First Lord of the Rings post of 2009

I met the Great Dan last weekend for a very enjoyable quick drink in the pub that turned into a rather long discussion about all sorts of things.

It ended with one of our favourite topics: The Lord of the Rings.

When the Captains of the West assemble outside the gates of Barad-dur, in the film, they form a ring and are surrounded by the hosts of Mordor. Dan says that tactically this is ridiculous; a normal army would keep their defensive position and take as many of the enemy with them as possible instead of charging at the enemy as they do in the film. He also added that - I think you'll find - the army takes up a defensive position on the hills.

James and I argued that the Captains of the West need to behave as if one of them has the Ring to keep the Enemy's eye fixed on Gondor. And the charge is for dramatic effect - seeing an army pick off a few soldiers from another army wouldn't be very interesting.

I don't know why we have these conversations or why we get so passionate about it. But we do.