Was the Emperor to blame because he failed to explain his plan to his subordinates?
Short answerNot necessarily: large commands assign objectives and coordinate activity without giving every subordinate the leader's complete information.
NotesSmall-team communication does not scale directly to a large formation. Units receive objectives and broad awareness of neighbouring activity, while artillery coordination helps prevent friendly fire. They are not expected to direct every other unit's mission or possess everything the commander knows. Giving every subordinate the complete picture can produce competing attempts to run the whole operation. In the Warhammer analogy, leaders accustomed to ruling their own domains struggle with this subordinate role. Leaving the Crusade to administer an expanding empire is also defended as a necessary change of responsibility. The argument allows that the Emperor can be wrong while rejecting the idea that good leadership requires explaining everything to everyone.