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{{Stub}} or {{Stub|The Northerners appear to correspond very closely to mediaeval Scots armies and when Robb Stark is mustering his banners we're told that the Karstarks comprise 300 horse and 2,000 infantry, who all appear to be pikemen, which is certainly consistent.

Aside from the immediate retinues of those who cared to maintain them, the Scots relied for national defence on what was known as the fencible system. In theory all men between the traditional ages of 16 and 60 were liable for 40 days military service if demanded, but in practice each Sheriffdom was obliged to hold periodic wapinschaws (weapon-showings) where everybody was supposed to turn up and be assessed. At this point all the halt, lame and otherwise infirm were weeded out, together with other exempt categories such as priests and married men with families. Once the available male population had thus been whittled down according to the judgement of the worthies overseeing the process, a roll would be compiled of those actually fit for service. Should they then be required to actually muster men to go off to war it was then customary to take one man in four or one man in eight from that roll. The rest stayed at home, but if necessary could be mustered again and another levy made, either to provide reinforcements/replacements for the original draft or to meet another quite different threat.

The obligation for 40 days service was also less straightforward than it first appears in so far as when they were first levied they were to be provided locally with 40 days pay and provisions (largely contributed by those staying at home to look after farms, mills and everyday life). Once the 40 days were up they were not automatically entitled to turn around and go home again, but if they were to be retained in service beyond that time responsibility for paying and provisioning passed to the Crown.

What this basically means in Westerosi terms is that the various levies who marched south with Robb Stark and his bannermen represented the "ordinary" strength of the northern lords, but if further levies were required to march after them it would be possible to find them providing the weapons could be procured to arm them all. The caveat would have to be entered though that all the keen and enthusiastic ones will have gone out with the first levy. {{Ref|aGoT|31}}

The armies of the Reach appear to correspond in composition and character to those of England and France in the 14th century and so largely recruited by a combination of Bastard Feudalism and Livery & Maintenance.

Feudalism was a straightforward contract whereby the King would grant a certain area of land to one of his followers who in turn would provide a corresponding number of men for military service. This worked well enough on a short term basis, especially if the grant was recent enough to arouse a sense of gratitude, but worked less well if the levies were required for a prolonged period of service far away from home. Accordingly, while personal service could still be demanded the system was generally superseded by bastard feudalism, under which instead of turning out the men a lord could pay the King the equivalent value in order that he could hire them himself. This was convenient for both parties because it meant that the King could raise permanent forces who would be better equipped and trained than feudal levies. Exactly the same process was carried on at a lower level, with a Lord who was willing to go off to the wars extracting men rather than money from his tenants in order to hire proper soldiers who would wear his livery and be maintained by him. They in turn could then form the nucleus of a retinue when the King issued an indenture or contract to that Lord to hire soldiers using the monies remitted by other Lords in lieu of such personal service.

The net effect of this system was that while county or shire levies could still be raised as and when required for a specific purpose, most armies were comprised of professional or semi-professional soldiers, with the levies being employed on non-military tasks such as driving wagons and pack animals, digging and repairing roads, bridges and fortifications.

The actual soldiers thus raised fell into four basic categories: Men at arms, who were as their title suggests, well armoured and equipped, who could fight on foot or on horseback as required. All knights were men at arms, but not all men at arms were knights; other cavalry such as Hobelars who were lightly armoured; Footmen, who were infantry and generally armed with pole-arms of some description. These might be spears or pikes, but in many armies halberds or bills were preferred. Then finally there were the archers as described in more detail below, who were specialists requiring training from boyhood, and highly paid accordingly.

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