Uses of dragons

[Jaak]

We also see three dragonriders neglecting scouting at Tumbleton for multiple days.

With the known speed of 400 miles per day (attested in the flight of Jaehaerys and Alysanne), any of the three could have carried out a scouting flight to King´s Landing and back in a day. Leaving the army behind, for if the army were to resolve to march, it would take a week. If the remaining black dragons (Syrax, Tyraxes, Seasmoke, Sheepstealer, Caraxes before the news of its fall) did carry on scouting, the Green scout might just return having seen that Blacks are on alert.

But simple one way trip, Tumbleton to King´s Landing and back, might not spot a Black Riverlanders army approaching by a different route.

If Daeron spots hills, rivers and castles at a longer distance to keep track of where he is, but an army would be spotted at a distance of 5 miles, then a 400 mile full day flight would cover 4000 square miles. Which is about the size of a circle 35 miles radius. More than a day´s march... but not much more than two days march.

So... if Daeron (a young boy) or either of the dragonseeds (inexperienced, illiterate, any signs of particular smarts?) had been paying attention - could one dragonrider make it impossible for an army to make a surprise attack on his camp while he is out scouting, by detecting an approaching army first?

[Anthony Appleyard]

> but an army would be spotted at a distance of 5 miles

It depends on what adaptations are in dragons' eyes. In the real world, there is a strong muscle ring in the iris of an eagle's eye, and when it contracts, it squeezes the middle of the lens out of shape, so that the middle of the image enlarges much, and that lets the eagle zoom its vision. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoom_lens

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A day or 2 ago I came across on the internet what seemed to be a street procession scene including two ridden GoT dragons walking (on their back feet and the wrists of their wings). That brought up the query: when a GoT dragon stands on the ground, how far apart are the wrists of its wings compared to the size of the dragon and the width of the main roads in King's Landing? (Presumably it can fold the hand parts of its wings upright out of the way.)

 

[Jaak]

4 hours ago, Anthony Appleyard said:

> but an army would be spotted at a distance of 5 miles

It depends on what adaptations are in dragons' eyes.

And how well the dragon is trained to understand human affairs - and how well the human is trained to understand what the dragon may be wanting to communicate to him or her.

After all, dragons definitely cannot talk.

Ill trained dragonrider might well fly past an army and not notice it, or notice it and misidentify it (incorrectly assume it is an allied force when it is hostile, or vice versa).

[The Ghost Beyond the Wall]

On 8/11/2019 at 5:18 AM, Jaak said:

And how well the dragon is trained to understand human affairs - and how well the human is trained to understand what the dragon may be wanting to communicate to him or her.

After all, dragons definitely cannot talk.

Ill trained dragonrider might well fly past an army and not notice it, or notice it and misidentify it (incorrectly assume it is an allied force when it is hostile, or vice versa).

So, do you think civilizations with potentially large numbers of dragon riders (The Valyrian Freehold for example and possibly the Great Empire of the Dawn also if you subscribe to the theory that they were the first dragon lords, as I do) would designate certain dragon-riding members of their army as outriders and scouts, given that the dragons are sufficiently trained and the rider is proven capable? 

[argonak]

16 hours ago, The Ghost Beyond the Wall said:

So, do you think civilizations with potentially large numbers of dragon riders (The Valyrian Freehold for example and possibly the Great Empire of the Dawn also if you subscribe to the theory that they were the first dragon lords, as I do) would designate certain dragon-riding members of their army as outriders and scouts, given that the dragons are sufficiently trained and the rider is proven capable? 

The issue I see with that is that those same armies are run by prideful nobility who will more likely place a premium on honor, glory, and perceived status, than on the practicalities of optimized warfare.  Its like the problem of medieval french army on steroids riding 10 ton flying WMDs.

 

[Jaak]

On 8/15/2019 at 2:47 AM, The Ghost Beyond the Wall said:

So, do you think civilizations with potentially large numbers of dragon riders (The Valyrian Freehold for example and possibly the Great Empire of the Dawn also if you subscribe to the theory that they were the first dragon lords, as I do) would designate certain dragon-riding members of their army as outriders and scouts, given that the dragons are sufficiently trained and the rider is proven capable? 

Valyrian Empire did not confront a dragonriding opponent except during civil wars.

There are important differences.

On ground, scout is a highly dangerous assignment. Outriders may confront superior enemy forces and obstacles, and not return. Unlike the fighters in their massed force.

For dragonriders, scout is a safe job, certainly for the rider. As long as the rider and dragon can obey the basic instruction to stay above bowshot, no one can hurt them.

If a scout is ill trained, like a seven year old girl who comes back to blab excitedly about her experience of flight, of hills, rivers and forests, but turns out to have missed militarily relevant details, like signs of which banners armies on ground are flying, how many men and horses, which roads show signs of being muddy... she´s still not in danger. And that´s an occasion to give her some explanations and training, that she would be even more useful when she is 18, or 8. You would not want a 7 year old girl on a small dragon with short fire range in direct fight either - she´d be in reach for even javelins.