On my first playthrough, there were questions left unanswered. Among many, is why would Loghain, hero of Ferelden, basically murder the king - especially the when the king is the son of his best friend and from what I'm told, the woman he loved.
However, upon watching the 'oh, ah, warfare' cutscene, it hit me.
Cailin is an idiot. Not just young and foolhardy, but a red blooded Ferelden moron.
OK, your highness, strategy question. You have a giant army, the circle of magi, ballistae, knights, archers and dogs. A giant horde of darkspawn are frontally assaulting your lines. Do you:
A) Form a shield wall with the knights, letting the ballistae attack the darkspawn (especially very large ones who might snap your spine later), while having the archers lay down a fire from behind the lines of the knights.
B) Put the circle at the front of the lines, letting them toss several giant fire columns, blizzards, or whatever in the way of the charging army, figuring giant fire columns + high darkspawn density = victory.
C) Put the dogs on the flank, releasing them after the lines have clashed so they can use their superior speed and agility to tear into the darkspawn lines?
D) All of the above
E) Have the archers shoot one volley, send out your dogs on a frontal assault, charge the enemy line then get your spine snapped by a giant monster?
If you picked A, B, or C, nice job. If you picked D, then you actually should be running this country.
If you picked E, all of a sudden I see where Alistair gets it from.
I think I'll spare Loghain next time. An idiot king is as threatening to a country as a darkspawn horde.