It spits in the face of Akodo's military prowess, even if FFG is adding new quotes to it, it flagrantly flies in the face of conventional military wisdom. Akodo is supposed to be a military genius, and yet "One does not achieve victory by holding forces in reserve." Yes you do. It is the entire point of Military Reserves. To blatently disregard such a basic tenant of military strategy is not something Akodo would do, or say. "Leadership" is itself based off Sun Tsu's Art of War, which blatantly extols the virtues of reserves. I've loved FFG's handling of the lore so far, but this feels like such a massive blunder on their part.

37 minutes ago, RavenwolfXIII said:

It spits in the face of Akodo's military prowess, even if FFG is adding new quotes to it, it flagrantly flies in the face of conventional military wisdom. Akodo is supposed to be a military genius, and yet "One does not achieve victory by holding forces in reserve." Yes you do. It is the entire point of Military Reserves. To blatently disregard such a basic tenant of military strategy is not something Akodo would do, or say. "Leadership" is itself based off Sun Tsu's Art of War, which blatantly extols the virtues of reserves. I've loved FFG's handling of the lore so far, but this feels like such a massive blunder on their part.

To be fair; it depends largely on the context of the quote (as with most famous quotes people misunderstand).

You should hold reserves. However, reserves exist for the critical moment at which point you should throw absolutely everything up to and including the kitchen sink, the plumbing connected to the kitchen sink, and for that matter the drainage system if you can claw it out of the ground into the decisive engagement. At that point - the point you could achieve victory - you don't hold back.

Yeah, as Magnus said the context is probably vital here. Aside from the overall context of the statement, even the meaning of that one particular sentence is ambiguous without context. It could simply advise a general against being to shy to commit. The sentence alone does not make clear if it means that having reserves at all is bad or holding your reserves back too long is bad.

Also note that when we first meet Akodo Toturi in The Price Of War - who's essentially being billed as the 'scholarly general' in the setting and could probably recite Leadership cover-to-cover; he's being held in reserve .

If Akodo's guide to strategy and command contained a clear-cut prohibition on reserves as a bad idea in any context, I don't see the Lion Clan using them.

2 hours ago, RavenwolfXIII said:

It spits in the face of Akodo's military prowess, even if FFG is adding new quotes to it, it flagrantly flies in the face of conventional military wisdom. Akodo is supposed to be a military genius, and yet "One does not achieve victory by holding forces in reserve." Yes you do. It is the entire point of Military Reserves. To blatently disregard such a basic tenant of military strategy is not something Akodo would do, or say. "Leadership" is itself based off Sun Tsu's Art of War, which blatantly extols the virtues of reserves. I've loved FFG's handling of the lore so far, but this feels like such a massive blunder on their part.

As others have said, simply having the reserves doesn’t achieve victory, it’s using them at the right moment. General McClellan in the early US Civil War comes to mind, where he often had built up a force 2-5 times the size of his opponent but never committed them at the right moment.

I'm thinking this is more of a generic demonstration of the differences of a Matsu's aggressiveness, vs Akodo's strategery (totally should be a word)

Matsu tend to be all out hold nothing back. Akodo are tacticians. We even get this from the first story with Tsuko's impatience, watching the enemy ride past her forces, at Toturi's command, because he is executing a plan, while she wants to fight.

The dynamic kind of remind me of the exchange between Cap' and Tony in Avengers I

Cap say something along the lines of: "We have to make a plan of attack" Akodo

Stark counters with: "I have a plan, attack" Matsu

Leadership is not an introductory text.

Even so, the novice may benefit from a great insight by using it to interrogate his own preconceptions. The question of reserving troops is a matter of the disposition of one’s forces rather than a matter of decisive action. A sound strategy is not enough — one must also execute it tactically. To wit, Toturi’s plan at Toshi Ranbo was not merely to hold back his strength but also to unleash it at the correct moment . This saying of Akodo can also be read as a warning against timidity or indecision, which in turn opens the mind to how bushido is not merely a code of personal conduct but also harmonizes with the larger questions of generalship and statesmanship.

In any case, the first step in meditating on a great insight is to trust that you need to learn from it as opposed to assuming that you need to discover why it is not great after all.

What I see as a problem is the general feeling I get from the game (and current stories). I don't feel that the lion are great generals, they seem to be the same as the rest. And this idea poisons flavour texts like this one. It's not that you can't interpret it in a positive light. I just want to feel like the Lion ARE good generals, great leaders and you SHOULDN'T fight them head on.

Check out the short story “Between The Lines.”

The Akodo are suppose to be great generals. Totori who is our most prominent Akodo is shown having a brilliant analytical mind. His problem (which I assume he will overcome as time goes on) is he is sometime over analytical to the point of paralyzing inaction.

We mostly see the Matsu in the fiction. They are the most numerous of the Lion clan families. They are not famous for being brilliant generals. They are famous for being valorous and aggressive in combat. Matsu Tsuko embodies this to a fault almost in the fiction. She's often seen arguing that they should take the most aggressive position possible without thinking about the consequences down the line.

The true power of the Lion clan is when it's two most important factions (the Akodo and the Matsu) work in concert to balance each other. This is the struggle the Lion clan is introduced with at the start of the new fiction. They are completely in disharmony with themselves and their differences are amplified because of it. This fracture in their leadership makes them much weaker than they should be considering their position.

That couple with the fact that the Lion are effectively still on the emperor's leash. They are stuck fighting Skirmishes instead of declaring all out war on their enemies. You can sort of feel that frustration in the Lion fictions. I think what the Lion clan does in reaction to the current storyline is the most interesting to me out of all the clans. They have one of (if not the) largest military presences in the empire. Their bushi make up the majority of the rank and file soldiers in the emperor's army. Their clan sword sits next to the emperor's in a show of complete obedience to his authority and support to his cause. The most prominent military leader in the clan is a very impulsive Matsu, and so far she's been kept in check by the Emperor's authority. Well it's unclear going forward who is the rightful recipient of that authority if anyone in Tsuko's eyes.

The card the OP is talking about is a Matsu card so no surprise that's the flavor text on the card. The Swiftspear might even be thinking about a "Leadership" quote out of context to support their preference in battle. I wouldn't put that past them.

I am with the original poster here. That does not sound like a good military quote. Of course context is important, but here we have a clear statement, which is just wrong in a military context. So not well thought through. I made me angry as well, when I read it. I also agree on the Lion´s frustration in the fluff, which I find very cool.