The Hellfire Legion wiped out a small Rat Tide without a single casualty.
The Imperial Guards could wipe out a Rat Tide without a single casualty too.
Round it up, and the Hellfire Legion was basically the Imperial Guards.
Confidence was built battle by battle. Now Annan no longer feared war. He even hoped more Ratfolk would come along so the Hellfire Legion could get more practice.
The Hellfire Legion left the battlefield cleanup to the Duchy to prevent a Plague from taking hold, then returned victorious.
After a Victory Banquet that left Femi and Jack green with envy, Annan sat with his Eldest Sister and Olmedo in the Lounge, listening as Femi and Krian recounted the battle.
"So if there had been more Ratfolk, you would have been forced into close combat, which isn't your strength?"
Krian said, "If their numbers increase, we can change tactics. But you're right: a Rat Tide is like a wave. You either hold it back or get swept away."
Annan considered this. "There's another option. Guerrilla Warfare."
The elves excelled at Guerrilla Warfare. With the terrain on their side, they could easily run circles around enemies several times their number.
The Hellfire Legion had never taken that path because it lacked the skills. Elves could move through forests effortlessly, but armored soldiers could not outrun a Rat Tide.
Femi had no desire to do so, either.
The Hellfire Legion now rejected that approach because it had already chosen its own path.
Heavy Infantry—that was the choice Femi and Krian had made together.
Free City needed a shield, a solid one that could hold against enemies on the front line.
"You have a point..."
Annan also felt that making the Hellfire Legion trade its Plate Armor for Leather Armor would miss the point. He