As I said before, supplies aren't needed, or in the amount we typically think are needed because Damane would be able to hook up with supply camps. Soldiers could carry a week’s worth of rations and the basics themselves.
Plus, why not a man every 3 seconds? If they are marching in a straight line you could easily move that number of people (100000-200000) in under 3 hours. I don’t know how in the world it could take 30 seconds a man. Even still though, at 30 seconds a man you could move an army of 100000 troops in under 10 hours, that is still huge. Though at that pace the Damane would tire. However, holding a Gateway for an hour wouldn't be so bad, plus they could be tied off making it even easier.
Finally Grady and Neald got so tired because they didn't tie Gateways off very often, if ever.
Plus, why not a man every 3 seconds? If they are marching in a straight line you could easily move that number of people (100000-200000) in under 3 hours. I don’t know how in the world it could take 30 seconds a man. Even still though, at 30 seconds a man you could move an army of 100000 troops in under 10 hours, that is still huge. Though at that pace the Damane would tire. However, holding a Gateway for an hour wouldn't be so bad, plus they could be tied off making it even easier.
Finally Grady and Neald got so tired because they didn't tie Gateways off very often, if ever.
It would take a day just to get the troops lined up the way you imagine! Even if they could pull that off even the slightest miss step would wreak havoc.
Have you ever seen 100,000 people together? Look at how long it takes a major sports event to empty out and that's with exits dramatically larger than you are talking about! It can take hours to empty 100,000 people from a stadium which allows dozens of people abreast to exit at one time!
The number of Damane necessary to do all of what you suggest would drain the Empire of resources quickly given how many large armies they have floating around out there. Better by far to use small guerrilla-style forces that can quickly move on their own once they are inserted behind enemy lines. 5 Damane/sul'dam pairs with maybe 5,000 men per unit string them along the enemy flank to strike from unexpected directions.
Further problem they'll have is that while some Traveling is better than NO Traveling, their enemies have the linking ability and thus a much more efficient machine. 13 AS Linked can make a massive gateway and move huge numbers of troops in a fraction of the time as individual Damane could hope too. Not to mention how much less energy as a whole they will expend, meaning they'll have a whole lot more fresh Channeling forces at hand without significant lag time between "jumps".
I've said this over and over, YES the Damane will be able to move troops, but the lack of linking is a significant disadvantage to them. It's like you have a pistol and your enemy has a machine gun, sure the pistol is better than just a knife, but you're still pretty much out gunned.
I understand your problems with this but I think you are discounting what this means for the Seanchan. You have arguably the most highly trained military force and you can now move and lighting speed in comparison to MOST of you enemies.
Another thing, I never suggested putting 100000 people in one place, I suggested putting a 1000 people in one place. If those bands move simultaneously (which due to the organization I think the Seanchan could mange fairly easy) you could move 100000 men to an area then march the remaining way to your target, plus those bands don’t have to be in the same starting place to move as one. Additionally, you could move half your force behind your enemy in the night and crush them while they slept. Like you said, even if there are multiple exits at a stadium it takes hours to move those people out, I am suggesting the same sort of idea only in a much more structured and efficient manner then what occurs after a major sporting event.
I agree that they are limited because they cannot link, but the Seanchan have shown they are a resourceful bunch and I think could make this "limited" form of Gateways just as efficient as the linked kind. As far as it being implemented though, I don’t think Rand’s or any other force in the world could use it as efficiently. I just think there would be to many "cooks in the kitchen" and such when it comes to organising something like a huge Gateway. That is not to say it can’t/won’t be done; I just think the Seanchan are more “one-minded” without the level of infighting that everyone seems to experience thus allowing them to implement something like this in an effective way.
Finally I should say I don’t think the Seanchan should use Gateways in this manner and go directly into battle, which would be a slaughter. They could however fairly stealthily and very quickly move large forces around the world, much like the SAS did just with a much larger number of Gateways, and appear outside a city before anyone knows they are there.
Linked circles cannot be matched in this way. You can move 1,000 men, but your enemies can move 10,000 faster and with more supplies and with less effort. Surely the ability to Travel will make you better than you used to be, but they are still at a significant disadvantage to their major enemies (Rand and the AS) who are more than likely going to be joining forces before too long and will not only have the advantage of better Traveling, but with mixed circles as well as deeper resources in Channeling.
Won't take long for the Seanchan to lose this war once that happens. Even if the Seanchan wind up with many more damane (and male damane) linking makes for much more powerful effects with Channeling as we saw in KoD...
KoD
The Golden Crain
Suddenly fires bloomed below, six enveloping dead Trollocs in front of Malevin and Aisling, seven in front of Sandomere and Ayako, and she squinted against the blinding glare. It was like trying to look at thirteen noonday suns blazing in a cloudless sky. ... It was pure Fire, and the blazes were ferocious, fiercer than she would have expected from Fire alone. But of course they would be using saidin as well, and who could say what they were adding from that murderous chaos?
The ultimate AS weapon is really linking, and even if the Seanchan were to learn it tomorrow they can't use it.
If the Seanchan created a plan and they suddenly followed through on it (say attacking Caemlyn) you can't tell me that at first this wouldn’t overwhelm anything that is there to defend the city. Eventually the AS ability to link would win, but when no one in the world has used Gateways in this manner nor thought about how to defend against something appearing out of nowhere so I think the Seanchan could use this tactic very effectively (take a couple of major cities...), at first.
The Seanchan are months away from incorporating it tactically into their plans; working out which damane can Travel and how long they can hold a gateway open, how best to deploy troops through the use of Traveling etc.
Egwene and Rand and Elayne for that matter have all spent the last year or so working on how to use it. One of Egwene's first thoughts was to kill the AS captives who might be able to teach Traveling to the Seanchan, so you can bet she's expecting them to use it in this way sooner or later. I wouldn't be surprised if Bryne and Egwene didn't have a plan in place on how to defend TV against another sudden attack, this time via gateways. Hopefully she'll pass this information along to the others, although given how bad they all are with communication I'd be truly surprised.
Bolded for you.
Signing reports
06/06/2010 07:30:37 PM
- 2015 Views
Interesting
06/06/2010 07:41:56 PM
- 1088 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
- 1301 Views
militarily perhaps, but not a duel
07/06/2010 04:56:55 AM
- 1076 Views
Re: militarily perhaps, but not a duel
07/06/2010 01:34:04 PM
- 873 Views
Re: militarily perhaps, but not a duel
07/06/2010 04:17:26 PM
- 947 Views
Oh I like the villains to lose everything before they die
07/06/2010 04:18:43 PM
- 856 Views
Bah
07/06/2010 04:38:36 PM
- 954 Views
Skilled Rand would be nice.
07/06/2010 09:24:56 PM
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I'd rather see Aviendha and Elayne link and take her out
07/06/2010 09:41:47 PM
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Re: I'd rather see Aviendha and Elayne link and take her out
07/06/2010 10:00:44 PM
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You are quite right, I should have said "kill all the remaining FS"
07/06/2010 10:08:49 PM
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Re: You are quite right, I should have said "kill all the remaining FS"
07/06/2010 10:22:11 PM
- 835 Views
Moridin IMO will be all Rand's to deal with
07/06/2010 10:56:28 PM
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I think Demandred might be...
07/06/2010 09:48:29 AM
- 891 Views
I favor the Roederan theory
07/06/2010 01:35:37 PM
- 905 Views
I have this feeling that Elaida is going to surprise us, and Demandred is in Caemlyn...
06/06/2010 08:33:16 PM
- 1051 Views
Meh. I think Elaida will end up like other women in the series who sucked
06/06/2010 10:56:47 PM
- 943 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
- 841 Views
A hundred gateways next to each other is as good as one giant gateway...
06/06/2010 11:36:48 PM
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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
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you are missing the point that this would create several major problems
07/06/2010 01:49:08 PM
- 903 Views
Advantages and Disadvantages to both large and small gateways
08/06/2010 03:04:28 AM
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The logistics would be practically impossible, as even RJ stated (see quote below)
08/06/2010 01:41:03 PM
- 887 Views
But the Seanchan have an advantage the Perrin did not...
07/06/2010 02:45:26 AM
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Re: But the Seanchan have an advantage the Perrin did not...
07/06/2010 01:52:40 PM
- 918 Views
Re: But the Seanchan have an advantage the Perrin did not...
07/06/2010 06:55:59 PM
- 757 Views
Re: But the Seanchan have an advantage the Perrin did not...
07/06/2010 07:03:29 PM
- 860 Views
Re: But the Seanchan have an advantage the Perrin did not...
07/06/2010 07:48:01 PM
- 778 Views
We have no clue if Damane can tie off weaves
07/06/2010 08:28:08 PM
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Re: We have no clue if Damane can tie off weaves
07/06/2010 09:22:24 PM
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One disagreement
07/06/2010 09:33:09 PM
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I agree...but
07/06/2010 09:44:54 PM
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That's just it ... Egwene, Elayne and Rand have already thought of it and considered the uses
07/06/2010 10:04:50 PM
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Egwene to pass information? You're joking, right?
07/06/2010 10:59:25 PM
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He did say it was unlikely
07/06/2010 11:23:20 PM
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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
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yes, but the cost may prove too high to allocate so many resources against Traveling
07/06/2010 09:44:16 PM
- 787 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
- 745 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
- 869 Views
The little thing is Rand's angreal IMO
07/06/2010 04:52:17 AM
- 812 Views
I think the thing from books 4-6 has to do with dreaming/TAR abilities.
08/06/2010 12:09:53 AM
- 808 Views
I think BS has inadvertently given away a massive clue regarding Demandred's identity...
06/06/2010 09:12:58 PM
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What's to prevent him from hiding as a female? *NM*
06/06/2010 10:30:08 PM
- 384 Views
Forgive me if I don't give that possibility serious consideration.
06/06/2010 10:36:20 PM
- 820 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
- 453 Views
Well. Galgan, then. *NM*
07/06/2010 04:05:57 PM
- 442 Views
Can't be Galgan
07/06/2010 04:37:36 PM
- 782 Views
galgan's out, but maybe...
07/06/2010 07:01:12 PM
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Or...
08/06/2010 09:37:21 AM
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I doubt the new Taraboner king is involved
08/06/2010 12:52:45 PM
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As I said, I think...
08/06/2010 01:30:39 PM
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I'm not disagreeing with most of it
08/06/2010 01:49:54 PM
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look above, you guys agreed on stuff for 19 hours. New record? *NM*
08/06/2010 04:12:47 PM
- 375 Views