On Writing Impactful Wars and Battles

[@LoreGeist]

Do you have any favorite battles / War Scenes in Fantasy and Sci-fi?

[@trollsmyth]

There's an insane, grinding combat near the end of The Black Company that takes the worst of WW1 trench fighting and ancient warfare like Cannae and mashes them together brutally. But my favorite battle is probably the Battle of Endor, where what's happening on the ground, in space, and in the Emperor's throne room all interact with each other. The writing to weave all of those together was masterful.

[@trollsmyth]

I can highly recommend John Keegan's The Face of Battle for a soldier's-eye view of ancient, medieval, and Napoleonic combat.

[@Nockgun]

also armor is not useless it can't just be slashed through like plate or chainmail, and pitched battles are rare

[@LoreGeist]

Yeah, it’s probably good to research the nooks and crannies of war gear to make sure you know how they work properly 😅

[@Nockgun]

@ I know people say they want to see the hero's faces, But there are things like adorned armor, or gilded ones, And also I actually do think that yes there are some countries before that uses one handed swords as main weapons, Like Southeast asia, Usually like Siam which I am from or Burma But usually stuff like spears or axes or polearms such as billhooks, halberds, voulges are used as most fantasy are based off Medieval Western Europe. And the jarring one where people charge into each other, Its confusing since you could hit your ally in the middle of a chaotic brawl. Like if you charge into your enemies and lack formations one of your soldiers will hit their allies instead of the enemy themselves. I forgot one thing, Soldiers here are usually levies or volunteers. And the feudal system genuinely did actually force them to usually buy their own gear, usually a helmet (mostly kettle helmets which are metal brimmed hats) , a gambeson and a spear. And against armor, There are techniques like half swording and Mordschlag (which is literally half swording except you grab the blade and hit people with the pommel)

[@dragonboy131308]

Beautifully done!

[@aSnailCyclopsNamedSteve]

One thing you missed - do you even need a battle? A battle should always advance the plot. So, you want to show your character is brave, for example. But is a battle the best way to show it? Would a duel work as well? Will having the hero just need to stand up for what they believe finally and the other side backing down suffice? Bravery does require violence to show it. Sometimes walking away shows more courage. And another thing. Combat is something most of us have thankfully not experienced. A battle is not a football match. It is not target practice. Participants prepare to die beforehand. Do your research before your describe a battle. And a third thing. Loyalty was to the immediate lord in Medieval times, not to the Nation or the King. Battles were fought in fields and what was decided was mainly to whom you paid taxes and how much. Destruction was minimal. Serfs did not read and no one cared what language they spoke. Many people confuse a crusade with a battle or war. A crusade was fought to win a place in heaven and forgiveness for sins; a war was fought to end raiding or for profit.

[@LoreGeist]

I agree, if you are writing a battle just to prove someone is brave there are probably more efficient ways to achieve that with less page real state, you can either make the battle achieve additional goals as well, or just write something shorter like the examples you suggested.

[@StarlasAiko]

Large battles serve in stories to inform or increase the stakes, as consequence to previous events in the story, as backdrop scene to the actual events, as world building, to show characters or progress their develppment arc, ... There are so many purposes to a battle, other than progressing the story, same as with every other type of event and scene.

[@aSnailCyclopsNamedSteve]

​@@StarlasAiko part 1. Fine, but if those things do not advance the plot (story, character arc, etc.), why do you need them? If I set a story in the USA in 2023, do I need to describe the war in Europe in great detail? The only aspect of it that I need to involve in the story is however it involves the story I am telling. And, on the other hand, I can tell a story of a frontline soldier and describe no violence because the story is about him and a cat his comrade rescued.

[@aSnailCyclopsNamedSteve]

@@StarlasAiko part 2 There is a current theory presented by many experts that to make a story more exciting, you have to raise the stakes. Why have an argument if you can have a fight? Why have a fight when you can have combat? Why have combat when you can have a battle? Why have a battle when you can have war? Why have a war when you can threaten the end of the world? Why threaten the world when you can threaten the universe? But a good writer can evoke more emotion from just refusing to talk to the other party. One of the famous battle scenes is the Balrog vs Gandalf. How much was suspense and how much violence? Or the death of the Witch King in the next book. Such a vibrant image with so little action. The most notable part is the dialogue.

[@StarlasAiko]

@@aSnailCyclopsNamedSteve 1: A scene or beat does not have to advance the plot, it just needs to have a purpose. The list I have given is an exerpt of possible purposes a scene or beat MIGHT have. Ideally a scene or beat fulfills two or three purposes at once. 2: Increasing stakes is a POSSIBLE purpose for a scene, including but not limited to combat scenes. There is absolutely no law stating that a story must have stake raising beats. It is merely one of many possible purposes a beat might have. Nowhere in my post did I make the claim that stakes MUST be raised, but I definitely refute your claim that every scene and beat MUST advance the plot.

[@ArtWithDonuts]

Yesssss!!! Thank you so much!!!!!!

[@LoreGeist]

Hope it helped 😅