Win the Wot5K as Robb?

[Jattack]

You're Robb, you hear about your father's imprisonment, how do you win the war? 

My strategy would be to do as Robb does and split the army at the twins but have Roose Bolton draw Tywin further North on the Kingsroad and engage Tywin before retreating, the Horse would do as it did in the book until the Battle of the Camps, I would bring the Horse through Riverrun and rout Forley Prester's army as it retreated. I would then lead the Horse across the East road to the Ruby Ford, cross, and march North on the Kingsroad, I would do as was done at the Whispering Wood and send the Blackfish and Theon to eliminate Tywin's outriders, hopefully he would still believe the whole Northern strength was in Roose Bolton's host, I could then hit Tywin's rear using a sort of Hammer and Anvil tactic where I would then retreat the cavalry and charge again, with his force having nowhere to flee and being outnumbered, it would collapse and Tywin, Kevan and many other Westerland bannermen could be captured. I could then send the army to the Golden Tooth and do as Robb did at Oxcross, but, I would be in a great position to negotiate, holding the Hand of the King, his brother, his eldest son and many of their bannermen.

[Jon's Queen Consort]

Bend the knee to Joffrey and return to WF. Then wait as they kill each other and after that attack them. Granted I have no idea about strategy and how war works. So my opinion is possibly utter .

[TheDemonicStark]

I can help out. Robb did very well for such an inexperienced commander, but the key problem was the Iron Islands. He shouldn't have sent The on Greyjoy there at all. Rather, he should have focused on keeling his army at Riverrun  together, and drive back Tywin Lannister.

[Adam_Up_Bxtch]

First Ned is dead no matter how you look at this, Joffrey was cutting off his head (pretty sure on Baelish's suggestion) no matter what so there's no way you're getting your father back alive. Also I definitely wouldn't of sent Theon back to his father. A big mistake. Then I would of kept my marriage proposal with Walder Frey and married the prettiest daughter (obviously lol) before I even crossed the Twins and headed south. Gotta secure The Freys on your side.

If I was Robb, I would of also backed Stannis or Renly immediately. Robb declaring himself King in the North automatically made him Stannis' enemy and pretty much meant his end right there (from the Lannisters or Stannis alike if he had conquered KL). Whichever Baratheon brother won in the Stormlands (Stannis) I would of just backed them. With the combined forces of the North, Riverlands and the Stormlands, KL would of fell relatively quickly. Robb was already beating Tywin and if could push Tywin back Tywin probably would of been forced to head to KL or CR. Tywin and LF wouldn't of had enough time to bring the Reach into the fold and all the Lannisters in KL would have been executed (sadly Tyrion included). Stannis could keep Tyrion or Cersei alive to broker a peace with the Westerlands but I doubt he would of they were all traitors in his eyes. Robb would still get his vengeance on the Lannisters, which is what he wanted.

 

Stannis attacking from the sea and Robb attacking from land. The Lannisters would of been fucked. Even with Tyrion using wildfire on Stannis you still have the entire northern army WITH the Riverlands attacking from land. Trying to split your forces between both sides would of resulted in a disaster for the Lannisters.

[Dorian Martell]

2 hours ago, Jattack said:

You're Robb, you hear about your father's imprisonment, how do you win the war? 

My strategy would be to do as Robb does and split the army at the twins but have Roose Bolton draw Tywin further North on the Kingsroad and engage Tywin before retreating, the Horse would do as it did in the book until the Battle of the Camps, I would bring the Horse through Riverrun and rout Forley Prester's army as it retreated. I would then lead the Horse across the East road to the Ruby Ford, cross, and march North on the Kingsroad, I would do as was done at the Whispering Wood and send the Blackfish and Theon to eliminate Tywin's outriders, hopefully he would still believe the whole Northern strength was in Roose Bolton's host, I could then hit Tywin's rear using a sort of Hammer and Anvil tactic where I would then retreat the cavalry and charge again, with his force having nowhere to flee and being outnumbered, it would collapse and Tywin, Kevan and many other Westerland bannermen could be captured. I could then send the army to the Golden Tooth and do as Robb did at Oxcross, but, I would be in a great position to negotiate, holding the Hand of the King, his brother, his eldest son and many of their bannermen.

Bribe/Threaten GRRM to write the story where Robb wins. /thread 

[Illyrio Mo'Parties]

5 hours ago, Jattack said:

You're Robb, you hear about your father's imprisonment, how do you win the war?

You do everything Robb did in the books, except for the mistakes. For me it's more fun to ponder how Robb could've won after certain setbacks.

But to answer your question, the one thing he should've done was listen his mother. (Shouldn't we all?) She was bang-on about the Freys and about Theon Greyjoy, for instance. But what I really mean by that is that he should've focused as much on the political arena as the military. His mother was one of the few advisors that were both trustworthy and politically astute, and it was ultimately the political arena where he lost. (And only the political arena.)

So: don't give up your valuable hostages; don't trust anybody you can't plausibly threaten (or, when you have 'em by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow); think twice before you declare yourself a king; don't take on responsibility for the Riverlands as well as the North; don't break marriage pacts with powerful lords; invest more in spies and dirty tricks; establish more reliable lines of communication, and... well, these are getting more military than political, but debrief! If he'd arranged a proper debriefing of the forces at the Green Fork, he might've twigged that Roose had exceeded his orders and therefore couldn't be trusted as a general. Imagine all that could've been avoided if Roose wasn't in charge of his second army!

[Rob Storm]

The kingdom of the North loses all its strategic defense when it includes the indefensible Riverlands.  Though Robb is required by kin to defend Riverrun and those lands.  I think the best plan would have been as soon as Ned died to supply garrisons to defend every riverland castle while taking the bulk of his troops and Lords back behind the Neck.  The garrisons would work their best to work the surrounding land and gather food/goods while they have time prior to any Lannister attack.  

From the North I would use ravens to try and broker a plan with either Renly or Stannis, but most importantly reach out directly to the Tyrells.  Had he not yet passed south obviously a betrothal offer to Margaery would be a strong suggestion.  Or even one to Shireen with Stannis. Stannis could name Shireen/Robb his heir to the Iron Throne while Robb is lord paramount or KitN.  I forget the exact timeline and it is hard to be specific on a large march south but I think Ned died before the Frey betrothal.  I may be wrong.  

From there I would wait to see how things shook out or if an alliance required the North to march south.  From there its hard to predict exact outcomes and it would just be fan fiction for me to build the plan further.  

[Lord Lannister]

If only Robb had a copy of the novel to dissect his own mistakes like we do.

[Illyrio Mo'Parties]

Yes, bringing in the Tyrells would be smart, or at least some other Reach lords - but the situation was probably too fluid for it work. He would need to have the marriage finished before Renly booked it out of King's Landing, because at that point, Renly was on the table for Margaery, and he was a better offer.

Looking at the map, I think the Riverlands would have been quite defensible, if - if - they got the Vale on side as well. This is what I meant before by "dirty tricks": they know there are Vale lords itching to join them, and the only serious impediment is Lysa Arryn. So if they can't persuade Lysa, then they should sponsor a coup in the Vale. The best option is to have Lysa declared mentally unfit to rule, and so have a council of Vale lords take over until Sweetrobin's majority: throw in whatever marriage proposals needed (perhaps a Frey girl, to keep them tied into the web of alliances) and bob's yer uncle. Hell, it'd even be worth accusing Lysa of poisoning Jon Arryn. It would be totally untrue (as far as they know...) and therefore very dirty pool, but politically it'd work to bring the Vale lords on side. They'd be comfortable with defenestrating her- possibly literally - if they thought she'd killed their beloved Jon Arryn. (Or, if you wanted to be really evil, they could throw her off the tower and proclaim it a suicide, complete with a note confessing her role in Jon Arryn's death... and implicating the Lannisters as well.)

[Lady Blizzardborn]

1. Listen to your mother, especially about Theon.

2. Leave a few of your best men at Winterfell to protect Bran and Rickon in case of a sneak attack there while you're away.

3. In the deal with Lord Walder, insist the wedding take place at once. Throw in Edmure if necessary. If he won't budge go to #4.

4. If you have to fall into a woman's arms, fall into Margaery Tyrell's.

5. If you didn't follow #1, then at least drill into Theon's head that the exact phrasing he should use in talking to his father is that you will support House Greyjoy's right to "reinstate themselves" as Kings of the Iron Islands and defend their right to rule as such. Throw in Lannisport and Casterly Rock if they can capture them.

 

 

 

[Barty]

There's the safer option of doing everything Robb did except the mistakes (Theon, Jeyne, not telling Edmure his plan) and then there is the riskier option but one that can lead to a much faster victory.

I would go with the riskier option - Robb had 19500 northmen with him. Add in the 4000 freys and the 1000 Mallisters that joined Robb soon after reaching the Twins and Robb would have an army of 24500. I believe this gives him a numerical advantage over Tywin (not huge - but every little thing counts). Now march down and face Tywin one on one with his entire strength. Tywin badly underestimates Robb, thinking him a green boy - use that to draw Tywin into a rash engagement (Tywin needs to deal with Robb as quickly as possible because at this point he considers Robert's brothers to be the biggest threat, not Robb). If Robb can beat Tywin and kill him/take him hostage along with Tyrion then the war is won. 

Even if Robb loses half his men or more in such an encounter and only has 10k left. Its more than enough to sit down in Harrenhall and let Jaime batter his armies against its walls trying to free his brother/father/both. Now the war is really over. Robb can choose to bend the knee to Stannis/Renly. Or he can march back North and declare himself King. The Riverlands can in the meantime bend the knee to whoever wins - Neither Stannis nor Renly have anything against the Riverlords and both will easily accept them back into the fold.