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How to Write a Fantasy Battle: Basic Medieval and Modern Military Tactics for Authors
Paperback
Literary CriticismGeneral Military History
ISBN13: 9780645466881
Publisher: Bocfodder Press
Published: Jul 11 2025
Pages: 112
Weight: 0.19
Height: 0.23 Width: 4.25 Depth: 7.00
Language: English
The forces of good are arrayed against the minions of evil on a storm-swept battlefield, and someone is about to yell Charge!-Now what?
We've all been there. Many fantasy novels end with a climactic battle scene, yet few authors have a solid understanding of how battles are planned, staged, fought, and won. The answers are locked within dense history books-but never fear: I read them so you don't have to.
This short, accessible book not only gives you a crash course on basic military strategy and tactics across history-it also contains invaluable tips on how to adapt real-world battle tactics into a thrilling scene for your fantasy novel. Along the way you'll learn:
- How socio-economic forces affect the ways that battles are fought.
- The importance of factors such as surprise, terrain, fog of war, and more.
- Different categories of fighters.
- How your world-building and magic system may affect your battle.
- The typical phases a battle may go through.
- Where to find more advanced resources.
This book contains countless examples from real and fictional battles, collected during the ten years I've spent reading up on medieval and modern military history-and put into terms which anyone can understand.
Read How to Write a Fantasy Battle, and tackle that battle scene with confidence!
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