Your top 5 generals

[Patriarch of Constantinople]

Heres mine:

1.Alexander the Great
2.Hannibal
3.Genghis Khan
4.Julius Caesar
5.Eisenhower

[AwesomeArcher]

what exactly is the critera that we are supposed to rank them on, because there are so many different aspecs to being a general, strategy, battle, over all operations.

[Aenlic]

Just to be different:

Gaius Marius
Frederick II of Prussia
Georgy Zhukov
Erwin Rommel
Henry "Hap" Arnold

Picking just 5 is extremely tough!

[GeneralHankerchief]

1. Alex
2. Caesar
3. Wellington
4. Scipio
5. Saladin

As you can see I base my criterion on record- Ultimately all five of these generals won their wars.

[Uesugi Kenshin]

Hmmm not sure about my top five but I'd probably put Manstein on the list somewhere.

[AwesomeArcher]

well here are my top 5 favs

1. Alexander
2. Patton
3. Caesar
4. Eisenhower
5. Hannibal

[Strike For The South]

1. ROBERT E LEE
2. Jesus
3. Mr. Peanut
4. Hank Williams Jr.
5. Schemp (The most underated stooge)

Refute me I dare you

[Aenlic]

That's it! Road trip! We're leaving in an hour to drive down and give SftS a wedgie.

[Lord Winter]

Not in order
1. Napoleon
2. Alexander
3. Fredrick the Great
4. Hannibal
5. Tie between Robert E. Lee, stonewall Jackson and Gustavus Adpholphus

[naut]

[Rank] [General] [Reason]

1. Alexander the Great (Tactics, Strategy, Leadership & Shear Will to Succeed)
2. Erwin Rommel (Over All Operations)
3. Hannibal Barca (Strategy)
4. Moshe Dayan (Tactics)
5. Alfred the Great (Strategy) or Saladin (Strategy & Tactics)

[Aenlic]

Just to be different:

Gaius Marius
Frederick II of Prussia
Georgy Zhukov
Erwin Rommel
Henry "Hap" Arnold

Picking just 5 is extremely tough!

We have to give reasons?

Very well.

Gaius Marius - transformed Rome's military into one of the first true professional armies, creating a military machine which was almost unstoppable.

Frederick II "The Great" of Prussia - brilliant tactician, reformed modern military training into a form we use today. Napoleon called him the greatest tactical genius of his time.

Georgy Zhukov - brilliant strategist and tactician. He turned back a previously almost invincible German army at Moscow, he was responsible for the encirclement and destruction of the German army at Stalingrad, he lifted the siege of Leningrad, and he led Operation Bagration, one of the greatest military offesnives of the war.

Erwin Rommel - brilliant strategist and tactician, hampered mostly by lack of supplies and troops and support and being on the wrong damn side. He nearly defeated the British and then the U.S. Corps II in Africa, despite heavy odds. If Hitler had listened to him in France, the Normandy invasion might have ended in defeat for the Allies.

Henry "Hap" Arnold - transformed a second rate army air corps into the most modern and effective air force in the world, by the end of WWII. Recognized the need for strategic bombing assets early on; without him there wouldn't have been any B-17's or B-29's in time for use in WWII. He also was an early champion of the Norden bombsight, radar, and windshield de-icing for all-weather flying.

[Strike For The South]

oh here are my reasons.

Lee- Hes Robert freakin Lee thats why
Jesus- Hes got 2 billion followers sheer numbers.
Mr. Peanut-Cashews are addictive and if you say no you just dont realize it yet.
Hank Williams Jr.- Hes whiskey bent and hell bound.
Schemp- The man was the 4th stooge a mere footnote yet everyone knows who he is

[AntiochusIII]

1. Colonel Aureliano Buendia
2. Prince Arthas
3. Paul Atreides
4. Athos, a.k.a. Comte de la Fere (with the accent)
5. Tarnum.

None of these are real, except for the fourth, but even then he had been thoroughly fictionalized that it is arguably not the same guy.

Cookies for those who can guess the origin of all five!

[Conqueror]

In no particular order...

Hannibal
Temujin, aka Chingis Khan
Napoleon
Belisarius
Zhuge Liang

[Monk]

1. Colonel Aureliano Buendia
2. Prince Arthas
3. Paul Atreides
4. Athos, a.k.a. Comte de la Fere (with the accent)
5. Tarnum.

Cookies for those who can guess the origin of all five!

I know 1-4. Since cookies are on the line i will not speak; but i will openly question Arthas' choice to burn Stratholme to the ground. Do you realise how long those fires have been burning?!(world of warcraft joke)

[KrooK]

"Eisenhower" - good general
Don't joke plz. He made so many mistakes and never won hard battle.
In my opinion greatest were
1)Genghis Khan
2)John Carol Chodkiewicz - in his 80year life he never lost battle
3)Tokugawa Ieyasu
4)Admiral Chester Nimitz
5)Stefan Zolkiewski - after 400 years Russians remember him as the one who captured Kremal

[Keba]

My top 5 generals? I don't have any generals under my command ... yet.

Favourite generals would include:

1. Alexander the Great
2. Napoleon
3. Saladin
4. Mannstein
5. Chuikov - mainly because I respect him for being the guy who led the defense of Stalingrad

[The Stranger]

Napoleon (great tactician)
Julius Ceasar (great tactician)
William wallace (for inspiring people)
Hannibal
Tamerlan (i just liked it that he changed the course of the river to keep the other army away from the water)
Umeu Bartelds

that would be it. no particular order

[Prince Cobra]

Not in order:
Julius Caesar
Heracles I of Byzantium
Genghis khan
Kaloyan of Bulgaria (who defeated the Crusade knights in the battle of Adrianople 1205)
Sallah-ad-din

[rotorgun]

Hmm...difficult to narrow down five, but here goes:

1. Hannibal-master tactician who beat every Roman general thrown at him except one.
2. Scipio "Africanus"- the only Roman general to beat Hannibal.
3. Napoleaon-master strategist and tactician who beat almost everyone he fought.
4. Wellington-great defensive tactician and fair strategist who beat Napoleon
5. Zukhov-probably the only Soviet general with the brains, reputation, and courage to disagree with Stalin. If it weren't for him, I think that Europe would be speaking German as the main business and diplomatic language today.

[naut]

"Eisenhower" - good general
Don't joke plz. He made so many mistakes and never won hard battle.
In my opinion greatest were
1)Genghis Khan
2)John Carol Chodkiewicz - in his 80year life he never lost battle
3)Tokugawa Ieyasu
4)Admiral Chester Nimitz
5)Stefan Zolkiewski - after 400 years Russians remember him as the one who captured Kremal

I wouldn't judge a general's ability by the fact that he did not lose battles. I would judge him on his recovery from those loses. Losing battles can make you become an even better general.

[AntiochusIII]

I know 1-4. Since cookies are on the line i will not speak; but i will openly question Arthas' choice to burn Stratholme to the ground. Do you realise how long those fires have been burning?!(world of warcraft joke)

Hint on number five: the character came from a game...the game's sequel is currently one of the top topics in the Arena as of this moment...the character shows up in the last sequel before the current one, as well, but only in a story (not in-game)...the character has been referred to as Immortal Hero. That's probably why I chose him the first place.

And yes, I think the Warcraft III mission "The Culling" is one of the least enjoyable missions in the game. I get the WoW joke, though.

[Rosacrux redux]

Some underdogs, that tend to go unnoticed ...mostly from the Greek history

#1 Epameinondas of Thebes. My pet-underdog. He was an extraordinary tactical innovator. Introduced - among others - the skewed phalanx, the coordination between cavalry and infantry, and most of all the concentration of strength and attack of a single point in the enemy formation. He is the one that taught Philip the new ideas about warfare that Philip and Alex perfected in turn. His ideas and innovations have shaped warfare even up to modern times. Of those mentioned above, Friedrich der Grosse and Napoleon have stated more than once that they consider Epameinondas to be the most brilliant tactician ever and have seeked inspiration in his extrardinary performances at Leuktra and Mantineia.

#2 Themistocles of Athens. The man that singlehandedly won the Persian Wars and saved the "West", requires at least some aknowledgement, wouldn't you think so?

#3 Iphikrates of Athens. Another of the men that just "didn't make it to greatness" because of the circumstances. He also revolutionized warfare and paved the road with his innovations (changes in equipment, in role of the various contigents in battle, new tactics, new approach of warfare etc.) for the great conquerors to come (ie. Alexander).

(talking about Alex...) #4 Philipos of Makedonia. Without him, Alexandros would never conquer much... He created the famed Makedonian phalanx, he introduced innovative tactics, was a brilliant - albeit rough on the edges - politician, a determined statesman, a great leader of men. Extraordinary package. Had he not died too early, he would conquer the Persian empire and not his son.

(and a non-Greek underdog) #5 Cyrus the great. I wonder how nobody mentions the name of a man who started off from a smallish kingdom in Parsha and managed to carve a huge empire, with excellent leadership and great skill.

[Monk]

Hint on number five: the character came from a game...the game's sequel is currently one of the top topics in the Arena as of this moment...the character shows up in the last sequel before the current one, as well, but only in a story (not in-game)...the character has been referred to as Immortal Hero. That's probably why I chose him the first place.

hmm... immortal hero.. i got it!

1. Colonel Aureliano Buendia - a character in One Hundred Years of Solitude.
2. Prince Arthas - from Warcraft 3 and its expansion.
3. Paul Atreides - from Dune.
4. Athos - Oldest of the Three Musketeers.
5. Tarnum. - from Heroes of might and Magic.

[AntiochusIII]

hmm... immortal hero.. i got it!

1. Colonel Aureliano Buendia - a character in One Hundred Years of Solitude.
2. Prince Arthas - from Warcraft 3 and its expansion.
3. Paul Atreides - from Dune.
4. Athos - Oldest of the Three Musketeers.
5. Tarnum. - from Heroes of might and Magic.

Congrats! I'm particularly impressed with anyone with the knowledge of the first. Now, for the cookie...

*ahem* Just look in the jar...

[Taurus]

1) Napoleon
2) Hannibal
3) Genghis Khan
4) Attila
5) Wellington

[Reenk Roink]

1. Hannibal Barca: (Trebia, Trasimene, Cannae) Most able field commander ever. Constantly defeated larger and better equipped armies. A simply outstanding campaign he took from Spain to Italy. And wrecked terrible havoc to the Romans. A noble character as well. Sadly, Roman historians (ahem, Livy) slander his name, but his character was absolute chivalrous.

2. Khalid ibn Walid: (Arab battles, Yarmuk) "The Sword of God" Perhaps the most underrated military leader ever. Crushed the Byzantines who not only outnumbered him by at least 2:1, but were a well trained, well equipped, heavily armored imperial army with poorly trained, very poorly equipped Arab nomads with incredible ease. As for his character, though he was definitely more ruthless than most of the other Arab generals at the time (who showed tremendous chivalry), he still was very honorable to the defeated towns. When the Byzantine army that he would defeat at Yarmuk first advanced through Syria, he withdrew his garrison from Damascus and then ordered the taxes to be repaid to the people because they were leaving.

3. Alexandros III (the Great) of Macedon: (The Persian/Indian campaigns, Gaugamela) One of the best field commanders and brilliant long term strategist was able to carve out an empire from the ashes of the greatest empire. Showed great bravery as well as a comprehensive grasp of tactics. Though we have to give credit to daddy Phillipos II for the reorganized phalanx system/combined arms tactic, he was the one who used it well.

4. Temujin "Genghis Khan": (Unification of Mongolia, Conquest of China/Khwarizm Empire) The greatest conqueror in sheer amount of land, he also ushered a half century of Mongol domination after his death. People think of him as a leader of a horde when in reality, his system of organization was the finest until modern times, and much superior to the backwards European system... Essentially, on top of being a great strategist, he united the Mongols and crafted an incredible military machine, able to move rapidly without a baggage train. His massacre of cities was nothing really new; look to Alexander or Caesar and especially modern wars...

5. Napoleon Bonaparte: (Conquest of Europe) The last great conqueror to ever live. Took over Europe like a storm. Was successful for 1.5 decades...

[Justiciar]

In no particular order, and not necessarily based on their prowess in battle.

Napoleon Bonaparte
Erwin Rommel
Edward I
Genghis Khan
Tamurlane

[Lord Winter]

My reasons
1. Napoleon (Hundred days, Asurlwitz, Italy campaigns.
: The one who ended the limited age of warfare, Napoleon was a master in both strategy and tactics. He won countless victories against bigger forces. His campaigns were quick and effective and were an inspiration for the blitzkrieg in WWII.
2. Alexander the Great: (Gugamala, Jumba) The inventor of the reserve, Alexander carved out one of the biggest empires the earth has ever seen in 12 years.
3. Fredrick the Great (seven years war): Inheriting a very well trained infantry arm, Fredrick the great fought off 3 great powers of europe in what Napoleon called a master piece of strategy. Fredrick the Great was one of the first to use mass artillery in battle along with mastering the attack in oblique order, he was one of the greatest influences on Napoleon 50 years latter. In fact Napoleon remarked after taking Prussia that if Fredrick was still alive Berlin would have never fallen.
4. Hannibal:(Cannne) An great field commander, cannne was a tactical master piece.
5. Gustavus Adolphus (Breitenfield, reforms): Known as the father of modern strategy, Gustavus Adolphus established the first truly professional army that included the whole country not just the rich and the poor. Emphasizing speed he introduced the pistol and saber armed calvary, broke away from the block tactics of forming one line, he transformed the battle into a much more fluid and fast paced ordeal.

[Beirut]

Scipio Africanus

Ghengis Khan

W.T. Sherman

Belisarius

Sir Arthur Currie Canada, WWI.