![]() Even if a fleet managed to land without being destroyed by the superior Summer Islander fleet, they'd be cut to pieces on the ground or destroyed through guerrilla warfare. In summary, invading the Summer Islands is insanely impractical. ![]() The terrain does not favour the use of heavy cavalry, which is really the one thing the Westerosi have in their arsenal that other powers fear. Even if they somehow offloaded troops, they'd then be fighting in a jungle environment against natives with superior missile weapons (the Summer Island bows are only outmatched by the ultra-rare weirwood bows), in boiling temperatures (the Summer Islands are near the equator), at risk from disease. The invasion of the New World also only worked by colonisation ships landing, carving up a small bit of land, making peace with nearby tribes, then expanding a little, then allowing more forces to land, carving up larger chunks of land etc over the course of centuries.Ī military invasion of the Summer Islands, on the other hand, would require a large Westerosi fleet to sail over 700 miles across open ocean, defeat naval vessels of superior technology and construction (the Summer Islanders' swan ships are faster and more manoeuvrable than any Westerosi vessel) and then invade foreign territory they are not familiar with, at all. The Normans did pull it off but it took a lot of luck and King Harold's army being exhausted from having just fought another battle days earlier. The Romans, Saxons and Danes got away with it because the country was not united to stand against them, and they also engaged in gradual colonisation more than a single concerted military thrust. Even invading England from across the Channel (only 25 miles wide at its narrowest point) was almost beyond the capability of medieval armies. ![]() Large-scale naval invasions are not really a thing that's possible to do with medieval or earlier naval technology, because a single storm could sink your invasion force in one swoop (see the fate of the Spanish Armada).
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