army styles of the kingdoms in middle earth

[tom the eldest]

i dont have a better title okay?


what is the preferred battle style of middle earth kingdoms?like their tactics,strategy,preferred weapon.etc.can any one make a list of those?

[Belegorn]

Originally Posted by tom the eldest

i dont have a better title okay?


what is the preferred battle style of middle earth kingdoms?like their tactics,strategy,preferred weapon.etc.can any one make a list of those?

In the book Unfinished Tales [Note 16] there is mention of how the group of 200 men escorting Isildur to Rivendell did formations to deal with a larger force of orcs.

"the Dúnedain were plainly many times, even to ten times, outnumbered. Isildur commanded a thangail to be drawn up, a shield -wall of two serried ranks that could be bent back at either end if outflanked, until at need it became a closed ring. If the land had been flat or the slope in his favour he would have formed his company into a dírnaith and charged the Orcs, hoping by the great strength of the Dúnedain and their weapons to cleave a way through them and scatter them in dismay" [The Disaster of the Gladden Fields, p. 284]

I'm sure if you read some of the other situations you can see their tactics and note the weapons used.

[tom the eldest]

While the dunedain style i know about,the dwarves,easterling,bardings,i dont know about.the elves probably use their archer to weaken the enemy,while the infantry smashes their line.the dwarves,maybe the use pikes,and of course,their axe.but ehat formation they can do with that?

[William Cloud Hicklin]

Other than the Rohirrim, who are described in some detail, we don't know a lot at all. Plainly Dwarves favored axes or mattocks and unsurprisingly wore high-quality mail. The Goldolindrim also wore mail, and "the harness and arms of the least of them" would have been worth a mortal king's ransom. The Hardarim, besides mumakil, appear to favor scimitars and maintained substantial cavalry, and Sam's dead one at least wore brazen scale armor. Some Easterlings like axes as well. Thranduil's army at Erebor was armed with spears; we might assume swords or long knives/seaxes (like Legolas) as well but it's nowhere stated. It seems the Galadrim used longer, heavier bows than their cousins in Mirkwood.

Otherwise, except for the 'Gladden Fields" material on Numenorean/proto-Gondorian gear and tactics, we have very little. We don't even know what kind of armor Imrahil's Swan-knights wore!

[tom the eldest]

They are heavy knights.they should wear heavy armour,maybe like medieval knights.and,do battle wagon canonical?also,apparently many northern kingdom favour bow,the bardings have good archer,just like the elves.

[Belegorn]

Originally Posted by tom the eldest

the dwarves,easterling,bardings,i dont know about.the elves probably use their archer to weaken the enemy,while the infantry smashes their line.the dwarves,maybe the use pikes,and of course,their axe.but ehat formation they can do with that?

It is mentioned how Fingon sent a group of archers on horseback against the dragon Glaurung, who "hemmed him round with a ring of swift riders" [The Silmarillion, ch. 13, p. 137] The dwarves of Belegost did a similar thing, on foot, but their armor consisted of "great masks in battle hideous to look upon... their great axes... Azaghâl drove a knife into his belly" [ch. 20, p. 236] It is known that Turgon used a phalanx to break through the Orc host surrounding his brother. Melkor made use of converted spies such as Maeglin whom he used to gather information on the terrain and stores of Gondolin. The best kind of spy since he was close to the King, and since he used what Maeglin desired and the threat of torture, to get information on the city.