Difference between revisions of "March on Winterfell"
| Line 34: | Line 34: | ||
| strength1 = ~5,850 {{ref|ADWD|35}}<ref>''Stannis had 5,000 men after Deepwood Motte. He was later reinforced by 450 Karstarks, who were actually conspiring with Roose Bolton to turn on Stannis as soon as the battle started, but were foiled before this could happen. Crowfood Umber lies outside of Winterfell waiting to join with Stannis with half of House Umber's strength, supposedly 400 men.''</ref> | | strength1 = ~5,850 {{ref|ADWD|35}}<ref>''Stannis had 5,000 men after Deepwood Motte. He was later reinforced by 450 Karstarks, who were actually conspiring with Roose Bolton to turn on Stannis as soon as the battle started, but were foiled before this could happen. Crowfood Umber lies outside of Winterfell waiting to join with Stannis with half of House Umber's strength, supposedly 400 men.''</ref> | ||
* <1,500 of Stannis’ men (only ~60 of 800 horses survived) | * <1,500 of Stannis’ men (only ~60 of 800 horses survived) | ||
| − | * <3,000 | + | * <3,000 mountain clansmen |
| − | * 450 | + | * 450 Karstarks(leadership is disloyal) |
| − | * 400 | + | * 400 Umbers (number possibly exaggerated) |
* Mormonts, Glovers, and survivors of the host at the [[Sack of Winterfell]] with unknown number of soldiers | * Mormonts, Glovers, and survivors of the host at the [[Sack of Winterfell]] with unknown number of soldiers | ||
| strength2 = 7,400+ | | strength2 = 7,400+ | ||
| − | * 4,000 survivors of Robb’s army, mostly Dreadfort men | + | * 4,000 survivors of Robb’s army, mostly Dreadfort men (3,500 Boltons and Karstarks, 500 other) |
| − | * 2,000 | + | * 2,000 Freys |
| − | * 600 | + | * 600 extra Dreadfort men under Ramsay |
| − | * 400 | + | * 400 Manderlys |
| − | * 400 | + | * 400 Umbers (number possibly exaggerated) |
* Dustin, Tallhart, Cerwyn, Hornwood, Locke with unknown number of soldiers | * Dustin, Tallhart, Cerwyn, Hornwood, Locke with unknown number of soldiers | ||
| casualties1 = | | casualties1 = | ||
Revision as of 01:04, 31 August 2014
| Siege of Winterfell | |||||||||||||||||
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 The Siege of Winterfell - by Andrew Navaro. © FFG | |||||||||||||||||
| Conflict | War of the Five Kings | ||||||||||||||||
| Date | 300 AC | ||||||||||||||||
| Place | Winterfell | ||||||||||||||||
| Result | Unresolved | ||||||||||||||||
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The Siege of Winterfell is the name of an unresolved conflict (as of A Dance with Dragons), in which King Stannis Baratheon is trying to retake Winterfell from Lord Roose Bolton, the newly appointed Warden of the North.
Contents
Prelude
After the retaking of Deepwood Motte, the army of Stannis Baratheon marches south on Winterfell to free Arya Stark (actually Jeyne Poole) from the clutches of House Bolton.
On the march through the Wolfswood, Stannis's army is increased in size by Houses Glover, Mormont and finally Karstark, led by castellan Arnolf Karstark. Unknown to Stannis, Arnolf is secretly working with House Bolton and during the final battle plans to turn his forces on Stannis.
Stannis also holds the support of the northern mountain clans, who remain loyal to the memory of "The Ned". He picks up more support after the surviving troops from the Sack of Winterfell form into a fighting force and join him. He is also planning to meet Mors "Crowfood" Umber and a portion of House Umber closer to Winterfell.
Winterfell is held by Lord Roose Bolton and his bastard son, Ramsay. His force, aside from the strength of House Bolton, consists of a few thousand of Houses Frey, Ryswell, Dustin, Cerwyn, Hornwood, Manderly and the other half of House Umber under Hother "Whoresbane" Umber.
Although Roose has the larger host, and his soldiers are far better armed and trained than the clansmen that make up a large part of Stannis' army, the loyalties of some of his forces are highly questionable, particularly the Manderlys, Whoresbane Umber and the Hornwoods. Roose suspects that only the Freys, Dustins, and his own men would be truly loyal to him if word got out that Bran and Rickon Stark were still alive.
Winterfell is overcrowded with forces, low on supplies, and on edge due to a series of murders with no confirmed suspects.
"Battle"
March on Winterfell
Stannis Baratheon and his host's march on Winterfell is delayed by a severe blizzard and numerous men are lost to starvation or the cold.[3][4] The last known report of Stannis's army's whereabouts is that he is three days from Winterfell.[4][5][6]
Mors Umber's vanguard arrives at Winterfell
Mors "Crowfood" Umber and his vanguard arrives at Winterfell before Stannis's main host.
Using the snowstorm as cover, Mors has his lads dig pit traps near several of the Winterfell gates. The heavy blizzard allows Mors's boys to do this without the castle sentries seeing them. Mors then has his men sound horns hoping to draw out several of the castle forces in the traps, but the castle garrison is put on alert and mans the walls of Winterfell.
Attempt to engage Stannis's host
After the murder of Little Walder Frey and the near battle inside Winterfell between the Freys and Manderlys, Roose Bolton, fearing another battle inside the castle between his own forces, sends out Hosteen Frey and Aenys Frey along with the 2,000 Freys to engage Stannis's host.
The Freys' presence increases tensions with the northerners as many had lost kin at the Red Wedding. Roose also sends out the forces of Lord Wyman Manderly as he does not trust the Manderly forces. By doing this Roose hopes that Stannis will be defeated without Bolton men suffering any casualties and if not, Roose hopes to weaken Stannis's forces in battle and in the process eliminate a potential future rival in Wyman Manderly. Ramsay Bolton follows not far behind, with a force of his own Dreadfort men. The absence of near 3,000 men in Winterfell also means that Roose also has an easier time managing food supplies to his forces.
The escape of "Arya Stark", however, leaves Ramsay in the castle with only a small force to retrieve his bride.
Command of the Freys passes to Ser Hosteen Frey
Aenys Frey is killed when the Freys stumble into one of Mors Umber's pit traps near the Hunter's Gate, meaning that the command of the Freys passes to Ser Hosteen Frey, who, while a capable swordsman, is not a clever commander.
Stannis alerted to the planned treachery of Arnolf Karstark
Thanks to a letter from Jon Snow delivered by Tycho Nestoris, Stannis is made aware of the planned treachery of Arnolf Karstark. He has Arnolf and his son and grandsons arrested while disarming their forces.
Stannis prepares his host to met the Bolton vanguard in the village.[7]
Ramsay's Letter
At Castle Black, Jon Snow receives a letter in which Ramsay Bolton claims Stannis is dead and his army is broken. However, it is unknown if the letter's contents are true or if it was actually written by Ramsay.[8]
Quotes
We all know what my brother would do. Robert would gallop up to the gates of Winterfell alone, break them with his warhammer, and ride through the rubble to slay Roose Bolton with his left hand and the Bastard with his right. I am not Robert. But we will march, and we will free Winterfell … or die in the attempt.[4]
References and notes
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 35, Jon VII.
- ↑ Stannis had 5,000 men after Deepwood Motte. He was later reinforced by 450 Karstarks, who were actually conspiring with Roose Bolton to turn on Stannis as soon as the battle started, but were foiled before this could happen. Crowfood Umber lies outside of Winterfell waiting to join with Stannis with half of House Umber's strength, supposedly 400 men.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 37, The Prince of Winterfell.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 42, The King's Prize.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 51, Theon I.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 62, The Sacrifice.
- ↑ The Winds of Winter, Chapter , Theon.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 69, Jon XIII.
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