Game of Thrones: War for Westeros: Stark vs Lannister
Stark and Lannister are not reskins. Economy, scouting, influence, heroes, and late-game units force opposite playstyles. Pick the wrong house for how you actually play and you fall behind before the first big fight.
Game of Thrones: War for Westeros
Stark
Lannister
Asymmetric RTS
Core problem: players picking Stark or Lannister in the War for Westeros demo keep losing because they treat the two houses like reskins. They are not. Economy, scouting, influence, heroes, and late-game units force opposite playstyles. Pick the wrong house for how you actually play and you fall behind before the first big fight.
1Decide Your House by Playstyle
Lannister
Aggressive expansion and debt economy
Choose Lannister if you want:
- ▪Fast early gold and the ability to spend gold you don't have yet (debt)
- ▪Convert gold to influence at the HQ
- ▪Mercs, Wildfire, Kingsguard, siege
- ▪Aggressive expansion and buying your way out of mistakes
Stark
Hold ground, then smash with cavalry and monsters
Choose Stark if you want:
- ▪Permanent gold buildings (windmills never expire)
- ▪Extra influence just for holding map towers, and more the longer you hold them
- ▪More heroes (Robb, Jon, Grey Wind, Ghost) and late beasts (giants, mammoths, Wildlings, Night's Watch)
- ▪Hold ground, then smash with cavalry and monsters
Playtester consensus: Lannister felt easier to get an engine running. Stark rewarded sitting on points instead of constant attacking.
2Opening 3 Minutes - Exact First Actions
Both houses: start with HQ plus 1 builder plus 1 scout. Build your first gold building next to the HQ so the scout and builder cannot get picked off. HQ shoots nearby enemies. Capture the nearest region tower with your first cheap infantry. You cannot build extra structures or use the good resource slots in a region until your banner is on that tower.
Stark-specific
- ▪Scout is a fast mounted unit. Use it to find high-yield windmill spots and the first tower, then pull back.
- ▪Build windmills. They pay gold forever. High-yield map slots exist, stacking too many in one region drops efficiency.
- ▪After the first tower is yours, leave something on it. Stark gains a trickle of influence for the capture and more the longer they hold it. That is their unique economy hook.
Lannister-specific
- ▪Scout is a stealth foot rogue that can mark enemy units with temporary vision. Use it to peek the enemy base and find high-yield mine slots.
- ▪Build mineshafts. They pay more than windmills but expire after a few minutes unless they sit on a high-yield slot (those do not expire). Plan to replace dead mines.
- ▪Open the HQ and learn the gold to influence swap and the debt button. You can overspend gold now and pay the fee later. Use debt only to grab a second region or the first hero, not to spam trash.
3Resources You Must Track
| Resource | Stark | Lannister |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | Windmills, never expire | Mines, expire (except high-yield) |
| Influence | Weirwood shrines on limited map slots plus bonus from held towers | Lion statues on limited slots plus convert gold at HQ |
| Supply and pop | Houses, cap differs by faction | Same idea, houses |
Gold buys early units and buildings. Influence buys heroes and everything high-tier. Lannister can paper over a bad gold timing with debt plus conversion. Stark cannot convert, they must hold towers.
4Heroes - Field Them Early
Heroes are cheap in the current build and testers rushed them every PvP game. Level them by killing. Abilities are on cooldown. Do not treat them as invincible, they die if left alone.
Stark heroes
- ▪Robb: mounted, enemy debuffs, line-breaker charge
- ▪Jon: infantry leader, nearby damage plus resist, bleed strike
- ▪Grey Wind and Ghost: only recruitable while their owner is alive, stronger next to that owner, own abilities
Lannister heroes
- ▪Jaime: frontline swordsman
- ▪Tywin: mounted commander, cavalry and defensive buffs, morale pressure at higher levels
- ▪Gregor: announced for later builds
Keep the Stark wolves glued to Robb or Jon. Recruiting wolves after their owner died is a waste.
5Army Identity After the First Barracks
Both start with spears plus light sword and shield from a barracks. After that they split.
Stark path
Hold, then smash
- ▪Fast direwolf cavalry, extra payoff near Ghost or Grey Wind
- ▪Night's Watch (melee plus ranged)
- ▪Free Folk
- ▪Giants (not treated as "vulnerable") and mammoth riders
- ▪Fire-arrow style upgrades and siege
Lannister path
Buy power now
- ▪Heavier armored line, cavalry, strong siege
- ▪Hire contracts: Stone Crows, Golden Company, Knights of Summer
- ▪Alchemists and Wildfire (burns friend and foe, long burn)
- ▪One Kingsguard squad at a time (hero-tier, good vs enemy lords)
- ▪Individual squad upgrades you can buy on the move (pick a stat buff)
6Key Decision Points
Hold the tower or push?
Stark: hold
Influence ticks up while you own it. Lannister: take it if it unlocks a high-yield mine or statue, otherwise keep spending on units.
Debt or not?
Only Lannister
Use it when a second region or first hero is one purchase away. Do not sit in debt while mines are expiring.
Which tech building?
Faction-specific
Stark: Nightfort or Northern Alliance line for Watch plus Free Folk plus beasts. Lannister: Sept (passive heal near the border) and Alchemist guild for Wildfire.
When to wall
Both can wall any building
Wall the first gold cluster and the first captured tower. Workers can garrison.
Victory in the demo: Domination (hold zones) and or Annihilation (kill the castle). Toggle them in settings. Most games are decided by who owns more region towers plus the better hero timing.
Common Mistakes
- Playing Stark like a rush faction and never parking units on towers (you throw away free influence).
- Playing Lannister like a turtle and letting mines die without replacements or high-yield slots.
- Sending the builder across the map with the scout. Scout first, build next to HQ.
- Recruiting Stark wolves after Robb or Jon died.
- Dumping Wildfire into a mixed melee and wiping your own line.
- Ignoring high-yield resource slots. Ordinary windmills or mines in a crowded region underperform.
- Waiting to field heroes. Testers who delayed them lost map control.
Video That Shows the Systems
Chapters that match this guide: Faction Asymmetry (about 1:40), Scouts and early harassment (about 4:13), Gold (about 4:48), Influence and faction mechanics (about 5:36), Heroes (about 7:01), capturing regions (about 7:52).