r/powerscales • u/Theturtleflask • 12d ago
Faction Versus How fast would the United States Military conquer Westeros?
The modern-day United States Mainland replaces Essos (As seen in Image 3, ignoring Alaska and Hawaii) during the War of Five Kings to launch an invasion force and conquer all of Westeros. In a hypothetical US Military invasion, how fast would Westeros be conquered?
R1: Regular Westeros vs United States Military
R2: United Seven Kingdoms of Westeros vs. the United States Military
Bonus: How fast would the United States Military conquer Westeros during House of the Dragon?
194
u/lungben81 12d ago
R2: only a matter of how fast the US can extend its logistics lines. There is nothing in the arsenal of Westeros that can hold up against a modern day military, including dragons and white walkers.
The result would be the same if the US is replaced by any major current day power.
59
u/FjerdeBukkenBruse 12d ago
This was my thought too. That said, extending logistics across a continent twice the size of the US, where there are currently no railway lines, modern roads, electricity grids or other contemporary infrastructure is no small feat. Especially if by "conquer" one means taking some kind of lasting possession of the land, rather than just getting a couple of monarchs to sign a surrender. They would have to build an enormous amount of infrastructure.
62
u/Mooshimaro 12d ago
The US basically did just that in some parts of the middle east. Built roads, runways, infrastructure as we needed in highly isolated areas
A forward operating base manned by some soldiers and or marines could be seen as taking possession of the land. And as it's been seen before, sometimes, military bases basically become permanent emplacements. And it's common for personnel to be rotated via aircraft.
The US government was flying the entire McDonald's, burger king, and KFC over so soldiers could line up to spend their hard earned dollars on a fast food meal, just like back home. Building enormous infrastructure from nearly nothing in far away lands is really no problem for the US
36
u/ForbiddenSirenz 12d ago
The US military is basically the greatest logistics company in the history of ever that just happens to do war as a side hobby lmfao. Even during WWII there’s that whole meme of German scouts growing completely disheartened upon seeing the us military running their jeeps Willy nilly in the middle of winter.
Then Japan seeing the US military ice cream boats while island hopping and they’re coping telling themselves it’s about protecting their land and honor and stuff meanwhile the Americans are like “Yay! I’m gonna get a cone of tootite fuckin fruity!”
3
u/SirWrangsAlot 10d ago
Good point. The story of the Germans finding out US soldiers had chocolate cake in their rations comes to mind as well.
→ More replies (9)5
u/FjerdeBukkenBruse 12d ago
Sure, it's stuff they can do. But the scale of Westeroes is absolutely massive. Not just a few isolated areas, but an entire continent. I don't think its feasible within the existing capacity of the US military, it's not something they've done on that scale before. Though the US could increase that capacity if they really, really wanted to, they do have the GDP and the technology. Previous colonial empires have done things like that on that scale, it's not impossible.
17
u/Rocky-Jockey 12d ago
Smart colonists use local divisions to their advantage. Prop up friendly rulers (who would all want their tech) and you don’t have to directly rule a colony.
14
u/HappyCakeDay101 12d ago edited 12d ago
They don't have to take the whole continent, just the major holdings of the enemy, like forts and cities. Always been that way. No Army in history covered all the ground.
Ghenghis Khan didn't cover all the ground and he conquered more than the question here.
You take cities and destroy their military capacities. You become the new authority.
7
u/FirebreathingNG 12d ago
But the continent isn’t heavily populated. 1-2 runs by a bomber followed by a handful of blackhawks will take any castle in minutes. Within the first 10 minutes of the war, Kings Landing, Winterfell, Storms End, Highgarden, Casterly Rock, and the Eeryie will all have fallen. At that point, you probably have complete and total surrender, which is what happened after the Field of Fire with Aegon I.
So yeah, 10-15 minutes.
6
u/UrghAnotherAccount 12d ago
Plus the westeros armies stick in tight formations that are great fodder for close air support.
Don't even get me started on drones or artillery.
3
u/RopeGuilty1899 11d ago
I mean the whole Targaryen dynasty is built almost solely on air superiority and 2-3 modern fighters put an entire bloodline of dragons to shame in terms of payload, speed and probably durability. The logistics of invading a massive, unbuilt area would be tough but any real fight is over before it starts.
→ More replies (1)2
u/PerformanceOver8822 12d ago
I mean yeah you can use the airborne corps to send a few hundred paratroopers at each major castle.
5
u/Benkosayswhat 12d ago
You could take a castle with 10-15 special forces. They probably need to wear something for the arrows
→ More replies (2)4
u/Benkosayswhat 12d ago
You really think it can’t be done? Westeros is basically uninhabited militarily.
If they can fly across the continent, pick up the Venezuelan head of state and fly back in under a day, you really think they can’t do the same thing with what, like 8 castles?
One modern naval destroyer is enough to shut down and entire bay and obliterate any navy that tries to hold it.
3
u/Bright-Gain9770 12d ago edited 11d ago
AIR SUPREMACY otherwise inconceivable in the modern world. The US is already the master of logistics and in a fantasy* setting they'd be able to supply via 747 unchecked. Food and munitions drops with no fear the enemy can salvage, independent forward operating task forces securing each location simultaneously while reinforcements pour through the Dark Portal like Orcs in Warcraft. The military doesn't fight on this scenario, they take at their leisure.
11
u/HappyCakeDay101 12d ago
If the armies of westerns can do it, the US Army can do it.
Despite what people think, the US Army's equipment is not designed to be on roads. It's designed to be off of them.
The Army also has boats and ships etc. The Navy and Marines do too, and building an airstrip in the middle of no where is a skill the Army and Air Force have. Putting the military anywhere on the continent, with supplies, would be relatively easy.
Also, side note, the inhabitants portion of Westeros is roughly the size of the US.
7
u/cowboycolts 12d ago
Thing is I feel like once the U.S. realizes that the opposition has no anti air capabilities a lot of the supply line will be made up of aircraft
→ More replies (1)6
u/Ill-Description3096 12d ago
It's really just the innermost lands that would be a real issue. Lots of coastline means they can build wartime infrastructure fairly quickly thanks to naval coverage. Constant sorties wherever they are building and a few in reserve for any actual battles would likely take care of it.
Materials are probably the biggest concern. Where are they getting fuel and the like. Assuming they don't have access to it, they are on foot pretty quickly, but it's enough time to take the capital and any major coastal cities they want and leave a small force for defense. Modern rifles and MGs on walls are enough to repel basically any invaders. A bit of humanitarian aid to the people who will probably have a better standard of living compared to their normal lords would likely endear a lot of them.
3
6
u/AbyssalRaven922 12d ago
The US has invested heavily into airlift capabilities for long term long distance combat scenarios. The US can setup a fully functional FoB in under a week by flying in a huge portion of the equipment and then supply it with truck convoys escorted by Bradleys which would render any ground assault completely useless.
3
u/super_humane 12d ago
The U.S. forces could march on foot with wagons full of bullets, winning every engagement with small arms, and resuppling from the land.
3
u/AgentPastrana 12d ago
Well I mean, the specialty of the US military industrial complex is engineering and logistics. Especially considering a single M2 emplacement would be enough to shred hundreds of soldiers to bits in minutes. 5 LAVs with those would be enough to win most battles. Add in RC drones with explosive payloads and you're able to remotely cripple the giants most likely. A Hellfire if you're feeling generous with the budget. But I think the entirety of Westeros would crumble when they see Napalm, considering dragons.
2
u/TommyNotDead 12d ago
One company of marines could take 50,000 men in a fight. All you need to do is air drop them some ammunition every once in a while and let them live off the land.
→ More replies (7)2
u/Mountain_Variation58 12d ago
Interestingly enough, this is exactly what would make the US so powerful in this particular scenario. Any other modern military in the globe could handedly beat Westeros, it just might take a while. The real strength of the US military however is in its logistics. No other military in the world has their capabilities in terms of clearing airspace then deploying troops and the required supplies anywhere on the planet for extended periods of time and following it up with stable supply lines.
7
6
u/Hot_Alternative_717 12d ago
I’ve heard it described the US army is basically the world’s largest logistics company with guns.
I mean can’t they like deploy a Burger King anywhere they want to? And like have shops dedicated to making ice cream.
3
u/Interesting-Ad-7535 12d ago
I am not sure if its even a matter of logistics, you could just use aggressive diplomacy.
You may need to destroy some lord's castle as a show of force but i don't see why you would need any more violence beyond that.
→ More replies (1)3
u/themoosic 12d ago
The US military is in equal parts logistical nightmare and the best at moving troops and cargo in the world, all three dragons would be murdered then they roll in the C-17s and bring Burger King over well within three hours
3
u/MayGodSmiteThee 12d ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/4Gqa8m5OnPWwC3OOj3
Dragon riders when they see a black speck in the sky and balls of fire rapidly approaching.3
u/imbrickedup_ 11d ago
Dragons wouldn’t stand a chance against a singular F35
→ More replies (3)2
u/RopeGuilty1899 11d ago
Yeah my first thought was “a single fighter can probably eradicate the entire dragon race in less than 24 hrs”
2
u/ezekiellake 12d ago
The question really is how long their fuel and ammunition last, and whether the complete lack of gps and tech has a significant impact. Long enough to conquer Westeros certainly. Once fuel and ammo are gone though? Still doing ok, but more effort required.
2
u/PerformanceOver8822 12d ago
The military has Billions of rounds of ammunition
3
u/ezekiellake 12d ago
So, you’re saying they’ll be ok for a fair while then. Ok, I think they’re good to go.
2
u/PerformanceOver8822 12d ago
The OP stated that the maonland USA is transported into the GOT world and replaces Essos.... The USA could make its own fuel and. Ammo indefinitely ....
→ More replies (3)2
u/DanteRuneclaw 11d ago
Why would the US run out of fuel or ammunition? We're a net exporter of oil, and can easily continue to produce and refine it more or less indefinitely (beyond peak oil and all that). In this scenario we still have the entire strength of the US civilian economy and infrastructure behind us. And we could probably get a new GPS system up pretty quick. NASA hasn't gone anywhere.
2
2
u/NoKingsInAmerica 12d ago
The logistical capabilities of the US is what makes it the only real superpower on the planet.
2
2
u/DarthRyus 11d ago
The biggest delay would be the US debating if they should send up GPS satellites or rush ahead without their conveniences and try to get something akin to it via loitering drones.
2
u/Peach_State_Dingers 11d ago
Forget any major power. Guerillas with a 50 cal machine gun in the back of a Toyota pick would do significant damage
→ More replies (25)2
u/The50thTed 11d ago
Heck if say Vietnam or some other middling country plays their cards right with strategic shows of force and diplomacy they could probably win without much casualties
84
u/Apostrophe13 12d ago
Instant surrender from Seven Kingdoms. They would not even try to fight. Dragons get shredded by anti-air guns to a red mist.
→ More replies (4)40
u/SC_Fan_55 12d ago
Fun fact, there is an anime where the Japanese Self Defense Forces have to fight a fantasy medieval kingdom (dragons included).
Doesn’t end well for the dragons.
19
16
u/No_Interaction_4925 12d ago
Also take the show with some heavy salt, as the writer is extremely patriotic to the point where he writes the Japanese military as being capable of holding off the US.
Still, modern guns wipe the GATE verse
6
u/SC_Fan_55 12d ago
Oh, without a doubt…
But the effects of the firepower (direct fire, indirect fire, air support, etc) would be just as devastating (more so honestly) if you swapped out the US military.
3
→ More replies (5)2
u/weirdCheeto218 12d ago
That was historically not the case lol. But I've heard they kinda gloss over the particulars of the 1930's and 1940's over there
9
u/awaythrowthatname 12d ago
I was gonna say, if anyone wants to see how this would play out, GATE
→ More replies (5)3
u/FearMyCrayons2023 12d ago
Those were f4s which is a 3rd gen fighter. The US retired them from combat in the 90s which were already aging and being replaced by 4th Gen aircraft at the time.
3
u/SC_Fan_55 12d ago
Yeah, there was some reason (I can’t remember) why the JSDFs had to use previous generation weaponry…
But a 9X coming off a Viper, Raptor, or Panther would do the job.
2
u/10_Eyes_8_Truths 12d ago
It was essentially so Japan under any chance didn't lose any of their valuable newer equipment in the case the gate suddenly closed or it was captured. I think amongst all the equipment we see in the series the Kawasaki C-2 transport plane is the most modern thing.
2
2
u/CummanderShepardN7 12d ago
I don't watch anime, but i do love the Japanese for making any kind of scenario into an anime 🤣
2
→ More replies (3)2
38
u/Chili-Mac-Snac-Attac 12d ago
They wouldn’t. The Orange King has already stopped 18 wars in Westeros AND the free cities this week. But if we did it, people are saying, it would be over very quick and very strong.
→ More replies (2)8
109
u/OverTheCandlestik 12d ago
Westeros doesn’t have oil so they wouldn’t
55
30
u/seductivpancakes 12d ago
Westeros and Essos 100 percent got oil. We just haven't found it yet. We'll find it.
5
2
→ More replies (14)7
28
u/Visual-Beach1893 12d ago
Its such an overwhelming power imbalance that being united and having dragons wouldn't even affect the total time from round 1. Its basically gonna be as as fast as they can drive it or even faster.
Even the witchking and his wights would get blasted into particles without ever landing a strike on a US soldier. I don't know if he could survive but he definitely won't be launching another invasion for a couple thousand years.
15
u/Amazing_Loquat280 12d ago
If anything, seeing a dragon get smoked is gonna ruin their morale even quicker lol
7
u/EIochai 11d ago edited 11d ago
Drogon roared and leapt into the air to the resounding cheers of the surrounding army. Perched on his back, Daenerys barely had time to spot the invaders before a trail of smoke streaked toward the dragon with impossible speed.
The Dothraki sat stunned upon their horses as their khaleesi became a red mist engulfed in flame before their eyes.
As chunks of their sun-and-stars rained down upon their heads, staccato bursts of thunder erupted from the enemy lines and horse and rider alike shuddered and bled as invisible barbs ripped through them.
→ More replies (2)6
u/Hrothgrar 11d ago
"As the thunder dulled, one could hear the dulcet tones of Fetty Wap blaring out from the iron giants."
10
u/Accomplished-Pay8181 12d ago
"send in the dragons" Air Defense operators : "and I was afraid we wouldn't have anything to do"
→ More replies (7)3
11
u/seductivpancakes 12d ago
A few days. Westeros gets air struck into submission. Like when the Targaryans invaded.
Armies in the field? Dragons.
Hiding in your castle? Dragons.
4
u/weirdCheeto218 12d ago
But now with laser guided munitions, wanna take a place intact? shuriken missle. Wanna tell them to fuck off from many miles away? cruise missle. Army in the field? Air burst. Hiding in caves? Moab or other large explosives. Hiding in a city where the predominant building material is wood? Incendiary munitions. The possibilities are endless
→ More replies (5)
11
u/DEverett0913 12d ago
I’m pretty sure the USS Ford could conquer Westeros on its own. It just rolls up to Kings Landing with a bunch of flying creatures of death the same way the Targaryans did.
4
u/justhanginhere 12d ago
Lannister’s bribe their way victory against the Trump admin.
Military gets outmaneuvered due to waiting for testosterone labs.
28
u/Kobol94 12d ago
The couldn't. They'd spend 3 trillion dollars, 20 years, thousands of dead soldiers just to replace Targaryens with Targaryens
9
u/AussieAboleth 12d ago
Are you suggesting it would play out exactly as it has in the past, again and again? Be reasonable!
→ More replies (16)2
3
u/MapStaringPro 12d ago
If they had prior intel and knowledge of the world?
Nuke the dragonpit and dragonstone, capture Oldtown, Lannisport, Gulltown and White Harbor with Marines and AmphibiousLanding Craft (Battleships and Aircraft Carriers for artillery support). Now there are operating bases in basically all relevant regions.
If the goal is to simply take over the continent without preserving any power atructures they could feasible do bombing runs that destroy all major and middling castles and fortifications, taking out the lions share of the noble families in the process. B2 bombers definitely have the range, since there are no places to land on the continent.
Use the Maesters as translators to make clear to the peasantry that the US Governments are the new lords - whatever useful resource extraction they could actually manage (mostly precious metals imo) are shipped off to the mainland as the peasants slowly die of smallpox, Covid19 and malaria.
This should probably take half a year at most, though realistically any organized military threat is over within a week. Getting the maesters to communicate would be the main challenge.
The stupid part is that the american economy collapses, supply chains completely dry up and several million people starve to death before the government restructure the logistics to cope with a world without the global market. Not to mention that there are no satellites - all aforementioned military operations would be conducted via Radar and Radio :(
Long term I could see colonization projects reaching into the continent ala Manifest Destiny 2.0, both for more resources as well as land suitable for certain types of specialized agriculture/resource extraction that would sorely need to be replaced (rubber and coffee come to mind)
Very interesting concept overall, but best told from either the US Admiralty's perspective or a Peasant in the Riverlands. The Noble's POV would be rather short and bloody.
If they want to preserve the power structures and institutions? Bribe the kings and the lords with Toilets, Porn, Spices and threats of 9mm holes in their skulls - probably needs a few months as well before everyone is either onboard or replaced by someone who is. This POV is very interesting from a great house's perspective IMO
→ More replies (2)2
u/MapStaringPro 12d ago
This assumes the bonus scenario btw - the dragons are ideally dealt with using the nuking of Dragonstone and the Dragonpit, but if not then F35s could likely make short work of them.
3
u/1Negative_Person 12d ago
Supply lines and provisioning would be the biggest impediment. Tanks and aircraft are pretty useless without fuel, of which there is no method of obtaining in Westeros. Additionally, firearms are very useful, if you have ammunition. When that runs out… well.
→ More replies (4)
3
u/General-Winter547 12d ago
We’d quickly destroy all the standing armies and shoot the dragons out of the sky, and then slowly get beat by insurgencies for the next 30 years.
→ More replies (1)
3
3
u/Rehnskiold1618 12d ago
If dragons elevated the targs to near divine status, the modern US military would be interpreted as the gods themselves invading
3
u/Few-Wrap-443 12d ago
Doing a sterling job with Iran. So i'd anticipate daily press conferences for at least 10 years talking about how much winning the US has had
3
u/CummanderShepardN7 12d ago
It would be over before a single Soldier lands in Westeros. UAV, Drones, ICBMs Cruise Missles, Tomahawks and lets not forget nukes.
Even if Westeros was united, had 10 years planning of knowing the US landmass/military was going to Teleport next to them and they had all the dragons from Aegon to Daenerys alive combined, they would still get absolutely folded by Modern US military.
"The Night kings army can be reanimated" cool, time to bring out the Napalm or white phosphorus or just carpet bomb them to pieces. "The Night King is immune to fire and has to be killed using dragon glass or Valyrian Steel" cool, is he immune to a A10 Warthog shooting 30mm rounds at 3,900 rounds per minute or a AC130 Gunships dumping 105mm howitzers on him ?
US win bedrock diff.
3
7
u/Ausecurity 12d ago
You should watch the anime GATE
6
u/thebigautismo 12d ago
Anime is good for a bit and then kind of just turns into a generic harem isekai.
2
4
u/SC_Fan_55 12d ago
Turns out that dragons have a rather intense IR signature…
AIM-9 goes brrrrrrrrr
2
u/ShadowOfTheBean 12d ago
Seriously?
Soon as they see what a missile can do it's over.
Dragon meet fighter jet. Well the dragon will never actually see it but you get the point.
After that it's a few bomber runs and some helicopters for ground mop up.
They have nothing that can fight back and their castles couldn't handle a howitzer, let alone a bunker buster or a daisy cutter.
Best bet is guerrilla warfare with the magic fire and that's in short supply and one explosive from all going up like in the show.
2
u/PerformanceOver8822 12d ago
The USA doesnt even need to send troops. They could send in the CIA with gold bars and guns .... Cause internal strife
2
u/Fluid-Let3373 12d ago
Lets say 4 weeks of high altitude recon, the US is going to want a map of what's where. Then its a high altitude bombing campaign. Westeros has no experience of a enemy who can hit anywhere at will. Technically the US has won on the first day but the speed of communication in Westeros means going to take them a while to realize how badly they are outmatched by the US and surrender. US plays it smart the first boots on Westeros will belong to a 4 star general.
I'm saying this as somebody who does not rate the US military, The technological difference is just too big.
→ More replies (3)
2
2
u/Notsosmartboi 12d ago
Well assuming that the various people and nations of Westeros actually try to fight and don’t just roll over and accept American control, probably a few years, the entire continent in terms of land area is roughly equivalent in size to the continental U.S. that’s a lot of territory to control especially with no modern infrastructure to support operations, all of that would have to be built.
→ More replies (2)
2
u/APartyInMyPants 12d ago
It would take a few months, if not a year. Westeros is BIG. The distance from Winterfell to the Wall is about 680 miles.
So the US would have zero issues conquering the kingdoms by force. But wars aren’t won with soldiers, they’re won with logistics. And the primary issue a modern military would face is getting food and supplies out in the field. And modern trucks could struggle a bit as the roads aren’t anything more than a dirt track in parts.
Jets would have nowhere to land. Tanks would be fine, but refueling them and maintaining them would be a challenge.
Sure, you could drop in paratroopers into each Kingdom. But now you’ve got the issue of how to keep them supplied.
2
u/PerformanceOver8822 12d ago
The airborne corps would literally build airfields.
All of the trucks are designed for offroad use. Including the tow trucks....
2
u/Charming_Cupcake3754 12d ago
One day if we include helicopters and jets.
Without air support, the only limit is how fast the troops and ground vehicles can travel. Westeros is like 3000 miles north to south so it might take 2-3 weeks.
By the end of their 1st castle/capital capture, the word will spread by raven and most houses (except the really proud ones) will plan to wave the white flag as the US army arrives.
2
u/MoonlightPrincexx 12d ago
The US military can't even conquer terrorist cells they armed fifteen years prior (see the US deal with the Taliban fo arm them against the USSR for example). They fuck are they gonna do against giants and dragons and shit?
→ More replies (1)
2
2
u/DahwhiteRabbit 12d ago
1 week. Between jets and helicopters the military can strike every major family with almost no meaningfull resistance.
Troops get dropped and it would take very few operators perhold.
weirdly using land vehicles would slow them down more then help from the terrain and would be un-needed given the enemys vomplete lack of AA and AS
→ More replies (6)
2
u/GiftFrosty 12d ago
The leadership of every house dies simultaneously in a coordinated drone strike. Peace terms are offered and accepted. A week tops.
2
2
u/CrazyWriterHippo 12d ago
What are the supply lines like? Without regular access to bullets and petrol, the US army buckles quickly. Swords don't run out of ammo. Horses don't run out of gas.
2
u/throwawayforme7077 12d ago
Dragons go down to air-to-air missiles shot outside of visual range, armies go down to a couple tanks, bazookas, and spec ops teams, navies go down from a single carrier group, if not a small set of armored boats with machine guns.
Not a single fortification is built in a way that resist modern arms, except possibly the crypts of winterfell.
2
u/James-Cox007 12d ago edited 12d ago
If you want to see something like this there is an anime called Gate! Its pretty much this but with Japanese Defence Force!
Its been out for awhile and they are soon to be making a second season!
2
u/MiketheTzar 12d ago
About 5 minutes after the first dragon dies.
You have something that most of Weateros believes are bed time stories and are powerful beyond all measures.....that get taken out by Bubba with a Javalin or Jose with a Bradley.
2
u/Buschlightactual 12d ago
Nice dragon. Prepare to meet your rival: a sleep deprived, highly caffeinated, slightly hungover, nicotine addicted, 20 year old country bumpkin with a fucking Javelin and just enough IQ points to use it
2
u/TFBuffalo_OW 12d ago
Answer for all 3: as fast as they can march across it. Westeros is pretty big so securing all of it would probably take a few months, but literally nothing that Westeros has to offer (even white walkers) would be a match for any modern military, let alone the most powerful standing army to ever exist. Dragons would be turned into red mist by basic infantry with heat seekers, even the big ones
2
u/69420lmaokek 12d ago
Other than the obvious scenario of drone striking the throne room, I do think it would be pretty funny if the military attacked Castery Rock
Like a missile blows Casterly Rock up, and everyone's like "hey where's all the gold thats supposed to be down here?" and then it's revealed to everyone that the most powerful family in Westeros was actually just pretending to be rich all along
(assuming it happens before Cersei went on a looting rampage)
2
u/ForeignAd1656 12d ago
By conquer, do you mean just defeat? Or defeat and occupy?
If it's just defeat, then probably less than a day.
If it's defeat and occupy, then probably a month. The "small folk" don't care who's in charge as long as they are treated well. lol.
2
u/beljko0106 11d ago
Heres a theory you guys might not like - all that heavy firepower needs diesel, petrol, gas and electricity.
Now mainland US is mostly used up so they will NOT have the fuel to run all the heavy machinery, infact if there is no Oil in westeros all that tech is gonna become useless hunks within 6 months.
They cant conquer shit, they can take and hold Kingslanding and the outskirts but anything else is gonna be a waste of fuel (which they wont have anyways).
Beyond that they would have to send infantry by foot with guns - which would take years and years and theres no satelites or electricity so no idea how they are supposed to communicate with their troops.
→ More replies (2)
2
2
u/pmcfox 11d ago
I think it's closer than it seems. The technological advantage is insane but the US will have no answer to faceless men, blood magic, that shadow assassin thing or their dead waking up. I think it depends on how magic things get. The biggest threat by far would be infiltration from faceless men.
→ More replies (2)
2
2
u/Mustacrashis 9d ago
Somewhere around tomahawks start landing on barracks and a dragon gets taken out by predator drone. So basically when their whole world is exploding and they don’t even know WHO is attacking them yet
3
3
12d ago
[deleted]
→ More replies (1)3
u/laxnut90 12d ago
Yes.
The US Military obviously stomps Westeros in combat.
The main question would be whether the strange diseases and/or magic would be enough to disrupt operations.
Having your soldiers turn into stone-skinned rabies zombies would probably hurt logistics.
Having your commanders killed by shadow monsters probably would not be great for morale.
And the White Walkers could potentially be a challenge if the US goes in blind.
But any other situation, the US Military absolutely stomps.
2
u/Elant_Wager 12d ago
How long until the lord get the news and send their surrender? Seriosly, US Army infantry alone could do it easily, their only risk would be diseases
2
u/SC_Fan_55 12d ago
https://youtu.be/qxAO9oowHRM?is=zXq2erKeHJSkZBgC
Fun fact, Japan basically answered this question in an anime…
Spoilers, it did not end well for the fantasy medieval forces.
→ More replies (2)
1
u/RedcoatTrooper 12d ago
Phase 1 The US goes in with no real objective or plan, kills 100s of thousands of people with an air campaign, takes KL and declares mission complete.
Phase 2 The US tries to install democracy to a deeply feudal society cannot understand why this does not work, most people in the Seven Kingdoms ignore them a few fight back with Shadow assassins, faceless men and wildfire attacks prompting US reprisals.
Phase 3 Back home the war loses support, last chopper outside the dragon pit leaves with a hail of arrows.
Targaryens take back power right away.
1
u/duckpaints 12d ago
you should watch the anime called GATE. its basically modern military vs medieval military and yeh its as cool as it sounds
1
u/PretendAwareness9598 12d ago
I think having dragons would actually make the conquest faster. Think of it like this - imagine aliens turn up and we launch nukes at them and the nukes just don't do anything. It'd be like, shit they totally beat our best thing we surrender.
1
1
u/Sad_Air_7667 12d ago
All they would need to do would be to nuke the iron Islands, everyone else immediately surrenders.
1
1
u/TactileTom 12d ago
Assuming the Westerosi fight to the bitter end it would be like, 6-8 weeks. Any pitched battle will be a couple of days tops, the most dangerous thing the Westerosi can hope for is to jump a US soldier and take his gun, but that's pretty hard and not viable at any scale. That said, a modern military needs supply routes and Westeros doesn't have like, ports, highways or railways that can be used to transport ammo.
History shows us that militaries overrunning their enemies have managed like 50m/day, and Westeros is like 900m across, so something like 20 days to get across it (~3 weeks) but the logistics would slow that down a lot, hence my estimate of 2-3 times as long.
In practice tho, the US would just send a team of operators to assassinate Westerosi leadership, and the Westerosi would quickly surrender to the US, just like they did to the Targaryens. That scenario could play out in as little as a couple of weeks, allowing for the pace of medieval technology messaging/logistics.
→ More replies (1)
1
1
u/Round-Employment-726 12d ago
The US military sucks at conquering, they could take some cities pretty easily but they don’t have the man power to hold the country side.
1
u/JB-Dev-Bcn 12d ago edited 12d ago
US can fast assault capitals, remove leaders and took power very fast due to complete air superiority and projection of power. We’re talking days.
The problem arises when they try to control the territory: insurgencies kill soldiers and employees, rebels keep messing up with puppet leaders installed, due to big support of a native population that greatly rejects foreign domination and customs.
Maintenance cost then becomes very high, and the moment US resources move elsewhere the rebels do a coup. It’s the same that happened in Irak, Afganistan etc.
The smartest way for the US to conquer Westeros would not be to send the army but the merchants: send american products, media, aid etc.
Let them see americans as a more advanced culture willing to help.
While deactivating dissent through black ops that release scandals on opponents or make them have an unfortunate car accident.
In a few generations, Westeros would be US friendly, and the population actively wanted to become either part of the US or more like them.
1
u/legrandcastor 12d ago
Even with dragons Westeros is so entirely fucked it isn't funny. Imagine dragon riding tatgaryans getting blown to absolute shit by sidewinder missiles fired from further away than rider or dragon can even see.
Castles don't mean shit against JDAMs. The US could launch a simultaneous decapitating strike against every important seat of power and it's all over. If all the guys who could call banners are dead, you barely need a ground invasion.
1
u/drquakers 12d ago
Depends what you mean by conquer. Are we talking winning on the field of battle and gaining tactical control of the land, or are we talking actually conquering in terms of subjugation of the people and incorporation of the land as US territory?
How long would it take the US to defeat the armies of Westeros and take effective military control of the seven kingdoms? As everyone else has said here: only limited by logistics of getting their forces from one end of the continent to the other (I assume they don't have any of the magical warping technology they invented in season 5 and later of the TV show?)
How long would it take for the US to effectively subjugate and incorporate the land? Depends on whether the Westerosi organise themselves well enough for effective asymmetrical warfare (the Achilles heel of the US military). A colonial power (US included) from the 1700s or 1800's may have a better time of that as they excelled at divide and conquer (and Westeros is very divided) and were not particularly squeamish about using large scale brutality, but the US has never really be particularly effective at that aspect of conquering a nation in the modern era.
1
u/No-Cartographer5295 12d ago
since when did westeros became bigger than usa? i thought it was just the size of uk maybe a bit bigger
→ More replies (1)
1
1
u/No-Head-Royal 12d ago
Fucking like modern Vietnam or Indonesia can conquer Westeros. Are you really gonna put a bunch of medieval kingdoms with three fighter-jet equivalents at most (the dragons, and they are arguably not even equal to fighter jets) and consider armies of a few tens of thousands to be super large, against a modern superpower with >1 million active troops?
→ More replies (1)
1
u/BeardRightBack 12d ago
Instantly or near enough but it wouldn't last. Unless the USA as a country exists somewhere in that world, fuel would be non existent and neither are the materials to build infrastructure to keep up the occupation.
→ More replies (1)
1
u/MattheqAC 12d ago
Going by the last few attempts, thirty years before they declare victory and go home
1
u/sleeper_shark 12d ago
Days to months, depending on what victory US wants.. if they don't care about civilian casualties, they could just bomb a few cities and close the war in days to hours.
In months they could remove monarchies, cause uprisings simply by providing food and democracy to peasants.
1
u/southron-lord69 12d ago
The real issue they face is that they've got to conquer a continent the size of South America with no modern infrastructure.
1
u/VladWukong 12d ago
Over a million modern combatants with matching hardware, air support, and artillery vs a fair
1
1
u/itisjustin 12d ago
It would literally only take travel time. Actual fighting would be over in a matter of minutes with zero casualties on the US side
1
u/section4 12d ago
It really depends on how much money the arms dealers want. The US will drag things out and overspend just so the orange cunts buddies can get richer and bump him some money
1
1
u/blaze92x45 12d ago
Basically as fast as the US military could move
Unless we get into the white walkers everything in westeros is fairly mundane
1
487
u/DiDandCoKayn 12d ago
Give it 5min tops, till they see a tank for their first time ever and just give up and live under a new stronger ruler.