How Difficult to Take Lannisport?

[Lonin]

Note that in GRRMs world, Westeros cities have not fallen to a siege and very few castles. Evidently, GRRM is not that interested in siege warfare.

Meereen is about it in asoiaf.

[Lointain]

Siege warfare takes to much time.

Sure, if you have an enormous numerical superiority, you could try an all out attack over the walls, but be prepared to bleed hard.

A well defended medieval town - walls with towers and secure gates, a protected harbour and with a castle and citadel to give some more protection and another defensive sector to wich the defenders can retreat - is very hard to take.

In real life, the capital city of my country was only conquered by our kings after the third attempt - and that after a siege of four months , in wich we had numerical superiority over the defenders - with a conditional surrender accepted by the defenders of the city.

Later the same city was besieged by our enemies in another 4 months siege, in wich the walls and towers remained unbreached and the city unvanquished, even in the most die circunstances, with a plague that sweept across the enemy army.

So i guess a siege to Lannisport would be a nightmare to any army that tries that.

[Mr Fixit]

Yes, Roose could go through the Twins and reach the west and Robb in about two year's and leave the Ruby Ford and the road North unprotected. And Edmure was supposed to let Twyin pass, not hold him at the Red Fork.

Well, had he followed this plan, he'd obviously have told Edmure not to let Tywin pass.

[ed Lannister]

He didn't give him plunder. What I meant by spoils was that he pledged that he wouldn't contend with them for control of Lannisport or Casterly Rock. And the Lannisters in King's Landing didn't have an army and were under threat for assault from both Renly and Stannis at that point in time while Tywin was busy with Robb. All these were well known to Balon.

Basically, the letter theon offered as an envoy of robb asks Balon to support the Starks with swords and sails in their war against the Lannisters, and that Balon will be crowned king of the Iron Islands, returning independence to the Iron Islands (breaking away from the rule of King's Landing and the king). so the plunder of the west is all Blaon could have got if he lent his swords to robbs cause,Theon was the one who had ambitions of granting himself casterly rock wresting from the lannisters as a reward.

And let me ask…. precisely at what point would have balon launched his invasion if he had agreed to robbs's offer.The situation at the time the offer was being made by theon had the ironborn fleet and bannermen massing in pyke miles away, in the westerlands Stafford lannister raising 10000 men in lannisport. At golden tooth ser forley Prester had 4000 men under his command survivors from Jaime’s host,while Robb only marched with a force of 6000 all horsed.

Lannisport is located at the end of a peninsula guarded by the isle fair isle ,the towns feastfires and kayce,which have to fall I think before lannisport can be besieged successfully from the sea .

And also at the time the lannisters in KL were able to raise a host of 6800 men to which I think dissuaded stannis from attacking KL from Dragonstone with the 5000 host had gathered and Tywin had 20000 men in Harrenhall.

Renly did have a huge army at bitterbridge but he could not get to KL quick enough coz he could only march on land through the riverlands to land an army as he had no naval power/ships at his disposal something that slowed down his march since the riverlands had tywin,roose,edmure teeming with thousands of soldiers who did not recognize his kingship.

[Trigger Warning]

Regarding sieges.

Starving them into submission > Storming the walls.

Storming can cripple your army or bleed them brutally.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IO-CooA4_Y

[Victor227]

We know from the books that a storming is just as hazardous in Westeros as it is in real life. Winterfell could hold off 50,000 men with 500 for instance, as well as Tywin's saying about a man on a wall being worth ten beneath it. There's only one actual event of a storming in the entire series so far, when Loras took Dragonstone. He did it against a skeleton garrison, with a massive force comprised of largely nobility trained to fight and kill literally from the time they could walk, and he himself led an inspiring charge, fighting like a demon the whole time. The end result was that they took the castle, but they suffered massive casualties, not just in common troops, but a good thousand of the Seven Kingdoms' best and brightest.

Frankly, the Gold Cloaks at King's Landing -had- to break, and the Hound -had- to wimp out, or the battle on the Blackwater would have had absolutely no sense of desperation whatsoever. They hadn't even really entered 'siege' mode. The Lannisters had the men to mop up Stannis' host piecemeal as they crossed the horrifically dangerous burning bridge, and they'd already turned the crossing into an impossible-to-navigate naval death trap.

[The Frosted King]

People state Balon was wise to reject the offer Robb made, as if the Iron throne would allow a pirate to steal half the realm.

He's not gonna be keeping the gold or the cold. If he had to make any moves concerning his goals, the best one is always destabilization.

And he made the very opposite call when he did as he did.

[Gurkhal]

People state Balon was wise to reject the offer Robb made, as if the Iron throne would allow a pirate to steal half the realm.

He's not gonna be keeping the gold or the cold. If he had to make any moves concerning his goals, the best one is always destabilization.

And he made the very opposite call when he did as he did.

Thing is that Balon was screwed whatever path he picked. But he simply would not accept that the kind of separatism and regionalism that the Ironborn idolize is not working anymore in Westeros. That party is over.