Sellswords and Snow

[mrlukeduke]

What's going to happen to Stannis' sellswords (assuming they arrive and Stannis lives) when the winter winds rise and cake the north in deep snow?

How does he expect to move around? Will he take the wall and secure the north, or march south?

In fact, this same question applies generally really; are troop numbers really going to matter when winter sets in, hard?

[andrew_]

I reckon the Golden Company might have something to do with this plot line, perhaps they will switch allegiances?

[Masha]

Don't know about Golden Company and Stannis - I would assume that Golden Company would be busy between Aegon and Dany but I strongly suspect that plotline - Stannis sending out his knight to buy sellswords in Braavos is only there to bring Arya in one way or another back to Westeros. Because it looks like this is the only storyline other than Arya that currently leads to Braavos and Arya has to get back somehow. I can't say if that knight would be successful in hiring any sellswords in Braavos but he would definately bring real Arya back possibly disguised to Westeros.

[aryagonnakill]

I would say that huge armies of the style Renly had will become impossible even south of the Neck. I think the ability of Stannis to buy food now on loan from the Iron bank could be worth more than sellswords.

[Visual909]

Currently with snow as bad as it is he would need to have an army capable of moving in the snow. In the Asha chapters we saw how bed things were for his small army with no supply lines and half of them incapable of adapting to the snow the way the clansmen have. Martin even went out of the way to show what happened when a southron knight put snowshoes on his Clydesdale. It took a couple steps and broke its leg. And those horses are massive compared to the garrons of the clansmen thus many starved to death or froze to death from not having a long enough coat for the weather.

I don't even want to think about the nightmare it will be for Aegon and his elephants to deal with that. But smaller and more mobile armies might start to come into play here.

[~Shiera Seastar~]

What's going to happen to Stannis' sellswords (assuming they arrive and Stannis lives) when the winter winds rise and cake the north in deep snow?

I believe the sellswords won't be very happy about the cold and the snow. They might ask for more money if Stannis want them to stay and fight, or break their contract knowing fighting both the threat of winter and the Boltons are not worth their lives and the money.

How does he expect to move around? Will he take the wall and secure the north, or march south?

He needs to win his battle with the Boltons first and get the northmen support before marching anywhere. But if the Others will try to cross or bring down the Wall, I'm sure Stannis will decide to give aid to the NW (taking the IT is worthless if there's no kingdom to rule, so yeah, Others first before the IT). I'm unsure though if the sellswords he hired will agree to fight (they are hired to fight men not Others. And you know, sellswords have a reputation of breaking their contract especially if things get kinda rocky...and they are loyal to no one).

In fact, this same question applies generally really; are troop numbers really going to matter when winter sets in, hard?

Troop numbers don't matter. A thousand men can fight till the bitter end if they have the driven desire to fight for their beloved king, his kingdom, and the realm compare to ten thousand men with questionable loyalties.

[juanml82]

Aye, but a thousand men can't sucessfully storm a well defended castle. Offensive maneouvers will be brought to a halt during winter, at least in the North and maybe the Riverlands.

Smaller contingents (a few thousand men each) will be able to move around, using those snowshoes the mountain clans use, and maybe dog sledges and skis. But the weather will greatly favour the defender.

Which probably means that, if someone manages to unite the North, none will be attacking the North, while Manderly has a relatively small fleet capable of raiding south.

As for sellswords, if they get any (nearly every company in Essos was hired to fight Danny), they would want to desert. But they won't be able to do it without local support, as they aren't used to the weather.

[The Bastard of Walton]

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What's going to happen to Stannis' sellswords (assuming they arrive and Stannis lives) when the winter winds rise and cake the north in deep snow?

How does he expect to move around? Will he take the wall and secure the north, or march south?

In fact, this same question applies generally really; are troop numbers really going to matter when winter sets in, hard?

If Stannis lives, I see him secureing the Wall. But Ramsey may have other plans for him/the Wall.

[mrlukeduke]

It seems to me that the North have it hardest economically of anywhere in Westeros (or even Essos for that matter). They also have the harshest part of the winter AND the White Walkers to deal with (potentially). Not to mention a lack of Stark leadership (although that might soon be fixed).

They just seem so utterly screwed. If I were a southron lord, I'd be staying the hell away from the north; securing my stocks for winter and keeping out of any and all political shenanigans.

I wonder if the real challenge then for Dany, Stannis, Aegon, or whoever... is simply going to be to get the lords to come out of their holdfasts and give their military support at all (rather than just words/titles on paper). It's just so risky for everyone right now.