Birgitte is too cautious to be better than an adequate tactician.
RabidWombat Send a noteboard - 02/10/2009 04:22:45 AM
All three are pretty good military tacticians. And I imagine Tuon wouldn't be too bad either. I would imagine that there are also other female generals amongst the Seanchan, but we haven't seen them. In the westlands soldering is pretty much a male dominated occupation.
NaCl(just because we haven't seen them doesn't mean they aren't there)H2O
NaCl(just because we haven't seen them doesn't mean they aren't there)H2O

I disagree about Birgitte at least partially. Being a good general has three parts: leadership and morale, logistics and organization, and tactics. There is strong evidence that she is great at the first two. But her tactics are not that great.
You laud her for rescuing Elayne in another post, but she lost a lot of men doing it. A lot more then she needed. Any of the better generals would have found a way to place a number of hidden archers or kin to wipe out the BA with little or no loss. Further, Birgitte did not recognize the tactical advantage of trapping Arymilla against the gates. True, it was risky since there was another army in the field. It was a risk worth taking, though. Knowing which risks can be taken or need to be taken is what makes an average general great.
Together, Birgitte and Elayne make a formidable combination although not near the top tier. I wouldn't rate Birgitte by herself that high, though.
Like you I believe there are a number of women capable of being at least a good General. In addition to your list it would not surprise me if there were some veteran Maidens and more then a handful of Greens who could rise to the task of being a General, at least tactically, if they were called to do it. (Mat admitted that Joline knew about war for instance.) Elayne probably could be an adequate General in a pinch as well. (Although I probably should have counted her as one of those handful of Greens.)
The best chance of finding a great female general is still the Seanchen, though, as you mentioned.
RabidWombat
Are women really bad generals?
- 01/10/2009 07:05:03 PM
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No.
- 01/10/2009 07:41:35 PM
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Or RJ just loves stacking ridiculously unfavourable odds against the male Forsaken generals...
- 01/10/2009 08:40:47 PM
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Lol... too true
- 01/10/2009 09:32:29 PM
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And you guys whine about the lameness of RJ's villains?
- 01/10/2009 09:41:54 PM
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I still haven't seen proof of Demandred or Ishamael's "brilliance".
- 01/10/2009 09:56:41 PM
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but you are difficult to please
- 02/10/2009 05:10:13 AM
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But they are lame... they've done minimal damage to the Light
- 02/10/2009 05:06:05 AM
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You can't have it both ways....
- 02/10/2009 06:47:21 AM
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Why not?
- 02/10/2009 08:45:35 AM
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Yeah
- 01/10/2009 09:57:01 PM
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Re: Yeah
- 01/10/2009 10:40:28 PM
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I thought the same in the past...
- 02/10/2009 07:01:18 AM
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Gah! Hate!
- 02/10/2009 04:11:49 PM
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Ah, come on...
- 02/10/2009 04:41:37 PM
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No no, I was just being pouty that I haven't read the new stuff yet.
- 02/10/2009 05:01:15 PM
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- 02/10/2009 05:01:15 PM
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Re: Or RJ just loves stacking ridiculously unfavourable odds against the male Forsaken generals...
- 01/10/2009 09:51:30 PM
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Good points! Also, these "generals" haven't actually fielded any troops
- 01/10/2009 11:23:40 PM
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But as individuals they are meant to be deadly too
- 02/10/2009 05:09:21 AM
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Well, yeah. They're knowledgable and deadly in person. Generalship doesn't come into it.
- 04/10/2009 12:09:50 AM
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nope
- 01/10/2009 08:06:57 PM
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Tylee Kirgan, Birgitte, and one other, Egeanin
- 01/10/2009 09:47:00 PM
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Birgitte's not a soldier though.
- 01/10/2009 10:10:50 PM
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She says she's not, but so does Mat.
- 01/10/2009 10:34:04 PM
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- 01/10/2009 10:34:04 PM
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Mat's not a soldier, either - he's a general
- 01/10/2009 10:51:29 PM
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Birgitte is too cautious to be better than an adequate tactician.
- 02/10/2009 04:22:45 AM
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My opinion
- 02/10/2009 01:30:12 AM
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That's a poor excuse
- 02/10/2009 11:59:42 AM
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I disagree
- 02/10/2009 04:26:28 PM
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Re: I disagree
- 02/10/2009 08:31:29 PM
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Oh, puh-lease.
- 02/10/2009 09:09:30 PM
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Re: Oh, puh-lease.
- 03/10/2009 04:52:37 PM
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Re: Oh, puh-lease.
- 05/10/2009 05:08:27 PM
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I always know I've out-argued an idiot when they fall back on the tired old "RJ wanted it that way"
- 06/10/2009 04:42:11 AM
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And I can tell you're through when you've gotten to three+ insults per paragraph.
- 06/10/2009 05:46:24 PM
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Monday morning quarterbacking at its worst
- 04/10/2009 07:28:36 AM
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Men and football.
- 05/10/2009 04:49:35 PM
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She didn't kill anyone! Why SHOULD she feel guilty? She gave necessary orders.
- 06/10/2009 03:33:15 AM
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