943 Views
Skilled Rand would be nice.
07/06/2010 09:24:56 PM
- 770 Views
I'd rather see Aviendha and Elayne link and take her out
07/06/2010 09:41:47 PM
- 764 Views
Re: I'd rather see Aviendha and Elayne link and take her out
07/06/2010 10:00:44 PM
- 902 Views
You are quite right, I should have said "kill all the remaining FS"
07/06/2010 10:08:49 PM
- 922 Views
Re: You are quite right, I should have said "kill all the remaining FS"
07/06/2010 10:22:11 PM
- 822 Views
Moridin IMO will be all Rand's to deal with
07/06/2010 10:56:28 PM
- 756 Views
I think Demandred might be...
07/06/2010 09:48:29 AM
- 880 Views
I favor the Roederan theory
07/06/2010 01:35:37 PM
- 891 Views
I have this feeling that Elaida is going to surprise us, and Demandred is in Caemlyn...
06/06/2010 08:33:16 PM
- 1040 Views
Meh. I think Elaida will end up like other women in the series who sucked
06/06/2010 10:56:47 PM
- 927 Views
While Traveling is certainly a tactical advantage, I think the Seanchan won't be able to use it.
06/06/2010 11:15:56 PM
- 824 Views
A hundred gateways next to each other is as good as one giant gateway...
06/06/2010 11:36:48 PM
- 933 Views
but no carts or wagons.
07/06/2010 12:15:29 AM
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Fully supplied armies could be moved
07/06/2010 02:45:15 AM
- 920 Views
you are missing the point that this would create several major problems
07/06/2010 01:49:08 PM
- 889 Views
Advantages and Disadvantages to both large and small gateways
08/06/2010 03:04:28 AM
- 884 Views
The logistics would be practically impossible, as even RJ stated (see quote below)
08/06/2010 01:41:03 PM
- 867 Views
But the Seanchan have an advantage the Perrin did not...
07/06/2010 02:45:26 AM
- 937 Views
Re: But the Seanchan have an advantage the Perrin did not...
07/06/2010 01:52:40 PM
- 901 Views
Re: But the Seanchan have an advantage the Perrin did not...
07/06/2010 06:55:59 PM
- 743 Views
Re: But the Seanchan have an advantage the Perrin did not...
07/06/2010 07:03:29 PM
- 843 Views
Re: But the Seanchan have an advantage the Perrin did not...
07/06/2010 07:48:01 PM
- 763 Views
We have no clue if Damane can tie off weaves
07/06/2010 08:28:08 PM
- 848 Views
Re: We have no clue if Damane can tie off weaves
07/06/2010 09:22:24 PM
- 902 Views
One disagreement
07/06/2010 09:33:09 PM
- 876 Views
I agree...but
07/06/2010 09:44:54 PM
- 798 Views
That's just it ... Egwene, Elayne and Rand have already thought of it and considered the uses
07/06/2010 10:04:50 PM
- 902 Views
Egwene to pass information? You're joking, right?
07/06/2010 10:59:25 PM
- 938 Views
Not to mention...
07/06/2010 09:26:28 PM
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Re: Not to mention...
07/06/2010 09:38:31 PM
- 794 Views
yes, but the cost may prove too high to allocate so many resources against Traveling
07/06/2010 09:44:16 PM
- 772 Views
If they get Traveling, I hope we read the first time the Seanchan move their "creatures" through
07/06/2010 06:22:47 PM
- 726 Views
Re: If they get Traveling, I hope we read the first time the Seanchan move their "creatures" through
07/06/2010 11:03:22 PM
- 850 Views
The little thing is Rand's angreal IMO
07/06/2010 04:52:17 AM
- 798 Views
I think the thing from books 4-6 has to do with dreaming/TAR abilities.
08/06/2010 12:09:53 AM
- 792 Views
I think BS has inadvertently given away a massive clue regarding Demandred's identity...
06/06/2010 09:12:58 PM
- 991 Views
What's to prevent him from hiding as a female? *NM*
06/06/2010 10:30:08 PM
- 378 Views
Forgive me if I don't give that possibility serious consideration.
06/06/2010 10:36:20 PM
- 803 Views
Bc it's clearly way too dissatisfying. And Demmy's certainly too proud to hide as a woman! *NM*
07/06/2010 01:01:52 AM
- 445 Views
Well. Galgan, then. *NM*
07/06/2010 04:05:57 PM
- 434 Views
Can't be Galgan
07/06/2010 04:37:36 PM
- 767 Views
galgan's out, but maybe...
07/06/2010 07:01:12 PM
- 755 Views
Or...
08/06/2010 09:37:21 AM
- 769 Views
I doubt the new Taraboner king is involved
08/06/2010 12:52:45 PM
- 1096 Views
As I said, I think...
08/06/2010 01:30:39 PM
- 769 Views
I'm not disagreeing with most of it
08/06/2010 01:49:54 PM
- 757 Views
look above, you guys agreed on stuff for 19 hours. New record? *NM*
08/06/2010 04:12:47 PM
- 370 Views