WoT: Forces In The Field

Despite the deluge of WoT info sites which exist on the Web, I've yet to find a decent and up to date listing of army strengths in Randland.
So, I've decided to draw up my own.
Warning : Will contain spoilers for those who haven't read aCoS.

Taking the Randland map, I'll start in the North and travel South.


Blight Forces:


Borderlanders:


Tar Valon:

Younglings;

Tar Valon Guard

(...The TVG ?...)

Tower AS + Warders

Novices and Accepted;


Arad Doman:

Civil wars, dragonsworn, the losses against the first Seanchan on Toman Head, all point to a fairly small Domani army.

Have the Seanchan invaded ? Well there's some slight evidence in the North-East, South-West prophecy, which would suggest that they have. Note the use of the passive for the West-South bit. If they have invaded, there are likely to be rebels for a while to come yet.

Don't forget that one of the Great Captains resides in Arad Doman. He was mentioned twice in the series, so he'll appear again (?)


Cairhien:

Well, first off the

Native forces

.

When Rand returns from the wells he is given a quick sketch of the wetlander forces. He is told that there are more than 10k in the city, and roughly 10k rebels outside the city.

So, I'll break it down as follows.

Aiel;

Wise Ones;

  • When Egwene is talking about there being 1000- AS, she says that there are more WO's maybe many more.

  • However we have to consider the relative lack of channeling ability of some of these WOs eg. Sorelia's flickering flame.

  • So, best guestimate....1k WOs.

  • Excluding the 200-250 that belong to the Shaido, that leaves 750-800 channeling WOs loyal to Rand.


    Andor;

    The Queen's Guards

    Now, for Rand's forces....

    Saldaen Light Horse;

    9k. This is a firm figure given by Bashere himself.

    Legion of the Dragon:

    Black Tower Asha'man;

    Caemlyn Aiel;

    Probably not too many in the city, despite the presence of a clan chief. Say about 1k+/-.


    Of No Fixed Abode

    The following few groups either don't belong anwyhere, are on the move constantly, or are spread around several countries. As such I'll group them together here.

    Salidar Aes Sedai:

    (SAS..hehehe)

    Sisters

    Novices and Accepted

    Byrne's Army; 20k
    The Band; 10k


    These calculations are somewhat interdependant so I'll discuss them together.

    Shaido Aiel:

    Spears;

    Wise Ones;

    I'm not too sure on this one, but I think I remember a segment just before Perrin joins the battle at Dumani's Wells, where an AS looks down over a ridge and says that there are 2-300 women channeling down there. Which would give us 200-250 Channeling Shaido Wise Ones.


    Tear:

    Tairean Rebels;

    Forces form Tear and Cairhien;

    Aiel;

    We are told that there are under 200k there, with a few more yet to arrive, so by the time of the actual invasion 200k seems accurate.


    Illian:


    Murandy and Altara:

    The Kin;

    We are given an exact number of 1,783, but it's unclear how many of these can be gathered in before the Seanchan arrive en masse.


    Ghaeldan:

    The Queen's Army;

    The Prophet's Dragonsworn Army;

    We know of one mob, of 10k, which defeated the army sent against it. But it's probably grown since then, on the march into Amadicia.

    Perrin's Army;

    During the gateway sequence we get a fairly detailed description of this small force.


    Amadicia:

    Ailron's Army;

    (...Ailron's army, is here to staaaaay, Ailron's army, are on their waaaaay!...)
    These are peobably fairly small, say about 5k. This is evidenced by the fact that the Children dominate them, and by the fact that they were unable to turn back to Prophet's mobs.

    Children of the Light;

    I don't think that we ever get a precise number, but there are a few hints along the way.


    Tarabon:

    Anti-Seanchan Rebels;

    We know that the EVA have not entirely destroyed resistence, but OTOH, Suroth doesn't seem too worried about the remaining rebels, so let's put them at no more than 2k.

    Pro-Seanchan Forces;

    Hard to be exact, but given the countries losses on Toman Head against the seanchan, on Almoth Plain, against the Domani, against the Dragonsworn, and in their own civil war, and losses during the return of the seanchan, I'd say that these forces number no more than 2-3k.


    Sea Folk

    .

    They are likely to be a significant military force in the future, evidenced by the Jendai Prophecy as quoted to Rand in Cairhien, ie. that the Coramoor would make the Sea Folk the masters of all the seas of the world.

    Windfinders

    They are among the strongest of Sea Folk channelers. Although the Sea Folk send some girls to the Tower to avoid suspicion, they never send people of great strength. Not every ship has a channeler.

    Windfinder's training appears to be fairly limited. Witness the captivity of so many Sea Folk ships at the hands of Damane equiped Seanchan ships.


    And Last but not Least.....

    The Seanchan:

    I don't have an exact figure for this, but OTOH.....


    Well, that's it - except to mention the civil war in Shara, and the rebels in Seanchan. The Guide to the Wheel Of Time also has some nice army related information. Giving the type of composition of the standard Randland army, as well as a numerical listing of strength at the end of the Aiel War for most of the members of the Grand Coalition. It's certainly worth a look.
    The figures I've given above do not take a/c of information in the Guide.

    Comments, suggestions, and improvements are of course welcome.

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    Page last updated 2nd April, '98.