What would you wield/wear into combat?

[Auska]

Heavy pick against armoured foes and a kukri against the rest and backup in case the pick gets stuck. And, yeah, plate + shield. I bet there're some ways the average armour could be improved too.

Though, of course, it'd be folly to discount the sword… there's a reason it was popular.

[Silverx2]

I'd be more cloak and dagger style, not in full battle.

Dual Valarian daggers, Light armor chainmail tunic, No helm. Rallick Nom style.

[littlespider]

All you full plate wearers: not counting the weapons you'd probably be wearing an extra 40-50 pounds just with the armor. So you better start walking around with weight belts to get ready for your epic battle.

In addition to wielding the One Ring, I'd wear my Princess Leia bikini. ;)

[Auska]

All you full plate wearers: not counting the weapons you'd probably be wearing an extra 40-50 pounds just with the armor. So you better start walking around with weight belts to get ready for your epic battle.

Most of us would need to hit the gym just to effectively wield a weapon, I think that's a given… It has, however, been studied that for your average warrior-type a well-made plate armour is a negligible weight/agility overhead.

[Iron Captain]

Valyrian greatsword or Warhammer.

I don't know if you meant Valyrian for the warhammer part, but I've always been curious as to whether or not that would be useful. I would think the weight of the steel would be counter productive to a weapon meant for providing blunt force trauma.

When you are wearing full plate armor and mail, a shield is superfluous since attacks will do little and less to you, unless they hit a critical point (e.g. joint). It's something that Martin, perhaps intentionally, has overlooked as well: why would Gregor and Victarion use shields, when they're covered in heavy and thick plate from head to heel with mail underneth...?

He has kind of addressed it. You're right in that, in a Victarion chapter he said he was completely invulnerable to attacks except for at the joints (but was too quick to let anyone attack him there), but a shield still adds extra protection. Robert crushed Rhaegar's chestplate on the trident; a shield probably would have been shattered by the blow but it still would have protected him. And didn't the Red Viper manage to puncture the Mountains plate with a two handed spear thrust?

All you full plate wearers: not counting the weapons you'd probably be wearing an extra 40-50 pounds just with the armor. So you better start walking around with weight belts to get ready for your epic battle.

I'm a pretty big guy so I would have no problem wearing the armor, but I obviously would be way less mobile. Either way I think it would be worth the extra protection, not having to worry (as much) about getting cut down from behind, or falling to a random arrow. And either way, you don't have to be huge to wear plate... Tyrion commented that Joffrey had one of the nicest suits of armor money could buy, and he was a scrawny preteen.

[Pallantides]

It really depends on the house I'm serving. If I was with the Iron Born, I'd prefer to wear scale armour, a spectacle helmet, and either go with a long axe and a shield strapped to my back with an arming sword as a sidearm, or carry the round shield, and use a smaller one handed fighting axe, with a seax as a sidearm.

If I'm in Dorne, I'd prefer to wear mail covered by some kind of silken garment, a conical helm with mail aventail, and fight from horseback with a light lance and round or kite shield, with an arming sword as a sidearm.

If I'm in the Riverlands, the Vale, the Westerlands, the Crownlands or the Reach, I'd prefer to be armed in plate armour, a sallet helm, fight from horseback with a heavy lance, and then once that has been spent (since it's a one shot weapon), switch to a bastard sword, or battle axe.

If I were fighting from foot anywhere, I'd prefer a fairly large oval shield, a spangenhelm (or alternatively a gallic helmet), a sturdy thrusting spear, two javelins, and an arming sword as a sidearm. Body armour is likely not an option given that I'd be a peasant levy, but if I were some kind of foot retainer, I'd say a medium length mail cuirass, with sleeves would be adequate protection.

[IMPudence]

I would go to ruined cities of the valyrian empire and scrounge out undiscovered caches of steel

I would bring the steel to a red priest who knows smithing and have him make me full plate armor from it tempered with the flames of rhollor

I would have him fashion a halberd and a dagger from the generous amounts of steel i would have left over. Then I would take everything and have them blessed by the high septon in front of the Warrior's statue at the great sept

I would then travel to Dorne and tip my weapons with all the poisons available to me

I would then find Gendry and have him make me a helm that would conceal my face beneath a grim reaper's visage but yet still allow me normal line of sight.

I would paint the eye sockets and jaw with the same blood color as the weirwood trees

the drowned god has shown to be impotent so i leave him out of blessing any of my gear.

[mormont]

When you are wearing full plate armor and mail, a shield is superfluous since attacks will do little and less to you, unless they hit a critical point (e.g. joint). It's something that Martin, perhaps intentionally, has overlooked as well: why would Gregor and Victarion use shields, when they're covered in heavy and thick plate from head to heel with mail underneth...?

Not entirely true. Shields are in many ways better thought of as a parrying weapon than as armour. A skilled user can use a shield block as a platform to set up a counterattack, to get inside an opponent's range if they're using a spear or lance or polearm, to deflect a blow rather than absorb its full force (which, even in full plate, might unbalance him), to protect him from thrusting weapons or arrows, to knock his opponent's weapon out of line, the list goes on. It's true that eventually, many knights stopped carrying them as full plate armour became more advanced, but that's a late development, whereas Westeros seems to be still in the early stages of adopting full plate (the Reach being the possible exception).

[DireLlama]

It's been said before, but it seems it needs to be said again.

Full plate armour is not overly heavy and it does not restict a knight's movement. If you wore it the only real downside would be the reduced vision. Yes, it is 45lbs or so, but that really isn't that much when it's so well distributed over your body. It's about half the weight of the packs that modern soldiers carry, for instance.

A knight in plate could run, jump and fight no problem. It was even possible for them to vault onto their horse, a far cry from the popular image of knights having to be lifted onto their horse by a crane because the armour was too heavy. That's just completely ridiculous.

Like others have said, with full plate a shield becomes superflous. It was much more advantageous to choose a two handed weapon for greater reach and power.

And that brings me onto the swords. A lot of people seem to be under the impression that they would need serious weight training to wield a medieval sword. Nope. Those huge 5 or 6 foot two handed swords are 5 or 6 lbs at the most. Most smaller swords were of course considerably lighter, and incredibly well balanced too.

[Celtigar]

Nice medium sized military pick, throwing knives. Leather and light chain. Hopefully my mobility will be my real armor. Hopefully.

[Call me Odie]

Is it posible to make a full plate armor in valyrian steel?

[Pallantides]

Is it posible to make a full plate armor in valyrian steel?

Likely it is, but it doesn't seem like it would be something you'd want to do, given that the steel is unrivaled in it's blade properties. It's supposed to be lighter (how, I have no idea) and stronger than castle forged steel and also sharper (how as well, I don't know, since sharpness is relative. You can get pretty much any kind of steel the sharpest it can be. The problem is having an exceptionally sharp blade also means having a very thin; and by that nature weak, edge.) It's for that reason that all warriors didn't use swords that could double as a scalpel.

[littlespider]

.

Full plate armour is not overly heavy and it does not restict a knight's movement. If you wore it the only real downside would be the reduced vision. Yes, it is 45lbs or so, but that really isn't that much when it's so well distributed over your body. It's about half the weight of the packs that modern soldiers carry, for instance.

Right. You'd just have to get used to carrying it on a regular basis. I know I probably couldn't!

[DireLlama]

Right. You'd just have to get used to carrying it on a regular basis. I know I probably couldn't!

Some time in the far future, I'll get myself a suit and find out! ^_^

[Iron Captain]

Likely it is, but it doesn't seem like it would be something you'd want to do, given that the steel is unrivaled in it's blade properties. It's supposed to be lighter (how, I have no idea) and stronger than castle forged steel and also sharper (how as well, I don't know, since sharpness is relative. You can get pretty much any kind of steel the sharpest it can be. The problem is having an exceptionally sharp blade also means having a very thin; and by that nature weak, edge.) It's for that reason that all warriors didn't use swords that could double as a scalpel.

As for the 'no idea how' part, the answer is obvious....magic! Usually that is a sarcastic answer, but in this case it is somewhat true, as 'alloy' (for a lack of a better word) is spellforged.

And I think you're right about the degree of sharpness, in that any sword of quality steel can become as sharp with an oilcloth and whetstone, but Valyrian steel excels in its ability to hold that sharp edge. I could be wrong there though.

I suppose the sturdiness/strength of the steel would make it better armor than regular steel. In westeros that would be a complete waste of the precious metal since it would be more advantageous in a blade, but I guess since I originally said you have unlimited resources....why not armor.

[Fournaridis]

I would wear rags - the worst kind of clothes imaginable. The kind no one would want to even look at, let alone loot from my dead body.

Other than that, I would cover myself in the blood of whatever livestock if available.

As soon as the battle starts, I would fall over and play dead. It's possible, that even still I would vacate my bowels or wet myself in fear.

[Ser Oberyn Darcia]

COMBAT WEAR

(1) Set of weatherproof socks, resistant to water & tempered to be amiable on the ankles/heels

(1) Set of worn, comfortable & broken-in shoes, styled in slipper fashion for comfort and tied for speed/good-pivoting

(1) Set of custom leg-wear, made for easier leg movement and flexibility

(1) Under-shirt, preferably a mail, for those who would seek to stab me unawares & failed blocks

(1) Under-under-shirt, preferably regular, to keep the mail for chaffing my chest

(1) Over-shirt, longer-sleeved & mailed at the arms, for when I faile at my duties to block an attack

(1) Over-over-shirt, for my house coat of arms, preferably black

(2) Gauntlets, concealing knives & various powders

(1) Scabbard with sword-belt, for attaching such items to the hip

(1) Scabbard with sword-sash, for attaching such items to the back

(1) Shield holster, for attaching a shield to the back

(1) Travel Cloak, to cover it all up [removed before battle]

COMBAT WIELD

(1) Walking Staff, with removable tip to unveil a makeshift spear [long-distance fighting]

(1) Greatsword, two-handed [melee-fighting]

(1) Longsword, one-handed [battle/trial/duel]

(1) Shield, one-handed [battle/trial/duel]

[Kittyhat]

I suppose the sturdiness/strength of the steel would make it better armor than regular steel. In westeros that would be a complete waste of the precious metal since it would be more advantageous in a blade, but I guess since I originally said you have unlimited resources....why not armor.

I'd have to agree. And it's also lighter, which is just icing on the cake. Sure, plate was pretty easy to move in to begin with, but why NOT knock an extra 10 pounds or so (just tossing out a random number) off it while simultaneously making it stronger?

And prettier, too. Don't forget; style counts!

Of course, this is getting well into "ridiculous" territory, and really, if I have unlimited resources, why would I even stop there? Valyrian steel armor and zweihander, bow, dragon, sorcerous training ... but hey, why not my own personal army, too? It can count as a resource if I have only sellswords (since they work for pay, natch), and I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to pay for an arbitrarily large army made up of mercenary companies with unlimited resources at my disposal.

With no limiting factors in place, my answer to "what would you choose to have?" is going to be "everything." xD

[Euron crows-pie]

i'd do a robert stone, full stone plate, dawn and a nice pot of dornish poison :)

[Pallantides]

As for the 'no idea how' part, the answer is obvious....magic! Usually that is a sarcastic answer, but in this case it is somewhat true, as 'alloy' (for a lack of a better word) is spellforged.

And I think you're right about the degree of sharpness, in that any sword of quality steel can become as sharp with an oilcloth and whetstone, but Valyrian steel excels in its ability to hold that sharp edge. I could be wrong there though.

I suppose the sturdiness/strength of the steel would make it better armor than regular steel. In westeros that would be a complete waste of the precious metal since it would be more advantageous in a blade, but I guess since I originally said you have unlimited resources....why not armor.

Yeah, I understand the magic part. But it is somewhat ridiculous for one type of steel to be lighter than another type of steel, without changing the density of the metal, or having less metal. Even very big swords were not all that heavy, 5-6 pounds at the most, and that's for the largest of swords. If you have something like a bastard sword, or an arming sword, it's going to be around 2-3 pounds. So kind of a strange property to give a metal. Why not something better... Like natural poisons in it. Now you have a weapon that is tougher, can hold an edge longer, and not only that, but even if you didn't kill the other person with your attack, any wound he gets is going to be that much worse.

Speaking of that... I'm going to add that to the fictional universe I'm making for a text based RPG. That would be wicked, steel that has a naturally occurring poison in it.