El Cid said:
I think in the Centauri trilogy, they mentioned that the Centauri kept a large portion of their fleet in inactive reserve and when a war broke out they could call on many more ships.
Yeah, AoG fluff also had this one. And it makes sense for the history...
However, what I meant was the fact that the Centauri were supposed to be older and technologically more advanced then the Narn by quite a bit, even though the Narn did grab a lot when they kicked the fanheads off their world for the first time.
And they're Especially more advanced then the EA, who had to run to the Narns to buy stuff they got from the Centauri decades ago.
So it does not make sense that the Centauri ships have the worst weapon of those three.
Hey, they're supposed to be a lion that just had forgotten how to bite, having the weapons but lacking the will, not a toothless old kitty.
Aad as for the "grudge match"... I also see the Centauri having poorly trained (or at least poorly acting, because they just can't muster the determination) crews, also because they probably see regular exercises as too much of a waste of time.
The Narn crews on the other hand are cutting edge military minds (if a bit single-minded ones), well trained and determined to be the best they can be, so that they will emerge victorious when they go after the Centauri's throats.
So I'd say the 2257 Centauri should have slightly better ships and a large stockpile of mothballed warships, but worse crews and especially a strategic slowness to act (as they are likely to be burdened with lots of burocractic rules and decadent officers who got their position through house connections in spite of thier lack of ability), while the Narns should have slightly lower tech (since they certainly couldn't have been able to capture all Centauri tech, as it was mentioned in S-5 that shipbuilding was only done in secure systems, not ones such as narn under the centauri occupation, with an very active resistance...), but better crews (since those put their hearts into it, not like the bulk of the "tired" centauri), better morale (a centauri captain should be quick to withdraw if the battle looks like he cound get hurt even if he might win, while a narn captain will probably stay even if he expects to loose if he can at least take one or two centauri ships with him), and more strategic flexibility.
Of course, as Refa's "new lions" gain more and more power and positions (and especially after the other guys start getting killed in action once the Narn start their attacks), the Centauri disadvantages start to disappear, while more and more warships are reactivated for duty (and their better spy network gives them one more edge).
The end result was inevitable, and would have been the same even without Londo's associates sealing the fate of narn at Gorash - it'd just have taken more time (remember G'Sten's words - they made that Gorash gamble because the war was going badly in the first place).
