Battle of Five Armies

The numbers for the book is Mirkwood Elves sent 1,000 spearmen and "several hundred" archers. The dwarves had 13 under the command of Thorin protecting the gate. Another 500 from the Iron Hills were under the command of Dain Ironfoot. 200-300 men from Laketown were there too. Against them were 10,000 to 25,000 wargs, orcs and bats.   The movie battle was a much larger affair. There were 10,000 Mirkwood Elves. 500 dwarves from the Iron Hills came as cavalry - plus another 7,000 infantry. Lake town had 1,000 soldiers and 2,000 civilians in the area. 80 eagles turned up to help them.   The opposition was much more impressive as well. Dol Guldur sent 30,000 orcs and 800 bats. Another 10,000 orcs came from Mt. Gundabad. Goblin-town sent 450 soldiers seeking to avenge their fallen king. This already much larger force had 55 ogres, 25-30 trolls, "several hundred" wargs and "several" were-worms.

Lonely Mountain and Lake Town

In the book, the Free People took positions in the two spurs of the Lonely Mountain. Thorin's company held the gate. This trapped the attacking orcs in the middle, leading to massive losses. Orcs began to scale the mountain and attack the free people from behind. This made the Free People's position bleak at best. Thorin then led his company in a charge from the gate straight into the enemy ranks. This had short term benefits but led to the battle degenerating into a chaotic, close quarters and merciless melee in which the orcs had the upper hand. The day was saved by the arrival of the Great Eagles and Beorn in the form of a giant bear. He killed the orc leader, breaking their cohesion and leading to a rout.   At first, things were much less peaceful in the movies. There was actual fighting between the dwarves and elves, resulting in many of the dwarf cavalry having their goat mounts killed. The battle plan started off the same – the first orc army to arrive aimed to pin down the elves, men and dwarves so they could be flanked when the second orc army arrived. Once the were-worms attacked to signal the first part of this plan, the dwarves of the Iron Hills instantly moved to engage and formed a phalanx. The elves leapt over them and charged the orc ranks. Never have I seen a move that is both that pointlessly risky and incredibly stupid.   The dwarves took the initiative here and killed many orcs in a counter attack. Demonstrating how stupid this move was, the orcs unleashed their trolls on the now exposed left flank. The dwarves avoided total disaster here by launching their chariots against the trolls. This led to the orcs targeting the chariots and depriving the Free People all their mounted units.   Azog responded by splitting a large portion of his main force off to attack the ruins of Dale – where the refugees from Lake Town took shelter. The dwarves stayed back to protect the entrance while the elves and men went to save the civilians. Heavy urban warfare resulted, and due to sheer numbers the orcs had the advantage. Trolls were used as living battering rams to get inside the city. Mainly the elves remained outside engaging the orc forces in the plain while the dwarves mostly remained gaurding the mountain itself. This left the hard city fighting to the Lake-town militia.   The elves made their way into the city. Eventually attrition began to take a toll. The soldiers in the city were pushed further and further towards the center of the city. Dain ordered a retreat to the gate of the Lonely Mountain.   This meant that the orc plan essentially worked. Thorin responded much the same way he did in the book though. He kept even his fellow dwarves outside, forcing Dain to form another phalanx just outside its gates. The orcs regrouped for the final attack on the gate to seal the victory.   Once the trolls formed at the front of the orc attack force, Thorin's party charged out from the protection of the gate, leading the dwarves in an attack on the orcs. Another pointlessly risky move.   Thorin still lost his life, causing Dain of the Iron Hills to take up the mantle of King under the Mountain. This came when the main characters decided drifting into the mountains was a good way for them to set up the cimatic battle. In a series of one on one battles and ambushes, Thorin and two of his company die. But so does the orc commanders.   This loss, plus the arrival of Radagast, the great eagles and Beorn, cripples the orc armies. This was compounded by one of the armies the orcs counting on was intercepted by the eagle/ Radagast/Beorn force. Essentially, their final push left them cut off from allies, without leaders and now in a valley surrounded by reinvigorated enemies.

The free people won the battle.

Thorin and two other dwarves were killed. Dain became King under the Mountain. Bilbo donated his share of the treasure to rebuild Lake Town. He kept two chests of treasure, his mithril shirt and the One Ring. The elves got a collection of emeralds and went home.

The Kingdoms of the Lonely Mountain and Dale both were reestablished and became prosperous again. Both grew enough in population to become major thorns in Saurons' side in the War of the Ring.   The movie battle was much more directly tied to Sauron. His occupation of Dol Guldur became tenious after the loss of so many troops under his direct command. His encounters after/during the battle with the White Council forced him back to Mordor.