What do you think of Solas's tactics ? How did they change, or stay the same, from when he was Fen'Harel? To what extent does he organize his agents like a general or a guerilla?
I think his tactics changed as he strayed from general to rebel. Before the Veil, everything was longer, even the duels, and wars were likely grueling affairs fought over a century, if not longer. In the beginning he most probably adhered to this practise because that’s just how things were, but you could see the beginnings of tactics he would employ more greatly in the rebellion. He has always used deception in battle, using sleight of hand to draw focus away from what ultimately ends the battle. He has always been willing to employ tactics most would consider crude, such as arcane warriors. He has always favoured intimidation tactics to shake or crumble enemy moral. In short, the seeds of what would become some of the signatures I associate with Fen’Harel were there from the beginning.
The most striking difference, however, is I think as Fen’Harel he preferred skirmishes and hit-and-runs to these drawn out fights. To an enemy accustomed to fighting prolonged battles, an enemy that strikes fast would have the advantage. Undoubtedly he subverted a lot of the unwritten codes of combat that Elvhenan had created over the years, preferring guerrilla warfare. This is, in part, a choice made because he knows his enemies know him. He cannot fight as he did during the war that led to the evanuris, it would be asking them to guess his every move.
Bottom-up rebellions are rarely pretty, and this rebellion would be no different. He would rely a lot on sabotage, petty warfare, striking units that normally would be considered off-limits because that is what it takes to win. He’d continue with sleight of hand, I often headcanon that the tale of The Slow Arrow is, to some extent, a metaphor for a bloody conflict (one of the longer ones of the rebellion) where people died so that an unseen agent could strike at the heart of a brutal slave-owning noble. His chess banter with Iron Bull is a good example of what I mean: people die, even the Queen is sacrificed, and a pawn is moved to distract from the fact that a bishop is one move away from taking his King. This banter is a pretty good example of his tactics in general. His forces are scattered compared to Iron Bull’s, who move as one unit. It makes for a confusing fight.
By claiming the mantle of Dread Wolf, he uses it against them to sow fear into the opposition. Very much like Briala, there was the sudden fear that the servants and slaves considered beneath notice were working with him. A general feeling of dread that pervaded the upper classes of Elvhenan, which at first may have been comforted by the thought of their gods protecting them, but that likely faded as some of the most loyal supporters were struck down. In the best scenarios battles would be over before the began, having struck enough fear into their hearts that they surrender before a battle breaks out. The first person who comes to mind for comparison is Blackbeard, whose very reputation often resulted in surrenders before a fight had broken out. He’ll use the reputation the evanuris created for him, all the while spreading another that earns him sympathisers in the lowest rungs of their society.
In short, once he is Fen’Harel he takes on a very chaotic style of warfare that favours the fact that his soldiers are not always trained warriors and takes advantage by subverting what is considered the norm. Nothing is sacred, nothing is holy. The only place where a true code was formed was within the valley that became their safe haven and, eventually, Skyhold. No freed slave was press ganged into the fight, after all:
“All are under our protection. All may choose to fight.”
And while these codes were there to protect the former slaves and give them personhood and choices they were denied, I should point out that it ends up creating the impression that Elvhenan is in chaos, with the home of the rebellion being in the calm in the eye of the storm.
