Versus Match Drogo invades Middle Earth

I'd argue that a rider armed with a bow, a backup bow, a backup backup bow, a long-spear for charging, a short-spear for post-charge melee, and an axe for close-in, cannot be described as anything but "exceedingly well armed".

Really wasn't a "spear" but an actual proper lance, I have read about the short "spears" but I have doubts about those being a thing since a short spear would be next to useless especially on horseback.
 
On the flip side, the TV show Dothraki barely use their bows, and said bows are shown to be of a rather puny design -- which is not contradicted by any in-character feats that would 'show' otherwise.
 
Really wasn't a "spear" but an actual proper lance, I have read about the short "spears" but I have doubts about those being a thing since a short spear would be next to useless especially on horseback.

Long spear is basically a light lance. The short spear was more of a mid-length stabbing spear, sized to reach infantry from the saddle -- its role would thus be equivalent to the koncerz lcarried by Polish hussars, just implemented as a short spear rather than a long stabbing sword.
 
On the flip side, the TV show Dothraki barely use their bows, and said bows are shown to be of a rather puny design -- which is not contradicted by any in-character feats that would 'show' otherwise.
Even the book Dothraki prefer close-on combat to bows.
 
Even the book Dothraki prefer close-on combat to bows.

Yeah, but the TV show basically take, "pop culture Mongol knockoffs" to the extreme of discarding everything that made Mongols actually fearsome. Even the supposedly superlative riding skills of the Dothraki are nowhere to be seen; we literally see nothing from them that really shows *any* significant skill at all.

(Like seriously, they just. . . ride around.)
 
The book Dothraki are armed with the signature arakh swords, and bows and whips are also mentioned, although their design is never described nor are their names in Dothraki ever given. In the TV show a handful of small spears are also seen among the bloodriders, but not in any coherent role.

In contrast, real-life Mongols did not even consistently have swords -- a typical Mongol warrior would carry three or four horse-bows, a long and short spear, and an axe as a close-in backup, with a further sword being primarily a status symbol.
Indeed.In RL mongols would eat them for breakfast/schoot from safe distance,i mean/
 
Yeah, but the TV show basically take, "pop culture Mongol knockoffs" to the extreme of discarding everything that made Mongols actually fearsome. Even the supposedly superlative riding skills of the Dothraki are nowhere to be seen; we literally see nothing from them that really shows *any* significant skill at all.

(Like seriously, they just. . . ride around.)

It's even worse in the books, They literally charged hoplites (the unsullied) head on repeatedly until they lost.
 
It's even worse in the books, They literally charged hoplites (the unsullied) head on repeatedly until they lost.

With their fanatical formation discipline and long spears, the Unsullied are pretty much flatly invincible to Dothraki -- like the British infantry squares at Waterloo, they simply don't break under cavalry attack.
 
With their fanatical formation discipline and long spears, the Unsullied are pretty much flatly invincible to Dothraki -- like the British infantry squares at Waterloo, they simply don't break under cavalry attack.

They are literally hoplites straight out of the bronze age. Those have a major vulnerability in that the formation is deadly head on but is extremely vulnerable to flanking which an all cavalry force would be able to easily do.
 
They are literally hoplites straight out of the bronze age. Those have a major vulnerability in that the formation is deadly head on but is extremely vulnerable to flanking which an all cavalry force would be able to easily do.

*sigh*

First off, Unsullied are closer to Greek phalangites than hoplites, with longer spears and smaller, more maneuverable shields strapped to the left forearm. Their shields are *definitely* not of chin-to-knees height, and their spears are roughly twice as tall as they are -- consistent with the 14-foot sarissa rather than the 9-foot dory. If you meant to use hoplite as a generic term for Greek phalanxes. . . well, the nuances are important.

Second and more importantly, real warfare is not rock, paper, scissors. Phalanx formations were vulnerable to flanking if they were caught off guard by fast-moving cavalry that they were unable to turn and face, especially the pure Greek phalanxes that formed a single solid line all the way across with no sub-unit differentiation. The Unsullied are seen to be *extremely* fast at shifting formations, consistent with being highly trained elite troops like the historic Spartans, who have *multiple real life examples* of being able to shift their formations rapidly in order to avoid being flanked.

In addition, the Unsullied visibly use more sophisticated unit formations of twenty-five and one hundred fifty -- in parade formation, they are visibly arranged in differentiated five-by-five blocks with larger gaps separating each cluster of six blocks. This points to a more sophisticated, Roman-style structure which would increase their formation maneuverability still more.
 
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With their fanatical formation discipline and long spears, the Unsullied are pretty much flatly invincible to Dothraki -- like the British infantry squares at Waterloo, they simply don't break under cavalry attack.
Depends on which cavalry. But Dothraki wouldn't stand a chance.
First off, Unsullied are closer to Greek phalangites than hoplites, with longer spears and smaller, more maneuverable shields strapped to the left forearm. Their shields are *definitely* not of chin-to-knees height, and their spears are roughly twice as tall as they are -- consistent with the 14-foot sarissa rather than the 9-foot dory. If you meant to use hoplite as a generic term for Greek phalanxes. . . well, the nuances are important.
Unsullied in the TV show are very definitely closer to Greek hoplites than Macedonian phalangites. Their spear is around 9 ft long, which is literally dory length (Greek dory was 7 - 9 ft long, Macedonian sarissa was 13 - 21 ft), and while their shields are smallish, that is simply because they look stamped out of a flat sheet of metal - larger shield will have been too heavy. They also have no organic support by light infantry and cavalry forces, which Macedonian phalanx will have had.

So yeah, Greek hoplites.

Book Unsullied are some weird mish-mash of Assyrian phalanx, Greek phalanx and Roman legion.
 

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