Quote Originally Posted by Carnage View Post
They can't just chip away at the wall, so an en masse attack would be useless.
I do not understand. Do you mean that a non-en masse attack would be useless?

If so, chipping away at the enemy is not the point of testing the defenses. Now they know that a giant can lift the gate. Now they know how high the scythe is and its range. They even know the maximum range of the arrows. All this information gained from that attack can serve to improve the next attempt, and yes, this time, en masse. They lose a few in the first try but save much more overall. That is the logic behind testing a fort's defenses.

Quote Originally Posted by Carnage View Post
From what I remember of the books, the Giant's attack on the gates was crucial to Mance Rayder's plan and it was actually another character that helped to seal the gate during the fight (Grenn isn't supposed to have died).
The show portrayed it differently, as if this attack was a trial. Snow, who saw the forces that are about to invade them when he was captive, even explicitly mentioned that this was a test of the defenses, and that more giants will come.