"The slits are wider facing outward to allow a wider range of firing angles and narrow on the inside to protect the archers." That's exactly the opposite of any castle I've ever seen. That would funnel arrows into the castle. See "Arrowslit" in Wikipedia: "The interior walls behind an arrow loop are often cut away at an oblique angle so that the archer has a wide field of view and field of fire."

Instead of starting with the Helm's Deep series, I would recommend starting with the Siege of Gondor series, which was written earlier and is a little easier to follow IMO https://acoup.blog/2019/05/10/collections-the-siege-of-gondo... It's an excellent mix of fiction, history, tactics (operations!), pop culture, and filmography. It's probably one of the best things I've ever read

Just watched the LOTR movies again last week and my wife and I complained specifically about how unrealistic, or simply bad, the attack on Helms Deep seemed.

For starters, that this article pops up just days after our discussion blew my mind.

The analysis really brings to light the depth of Tolkien. What could easily be chalked up to a standard large scale mindless action-movie (or book - even if the book is more nuanced) event is actually purposefully showing Sarumans arrogance, as well as ignorance.

Finally, this qoute made me think of a few enterprise software projects I’ve had to deal with as well:

> This is, I must say, a common mistake of amateurs – to propose extremely complex battle plans which could win the day on a computer or in an armchair discussion, but which are so complex that actually implementing them in the fog of war is nearly impossible.

I've really enjoyed this blog -- it's changed the way that I envision the past. I particularly enjoyed the lonely city series of articles where the author emphasizes how pre-modern agricultural economies used land, and that the vast majority of people and activity were tied closely to agriculture.

Extremely entertaining. You might expect this kind of write-up to be dry (and it is, to be fair, incredibly long), but the author has a snappy sense of humor and an engaging style

Are there any video games which simulate sieges like the one at Helms Deep - Kind of like Command and Conquer for sieges?

Let's start with the most jarring aspect of the movie Helm's Deep scene: the elves! So said Elrond in the Council:

> Never again shall there be any such league of Elves and Men; for Men multiply and the Firstborn decrease, and the two kindreds are estranged. And ever since that day the race of Numenor has decayed, and the span of their years has lessened."

Haldir:

> we dwell now in the heart of the forest, and do not willingly have dealings with any other folk.

It is indeed perhaps the biggest fault of the otherwise excellent movies. Replacing Glorfindel with Arwen didn't bother me at all, for example.

Now I have to watch the trilogy :) I probably know all the dialogues by heart now but still, it will be a good exercise to study the battles rather than just watching them. I always thought that the assault was poorly planned blindly charging the wall, the berserker etc. But I never thought of it as a strategical mistake. Rather I thought it was more about the characteristics of the Uruk. Fearless horde of savages charging without any fear.