It does not say that, because if it said it would have ment that men on average had better armor - which is absurd, dwarven armor was probably the best on average - I'm talking about 1 particular kindom here, decendants of Numenor, strongest men race in the thrd age!Where in the books does it say "Dwarves have weaker armour than Men"? From TTT: "There was no hauberk in the hoards of Edoras of better make than his short corselet forged beneath the Mountain in the North". That's pretty definitive, I think. This also isn't a mithril hauberk - consider Gimli's reaction upon seeing Frodo's coat.
Well, dude you said it yourself - in EDORAS - what does Edoras has to do with Gondor? Moreover, Gimpli was not an average dwarf Soldier he was the Noble relative of the king, so I am pretty sure he would not have an average armor...
Dissagree - speed is going to be the same - as difference in weight is no more than 3 kgs. Better range of motion yes - but useless against a fully armed dude, the range not going to be significantly different either. The only good point is easier dodging, but I would prefer less agility especially if I'm naturally more agile (humans were more agile than dwarves) in terms of 1 on 1 combat. When it comes to mass fights - it will be hard not to get hit - so again plate armor wins - most of the cases it does. The only time when it does not is when you have to be stealthy and sneaky...The argument of plate against chain also isn't always valid - chain and plate have different uses. I can move significantly faster and with a better range of motion in chain than in plate, I could dodge more easily... sure, if there's an arrow headed for my chest plate will be better, but in terms of actual combat they depends on troop role.
Bow and armor - different technology - Gondorians became shorter and could not use a steel bow as well as their ancestors could so they came to a reasonable sollution. Have to dissagree here - elves are immortal - therefore the way they learn skills is different to humen ways - they are happy with what they have and can, they care more about nature, when men are greeeedy to good armor and technology, Moreover, they actually improved when fighting Morgoth, but that was a long time ago and in the 3rd age they were more or less living piecefully. Here you absolutely right - but skirmishing is the one that counts - they had constant training as they knew the threat they were living under - constant engagement with even small batalions of enemies is a great experience, which is better than one huge single battle! Remember Boromir's line: " ... all of your lands are kept safe by the blood of our people!" The only engagements dwarves had included goblins and sometimes orcs... With all the respect to dwarven races.It could also be construed that Gondor's smithing was in decline just by looking at the case of the Numenorian steel cored bow, which would require significant smithing skill to make, which no longer exists in Gondor. The general form of "war = technology" that is present in the modern world doesn't apply in LOTR - if so surely the Elves, having fought Morgoth for thousands of years, would have such awesome technology. You'd also have to consider that the men of Gondor have not been fighting wars for all of the Third Age - where the WoTR era the first major battles took place during the retaking of Osgiliath. Anything else was just skirmishing. The experience of any troops that fought in the Balchoth invasion for example does not count - those men are long dead. Dwarves have similar experiences - we know of War of Goblins and Dwarves, of Balin's attempt to retake Moria, of the Battle of Five Armies, of the generally large Orc population of the Grey Mountains... these actually apply, because some of the Dwarves that fought there are still alive.
By the way dude respect! Always nice to talk to someone who actually knows stuff he is talking about and respects his opponent;-)
Sword is good for me, you can pick any weapon you want...I accept that challenge Name your weapon
Of cause it did not, yet this is still a huge credit to Gondor. Moreover, most of the time they did it themselves... Only in the cases of huge need they asked for help. And what do you mean other Gondorians from the South??? Are not they Gondorians? Dunedain kinda surved Gondor after Arnor was pretty much destroyed and only small parts of it existed...Actually, This might be getting off topic. Gondor did not by itself fight all 5 of those nations. Rohan, and other gondorians fom the southern fiefdoms came. So did some dunedain. I do not know if the Dunedain, and the SF made a difference, because both together had around 1,000 together counting how skilled they were loke the men of dol amroth were very skilled as were the dunedain. They only made 1,000.
This is not really what I'm talking about, I'm kinda talking about armor and fighting skills, but yes you r right.On topic: the dwarves did repair the Minas Tirith gate. As did the elves of Mirkwood which made the city look greener. Also Ithilien. Did I mention the dwarves also fixed the walls of Minas Tirith. So I think basically they are the same.