Hello. I'm new here, only just joined, and I realize that the subject may have been discussed to death here, but I feel an irresistable urge to share some thoughts I've had while watching the series.
The Tau'ri/Earth appears to be the only race in the universe with a decently equipped and trained infantry. The rest, for one reason or another, are obsessed with building starships and fancy superweapons, and give no thought whatsoever to their ground troops. I mean, look at the Goa'uld and their Jaffa armies: their weapons and equipment haven't changed over at least five thousand Earth years. In the episode when SG-1 travels in time back to Ancient Egypt, we still see the Jaffa armed with the exact same staff weapons that they wield in the 21 century. Their armor is medieval-style metal suits, easily penetrated by 9mm handguns. Their arsenal of weapons is terribly limited and totally inadequate. The inaccuracy of staff weapons was well demonstrated (hell, I am still wondering where the sights are on that thing)- but that is only the tip of the iceberg. Their rate of fire is barely a match for World war II-era semi-auto battle rifles like the Garand and the SVT, they are unwieldy in close quarters, they cannot be suppressed or fitted with any accessories. The staff cannons are remarkably ineffective as well compared to their Tau'ri equivalents; being energy weapons, they can only do damage in case of a direct impact, whereas an Earth cannon shell can inflict tremendous casualties in a wide area through fragmentation. The Goa'uld armies have no mortar-like indirect fire weapons, no dedicated anti-aircraft weapons, no combat vehicles, no night vision devices, no radios (they call for backup using HORNS, for God's sake!). They don't know what a sniper is, either. Most importantly, they have no equivalent of a machine gun. s any wonder, that the ancient Egyptians were able to overthrow Ra while wielding bronze age weapons? They probably just overran them in a single cavalry or chariot attack: no Jaffa regiment has the firepower, the protection or the mobility to withstand that. Basically, without vast superiority in numbers and air support, the Jaffa are dead meat against pretty much anyone.
Their air support... Let's face it, the death gliders have been easy target practice for the Tau'ri throughout the series. Stinger missiles shoot them down like nobody's business. O'Neill even managed to shoot one down with a 40mm grenade launcher in "The Fifth Man". Try that with an F16... hell, try that with a World war II Spitfire. The Al'kesh fly ridiculously low and drop energy bombs that, again, produce very little damage outside of the point of impact (they make decent bunker busters though, judging by the damage they did to Tok'ra tunnels).
There's a total lack of guided weaponry, by the way, it appears that only the Tau'ri and the Ancients were smart enough to come up with "fire and forget" weapon systems. It is as if all the space-faring races suffer from a "Tollan mentality" to a greater or lesser degree, and if they ever develop a new combat technology it is only after the Tau'ri give them the idea. Why is that, I wonder? Does the advanced technology corrupt the mind and makes these races too lazy and complacent?
The Tau'ri/Earth appears to be the only race in the universe with a decently equipped and trained infantry. The rest, for one reason or another, are obsessed with building starships and fancy superweapons, and give no thought whatsoever to their ground troops. I mean, look at the Goa'uld and their Jaffa armies: their weapons and equipment haven't changed over at least five thousand Earth years. In the episode when SG-1 travels in time back to Ancient Egypt, we still see the Jaffa armed with the exact same staff weapons that they wield in the 21 century. Their armor is medieval-style metal suits, easily penetrated by 9mm handguns. Their arsenal of weapons is terribly limited and totally inadequate. The inaccuracy of staff weapons was well demonstrated (hell, I am still wondering where the sights are on that thing)- but that is only the tip of the iceberg. Their rate of fire is barely a match for World war II-era semi-auto battle rifles like the Garand and the SVT, they are unwieldy in close quarters, they cannot be suppressed or fitted with any accessories. The staff cannons are remarkably ineffective as well compared to their Tau'ri equivalents; being energy weapons, they can only do damage in case of a direct impact, whereas an Earth cannon shell can inflict tremendous casualties in a wide area through fragmentation. The Goa'uld armies have no mortar-like indirect fire weapons, no dedicated anti-aircraft weapons, no combat vehicles, no night vision devices, no radios (they call for backup using HORNS, for God's sake!). They don't know what a sniper is, either. Most importantly, they have no equivalent of a machine gun. s any wonder, that the ancient Egyptians were able to overthrow Ra while wielding bronze age weapons? They probably just overran them in a single cavalry or chariot attack: no Jaffa regiment has the firepower, the protection or the mobility to withstand that. Basically, without vast superiority in numbers and air support, the Jaffa are dead meat against pretty much anyone.
Their air support... Let's face it, the death gliders have been easy target practice for the Tau'ri throughout the series. Stinger missiles shoot them down like nobody's business. O'Neill even managed to shoot one down with a 40mm grenade launcher in "The Fifth Man". Try that with an F16... hell, try that with a World war II Spitfire. The Al'kesh fly ridiculously low and drop energy bombs that, again, produce very little damage outside of the point of impact (they make decent bunker busters though, judging by the damage they did to Tok'ra tunnels).
There's a total lack of guided weaponry, by the way, it appears that only the Tau'ri and the Ancients were smart enough to come up with "fire and forget" weapon systems. It is as if all the space-faring races suffer from a "Tollan mentality" to a greater or lesser degree, and if they ever develop a new combat technology it is only after the Tau'ri give them the idea. Why is that, I wonder? Does the advanced technology corrupt the mind and makes these races too lazy and complacent?
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