How Dothraki take a city?

[Varys BrightBlackflayrme]

I would surround them and starve them out. All the while trying to start fires within.

[Jasta11]

That same question baffled me as well. If it's established that Dothraki have no concept of siege warfare, and thus have to rely on starving out besieged cities, how the hell did they manage to conquer coastal cities, ones which could be resupplied from the sea? Ibbish aka Vaes Aresak is one such example.

Yup. I can buy starving out a landlocked city, but a coastal one? If you don't blockade the city with ships, the worse you'll do is force a change of diet on the inhabitants until your 40K+ Khalassar completely exhausts all the food in the hinterlands and is forced to move on. That part makes no sense.

[Caspoi]

Jasta11@ Well the fact that cities such as Saath still exist do indicate that the dothraki have problems taking coastal cities.

[TheSovereignGrave]

Jasta11@ Well the fact that cities such as Saath still exist do indicate that the dothraki have problems taking coastal cities.

But the Dothraki still managed to sack cities like Ibbish and Sarys, which were coastal.

[Bright Blue Eyes]

But the Dothraki still managed to sack cities like Ibbish and Sarys, which were coastal.

Sack, not starve.

Insufficently defended cities with defenses you basically could jump a horse over and that's how the Dothraki managed it.

[hodorisfaclessman]

Sack, not starve.

Insufficently defended cities with defenses you basically could jump a horse over and that's how the Dothraki managed it.

theres o evidence they were poorly defended or weak

Hell they could be like storms end for all we know

[Bright Blue Eyes]

theres o evidence they were poorly defended or weak

Hell they could be like storms end for all we know

"Sarys, at the mouth of the Sarne, was the last to fall but yielded little in the ways of slaves or plunder, for the people of the city had largely fled by the time that Khal Zeggo descended upon it."

[hodorisfaclessman]

"Sarys, at the mouth of the Sarne, was the last to fall but yielded little in the ways of slaves or plunder, for the people of the city had largely fled by the time that Khal Zeggo descended upon it."

ok lightly defended but could still have had substantial walls ..for all the use theud be if most everyones fled

Overall though the various sackings of numerous cultures hints either

A)jorah is wrong they can siege effectively

B)the modern dothraki have forgotten how what with being bought off for generations

[YanMagRyche]

Perhaps they built them on site???

Wikipedia reference to Mongolian Siege Engines :

Technology was one of the important facets of Mongolian warfare. For instance, siege machines were an important part of Genghis Khan's warfare, especially in attacking fortified cities. The siege engines were not disassembled and carried by horses to be rebuilt at the site of the battle, as was the usual practice with European armies. Instead the Mongol horde would travel with skilled engineers who would build siege engines from materials on site.

[Bright Blue Eyes]

Perhaps they built them on site???

Wikipedia reference to Mongolian Siege Engines :

Technology was one of the important facets of Mongolian warfare. For instance, siege machines were an important part of Genghis Khan's warfare, especially in attacking fortified cities. The siege engines were not disassembled and carried by horses to be rebuilt at the site of the battle, as was the usual practice with European armies. Instead the Mongol horde would travel with skilled engineers who would build siege engines from materials on site.

Welcome to the forums.

You've just run into the most common trap: Dothraki are not Mongols. At all. And they've got zero of the features which made the Mongols competent.

http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/topic/91171-come-into-my-castle-the-ways-of-warfare-in-westeros-updated-and-psa-regarding-troop-quality/

That's probably the best thread to clear up some misconceptions on the military parts of ASOIAF. The Dothraki should be the main theme somewhere in the middle, if I remember correctly.

[aryagonnakill#2]

hodorisfacelessman, your arguing points we can't know for sure, but we do know the outcome. Bright Blue Eyes has suggested a valid reasoning, and your argueing his point does not lead us to a better conclusion.

[hodorisfaclessman]

hodorisfacelessman, your arguing points we can't know for sure, but we do know the outcome. Bright Blue Eyes has suggested a valid reasoning, and your argueing his point does not lead us to a better conclusion.

overall we cant know

all we do know is jorah feels they cant but hasnt actualy seen them commit to a siege, we know they have taken plenty of cities in the past and from what we knpw of their culture there are bits and pieces that could be used to effectively siege a place by force or they could use starvation / threachery to take somewhere

all in all it may be jorah is right and they have forgotten how or they can siege he just hasnt seen them ever do it and is just guessing

we just dont know

[Ser Duncan of Flea Bottom]

The cities' population lost because they attacked. If they had remained behind their walls, nothing would have happened. The Dothraki don't know how to siege.

Sarnor commited the mistake of attacking them in the open field with a mighty force, but in the open field, Dothraki screamers will have advantage. Also, Sarnor failed to united their cities, they tried to fight all alone and some even tried to ally themselves with the Dothraki to see a rival city to the ground.

I don't know about the Qathii people though. I don't know if they attacked or not.

Ibbenese tried to reasoning with them, but failed as well and I think some attacked as well.

[Lady Blackmont]

Pretty sure the Dothraki can toss a rope over a castle wall with defends every fifty feet, it's not that unbelievable. I think what our Westerosi are trying to say is that Castles in Westeros are generally well manned, with strong high walls. The Dothraki would have trouble storming these.

Sarnori, Quarthi, Ibbenise etc are a different matter.

[hodorisfaclessman]

Pretty sure the Dothraki can toss a rope over a castle wall with defends every fifty feet, it's not that unbelievable. I think what our Westerosi are trying to say is that Castles in Westeros are generally well manned, with strong high walls. The Dothraki would have trouble storming these.

Sarnori, Quarthi, Ibbenise etc are a different matter.

depends on the castle I mean 2 of the biggest houses in the north have wooden walled castles !!

Im guessing while some castles are impressive others aremt so much

[hodorisfaclessman]

The cities' population lost because they attacked. If they had remained behind their walls, nothing would have happened. The Dothraki don't know how to siege.

Sarnor commited the mistake of attacking them in the open field with a mighty force, but in the open field, Dothraki screamers will have advantage. Also, Sarnor failed to united their cities, they tried to fight all alone and some even tried to ally themselves with the Dothraki to see a rival city to the ground.

I don't know about the Qathii people though. I don't know if they attacked or not.

Ibbenese tried to reasoning with them, but failed as well and I think some attacked as well.

it clearly says some stayed behind their walls ....and were besiged and starved out

Starvation and traitors,/negotiation being responsible for at least as many cities falling to siege than takong them by force in the real world...the dothraki dont have to build catapaults etc to effectively besiege a place.