Game of Thrones: TV Series - Season 8 (Book spoilers in tags with warning)

[Captain Jin]

Btw this was their most expensive episode at 10 million. And they didn't use Ghost because he's time consuming to make and pay for and it was either him or Wun Wun according to the director, so they went with Wun Wun. For all your complaints guys, remember this is still a tv show with a lower budget than a big hollywood film and a different schedule for shooting.

[Halie Satanus]

Probably not, but respected by the members.

I was joking.. His knowledge is great, but he tends to make a point and then hammer it 20 times. That video could have made all his points and been 20 mins shorter.

[Condottiere 40K]

The Swiss seemed to like it.

[Roma_Victrix]

The Swiss seemed to like it.

Liked what? Matt Easton's video? Or pike formations? The former would be intriguing, yet the latter is obvious.

[Condottiere 40K]

Overhand pike stance; considering they tended to steamroll any opposition they encountered, it probably helped with pace and momentum.

[+Marius+]

Overhand pike stance

Oh, I thought you meant one handed overhand with a shield in the other hand

[Gaidin]

that last episode recreated Total War AI, with Jon being the general that the AI sends into a headlong charge, all the units bunched up into giant death piles just like in the games! phalanx was overpowered as usual, and the reinforcements arrived at the corner of the map just in time

As for the tactics, well, on Inside the Episode they said they took inspiration from Cannae. And the large piles of bodies they quoted a battle from the Civil War, but we've seen plenty of descriptions of other battles where there were huge mountains of dead and dying elsewhere. In terms of them being enveloped, well, of course the Wildlings didn't prevent that-- they don't know how to war and were very clearly intimidated by the shield and spear bidness. I think most of the trained warriors died, or got hammered in the cavalry charge. Which, I don't care who you are, watching a slow-motion cavalry charge is always a thrill. The makers also said they wanted to show the battle to be as chaotic as possible from the perspective being in the middle of it, which is what we got when Jon was sort of running around seemingly invincible. They said, yes Jon is skilled, but also extraordinarily lucky. I think part of it is to illustrate that he is charmed and that maye Rh'llor is watching out for him because he is Azor Ahai and is meant to fight the Others.

Nah. You're missing what they really recreated...no historic battle inspirations, no total war AI...just....

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[Påsan]

That was so spot on

[Gaidin]

That was so spot on

That's not the only game mashup for this battle...I mean...

[Kyriakos]

It was a great shot. You can see how he takes his time keeping the power button pressed enough so that not only the accuracy but the impact of the shot is adequate.
Well done, and he did finish first in points for the first half of the game of thrones.
Too bad he was later poisoned by the enemies.

[Condottiere 40K]

He started well, but then made a dog's dinner out of it.

[Gäiten]

He started well, but then made a dog's dinner out of it.

Well getting devoured by his girls, some people might like this.

[Condottiere 40K]

They're a bunch of vores.

[Kyriakos]

I already knew that Valyria is Greece





But...: Thessalonike=Mantarys.

Mantarys is a city that lies to the north of the Lands of the Long Summer on the northern tip of the Sea of Sighs. It is connected by Valyrian roads to the ruined cities of Bhorash and Oros.[1] The demon road passes through Mantarys. It has a sinister repute and is allegedly a city of monsters.[2]
Contents

1 History
2 Recent Events
2.1 A Dance with Dragons
3 References and Notes

History

Mantarys was founded by the Valyrian Freehold. Although rich and glorious, it did not have self-rule and was instead governed by men and women sent from Valyria to rule in the name of the Freehold.[3] Mantarys remained inhabited after the Doom of Valyria, but its people are said to be twisted and monstrous.[4]

Sounds pretty accurate..

Demon road= Via Egnatia

[Condottiere 40K]

Persian decadence, Spartan economy, Assyrian jurisprudence , Byzantine politics.

[Roma_Victrix]

Persian decadence, Spartan economy, Assyrian jurisprudence , Byzantine politics.

A former employer of mine once said that the Dutch have all the charm of the Germans and efficiency of the French. Quite a mix there.

[Captain Jin]

I was just thinking, if Sansa rode off to get the Knights of Vale, honestly why would she not tell Jon she was doing that? If you knew you had a large force coming to relieve you, then that would significantly change your tactics in how you fight the battle. Maybe he still would have gone Leroy Jenkins after Rickon was killed, but it seems odd to me that Sansa would go get the Vale troops without letting Jon know.

[Gaidin]

I was just thinking, if Sansa rode off to get the Knights of Vale, honestly why would she not tell Jon she was doing that? If you knew you had a large force coming to relieve you, then that would significantly change your tactics in how you fight the battle. Maybe he still would have gone Leroy Jenkins after Rickon was killed, but it seems odd to me that Sansa would go get the Vale troops without letting Jon know.

Does it? Dude, Sansa wrote Rickon off in the parlay as good as dead. She knew Bolton would never let the last known legit heir of Stark go alive, and she knew Bolton as well. Nevermind the fact that she'd been getting some pretty decent political training from Littlefinger in how to play these things. Jon? He'd left the world behind until what, a few weeks earlier? Fought the worst monsters the world had ever seen and saved the Wildlings for their troubles only to get stabbed by his own people for doing it because they still mostly saw the Others as ancient myth. Nevermind what the people of the North are seeing as why he brought the Wildings south of the Wall. Want to bet how ready the people of the South will be for the Others? Not very.

The way to look at that is just that Jon will be Jon. And Sansa is not who she used to be. She has been, shall we say, trained. Taught how to assess the situation and do what needs to be done. She literally told Bolton to screw off and he'd die for his troubles.

As far as why she never told them. She couldn't know when and where they would get there given the logistics and travel time of travelling from the Vale of all places to Winterfell. Unless you could seriously tell me Littlefinger would be the type to not make a power play for that battle do exactly what happened anyway and screw their coordinated plan to hell regardless. Which means if she knew before hand exactly when he'd get there, she did right by them by not telling them, and they made a battle plan assuming no reinforcements.

[Condottiere 40K]

Sansa has started playing cards close to her chest; I doubt she trusts anyone completely.

[Captain Jin]

It's obvious Sansa is different and that she doesn't full trust anyone. I just don't see the sense in her not telling Jon she was riding for reinforcements. I don't remember, but I could have sworn LF told her in a previous episode his troops were available and not far away. Pretty sure they weren't all the way in the Vale since LF rode out with them, and then went and met with Sansa while presumably leaving them encamped somewhere. Of course there are some issues with the time warping that seems to be more common this season than previously, but it seems she didn't want to use LF, then after failing to secure more northern support and knowing she didn't have enough men went to LF out of desperation. That being said, if you're in dire straits and it looks as though you won't win the battle and you need LF and the Knights of Vale, then you choose to ride out and get them, why wouldn't you tell Jon that so he could either stall for time or adjust his tactics accordingly? I just don't get it. Whether she trusts Jon fully or not, he provides her best option in terms of someone close to her that can help her. She has less reason to trust LF than Jon. And even if she didn't trust Jon at all it doesn't really serve her at all to have him and his forces all die in a hopeless battle where they are terribly outnumbered.