When you have in-fighting, fear, voices in your head telling you you're going to die and then having to fight an army of soldiers who are in a nutshell zealots fighting for the glory of their Hereld at fantastic moral as they believe they are fighting for justice and then lets add our siege equipment. It's not surprising at all.
Very much this
With regards to this argument that because many of the Wardens were once criminals, it renders them ineffective, a few points.
First of all, that argument doesn't really hold any water when one looks at real-world militaries. The Napoleonic Wars were won for Britain with an army composed largely of pressed men or convicted felons, people who would otherwise be hung or sent to Australia for a variety of crimes, many of which we wouldn't even consider of a capital nature today. The Duke of Wellington actually discussed this, talking about how his troops were the merest scum of the earth, "and look what we have made of them!" (or something to that effect).
And certainly, while merely handing a bunch of criminals some weapons, winding them up and sending them out to die would be a bad idea, as I've mentioned previously, Wardens still receive training and preparation after the Joining. They're not a mob, they're an army (however small, or in the case of Adamant, divided), and armies work to ensure their troops are at peak fighting performance. Considering that their enemies usually appear in what can best be described as either "hordes" or "tidal waves with swords", it's inconceivable that they would half-ass this.
Finally, so what if many of the Wardens are former criminals? One of the major points of the Wardens that they don't discriminate when it comes to recruiting; it doesn't matter who you are or what you've done, what your race is, your social class, or even if you're a criminal; you have the opportunity to prove your worth and protect Thedas from the darkspawn. Daveth was a criminal, and he seemed to be fairly effective in the short time we knew him. Same too with Sigrun or Nathanial or Velanna or the City Elf and Dwarf Commoner Wardens, or even Loghain. (Yes, fangirls, usurping the throne and desertion under fire are crimes, believe it or not). It's not where you start with the Wardens. It's how you conduct yourself once you become one.
Probably the same as the Inquisition. The "tens of thousands" part would work to balance out the "Orlesian" part.
You're just messing with me because you know the Orlesians are amazing.
I have yet to see anything the Orlesians are amazing at.
Well, that's actually not true, but what I'm thinking of is probably not what you meant.
I have yet to see anything the Orlesians are amazing at.
Well, that's actually not true, but what I'm thinking of is probably not what you meant.
Cheese wheels.
I have yet to see anything the Orlesians are amazing at.
Well, that's actually not true, but what I'm thinking of is probably not what you meant.
I have yet to see anything the Orlesians are amazing at.
Well, that's actually not true, but what I'm thinking of is probably not what you meant.
Orgies.
Red-headed bards, for certain 
Beyond that, not much.
Orlais is basically the United States of Thedas in terms of its power level.
Other countries exist, are awesome (or awesomer) in their own way, and can resist in many ways.
But Orlais is just so BIG and influential it's presence is felt everywhere.
Ironically, the Game is a good thing as it keeps them at each other's throats.
The Wardens are not super soldiers. They are skilled yes, but nothing sets them above other experienced soldiers/mages in terms of martial combat. Their only "power" is there ability to sense Darkspawn and kill Archdemons, if they manage to deliver the killing blow. Thier ranks are filled with all kinds of people, professional soldiers, criminals, apostates, etc.
Where did someone get the idea that the grey wardens are all highly skilled?
Duncan was conscripting anyone that was good with a sword because it was a blight, and they lacked numbers. These grey wardens do not have the same luxury of having the power to conscript anyone (Since i highly doubt that any nation would let them do that in big numbers)
We only saw two grey warden armies before (Ostagar and Soldier's Keep) Ostagar was a failure and their number reduced to two grey wardens (Alistair and the HoF)
One is a companion and the other is the player character their power is greatly superior compared to most people at the end of the game. But even then, they are exceptions (Otherwise, the HoF would not be so special)
Then there is soldier's keep, where it was an highly defendable base, and the base was in good state, even then, things got desperate enough so that summoning demons would seem a good idea.
Here we have a base in bad state, an army overwhelmed (If you play your cards right, it's orlais + the inquisition attacking them) with most mages trying to bind demons (and some grey warden warriors sacrificed for that purpose, so they weren't at full strength)
If they had won that battle, they would have became the biggest mary sues of the entire series, unless they are inhumanly capable, they have very little chances of winning the battle against the inquisition (Who at that point in the game would have a capable army, depending on what missions one has played before, the inquisition might have orlais + mages/templars + soldiers given by nobles + templars who defected to the inquisition at the start of the game and peasants with high morale and good training as it's army)
Where did someone get the idea that the grey wardens are all highly skilled?
Duncan was conscripting anyone that was good with a sword because it was a blight, and they lacked numbers. These grey wardens do not have the same luxury of having the power to conscript anyone (Since i highly doubt that any nation would let them do that in big numbers)
We only saw two grey warden armies before (Ostagar and Soldier's Keep) Ostagar was a failure and their number reduced to two grey wardens (Alistair and the HoF)
One is a companion and the other is the player character their power is greatly superior compared to most people at the end of the game. But even then, they are exceptions (Otherwise, the HoF would not be so special)
Then there is soldier's keep, where it was an highly defendable base, and the base was in good state, even then, things got desperate enough so that summoning demons would seem a good idea.
Here we have a base in bad state, an army overwhelmed (If you play your cards right, it's orlais + the inquisition attacking them) with most mages trying to bind demons (and some grey warden warriors sacrificed for that purpose, so they weren't at full strength)
If they had won that battle, they would have became the biggest mary sues of the entire series, unless they are inhumanly capable, they have very little chances of winning the battle against the inquisition (Who at that point in the game would have a capable army, depending on what missions one has played before, the inquisition might have orlais + mages/templars + soldiers given by nobles + templars who defected to the inquisition at the start of the game and peasants with high morale and good training as it's army)
Even if we don't take the vairables into account, the fact is the base Inquistion army is filled with ex-templars, survivors of the conclave and survivors of the attack on Haven. The base army it self is extreamly strong and their strong faith in the Hereld is also important. Then we had the vairables you've mentioned it's no surprise the wardens themselves where not really a threat, it was the demons that gave them issues and even then people like Hawke where able to save alot of soldiers(Hawke has a history with killing demons so no surprise she is at home here)
No, even Sten echoes this thought when asking you "Are you sure you're a Grey Warden?"
Sten questions you because you technically do everything a Grey Warden shouldn't do.
Yup. Sten is rigid: He's expecting you to charge into the Archdemon on a suicide run. In his view the gathering of allies is the job of leaders, not Wardens.
Sten questions you because you technically do everything a Grey Warden shouldn't do.
Yup. Sten is rigid: He's expecting you to charge into the Archdemon on a suicide run. In his view the gathering of allies is the job of leaders, not Wardens.
Not to mention, Warden's aren't supposed to be politically involved/Motivated. They're meant to be rather neutral - So they're kinda going against their Creed by violently shifting the balance of Political power (Back) into place.
Sten questions you because you technically do everything a Grey Warden shouldn't do.
And right after you ask him what he expects of them, he says what? Skilled fighters and tacticians.
Yeah, because the Qunari likely never met too many Gray Wardens so all they have are the legends: The Legends that depict them as unstoppable badasses who NEVER lose even a single man to the Darkspawn. This is untrue. Likewise the Crows are spread around as these assassins who can get at anyone, but player characters can kill them no harder than regular bounty hunters.
We only saw two grey warden armies before (Ostagar and Soldier's Keep) Ostagar was a failure and their number reduced to two grey wardens (Alistair and the HoF)
You don't see a Grey Warden 'army' at Ostagar either. There were only about 40 of them. The Ferelden chapter of the Grey Wardens was only recently reestablished (by Maric) and it had well under a hundred members. Ostagar might have been a battle involving thousands of men, but the vast majority weren't Wardens.
Also the Grey Wardens can hardly be blamed for the defeat at Ostagar. They were only a tiny detachment at Ostagar and short of killing the archdemon, weren't there in large enough numbers to have an effect on the outcome of the battle either way. And the Grey Wardens weren't in any way responsible for the conduct of the battle as they weren't in command. Cailan and Loghain were responsible for the tactics, and it was Loghain's betrayal that left Cailan and the Wardens unsupported.
Yeah, because the Qunari likely never met too many Gray Wardens so all they have are the legends: The Legends that depict them as unstoppable badasses who NEVER lose even a single man to the Darkspawn. This is untrue. Likewise the Crows are spread around as these assassins who can get at anyone, but player characters can kill them no harder than regular bounty hunters.
Skilled fighters and tacticians sounds like a far cry to me from legendary unstoppable badasses.
And right after you ask him what he expects of them, he says what? Skilled fighters and tacticians.
His derision isn't all that complex, actually.
He hates the Warden's style of leadership because they're doing a ridiculous series of Rube Goldberg machine like quests with a ragtag band of misfits.
How all this relates to stopping the Blight is beyond him.
Also, Alistair is an idiot.
Also, Alistair is an idiot.
Very much so.
Inquisition turns every faction directly involved in the story (except the Inquisition itself) into a complete joke.
I just replayed Adamant.
Guys...
The Grey Wardens kick the Inquisition's ass.
Cullen says they will be able to buy the Inquisitor time but they can't win.
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