Introduction:

Some (like me) enjoy discussing how the armies of WoT would fare against Earth Medieval \ Ancient armies. Could Julius Caesar and his legionnaires take on, say, the borderlands? Or perhaps 14th century England vs. one of the southern nations? Of course, there is always someone who wants to spoil the fun, and these people seem to think they have found the 'final solution', the Ultimate Argument:

They are all idiots.

That's right. Since the wetlanders couldn't defeat the Aiel during the Aiel War, and the Aiel are 'at best a horde of half a million Zulus', then all wetlanders must be idiots, right? Well, let's take a closer look.

Aiel Weapons & Equipment:

The Aiel do not carry armor of any kind except a small buckler made by layers of cured bullhide (1). Other than that there's only the cadin'sor - a uniform in shades of brown, gray and green that can blend into rock or earth. The Aiel's primary weapon is the short spear that has a spearpoint that is roughly twelve inches long (2); they all carry three or four of these. They also have a heavy-bladed knife more than a foot long (3). Finally they have a bow that is carried on the back when not used (4).

Aiel Strategy & Tactics:

For someone who is limited to the 'barbarian horde attack' the Aiel chieftains seem to have a good grasp on strategy and tactics. The plan devised by them prior to the Battle of Cairhien, and which Mat essentially recounted (5), is the best example of this.

The chieftains feared that if they surrounded the Shaido, they might force them over the walls (even though they didn't have siege equipment!) and end up fighting in the streets of Cairhien itself. Moreover they had to make sure the four septs that hadn't made up their mind yet didn't attack them in the rear. Instead they attacked the Shaido from the south with half of their force, while the other half they split into three parts. One part would force the Shaido to retreat over the bridges of River Alguenya, the two others would make sure the four undecided septs didn't try anything funny.

Another example comes from Lan (6): One tactic the Aiel prefer is moving in a column that is split into fourths. As soon as they encounter an enemy the first fourth attack immediately, while the second and third runs around the enemy and hit the flanks or the rear guard. The last fourth is the reserve; when a breach occurs in the enemy lines the reserve strikes there, and then it's over.

Aiel Logistics:

First a little history: The largest historical army in Ancient and Medieval times that we have reliable evidence for, is that of Antigonos the One-Eyed in 306 BC which counted 88,000 men. The problem with large armies is the simple need to find provisions. In the Medieval Age a large army of 20,000 men and even more horses would strip an area ten or more miles wide of all food and fodder, making it into a wasteland. Armies above a certain size requires a working logistics system in order to exist, it simply wouldn't be possible to feed it from foraging alone. Even the Romans, with arguably the most sophisticated supply system in the Ancient and Medieval eras, never fielded armies greater than 86,000.

One possible exception for this was the Mongols who reportedly had an army of 150,000 warriors (11) - I'm not sure how reliable that piece of information is. Anyway, the Mongol armies had a 'built-in' food source so to speak, moving with entire herds to the battle zones, thus supplying themselves with everything necessary to carry on the campaign.

Now take a look at the WoT world: Do we have larger armies there? Yes, yes, yes!

1. Rand brought 300,000 Aiel across the Dragonwall (5). While he gave them permission to take the fifth, none of this was food (not that there was much left in Cairhien by then).
2. The four septs that hadn't made up their mind at the time had an additional (5).
3. That insane hammer of an army that Rand gathered in Tear to invade Illian. The Aiel alone counted 200,000 with 'more on the way' (7).

Wetlander Weapons & Equipment (8):

Most infantry are armed with pikes, spears, bills, or occasionally axes, with the pikemen the most usual. Spear, bill and axe troops are all considered more mobile than pikemen, yet pikes are preferred, since they stand the best chance against a mounted attack, and most in the present day think of battles primarily in terms of mounted conflict. Most footmen carry knives and sometimes even a short sword. Longer swords are practically unknown among infantry as they are considered too unwieldy for close combat. The average footman usually wears a jerkin of padded or studded leather, and some sort of helmet. Jerkins covered with metal discs or plates are not uncommon, and mail shirts are sometimes used but actual plate armour is very rare.

Cavalry armament and armour vary widely from nation to nation and within nations from one noble's retinue to the next. The armour ranges from full plate-and-mail for both horse and rider in the heavy cavalry, to a steel helmet, back and breast plates, and gauntlets in the light cavalry. Some mounted units have far less armour, relying on skill for their protection. Mounted units use various combinations of lance, sword, axe, mace and horsebow.

Wetlander Strategy & Tactics:

Unfortunately there are no descriptions of wetlander tactics or strategy that I can remember, save the basic cavalry charge. What is more unfortunate is that this has had the effect of pouring gasoline on the fire for the "they are idiots"-crowd. They claim that since a simple massed cavalry charge would have crushed the Aiel during the Aiel War, then all wetlanders must be idiots for not using it. This ignores the fact that Mat lead such a charge against a group of Shaido Aiel after meeting the army that would later become the Band of the Red Hand (9). Moreover, Mat ordered the cavalry to ready themselves for the charge by using hand signals, which proves that massed cavalry charges are a well-known and common tactic among the wetlanders. This isn't very surprising since Weiramon speak of cavalry charges all the time, and the southern nations think of war primary in terms of mounted conflict (8).

Wetlander Logistics:

Again, we know that huge armies must have a logistics system in order to survive. Are there any huge wetlander armies in WoT? Yes!

1. The army of borderlanders outside Andor that consists of over 200,000 men (10).
2. The Seanchan Coenne that consists of thousands of ships and hundreds of thousands of people (8).

Conclusion:

It all comes down to this: Unless you wish to blatantly disregard the books then the Aiel isn't the barbarian horde some people want them to be. Their knowledge of strategy and tactics, as well as efficient logistics, flies straight in the face of this. "But, but, but!" I hear someone cry. "They are all short spear men! How can they possibly defeat an well-trained wetlander army?"

In his fourth and last battle with the Shaido, Mat deployed pikemen to keep them busy while the cavalry got into position for a charge. Yet, the Shaido actually managed to cut themselves through the infantry, despite both pikes and cavalry (12). My point is that the Aiel are trained from birth to be fighters under incredibly harsh conditions, and are hence more lethal than anything in real-life history - perhaps the Spartans come close, but I very much doubt it. The Aiel do lack a combined-arms force, but they make up for this by sheer lethality.

The Wetlanders of WoT are very well off equipment wise, and are in general reasonably well organized. The quality of the leadership wary greatly from nation to nation, ranging from people like Weiramon to the 'Great Captains' like Davarm Bashere and Gareth Bryne. They also have logistics advanced enough to supply armies in the hundreds of thousands without having to resort to foraging. There is nothing that suggests the wetlanders are more foolish than anyone else.

So, if you are a WoT fan I hope you enjoyed this little rant, and if you aren't I hope you enjoyed it anyway. And to all you 'they are idiots'-people:

Notes and References:

1. The Shadow Rising, Chapter 27.

2. An Aiel spearpoint spans the width of an adult's chest (The Shadow Rising, Chapter 3).

3. Lord of Chaos, Chapter 1 and A Crown of Swords, Chapter 7.

4. The Shadow Rising, Chapter 11.

5. Fires of Heaven, Chapter 42.

6. The Shadow Rising, Chapter 37.

7. Lord of Chaos, Chapter 4.

8. The World of the Wheel of Time.

9. Fires of Heaven, Chapter 43.

10. Winter's Heart, Chapter 26.

11. The Enterprise of War.

12. Fires of Heaven, Chapter 44.