You're assuming there's anyone left alive in Akavir. Because if I remember correctly that's where the Nerevarine went...

I'm assuming that this happens during or near the time of Skyrim for this hypothetical strategy.

First, I would actually hit Morrowind, avoiding Solstheim and Skyrim alike. It is very weak at this point and not easily defensible, as the Redoran, Indoril and Tribunal are basically gone. After seizing Morrowind as a foothold, I would have a small group of mages set about excavating Dwemer ruins for new weapons and equipment, another small group set to modifying the agricultural output of various tracts of land, and the third, main group stay with the army. I would leave alone Black Marsh and the areas of Morrowind it controls, allowing them to maintain their isolationist ideals and not risking the wrath of the vengeful Hist.

From Morrowind, I would attack Cyrodiil directly from the northeast, using both magical and mundane means of keeping supply lines open, making a single fast thrust past Cheydinhal to attack the already-weakened Imperial City at once. As Akaviri have an interesting relationship with the Dragonborn, Talow worship would fast be reinstated, or the worship of Reman. One of them would be put in the Shezzar-shaped hole in the pantheon, anyway.

After consolidating my power base in Cyrodiil thusly, I would start south to attack Elsweyr, as it seems to be the weakest province of the Aldmeri Dominion, then swing west, inciting the Khajiit, who historically hated the Bosmer, to war under the banner of Akavir. After conquering both, I would then seal off mainland Tamriel from Sumerset isles' trade and leave it alone, as only Talos with the aid of Numidium was ever able to conquer it.

After that, it would be my preference to cease warfare and approach Argonia, as well as the north and northwest as allied kingdoms rather than subjugate them. Bretons are too scattered and individualistic to conquer without basically burning the province to char while Redguards and Nords alike are simply too formidable for what will already be a battered and war-weary invasion force.

I don't know if invading through a harsh land and a difficult-to-traverse mountain range is a good idea.

It's going to come down to that anyway. If you go to High Rock or further from the East, you'll have had to sail past 2 provinces. You lose the element of surprise and you'll be setting yourself up for an attack wherever you land. Not to mention the extra resources spent getting there, and that you're easily isolated from reinforcements.

Morrowind, Skyrim and Black Marsh. You can't traverse the marsh, and the other two are bordered by mountains.

Skyrim is the easiest target right now imo. Morrowind doesn't provide the right environment for war, but should be seized anyway. It's a wasteland. Fighting in Vvardenfell would likely take ages, since the terrain and environment is very harsh. However, that alone makes Vvardenfell a fine place to retreat, build up defense, and stockpile weapons. Therefore I'd start by taking on Skyrim and Morrowind at the same time.

An Akaviri army would not face much opposition in Skyrim. The province has exhausted its resources in the Civil War, and yes, the Imperial Army would likely go defend Cyrodiil, which wouldn't be much of a challenge either.

I don't know what I'd do to Alinor. Laying siege on an island ain't easy. The Akaviri army should by aided by airforce to beat the Altmer up, and airforce just doesn't exist in TES.

Remember that Akavir was doing a good job in Morrowind last time they invaded until Vivec flooded the whole country. Now not only is there no Vivec, but no standing army. Morrowind, based on previous history, would be the ideal place to start. Nobody has spies there either, so if you were careful you could begin to launch an assault on Cyrodiil or, if you were suicidal, Skyrim, before anyone really knew the extent of the threat.

Yeah, I think they would be best off starting off with the Eastern coast of Morrowind. Since the population will be divided (Argonians and Dunmer) as well as pretty low and probably struggling financially, they would be easy to take and the land has the best route back to Akavir by ship. Then they can set up base and attack either Skyrim or Vvardenfell. Given that Vvardenfell could still be a total wasteland and a lot of the infrastructure would be destroyed, it might not even be worth bothering to take, and they could then attack Skyrim first before they can build up a strong enough army.

High rock would be good to take advantage of for agricultural reasons. Black marsh could be convinced to join you. Tsaeci and Argonians are both reptiles.

For me, the obivious choice would be Windhelm. I'd take the farms outside the city with my army and blockade the port with my huge navy. With it's supply lines cut, the city would either surrender quickly or strave to death, meaning I can cut the head off of the rebellion fairly quickly. At the same time as the siege of windhelm, I'd send a part of my army to take Riften in the same way (take the farms and besiege the city). This means that at the very least I can prevent the rear of my army besieging windhelm from being attacked by Stormcloak forces. The only other way for the Stormcloaks to break the siege other than charging out of the city to attack me, would be that Dawnstar sends an army to attack me from my left flank, but the army would have to walk a long way without food or shelter, and so they would probably die in the extreme conditions while walking to Eastmarch. If my forces in the Rift take Riften, then I would be in command of the two most powerful Stormcloak cities, and have two sources of supplying food for my army. Then I could move onto Dawnstar with my navy and army.

Problem is Nords are naturally immune to the cold. So the Stormcloaks, Almost a full Nordic faction, from Dawnstar, would get to Windhelm Very easily. I suggest maybe sending in a small army to protect that flank.

They'd still die from Starvation. The only stop on the way is Winterhold, which probably couldn't supply an entire army. Even if they did survive, this is all assuming I haven't taken Windhelm first. And seeing as Windhelm has no food due to my siege, that should be before Dawnstar can send help.

It does make sense. Even then your plan only mentions how to invade Eastern Skyrim. That is unless you did that because Akavir only wants a small colony.

I though this thread was just about how you started your invasion.

I would invade all of Skyrim. Once I'd secured Windhelm and Riften, I'd garrison them both with my own governors and forces. I'd then move to Dawnstar while capturing Winterhold on the way, using the food from the farms of Windhelm and Riften to supply my army. I'd then blockade the port of Dawnstar and then take it with my army. I'd then use Dawnstar as a launching pad for Naval attacks on Solitude, in particular the East Empire company to cripple it's trade. I'd then move my Army down onto Morthal, and use that to attack Whiterun. Once Whiterun is taken using the same methods used to take Windhelm and Riften, I'd capture Rorikstead, and use its farms to supply my army. I'd then move onto Solitude, and then like all the other cities, take it's farms and besiege it. I'd then place a rearguard at Dragons bridge to prevent Markath from attacking me from behind. Once I'd taken Solitude, I'd move down to Markath, and use the same methods as all the other cities. I'd try and stay on the roads, to avoid my army being worn down by the forsworn. I'd avoid Falkreath for the moment, as it's too open and being in the middle of a dense forest, I think it would be undefendable.

I'd be one happy fleet commander, because at this point and time, Tamriel is about as politically fractured and exhausted by war as it has ever been. Under the circumstances, it should be relatively easy to make quick and permanent gains there.

The first thing I would do is conduct some diplomacy with the Stormcloaks (assuming they're still fighting), the Argonians (if they're paying attention?), and the Thalmor. My goal would be to at least assure myself that I won't be attacked by Argonians or the Stormcloaks, and see if I could get some assistance, or at least guranteed neutrality from the Thalmor. I can't just imagine what they would say, but I'm pretty sure I'd be safe in assuming that the Thalmor, clever as they are, would appreciate having the Empire face an additional problem in the form of my invasion. The best case scenario would be the Thalmor actively helping me, and us dividing up the Empire's remaining lands between us a la Poland during the partitions.

In any case, after the diplomacy had at least secured the neutrality of those three parties (not a far-fetched thing), I'd land in the part of High Rock that borders the Sea of Ghosts. High Rock is a great place to invade for many reasons: it seems to have pretty productive agriculture and a hospitable climate, at least in the parts that I'm looking at. It's relatively far from the Empire's heartland, making a counter-attack difficult. A position in NE High Rock would sandwhich Gen. Tullius's forces between us and our potential allies, the Stormcloaks; at the very least, it would prevent the Imperials in Skyrim from resisting effectively.

Taking High Rock would be difficult, but by having some of my navy attack the NE and some attack the SW, where the capital is, I think that we could surprise and overwhelm the small kingdom quickly. Following that conquest, I would probably turn my mind towards Western Skyrim and invade it, hopefully with Ulfric's blessing. If not, then we'd war with him too, because the Nords must certainly be tired of fighting at this point, and we would let them worship all the damn Talos they want.

Assuming the High Rock and Skyrim campaigns go off as planned, I would put on a nice face for Hammerfell and skip them altogether; instead, I'd focus on invading Cyrodil itself via Skyrim, and hopefully get the Aldmeri Dominion to coordinate a separate attack on Colovia with me. It would be a great deal for both of us, as we'd almost certainly crush a common enemy between our two armies.

And that's basically the plan

I re read the title and I guess I was wrong. It does sound like a good plan. I would of invaded Morrowind first because it's weak and I have a direct supply line from Akavir.

I like how you are thinking of the diplomatic aspect of war, because not many other posters seem to be taking it into account. Still, I think you are doing two risky things: making more enemies than you need to, and dividing your forces too many times.

I have no info on Morrowind politically or ecologically, so I just took that option off the table from the start, but as you said, it is militarily weak, so if you know more than I do then invading Morrowind might not be a bad strategy. Invading them both at the same time would be a mistake I think, because now your army in both provinces is weaker. You can afford that in Morrowind perhaps, but not in High Rock; besides the Bretons being tough, you never know what the Redguards are going to pull, plus you'll be adjacent to Gen. Tullius in Skyrim. Dividing your army in Morrowind a second time would make that army even weaker, so that I'm not sure it could conquer eastern Skyrim or Cheydinhall, much less hold onto those places. And then invading Cyrodil and Hammerfell at the same time after that? I think you would be down to too few men.

Don't make more enemies than you need to! Angling for an alliance with the Thalmor is essential imo, and there is no reason to risk pissing off Hammerfell if you can avoid them. The only real enemy, at first, is the Empire and anyone who sticks up for them (which would be a short lsit). But I think you are smart to be considering the diplomatic side of things, not to mention sending colonists, because over the long term, that will be the best way to make sure that any gains are permanent.

You're right about the flaws. Anyway here is an improved plan. Send the entire invading force at Morrowind. Again the only challenge is the how screwed it is since the red year but i'll just avoid the parts affected by it. (Like Vardenfell) With or without the Argonians help I will eventually push out any type of resistance out of Morrowind. Once the parts of Morrowind not under Argonian occupation are in my control. I will then wait for a few months for more supplies from the homeland. When that's done I divide the army into 2 groups. The smaller one at the border to Cyrodill, which will act like a border patrol.

If the Civil war is still happening I will send a Diplomat to Windhelm. If Ulfric agrees to allow an Akaviri Occupation of Stormcloak territories and agrees to use his army to help fight the rest of the empire in Syrim; he will be the governor of the Akaviri Province of Skyrim. And Talos worship will be legalised. If he dosen't I will attack stormcloak territories using a plan similar to Prisoner six's with the additional change of attacking Riften through Morrowind. So in Short I will send in two armies. One will attack Riften from Morrowind which will be lead by another general. The other will blockade Windhelm's port and surround the city, taking the other smaller villages.

With Riften and Windhelm under sieged, I will send in a smaller force to watch out for reinforcements from Dawnstar. Winterhold won't be much of a problem so I will ignore that. Once I taken Windhelm I will execute Ulfric, And send most of the troops in the siege to reinforce Riften attack, attack Dawnstar, and attack Winter hold, both of the latter should be easy due to weak defenses. And the rest will occupy Windhelm, which would be my HQ.

Whether I took control of Eastern Skyrim by Diplomacy or through conquest I will send a diplomat to Solitude To tell Tullius that we are not a threat and will give back eastern Skyrim after Akavir has a strong presence in Tamriel. That way I can wait for reinforcements from Akavir bringing both Soldiers, and Colonists. And have more time to prepare an attack on Western Skyrim. Ofcourse I will legalize Talos worship to get support from the Nords.

When I am ready I will use Dawnstar as point where my navy will attack East Empire company's ships like pirates, and even the ports of solitude, to weaken trade between Solitude and High Rock weakening Skyrim's economy. My forces will launch an attack on Whiterun. When I take the hold I will still keep Balgruuf as Jarl as long as he is loyal to Akavir and support the war. With the trading hub of the province under my control I can practically have a grip to launch an attack.

One by one I will take over the westen holds. When I take Morthal, which should be easy, I will then launch a siege on Solitude. I will make another blockade and send in an army to split the city from the rest of the hold. Ofcourse I will send in a smaller but still large army south to prevent reinforcments from Cyrodill. Ofcourse if I have the stormcloaks on my side the bulk of them will be there as well to assist the flank. After a few weeks attacking the city I will personally lead the assault to the city. After taking it I will keep the current jarl and make her a tool for my country. Of course, Solitude will be my new Head quarters.

With the only two holds belonging to the empire; I will send in about 1/3 of my men to Falkreath and Markath to invade it. The rest will occupy the rest of Skyrim and Morrowind. If I have the stormcoaks support most of the men attacking the reach will be stormcloaks led by an akaviri general with Akaviri support. Falkreath will be an almost enitrely of Akaviri. Falkreath, because of a weak jarl, should be easy to fall. I will split my Falkreath army into two. One guarding the Skyrim/Cyrodil border, the other assisting the invasion of the reach. Now the reach would be my hardest fight yet. The defenders could easily destroy bridges, forcing me to travel through the hills, and abandon most siege equipment, and don't forget the Forsworn. Now if I somehow took the reach I will have a joint Stormcloak/ Akaviri (Or just Akaviri if I had to invade east skyrim.) occupation of the reach suppressing the Forsworn.

Now I will again set up defenses in Syrim, encourage more colonists, and await for more men. During the mean time I will send in a diplomat to convince as much as the High Rock Kingdoms as possible to side with me. After with Cyrodil cut off they can't ask for help when we attack. If there are some that still refuse they will eventually become conquered. I will send in two armies. One to Daggerfall, (reinforcing the ones who side with me or attack depending on what Daggerfall chosses.) And the other to Northeastern High Rock. (Same reason plus to have a better security around Solitude.) And just eliminate the kingdoms that sided against me. When I am done I will set up an Akaviri to become Governor of The akaviri province of High Rock.

Now I will try to get Hammerfell and the Aldmeri Dominion to side with me. Problem is I see Hammerfell refusing to do so because the thalmor are allies. If that's the case then I will leave Hammerfell alone.. For now. With the two or three of us we invade Cyrodill. I will attack from Skyrim and Morrowind, THe AD will attack from Valenwood, and HF (If they do join.) Will attack from... Hammerfell. Phase one will be me taking The Valus and Jerral mountains, The AD taking the Golg Coast, And HF (again if they do.) taking the Colovian Highlands. Now we will adavance through Cyrodill eventually taking the Imperial city.

Once the empire has fallen there will be a treaty about who owns what part of Cyrrodil. I will The Jerral and valen mountains, The Nibenay Valley, Great Forrest, and eastern blackwood. The Ad gets southern Colovia and western blackwood. Hammerfell would get Northern Colovial. (If they don't it will be mine.)

Now after all the fighting I will then report to my superiors that I completed my mission.

Currently? Probably Vvardenfell, a tiny population and desolate wasteland sounds like a great place to set up a base of operations for a long campaign.

I disagree. It would be hard to farm and you would have to use incredibly limited resources to build your own bases. If they invade the Eastern arm of Morrowind, not only is it likely to be politically divided and militarily weak (and unlikely to recieve help from other provinces) but once you get it, you'd probably find the land would be in better quality and have more vegetation than Vvardenfell (due to being further from the eruption) and you would already have major existing settlements (probably mostly Telvanni and Imperial with maybe a few Argonian ones, I'd imagine) to set up base at. Then you can get troops and supplies to and from Akavir as the crow flies in the shortest time possible and get ready to attack your next target. I'd say Skyrim would be next (forget Vvardenfell unless they make a ruckus), as it is weakened due to the civil war. The first target would be Windhelm, which should be ambush attacked (it should be made to seem that Eastern Morrowind was all we wanted). Ulfric, being the proud, hot-headed Nord that he is, will die, outnumbered in the fight. This will probably leave the ruler of Solitude in power. Windhelm will then provide is with farms, mills and mines such as Kynsegrove. We will set up a settlement on the Northern coast of Vvardenfell to serve as a minor port between Eastern Morrowind and Windhelm. Windhelm will be our main line of defense agains the possible attacks from Solstheim. In Winterhold, the only people with any power would be the mages at the College. Given that they are rejected by the Nords, it's possible they might even accept an alliance. If they do not, we will take Winterhold, which would be an unfortunate waste of a few troops since it is basically inaccessible and will provide almost no resources, but not too much of an issue. Dawnstar will be next. It's proximity to Windhelm will make it easy to get to from both sides, and it's supposed use as a major seaport will make it a a major loss to Skyrim. Before arriving, though, we will seige Anga's Mill, which supplies most of Dawnstar's firewood, rendering them weak and in need of supplies. Loerius farm will also be taken and a major fort/settlement will be set up on the edge of the tundra. It is likely that Whiterun hold will now try actively to attack, and this fort will serve as our defense. More troops will be sent from our now blossoming civilisation in Morrowind, where we will be keeping Dunmer and Argonians as slaves (I'm sure the Akaviri would probably have no problem with this). At the moment, I can't really be bothered thinking too much further on the issue. It's bound to get pretty complicated soon, I mean High Rock will come to the defense if but only if the result of the civil war is with the Imperials winning. Same with Cyrodiil. If they do, the Thalmor will probably come to try and take High Rock while the Empire and Akaviri destroy themselves in war. If they don't, the Thalmor still might try to make a move agains the Akaviri army before they can build enough presence. Then there's issues with eventual rebel attacks on the Morrowind territory, and more and more, it would get pretty complicated.

Some fantastic replies. I think a lot of you have the "Ulfric the opportunist" idea in your head rather than the "Ulfric the patriot" some are espousing. I completely agree. One thing not really addressed yet: partisan attacks. I expect the citizens of Tamriel to react much more harshly to an Akavir occupation than, say, Imperial or High Elven. The only faction I would even remotely consider allying with would be the Hist*, but wouldn't count on it. An attack on eastern Morrowind would be playing with fire and risks drawing the ire of the Hist -- whom I think would otherwise prefer to be neutral. Ravenius sold me on High Rock. Theoretically I still like the logistics of attacking southwards through Skyrim, but with the civil war still raging such an action would IMO assuredly unify the Stormcloaks and Imperials against us. Hmm.


*edit: or Orsinium.

The hist probably never leave Black Marsh if necessary, I just think the Eastern arm (by which I mean the part that sticks out like an arm) would be a good place because not only is it far from Argonian main control, but it's also only accessible landwise by a small section that can be easily guarded. I'm not sure who you are referring to when you say "O would consider allying with the hist". It sounds like you are referring to Akavir since other Tamrielic races often become allies, but I don't see any reason the hist would want to ally with the Akaviri. Also, I assumed this was set after the civil war had ended. Either way, though, their armies would be pretty damaged from the fighting.

I would land in the remains of Morrowind, with the immortal Nerevarine leading the fleet.

The Nerevarine, being so important t omorrowind, would probably have some unkind words to say to those who destroyed it. (keep in mind, the "event" that caused vvardenfell's destruction would have occured anyway, due to the situation of ALMSIVI that only Nerevarine can resolve, so thats not really his fault.)

Nerevarine - now there's the wildcard and a wonderful intrigue. Probably for another thread though.