Rohan Army (LOTR) vs Lannister Army (GOT)

[JohnDiggle]

Tywin is in charge and has decided he wants to conquer Rohan. He sends in his biggest army can he succeed or will Rohan drive him out?

[Harbinger19]

I know very little about GOT but the numbers I’m pulling up for Tywin are in the 30,000 range? However, only 10-15% seems to be heavy cavalry.

Rohan’s full muster seems to be in the 10-12,000 range, but it’s all heavy cavalry AFAIK.

If those numbers and compositions are correct I might lean Rohan, since they’re fighting on home turf (mostly wide open fields) and have double or triple the heavy cavalry.

Cause if there’s one thing I remember from medieval Europe History class, it’s that heavy cavalry mops up infantry.

[sunofdarkchild]

In terms of feats the rider of Rohan are much better. The Lannisters lost battle after battle to Rob Stark's army and only one because of behind the scenes politics. That won't work on Rohan if a war actually starts. The people are super loyal to their leaders. The only time we see the Lannisters winning with their army is against Highgarden, whose troops were not really up for combat to begin with.

Rohan fought 2 major battles against armies that greatly outnumbered it and did exceptionally well both times. They have the easy edge in motivation and morale, and fight much more ferociously.

Also keep in mind that the largest we see of Rohan's army in Return of the King is not the country's full strength, at least not in the movie. They couldn't wait for every horseman in the country to arrive so they left with what they had after 3 days.

[Coin Biter]

I assume we’re talking books rather than movies/tv shows? Because the Lannister forces are fairly lame in the latter

It’s difficult to analyse, because the Lord of the Rings is heroic fantasy, whereas, in part ASOIAF is GRRM showing his interest in mid/late medieval warfare and using it in a fantasy setting. Although you couldn’t say that ASOIAF is realistic , as someone like Jaime is better than any human knight could actually be and Gregor is stronger/more durable than any human being, it nonetheless flirts more with realism than the Lord of the Rings. Thus you’d have to assume the Riders might be able to wreak some Gododdin-style ludicrously slaughterous magic against the Lannister forces.

That said, there is room to argue that the Riders have certain disadvantages and the Lannisters certain advantages - a force comprised almost wholly of cavalry, against far more varied Lannister forces including crossbowmen/archers (the number of knights is certainly far smaller, but they are heavier cavalry); advanced late medieval style equipment, armour and weaponry on the Lannister side; superiority in numbers; and subtlety in tactics/strategy. It’s true that the Lannisters lose practically every battle against Robb but they were never destroyed in the field, and part of the story is to show that it is actually possible to be defeated in most major battles but still win a war. The Lannisters actions weren’t just confined to the battles or Tywin’s politicking, but also encompassed their decision to ravage the countryside and commit atrocities against the Riverlands, which demoralised and damaged the infrastructure of their adversaries.

That said, I think Rohan still wins. Even though on paper they should possibly not. While we’re on the topic of genre, though, it’s worth noting that the literature on which Tolkien was an expert often dwelled on heroic defeat against greatly superior numbers and vile machinations, and much of that is reflected in the Silmarillion. Perhaps Lannister defeat would not be pre-ordained, after all.

[seaturkey]

The Lannister army didn't do very well against the dothraki, though, admittedly they DID have Dany's dragons. In a more balanced scenario, in a straight charge, Lannister forces are in trouble here. Cavalry is pretty much the trump card against ground forces in medieval warfare. Not to mention, the Rohirrim are known as the horse-masters for a reason, they have a real bond with their mounts, and would be far more skilled than the Lannister's own, smaller cavalry.

I'd say even Lannister archers wouldn't be much help. The several hundred thousand strong Orcs didn't have enough arrows for a smaller force of Rohirrim.