Where do all of these Freys come from?

[Make Shadowbabies Not War]

I'm currently reading AFFC, and it strikes me at odd that these 4,000 troops that Frey bequeathed Robb were able to not only survive Robb's campaign, but to do so with enough strength to besiege Riverrun whilst simultaneously controlling the Riverlands and helping the Boltons control the North. They must have gathered thousands more men since the beginning of the war for such a feat, but I'm not sure as to where or how. Does anyone here know the answer?

[Floki of the Ironborn]

I'm currently reading AFFC, and it strikes me at odd that these 4,000 troops that Frey bequeathed Robb were able to not only survive Robb's campaign, but to do so with enough strength to besiege Riverrun whilst simultaneously controlling the Riverlands and helping the Boltons control the North. They must have gathered thousands more men since the beginning of the war for such a feat, but I'm not sure as to where or how. Does anyone here know the answer?

The Bolton men survived pretty much intact as well (though we can assume Roose was planning to betray Robb Stark the entire time and thus made sure he sacrificed other men in battle but kept his own as safe as possible).

We can assume the Freys scoured their holdings for as many men as could be found, hence why the ones in the North in ADWD are sparsely armed and armoured.

And keep in mind that the Riverlords have had appalling casualties during the war. House Mallister and House Blackwood are probably the strongest ones after the Freys and one was besieged by them while the other by the Brackens. Plus keep in mind the Freys have hostages and the IT's backing so the Riverlords are bringing their own men to work alongside the Freys (Siege of Riverrun). Nobody wants to serve the Freys but they have no choice. Until the hostages are freed, that is.

[AerionBrightflameII]

Roose purposfully sent Northern troops out into danger while keeping his in resurve, 

Sending Glover out to Duskendale to be trapped by Randyl Tarly and The Mountain, On his way to the Twins his men crossed first while the Lannisters slaughtered The Manderly men..The Bolton men are hardly touched..

 

I think the Freys are a rather up jumped recent House but they are the most powerful of the Tullys Bannermen and one of the richest.

[Make Shadowbabies Not War]

The Bolton men survived pretty much intact as well (though we can assume Roose was planning to betray Robb Stark the entire time and thus made sure he sacrificed other men in battle but kept his own as safe as possible).

We can assume the Freys scoured their holdings for as many men as could be found, hence why the ones in the North in ADWD are sparsely armed and armoured.

And keep in mind that the Riverlords have had appalling casualties during the war. House Mallister and House Blackwood are probably the strongest ones after the Freys and one was besieged by them while the other by the Brackens. Plus keep in mind the Freys have hostages and the IT's backing so the Riverlords are bringing their own men to work alongside the Freys (Siege of Riverrun). Nobody wants to serve the Freys but they have no choice. Until the hostages are freed, that is.

Yeah, I got that the Boltons have the majority of men as Roose made sure he didn't lose any, but it was the Freys that confused me. I like the notion that they have as many men as possible, but then again Walder seems a man too cautious to throw away his harvest. Still, it is far better than anything I have. Thnks for your input!

I think the Freys are a rather up jumped recent House but they are the most powerful of the Tullys Bannermen and one of the richest.

This is also true, so I guess they will have a lot of men and money to buy sellswords.

 

To be honest, the line that got me was in the Jamie chapter where he arrives at Riverrun which goes something like "the twin towers of Frey were everywhere". This means that they outnumbered not only those of the houses they'd roped into the fight, but also those of the king's forces. There must have been thousands outside RR alone, so the idea that they were also parading arounds the Riverlands and (to a lesser extent) the North boggles my mind. Maybe I'm just overthinking it, though.

[Floki of the Ironborn]

 

To be honest, the line that got me was in the Jamie chapter where he arrives at Riverrun which goes something like "the twin towers of Frey were everywhere". This means that they outnumbered not only those of the houses they'd roped into the fight, but also those of the king's forces. There must have been thousands outside RR alone, so the idea that they were also parading arounds the Riverlands and (to a lesser extent) the North boggles my mind. Maybe I'm just overthinking it, though.

The men of the North going south to fight were carrying the Stark banner, doesn't make them all Starks. The Freys were likely forcing people to fly the banner of the Twins, forgetting that Baelish is actually the new Lord Paramount instead of they.

[thelittledragonthatcould]

The Freys initially had 4,000 men. 1,000 (the cavalry) went with Robb, 400 remained at the Twins and 2,600 went with Roose.

Now the only battle the Freys would have lost men in would have been the Battle of Green Fork as the Freys had abandoned Harrenhal before the battle of Dusknedale while both Robb and Edmure were successful so the Freys involved wit them would have been largely intact. So the Frey would have taken between 500 -1,000 casualties in all battles from AGOT to ASOS.

This gives them around 3,000 but we also know that they are rich and, like the Manderlys in the North, would have been able to recruit from the refugee populace affected by the War. They would also be able to recruit from their 'new' lands as most regular folk will be more concerned about surviving winter than the political power struggles of the Nobles. So they could well be back at 4,000 or above (though I can't see many, if any, of the Freys in the North returning).

 

We also know they have one Lordly Vassal, the Charltons, whose numbers would not have been included with the original 4k stationed at the Twins (they'd either be defending their own lands or helping the Tullys) and Lord Vypren who is married to a Frey.

 

[Make Shadowbabies Not War]

These are all really good points guys. I feel a lot better about it. cheers!

 

[jarl the climber]

Also keep in mind that they would have captured thousands of horses as well as mass quantities of weapons and armor as a result of the Red Wedding, so equipping new men wouldn't have been hard or cost them a great deal of money. 

[StarkofWinterfell]

I literally thought that this was one of those stupid threads in which someone wanted to know how Walder had so many offspring

[White Ravens]

"You see, son, when a Frey man and a Frey woman love each other very much…"