The 10 best candidates for POD battles

pisces74

Just a forum to brainstorm opinions for some PODs. IMO the candidates are in no particular order.

1) Battle of Alesia.

2)Battle of Milvian Bridge

3) Valmy

4)Omdurman

5)Trafalgar

6) Waterloo

7)Tsushima

8)Cambrai

9) Battle of Britian/ Atlantic

10) Isandlwana

Imput/discussion would be apprieciated. ;) If nothing else occurs maybe we'll see some new timelines pop up because of this :)
 
MrP

MrP

Banned
6) Mm, not for letting the Ogre escape, I presume. Rather, for making Prussia and England subordinate after the Austro-Russian armies turn up and steadily quench Boney's flame. Makes the big continental powers look better; embarrasses Britain when "her finest general" gets his ass handed to him.

Nice list - I'd add Kadesh: kill off Ramses or have him win properly :)

Cicero fails to stop the Catalinarian conspiracy.

For the Zulu War: Hlobane and Khambula - have the Brits smashed both times. Newspaper editorials lament the utter incompetence of our scouting forces . . . leading to a wholesale reorganisation with the UK in a much better position to provide anti-Boer scouts later on.

First Manassas/Bull Run ;)

Concord or Yorktown?

Off to get lunch now. Check back later.

Good worthwhile thread :)
 

Forum Lurker

Marathon, definitely. Not that it would have been a huge military defeat, since it wasn't intended as a real invasion, but the OTL occurence gave the Athenians a huge morale boost later on, the absence of which would have completely altered the later Persian war.

Also, any battle can be huge if someone important dies. For example, Hastings: if William actually dies when he gets unhorsed, the Norman morale will break, leaving England in Godwinson's hands and having Lord only knows what kind of effect.
 

Faeelin

Banned
Surely one of the battles that determined the fate of Constantinople belongs here? Probably the one in 711, since it helped to encourage the fall of the Ummayads.
 

Straha

Banned
The Battle of Tours- This really determined the fates of both europe and the islamic world.

Battle of Antienam- If the CSA won this battle it woudl either increase the lengh of the war by a sizeable amount or win.

The Battle of Saratoga- If the british had won they'd have the resources of north america which could mean possible planetary union in the future of the TL..
 

DominusNovus

Forum Lurker said:
Marathon, definitely. Not that it would have been a huge military defeat, since it wasn't intended as a real invasion, but the OTL occurence gave the Athenians a huge morale boost later on, the absence of which would have completely altered the later Persian war.
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How could I have forgotten Thermopolye (sic)?
 

Forum Lurker

DominusNovus said:
How could I have forgotten Thermopolye (sic)?
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Actually, Thermopylae was largely meaningless except as a morale victory. The true decision was made by the fleet at Salamis, and that's not a battle nearly as easily tipped by the winds of fate as was Marathon.
 

luakel

G.Bone said:
Gettysburg is often a battle used for POD's.
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Gettysburg is overestimated. Even if the CSA had "won" they would've been pretty exhausted, and the USA had the winning hand by that point anyway.
 
MrP

MrP

Banned
I have recently been reading a Why the Confederacy Lost book, in which one contributor makes the point that Antietam and Gettysburg are both signal examples of stupidity. A quick battle can lead to victory, but if you don't get that, then Lee's armies either must disperse to forage or retreat in good order. Either way, any advance enforces a strategic retreat and therefore looks like you've been defeated tactically or strategically.

So it's a desperate throw of the dice: If you can get a quick battle, then you can smash the Army of the Potomac. Otherwise, you get shafted.
 

DominusNovus

Forum Lurker said:
Actually, Thermopylae was largely meaningless except as a morale victory. The true decision was made by the fleet at Salamis, and that's not a battle nearly as easily tipped by the winds of fate as was Marathon.
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Which reminds me:

How could I have forgotten about Salmis!? :eek:
 

Forum Lurker

While Salamis was crucial, I think in order to have it go the other way you need to prevent it entirely. If Athens does not build its great fleet, or if it uses it to evacuate instead of to offer battle (as was discussed in the Assembly), then Persia can win.
 

Ghost 88

Straha said:
The Battle of Tours- This really determined the fates of both europe and the islamic world.

Battle of Antienam- If the CSA won this battle it woudl either increase the lengh of the war by a sizeable amount or win.

The Battle of Saratoga- If the british had won they'd have the resources of north america which could mean possible planetary union in the future of the TL..
Click to expand...
Straha the CSA didn't lose at Antietam.They held the field against the Union forces and retreated in good order.Lee's campaign was doomed when the North became aware of his plans. Any what if about this battle would have to go something like"what if the Union had a general in the east in 1862 who could find his ass with both hands and guidance from an aide". Marse Robert was a good leader but alot of his victories had as much to do with his opponents being incompitant as his own generalship. Lee did out general most of his opponents,but when he finally ran into a general who understood the weakness of the CSA Lee was doomed.
 
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