What would you wield/wear into combat?

[childofsummer]

A cute, but not too sexy, obviously expensive dress to make me ransom-worthy. And money (or access to it) to bribe my way to safety. I put on my DH's body armor once, and even though (I think) kevlar plates are heavier than the steel ones, I could barely move... even without his enormous, unwieldy helmet. All this talk about "only" 45 extra pounds being negligible - well, y'all are buffer than I am! :P

[Light a wight tonight]

Quote for truth, because:

"Of all the weapons in the vast soviet arsenal, nothing was more profitable than Avtomat Kalashnikova model of 1947. More commonly known as the AK-47, or Kalashnikov. It's the world's most popular assault rifle. A weapon all fighters love. An elegantly simple 9 pound amalgamation of forged steel and plywood. It doesn't break, jam, or overheat. It'll shoot whether it's covered in mud or filled with sand. It's so easy, even a child can use it; and they do. The Soviets put the gun on a coin. Mozambique put it on their flag. Since the end of the Cold War, the Kalashnikov has become the Russian people's greatest export. After that comes vodka, caviar, and suicidal novelists. One thing is for sure, no one was lining up to buy their cars."

Yuri Orlov, in: Lord of War

Of course the Chinese are churning them out by the thousands and undercutting the Russians on price. AKs, not suicidal novelists.

[fluffywarthog]

Depends on if you're in a duel, a raid, or pitched field battle.

If you're in a duel, you want to maximize movement and be able to cripple and kill your opponent as quickly as possible. The fewer opportunities you give him to land a blow, the more likely you're to survive. A single good cut or stab can put a man out of action completely, even with armor in the way. As for protection, plate armor can slow you down but protects against blades and can turn a lethal blow into a bruise; at the same time, a heavy blow to the head will always hurt, and a plated helm is much more likely to crumple and a visor to close up. Mail offers less marginal protection for the weight, and a single good stab will finish it. You win a duel quickly, with as little nonsense as possible.

Surviving a pitched battle is far different. Anyone who has ever spent more than a single night camping or hiking outside knows that the single most-valuable piece of clothing are a dry pair of socks and good boots; boots will keep you from dying of stepping on a shit-covered arrow or spike, and socks will minimize your chance of pneumonia. You're less likely to see whatever kills you than not. Arrows from the sky, a spear from under your horse, an axe to the back, in a real battle, every ounce of protection counts. Mail if you can afford it can take a glancing blow, or catch a slow arrow. Any kind of head covering counts.

Either way, a heavy axe, a light shield, extra socks, firm-soled boots, chainmail and a hard helmet are your best chance of surviving any kind of battle. Of course, having a pretty banner, a tabard or a famous name mean that you're valuable as a hostage, and surviving the aftermath of a battle (scalping, beheading, torture, rape, theft and all that nice stuff) is just as important as surviving the thick of it.

[solarbear]

Chances are you would be shoulder to shoulder unable to move much or even do much but thrust. Hundreds of bodies, pushing from the back and the side, totally unable to move. Skill, mobility and armaments meaning little. Thus the popularity of spears and polearms to keep people away from you. Pickaxes were also popular for dealing with people in plate.

[Light a wight tonight]

Shield, chain mail with good padding beneath, full-coverage helmet, morningstar would be a good outfit for fighting from horseback or if unhorsed. For fighting on foot a partizan and breast-and-back plate, greaves, and morion or similar.

[The Swaggering Bravo]

If I were a trooper (inevitable, since I have 0 leadership skills) I would like to be outfitted and armed like a Mongol warrior

Then I'd like to be with about 10 or 15 thousand others equipped the same way, all of us led by a tactician who understands terrain and knows how to use fast-moving mobile troops. For a special Westeros touch, our leader would have one or more skinchangers with eagles or wolves who to do reconnaissance.

Of course, this assumes I could actually use all that stuff. If I was in Westeros as myself, the best I could do was get attached to some lord's train as a laundress or a cook (I actually do both rather well), or hide. But I'd carry knives in my boots and sleeves -- no sense being a complete victim.

So basically a Khalasar.

[The Swaggering Bravo]

Depends on if you're in a duel, a raid, or pitched field battle.

If you're in a duel, you want to maximize movement and be able to cripple and kill your opponent as quickly as possible. The fewer opportunities you give him to land a blow, the more likely you're to survive. A single good cut or stab can put a man out of action completely, even with armor in the way. As for protection, plate armor can slow you down but protects against blades and can turn a lethal blow into a bruise; at the same time, a heavy blow to the head will always hurt, and a plated helm is much more likely to crumple and a visor to close up. Mail offers less marginal protection for the weight, and a single good stab will finish it. You win a duel quickly, with as little nonsense as possible.

Surviving a pitched battle is far different. Anyone who has ever spent more than a single night camping or hiking outside knows that the single most-valuable piece of clothing are a dry pair of socks and good boots; boots will keep you from dying of stepping on a shit-covered arrow or spike, and socks will minimize your chance of pneumonia. You're less likely to see whatever kills you than not. Arrows from the sky, a spear from under your horse, an axe to the back, in a real battle, every ounce of protection counts. Mail if you can afford it can take a glancing blow, or catch a slow arrow. Any kind of head covering counts.

Either way, a heavy axe, a light shield, extra socks, firm-soled boots, chainmail and a hard helmet are your best chance of surviving any kind of battle. Of course, having a pretty banner, a tabard or a famous name mean that you're valuable as a hostage, and surviving the aftermath of a battle (scalping, beheading, torture, rape, theft and all that nice stuff) is just as important as surviving the thick of it.

And for a raid, as lightweight armor as possible, a fast tactic, precise planning, and most importantly, getting out of there (Or killing them.) with the goodies before they realize what's going on. Lighting fire to as many tents as possible on your way in (Or out if you use the same route to escape as getting in.). Also, cutting loose or killing horses where they stand would be very helpful if they have them, speed is key.

[The Swaggering Bravo]

Chances are you would be shoulder to shoulder unable to move much or even do much but thrust. Hundreds of bodies, pushing from the back and the side, totally unable to move. Skill, mobility and armaments meaning little. Thus the popularity of spears and polearms to keep people away from you. Pickaxes were also popular for dealing with people in plate.

If I were in a high pitched battle, I would most likely be covered in steel plate with another layer of padding underneath, along with chainmail to provide some protection at the joints. I would have a longsword slung across my back from my left shoulder to my right hip in case my spear would break. I would try to stay together with whomever I'm closest to, raise my shield, and go at it with the spear. This is if I were highborn and could survive to be ransomed off if my side lost. If I were lowborn, I would probably still have a shield, but with much less armor along with a bow and throwing knives.

[DornishKnight]

About ten years of training in water dancing.

[Raksha the Demon]

A tank. And someone to drive it for me.

Sorry, I'm decidedly untalented when it comes to weapons/martial arts skills. I probably wouldn't last ten minutes in Westeros.

[Morte]

Of course the Chinese are churning them out by the thousands and undercutting the Russians on price. AKs, not suicidal novelists.

Because of nostalgia I would stick with the original nontheless. ;)

However: I think adding a flamethrower would be a good idea too, because of the strange zombie-problem Westeros has.

Since I am notoriosly clumsy and untalented I'll generelly stick with easy to use modern weapons, sorry.

[Scaeva]

I'd wear a chainmail hauberk over a gambeson, rather than full plate, and a round helm with a nasal bar. I'd want a bit more mobility than someone in full plate, when I'm not mounted. For weapons I'd go with a lance (when mounted), a round wooden shield, a bastard sword, and a dagger. The dagger would be my go to weapon against unhorsed & wounded knights in heavy plate, when I want to get between those greeves to admister the coup-de-grace.

For a horse I'd go with a courser over the more highly prized destrier.

[wyman's cook]

i'd be all nude but for my green-lantern ring :P

[Arkash]

A FUCKING MACHINE GUN !

And an axe.

[Horza]

I dunno if the people bringing automatic firearms to Westeros have really thought the whole thing through:

- In any pitched battle you're going to have problems as if you stay out of the line and plink away you'll soon have difficulty identifying one mudsplattered combatant from another, unless you've got a sniper rifle and you're going after the commanders...

-...whereupon you're quickly going to be asked to desist by your own side as this is 1) hugely unchivalrous 2) undermining the entire social order by destroying half the great families of the realm 3) robbing them of ransom money and bragging rights.

- If you're dumb enough to run or ride into the melee, good luck with that, you're going to empty a few clips before getting caught up in the crush and likely trampled by your own guys.

- If you're duelling, similar to point two - people are going to stop duelling you.

- And this is before we get to the ammunition question...

[Bright Blue Eyes]

I'd just stay with the proven renaissance equipment. Full plate, "langes schwert" also known as bastard sword, dagger, javelin at feet, lance ahorse. There is a reason this was very popular.

[The Drunkard]

Archer. I have no sword training and I don't look forward to becoming a pincushion. I'd just wear something light and use a standard bow and flee like a little bitch if the fighting came my way.

[Warhammer]

My biggest asset is my strength (powerlifter) so I'll take heavy black enameled plate. I'm talkin Robert Strong heavy, so no shield necessary. I would have the Tywinn lion shoulder caps, in silver and wear black mail underneath.

Two handed war hammer but done in all black and silver cast to look like the head of a roaring lion (no Lannister love my family crest is 3 red lions but on silver not gold).

I've been known to be rather wild in sparring sessions (when I used to kickbox) so I imagine I would fight like Victarion.

[The GRRumbler]

ak-47 :P

Now if we're going medieval here, a yew longbow, and for when things get, hum, closely, a short sword.

[ServantOnIce]

The best things you can wear are durable but light armor. You need it to stop the blows but you also need to dodge a whole lot of blows as well.

The Mongols wore silks that were layered that acted as sort of "kevlar" of their day. It made riding light but also stopped arrow heads . . much of the heavy armor we see got the Crusaders slain when they went to war with west Asians who had faster made combat clothing. So it would be light yet durable for me with a sword and a dagger and an extra one in the boot . . . with a metal shield that can withstand any blow . .