History Quotes / WeHaveReserves

-->-- '''Collector General''', ''MassEffect2''

-->--''AvatarTheLastAirbender''

! {{Warhammer 40000}}

-->-- '''[[SoulDrinkers Crimson Tears]]'''

-> ''"That was what none of them understood: a single battle was an immense disaster. A capital ship lost in the warp, an outbreak of a plague in a hive city, a reactor breach on a forge-world, none of these compared to the toll in human lives that accompanied any major battle of the Imperial Guard. Even when they won, they lost."''
-->-- '''[[SoulDrinkers Crimson Tears]]'''

-->--'''[[MrExposition Myria]]'', ''{{Claymore}}'', on the Organization's philosophy

->Lord Farquadd [to his troops]: Some of you may die, but that is a sacrifice I am willing to make.
-->--''Shrek''

-->''"Pay no heed to casualties Comrade Commander, for every Conscript that dies in this glorious crusade, there are a thousand more eager to replace him."''

-->--''{{Prototype}}''

->''"I say let us carry the [[DepopulationBomb genophage]] with us. Let a thousand children die for every one that lives. We will climb to victory atop a mountain of our dead--for that is the [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy krogan way]]."''
-->--'''Warlord Okeer''', ''MassEffect2''

-->--'''Warlord Okeer''', ''MassEffect 2''

-> ''"A guardsman's life is to die. I take them to a place where they may die. I am not afraid to spend their lives, but I will not waste them." [...] "Now, you may continue with your attempt to kill me, but as I said, I will not waste the lives of my men, and executing you for insubordination would be... wasteful."''

! {{Prototype}}

->'''Marine Officer''': Just give me a rough estimate of Marine casualties.
->'''[[PsychoForHire Blackwatch Officer]]''': Between one thousand and twenty-five hundred.
->'''Marine Officer''': Total?
->'''Blackwatch Officer''': No sir. Per ''week.''
-->--'''{{Prototype}}'''

-->---

-->--'''{{Prototype}}'''

-> You would have me weigh the continued existence of this planet against the lives of those who defend it? Idiocy! Order them to advance. All of them.

-->--


-> What is the greatest weapon that mankind has? The Tank? The Gun? The Fist? No! It is will and will alone that has taken me to this desolate place and it is by my will that this place will be cleansed. It matters not how. If needs must, then we will drown them in our blood. We will crush them beneath the weight of our dead.
-->-- '''Commander Chekov, at the Lifting of the Long Night'''

-->---

-> For every hero commemorated, a thousand martyrs die unmourned and unremembered.

-->---

-> What? Don't tell me how many millions we have lost. Tell me what ground we have gained. This is a crucible of attrition, we are forging a new world on the anvil of battle. '''Send in more men! More Tanks!'''

-->---

-> Preservation of life for its own sake is not to be commended where sacrifice offers a reasonable chance of gain. Nonetheless, the purposeless waste of life is equally to be avoided. The loss of trained personnel implies the loss of resources, equipment, and knowledge. A true warrior does not belittle his value as a resource. The duty of the commander is to judge what means should be undertaken to achieve each objective. He must be aware of what is to be gained and what may be lost. A commander who places his troops in a position where he may likely lose more than he may likely gain risks more than the lives of his men. He risks far more: he risks failure. Losses are acceptable, failure is not.

-->---

-> Statistically, you will almost certainly die when assaulting a well-maintained fortress with a competent commander. You must strive to make your death useful.
-->-- '''Training Manual, Penal Legion, Suicide Bomb Squads'''

-->--

-> Listen: Whatever happens, you will not be missed.

-->---

-> Attempts by company commanders to call down close range artillery fire can result in disastrous casualties amongst the Imperial Guard. While the loss of life is regrettable, the waste of ammunition is intolerable.

-->---

-> There were always more soldiers to be had. That's what the reserves were for.

-->--

-> It's all a matter of Ratios.
-->-- '''Savil Fep Lyntor-Sewq, Supreme Commander, Aexe Alliance Forces, on reviewing casualty lists'''

-->--

-> The Emperor demands much of his servants in the War eternal. From the Death Korps of Krieg, he demands Sacrifice, to them he has revealed that War is not a struggle waged with gun, aircraft, and tank, it is a battle of wills, with the very soul of humanity as its prize. A battle where one's capacity to fight and willingness to die exceeds that of the enemy is a battle already won - everything else is simply a matter of time and faith. As such, the Death Korps expend lives in battle as carelessly as other armies may expend ammunition or fuel. Theirs is the mortal fuel that continues to feed the fires of the Emperor's will.
-->-- '''On the teachings of the Cult of Sacrifice'''

-->--

-->--

-> Xarius knew he had the galaxy's ultimate weapon - tens of thousands of soldiers, none of whom the Imperium would greatly miss. What did they matter when there were trillions without number under the aegis of the Imperium? Xarius looked at them, fresh-faced near-recruits and scarred veterans alike. None of them deserved to die in Gravenhold, but a lot of them would. They were the fuel that kept the Imperium going, of course - without their sacrifice, the Empire of Man would fall to ravening aliens, heresy, and worse. But that he should be the one to condemn them all! Him, one man out of all those trillions to have the deaths of so many laid at his door!

-->---

-> That was what none of them understood: a single battle was an immense disaster. A capital ship lost in the warp, an outbreak of a plague in a hive city, a reactor breach on a forge-world, none of these compared to the toll in human lives that accompanied any major battle of the Imperial Guard. Even when they won, they lost.

-->--

-->--

-> "A guardsman's life is to die. I take them to a place where they may die. I am not afraid to spend their lives, but I will not waste them." [...] "Now, you may continue with your attempt to kill me, but as I said, I will not waste the lives of my men, and executing you for insubordination would be... wasteful."
-->-- '''Lord General Castor, DawnOfWar 2: Retribution'''

! Other

-> Its standing Nod policy that if a Brother or Sister is wounded in battle, we leave them be until we can recover them safely. No heroics. It'll simply cost us more men trying to recover the wounded in battle, and we've got the manpower to replace the injured if they die in the meantime. If there's three things the Brotherhood has in plentiful supply, those are Tiberium, hate, and manpower.
-->-- '''{{Fanfic/Tiberium Wars}}'''

->I say let us carry the [[DepopulationBomb genophage]] with us. Let a thousand children die for every one that lives. We will climb to victory atop a mountain of our dead--for that is the [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy krogan way]].
--> '''Warlord Okeer''', ''MassEffect 2''

-> '''Aukon:''' The guards must hold the tower to the last man.
-> '''Guard:''' We are outnumbered. Unless you aid us we shall all be killed!
-> '''Aukon:''' Then die. That is the ''purpose'' of guards.
--> ''Series/DoctorWho: "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E4StateOfDecay State of Decay]]"''

-> '''Fire Nation General''': But the 41st is entirely new recruits. How do you expect them to defeat a powerful Earth Kingdom Battalion?
-> '''JerkAss Fire Nation General''': I don't. They'll be used as a distraction while we'll mount an attack from the rear. What better to use as bait than ''fresh meat?''
-> '''Zuko''': You can't sacrifice an entire division like that! Those soldiers love and defend our nation! How can you betray them!?
--> ''AvatarTheLastAirbender''

-> There are as many replacement as we want. If we lose them, we can just make new ones.
--> [[MrExposition Myria]], summing up the Organization's philosophy about their recruit, {{Claymore}}

-> ''What a lovely day, yeah we won the war
->May have lost a million men, but we got a million more''
--> '''Portugal The Man''', ''People Say''

----
<<|QuotesWiki|>>

->'''Blackwatch Soldier''': Sir, how much longer do we have to put up with these amatuers?

-> Preservation of life for its own sake is not to be commended where sacrifice offers a reasonable chance of gain. Nonetheless, the purposeless waste of life is equally to be avoided. The loss of trained personnel implies the loss of resources, equipment and knowledge. A true warrior does not belittle his value as a resource. The duty of the commander is to judge what means should be undertaken to achieve each objective. He must be aware of what is to be gained and what may be lost. A commander who places his troops in a position where he may likely lose more than he may likely gain risks more than the lives of his men. He risks far more: he risks failure. Losses are acceptable, failure is not.

-> It's all a matter of Ratios

-> The Emperor demands much of his servants in the War eternal. From the Death Korps of Krieg, he demands Sacrifice, to them he has revealed that War is not a struggle waged with gun, aircraft and tank, it is a battle of wills, with the very soul of humanity as its prize. A battle where one's capacity to fight and willingness to die exceeds that of the enemy is a battle already won - everything else is simply a matter of time and faith. As such, the Death Korps expend lives in battle as carelessly as other armies may expend ammunition or fuel. Theirs is the mortal fuel that continues to feed the fires of the Emperor's will.

-> Xarius knew he had the galaxy's ultimate weapon - tens of thousands of soldiers, none of whom the Imperium would greatly miss. What did they matter when there were trillions without number under the aegis of the Imperium? Xarius looked at them, fresh-faced near-recruits and scarred veterans alike. None of them deserved to die in Gravenhold, but a lot of them would. They were the fuel that kept the Imperium going, of course - without their sacrifice the Empire of Man would fall to ravening aliens, heresy, and worse. But that he should be the one to condemn them all! Him, one man out of all those trillions to have the deaths of so many laid at his door!

May have lost a million men, but we got a million more''

-> ''"Since when does [[spoiler: Shepherd]] care about danger close?"''
--> '''[[TheCaptain John Price]]''', ''ModernWarfare''

--> ''DoctorWho: "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E4StateOfDecay State of Decay]]"''

->'''[[ArmiesAreEvil Blackwatch Officer]]''': Between one thousand and twenty-five hundred.

->I say, let us live with [[DepopulationBomb the genophage!]] Let a thousand die for every live birth! We shall conquer the genophage [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy the krogan way]], by climbing atop the bodies of our own dead!

-> ''[[RunningGag *BLAM!*]]''

-> ''[[OverlyLongGag *BLAM!*]]''

->'''Blackwatch Officer''': Since your brain can't fathom why the Marines are here, I'll lay it bare. The old man brought them in for two reasons: they're the shock troops, they move in, take the losses, point out the enemy, and we do the cleaup. Second, they're the public face of this occupation. When the city's burned to the ground, they take the fall.

-> Losses are acceptable. Failure is not.
-->-- '''[[BigBookOfWar The Tactica Imperialis]]''', ''{{Warhammer 40000}}''