I'm biased towards humans , cuz I'm human , but that's just me ya know .....

Imperial are probably the strongest with the base of their prowess being real life influence of Roman Legion. Or rather implementation of their real life military tactics. However, any of the races skilled enough in guerilla fighting and tactics would dominate them. Open, formation combat is what they excel in. I think in Oblivion there was a book talking about how small unit of Bosmer Archers ambushed and decimated Khajitti company, so probably something along those lines.

I guess if you go for pure wiping out of the entire races Wood Elves first and if you are talking about conquering and establishing domination it would probably be Imperials as they have most experience and ability to govern such state.

Ancient Germany=/=Modern Germany. Germans today aren't the descendants of Celtics.

Nords are barbaric and have been in so many wars , and have governed the empire before , I think they are totally capable of doing it again , although they have an extreme lack in obedience ....

Imperials. They have a lot of soldiers at their disposal. But I'm not sure...

I personally prefer Nords or Bretons.

It also depends on the battleground... Argonians would be at home in swamps, Imperials in settled areas, Nords in the mountains...

If Imperials invaded Skyrim they would probably lose in the first winter.

Imperials - they've done it before, and they are well rounded jack-of-all-trades.

The Dunmer are weak at the moment, having lost the whole island of Vvardenfell and subsequently being invaded by the Argonians in a massive effort to avenge slavery.

The Argonians, Khajiit, Bosmer are to decentralized to amass an army worthy of full scale war with another race with a more organized army.

There simply aren't enough Orcs to ever become a serious threat to most other races - they occupy only a small mountainous region in the province of High Rock.

The Nords are stricken by civil war and massive internal conflict - otherwise, they would've been a good bet.

The Redguards and the Breton have been trying to hold back the Nord armies from taking territory, but have been unsuccessful.

The Altmer have a small but strong community of wizards and spellcasters, but are also very weak to the very same thing that makes them so powerful. They also don't have any physical strength to speak of, so a combination of Imperial wizards and warriors would eventually defeat them.

So yeah, I think the Imperials have the best chance. They also have the strategically best land in Tamriel - while they might be attacked by several races at a time, the land favours them. There are the Highlands and deserts in the north-west - massive thick woods to the south-east, and desert again in the south. To the south-west, they have dense jungle/swamp and to the north and north-west they have the Jerall and Valus mountains respectively. Any attempt to amass an army that could capture and hold a position would have a serious issue with the imperial army right on their ass. They also have two ports from where they can sail through out to the seas.

This is just my opinion, but I definitely think that the Imperials would have the upper hand.

You posted this:



but this right before it:



lolwut?

Argonians >

The argonians would likely never be conquered though they might not win. Their homeland to other races is almost uninhabitable and will likely kill more troops than the Argonians themselves. The argonians also have their shadow scale assassins and where able to fight the deadra during the Oblivion crisis to a point that the deadra themselves closed the gates to stop the onslaught. If they did manage to win the war though, they would have difficulty governing the land they had conqured

if you go back in the day (elder scrolls-wise) the nords were the masters of the voice and could destroy the great gates to cities by mere few words. some had to be careful because of their great power! nords would win. hands down.

Lets look at different combats at a more RL historical standpoint.

Imperials VS Nord: I'd probably see this as Napoleon vs Russia, if the Imperials were on the offensive. They'd get frozen in the first winter, and the Nords would just decimate them. If Nords were on the offensive, I think the Imperials would just make defensive lines and beat the Nords back with superior numbers and equipment.

Anybody VS Wood Elves on Defense: The Bosmer would fight very much like the Vietnamese soldiers in the Vietnam war, using guerilla warfare and stealth to fight a superior enemy, slowly whittling their numbers down. Eventually, in a long war, the Bosmer would win.

Altmer VS Bretons: The wars against the Native Americans are a good example of what might happen. The Breton would invade Summerset Isle and decimate the Altmer with their magic resistance and the Altmer's magic weakness. Against other mages, Altmer would lose any battle. Basically, the Bosmer have better weapons, better defenses, and would easily dominate the Summerset Isles.

You posted this:

Blacklight, on 16 August 2011 - 11:38 PM, said:
The Argonians...are to[o] decentralized to amass an army worthy of full scale war with another race with a more organized army.


but this right before it:

Blacklight, on 16 August 2011 - 11:38 PM, said:
The Dunmer are weak at the moment, having lost the whole island of Vvardenfell and subsequently being invaded by the Argonians in a massive effort to avenge slavery.


lolwut?

Argonians >

They took on a race and a province that was in a whole lot of mess.

From UESP:

"4E ?? — Red Mountain erupts; Vvardenfell is destroyed.
In Vivec's absence, the Ministry of Truth becomes unstable. Vuhon creates an Ingenium that uses at first dozens of dying souls, then a small number of living ones to stabilize the rock. The soul of Sul's wife Ilzheven was among them. In a fight to free her, the Ingenium is destroyed and the rock crashes into Vivec with all the energy it originally had. The impact causes Red Mountain to erupt and destroys the entire island of Vvardenfell, as well as causing massive destruction to the rest of the province."

The province must've surely not been able to retaliate even the most feeble attempt at invasion. Thousands of lives lost, including most of the elite army units, and the governing body destroyed. There couldn't have been much of a war really. I'm not saying that the Argonians aren't capable, they certainly are, but chances against a well organized Imperial army are slim.

He was talking about germanic tribes not about germans from Germany
As far as I remember from history lessons modern germans are actually franks
This of one of many things that Nazis lied about (and a lot of people still believes it)

Really love Dunmer, but i don't see them winning now since they lost morrowind. Either the aldmeri or the imperials will be the strongest.

I have to go with the Bretons. Not only are they powerful magic users but they also have that innate resistance to magic. While their physical capabilities are a little lower than some other races I think their magical aptitude and resistance makes up for it in spades.

You're missing an important fact though, Altmer outlive Bretons, they still have arguably the most powerful mages in lore due to their long lifespans allowing them considerably more studying time. In Morrowind/ Oblivion 1vs1, yeah, I'd give it to the Breton no contest, but large scale war from a lore standpoint is different and their weaknesses/ resists are subject to change. I'm assuming they'll each have different racials in Skyrim than in previous games.

From the UESP -

Lorewise, the Nords, Orcs, and Redguards have already proved their Military prowess in conquering vast amounts of land.

So I'll put my money on one of those races...

Here's how it breaks down:

Dunmer are out. They got their dark asses kicked so hard they were spitting out toenails by the Argonians.
Argonians, likewise are out. Black Marsh was invaded by Umbriel, so that's a major problem for them at present.
Altmer are also out, Bretons would beat them down like a pimp beating a ho.
Orcs are out, there are simply too few of them to matter.
The Imperials are looking good. It has been 200 years since the Oblivion Crisis, so the Empire has likely restructured, and most places are either part of the Empire, or in a position of weakness.
The Nords are in a bad position, since there is a civil war and dragons all over the place. And Alduin.
The Bosmer aren't looking too good either. They simply aren't designed for conquering.
The Bretons will probably bow to the Imperials, and the Empire.
The Khajiit are not in a favourable position, they are like the Bosmer.


Logic, people, use some.

I would guess Imperial since they have been able to subdue every other race even if they aren't specificly better than anyone in anything except trading and diplomacy.

Didn't the imperials conquer most of the areas at some point or other in the games lore? I would think that would make them the most powerful... It would in reality come down to numbers and organization and it seems to me the imperials win out in that area. All other races were slightly tribal and warring with each other still.

Between war times, trading and diplomacy can give you a huge benefit before the next war time comes. Resources, population, land play a big part in war, and the Imperials have been expansionists to some degree so it definitely gives them an edge.

However, who starts the war also matters, because starting a war generally loses you allies as well as often provoking otherwise neutral groups into uniting with the group being attacked. And I think enough races have grievances with the Imperials by now that in an all out war some forces would join against them. I don't actually know what relationships all the different races have with eachother at this point in the TES history. If they all had to choose sides, how would they split up?

its easy who would win.

The one with the numidium. Though you may need to build another...

It would be difficult to get to Summerset. They have the very best navy in all of Tamriel.

IIRC, I don't think anyone comes close in sheer naval power.

Getting deep into Black Marsh would be difficult too, considering all the poison.

Ok argonian? Why exactly would they win? If we're talking the way history has played out in the Elder Scrolls, the Imperials seem to have the most control of things. :homestar:

this

everyone in tamril should svck it up and accept that the Altmer are simply better than them at pretty much everything.

I voted Redguard

Orcs are too few
Nords and Imperials are currently fractured into warring factions
Argonians, Khajits, and Bosmer are too lazy and/or disorganized to form an effective army
Dunmer are mostly destroyed

Bretons and Altmer are challengers but I think Redguards would handle them.