[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] OrderedComa Hood was speaking hyperbole, and we don't ever actually [i]see[/i] anything to represent the number of ships at Earth in Halo 2. And as I said, the 750 ships in the reprint edition is an error, because other than one instance it goes back to saying 300ish. And remember, the UNSC had SMACs as well, which can smash through a Covie ship in one single hit. And quite frankly I don't quite agree with the 3 human ships to 1 Covie ship ratio. If the Covenant were so powerful the UNSC should not have had any victories in space at all.[/quote] Too bad you don't agree with it, because that's how it is. Humans still won sometimes, but they did so with superior numbers or superior strategies, never through head-to-head space combat. The technological gap between the two is simply far too great. Accept that, because that is how it is. Btw, it doesn't matter if there were 300 or 750 covenant ships at Reach, because either of them would still destroy the humans' defences. Seriously, space combat is nothing like ground engagements, there's no real cover, no hiding, it's just like the naval battles in the 1700s or even the 1800s. The only way to win is to survive the volleys the enemies throw at you until one side or the other is completely wiped out. The SMACs may have been a huge advantage on the humans side, but they were not invincible, and one hit from a plasma bolt will destroy the ODP. As well, most of the ODPs went offline after the generators were overrun, leaving what's left of the Reach defense Fleet to deal with at least 100 covenant ships still there. [quote]And said continent is pretty much the middle of nowhere, your image does not prove your point, it emphasizes how empty the Viery territory is, and the dots by the lakes are not necessarily cities, they could be anything, military outposts, communications arrays, or cities, they could be anything. The game does not explain how the Covenant found Reach, and I don't know if they communicate the location of every human world to their superiors. ANd I highly doubt the UNSC does, it is not entirely impossible for them to think they can whip them and send the Covies packing. As I said, they would not want to create mass-panic over a few Corvettes.[/quote] Of course they wouldn't want to cause mass-panic, but they wouldn't take it lightly either, which, from what we saw in the games, was exactly what happened. I'm guessing you believe so strongly in this because you don't think the covenant should be that strong, but the fact is, having ANY covenant presence near a human colony is like discovering a zombie outbreak akin to 28 Days Later or The Crazies. You don't want the world to panic, but you damn well need to do EVERYTHING to destroy this threat ASAP. Maybe the UNSC wouldn't want to publicize the fact, but most of the higher level brass should be informed, as well as any specialized teams that can handle the situations. That means ODSTs, nearby military installments, or Spartans. Instead, the UNSC in the game decided to leave them for more than a week. No Spartan II intervention, no large military operation until Tip of The Spear. What the hell were they thinking? At any point during that period the Covenant ships could have sent for reinforcements, and being that they have near-instantaneous communication, why wouldn't they inform their allies of a human world? BTW, it still doesn't make it any more sensible that the Long Night of Solace got through with its escorts without anyone noticing. Even more retarded is the fact that they were obviously on the planet far earlier than when Noble discovered them, since they were able to set up the spires and start raiding operations, and yet no one noticed anything. [Edited on 01.23.2011 2:03 PM PST]