Captain of the Guard Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 If you had to hold a Westeros Castle or City that has been put under a siege that ensues for 2 years, which would you choose and WHY? Personally, Riverrun sounds ideal to me. The forked river serves as a fantastic moat and opening those water gates closes up the third side. Also the besieging forces have to split up into three camps to surround the castle making them somewhat vulnerable to sally outs from the defenders, if they have a sizable garrison. From what I know I think there is like a small harbor inside the walls where the river gate is so you could catch some fish to eat when food is running short. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corvo Attano Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Greywater Watch. It moves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CreativeName Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 The Eyrie. Say what you will about Lysa Arryn, but her statement "The Eyrie is impregnable!" seems to be spot on. Without dragons, you can't even properly attack this place, let alone besiege it. The Bloody Gate has never been taken by military means. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Sacamano Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 The Eyrie. Say what you will about Lysa Arryn, but her statement "The Eyrie is impregnable!" seems to be spot on. Without dragons, you can't even properly attack this place, let alone besiege it. The Bloody Gate has never been taken by military means. It does seem impossible to take by force, but due to the treacherous way you have to get up and down, you could siege the hell out of that place and just wait them out. Winterfell seems like a good place to be, as long as it's well garrisoned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyvasse Khal Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Highgarden. That place is beautiful, the Tyrell's are rich so you'de have all the luxuries, The Reach has bountyful harvests so no doubt the castle is well stocked with everything. If there was a siege at Highgarden, I don't think I'd ever want it to end! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CreativeName Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 It does seem impossible to take by force, but due to the treacherous way you have to get up and down, you could siege the hell out of that place and just wait them out. Winterfell seems like a good place to be, as long as it's well garrisoned. Maybe I'm not remembering it correctly from the books, but I thought that behind the Bloody Gate there were still some fertile soils were you could plant things. That would indicate that it's difficult to starve this place out in a managable period of time. But again, maybe I'm wrong. I have to read the books again. The real drawback of the Eyrie: If you have the majority of your force (lots of bannermen etc.) behind the Bloody Gate, you're trapped. The enemy can pretty much do as he pleases with the entire Vale and you can't do s**t to stop them. But then again, this is true for any other castle who is besieged and has the majority of it's force camped inside the walls. Winterfell: ("as long as it's well garrisoned) That's the point, really. The castle seems too big for the little population in it to man the walls properly. So you'd have to make sure to call some forces of your bannermen inside the castle before the siege/attack. They have greenhouses, right? The drawback: Winterfell can be taken by sheer force, I would presume. Or the Theon-sneeky way. Edit: usual typos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winnief Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Yeah, Winterfell does have greenhouses-which is why with a strong garrison, they'd be my top choice to withstand a siege. Runner-up would be the Eyrie. I put it lower than Winterfell, because honestly, I find the place lonelier and spookier, but it could hold up against anything short of dragons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSnape Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 The Eyrie. Sky cells are so badass Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waters Gate Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 The Eyrie It does seem impossible to take by force, but due to the treacherous way you have to get up and down, you could siege the hell out of that place and just wait them out. Thing is you don't need much men to hold out in the Eyrie, most castle's are of such size that they need 1000's of men to properly defend it in a time of siege, the Eyrie can probably be easily defended with a few 100, much less mouths to feed. Im not sure how long they can preserve food in this time, but there is plenty of space up there and i guess it could even maintain a small vegetable garden or a chicken pen and maybe keep some animals up there to butcher them at a strategic time. Greywater Watch. It moves. It's safe as long as it cannot be found, but if you can payoff a Cranogman to the point that he guides you to it, then its not much more than a collection of wooden platforms with very basic defenses to storm fairly easily. Greywater watch can maybe be defended by a few thousands top, but with its few defenses it won't hold out against an assault by 10.000's if they can find it. But numbers won't mean much at the Eyrie, it's impossible to storm, it's like Motte Caillin but then 10x worse, just as narrow a path but it goes for such a long lenght and who knows at how much points the enemy can fire at you with bows while just a few spearmen can block of the path up, and the defenders can fling stones at the enemy from above, the assaulter will loose quite a few men to falling from that narrow long ledge too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chatty Duelist Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 The Eyrie is a useless castle. People just have to sit around it and starve it out. The stores will run out faster than a chicken on fire. Storm's End is the best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Sacamano Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Maybe I'm not remembering it correctly from the books, but I thought that behind the Bloody Gate there were still some futile soils were you could plant things. That would indicate that it's difficult to starve this place out in a managable period of time. But again, maybe I'm wrong. I have to read the books again. The real drawback of the Eyrie: If you have the majority of your force (lots of bannermen etc.) behind the Bloody Gate, you're trapped. The enemy can pretty much do as he pleases with the whole Vale and you can't do s**t to stop them. But then again, this is true for any other castle who is besieged and has the majority of his force camped inside the walls. Winterfell: ("as long as it's well garrisoned) That's the point, really. The castle seems to big for the little population in it to man the walls properly. So you'd have to make sure to call some forces of your bannermen inside the castle before the siege. They have greenhouses, right? Yup they have greenhouses, plus I remember Cat saying the castle is relatively warm in the winter. And I don't remember there being crops from the Bloody Gate to the castle, I thought you had to get to the actual Vale, but I could be wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waters Gate Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Many big castle's can be supplied from the see aye, well aslong as you don't get an effective blockade, but then when youre holling up in youre castle likely youre facing a superior foe and supply by sea gets very troublesome. Otherwise, there are plenty of good forts that can be supplied by sea. The hightower sits on an island within a fortified city and can easily be supplied by sea and river, you get an extra moat that Storm's end doesn't have. I'm not sure whether Casterly rock or pyke can be easily resupply'd by sea but i think so, well again atleast as one isn't blockaded. Highgarden can probably be supplied by river so too may places like Greywater watch, the twins, nd kinglanding/red keep for ex. And afcourse those castle's sitting on an island can be supplied by sea and possibly defended with ships, which some island (groups) sport a fair number of like afcourse the Iron islands but also the Arbor and Dragonstone/driftmark. Afcourse if youll be able to get supplied, then take the fortress that is hardest to storm but still can maintain that supply line, then i guess Storms End is very good but castle's like Casterly rock and Pyke might do just as fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CreativeName Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Yup they have greenhouses, plus I remember Cat saying the castle is relatively warm in the winter. And I don't remember there being crops from the Bloody Gate to the castle, I thought you had to get to the actual Vale, but I could be wrong. Ok. My bad. I looked it up on the wiki. The Bloody Gate actually defends the entrance from the Mountains of Moon into the Vale of Arryn, not the Eyrie itself. For whatever reason I had in my head, I thought it was defending the beginning of the upwards path that leads to the castle. So, this does seem to indicate that there probably would be a few places where you could plant some robust seeds or have some cattle etc. Is there a remark on how many greenhouses there are in Winterfell? You would need quite a few to supply a large garrison properly. ETA: Could you get into the Vale (behind the defenders of the Bloody Gate) from the sea side? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faydra Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Storm's End. Apparently any lord could survive a siege there. And maybe you even get some pirates to bring you food by the sea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert the Great Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 The Eyrie is a useless castle. People just have to sit around it and starve it out. The stores will run out faster than a chicken on fire. Storm's End is the best.Yeah, Storm's End is THE castle! Whenever I think of Storms End the the exchange between stannis and ser penrose always shoots to my mind with ser penrose reminding reminding Stannis the name of the keep Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Weirwoods Eyes Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 I think Winterfell, the glass gardens and the warm spring heating would seal it, at the Eyrie once winter hits your screwed as the place freezes. plus its impossible to resupply. Once your up there your stuck, at Winterfell you can keep growing in the glass gardens and the courtyard is easily big enough to hold livestock. If it comes to it there are stables and you can eat the horses & dogs. At the Eyrie you'd be starved out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckal Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 We don't know anything about Highgarden and Casterly Rock so those are out of the question at this point in time. In regards to holding out from siege, at first glance the Eyrie seems a top contender, since the only possible way to get at it might be by water then over the land. If that is taken over though, their food supply will be completely cut off and they will starve quickly. Riverrun with plenty of food stores (AFFC) seems to be great. Storm's End we are told was held for a year but they ran short of food. Winterfell seems a good choice as well as long as they can stock up on food and keep it going in the green houses. The Red Keep seems near impossible to take, but if King's Landing is taken they likely won't last long due to a food shortage. Overall, from the castles we have seen so far, Riverrun appears to be the best. This is due to its strategic location as well as the ease of growing and storing vast amounts of food. Winterfell and Storm's End are both exceptionally strong castles, and based on the above I would place them 2nd and 3rd, respectively. The advantage Storm's End has over Winterfell is if the besiegers don't have a strong navy, only the land side of Storm's End can be put under siege, where as Winterfell is in the middle of open fields. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corvo Attano Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 It's safe as long as it cannot be found, but if you can payoff a Cranogman to the point that he guides you to it, then its not much more than a collection of wooden platforms with very basic defenses to storm fairly easily. Greywater watch can maybe be defended by a few thousands top, but with its few defenses it won't hold out against an assault by 10.000's if they can find it. But numbers won't mean much at the Eyrie, it's impossible to storm, it's like Motte Caillin but then 10x worse, just as narrow a path but it goes for such a long lenght and who knows at how much points the enemy can fire at you with bows while just a few spearmen can block of the path up, and the defenders can fling stones at the enemy from above, the assaulter will loose quite a few men to falling from that narrow long ledge too. 1. For that, you have to find a crannogman first, and convince him to negotiate with you, and then convince him to betray his lord. He's much more likely to simply put a poisoned arrow through your neck the moment he sees you. 2. Even if you know where it is and how to get there, getting through all the marshes/bogs/swamps (most of which are infested with poisionous things) would be nigh-on impossible for a regular army. And even if they did make it, they would be greatly diminished in numbers. 3. The Crannogmen are obviously completley self-sufficient, given that they've survived fine without any trade/diplomacy with anybody else, at least since the rebellion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Empress In The North Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Highgarden - My dream home The Eyrie - "Impregnable" is one, but I feel that I would become far too lazy to make myself go all the way down and come back up should the need arise Starfall - It looks quite nice, nestled in those mountains The Hightower Casterly Rock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
House Pintur Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Storms End Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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