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Incoming Dragon!
Jan. 7th, 2018 06:26 pmThe absolute charnel house of WWI was caused by generals on both sides not understanding that the tools of war had changed. bolt-action rifles, machine-guns, indirect fire artillery and poison gas were direct changes to the battlefield. Reconnaissance aircraft, telephone wires, and radio changed how we were able to see the battlefield.
But the generals, solid students of an age of march and countermarch, and lines of infantry blasting away under a hole was made for the cavalry to charge through, kept trying to apply those 19th-century tactics to a 20th-century war. The result was carnage and a strong lesson learned. Even by 1918 massed charges over the top had given way to fire and maneuver by smaller teams in support of one another. 24-hour artillery barrages that did nothing but allow the enemy to shift reinforcements were abandoned in favor of shorter preparation fires that allowed attacking units to move into position.
By the dawn of WWII, these experimental tactics had become sound doctrine, and even then, we weren't ready. But there are many books on that subject, and it's not what I was thinking about. Instead, I'm thinking about war in most D&D-ish fantasy settings. The places were extremely powerful magic is uncommon but available, and lower-power magics, both arcane and divine, are pretty common.
The common assumption is to just paint a fantasy skin on how medieval wars were fought. Masses of levied troops, companies of noble knights, with dwarf axemen or elvish archers. The problem here is this setting has its own machineguns and artillery. "Fireball" would rip huge holes in that formation, while your clerics call down plagues of locusts and pillars of flame. Your nice, clean battle line is a smoldering ruin.
Now, of course, you'd be doing the exact same thing to your foe. Which suggests the need for counter-magics. Mages and clerics employed solely in blocking the enemy spells and banishing their conjured creatures. Which leads to an entirely new level of battle as the magic wielders turn their attention to each other. Safety tip: don't stand next to the wizards. They draw fire.
This also implies a new level of fantasy special operations. Murat the Distinctly Off can't aid the enemy if he hasn't got his head! (Or maybe he can. Better steal his head and burn everything else.) Small bands of skilled people can kill wizards, steal their material components, and things on fire. This, by the way, was a campaign idea.
But where is all this magical firepower coming from? If your side has the backing of a major faith or church, clerics will flock to your banner, and most faiths have orders militant to provide skilled troops. Be warned, churches always want something. However, if you just want to throw gold at the problem and make it go away, I can absolutely see the rise of Condottieri leading forces of mixed magical and practical soldiers. Many would be veterans of fighting off orc migrations or defending towns from wandering dragons.
These companies, ranging from a few dozen hardened veterans to near-armies of a thousand or more, will help you assemble and train your forces, plan and lead your campaign (while making sure you look just smashing on your charger) and arrange for all the arcane support you could ask for. You'll have an empty treasury, and many Venture-Captains are loathe to actually join battle since battles cost money, but you'll have the best army money can buy. This, by the way, was another campaign idea.
But back to that army in the field. What does it look like if it's not nicely lined up waiting for the chain lightning bolts to arrive? Well, much like forces today, operational command much lower down the chain and subunits moving and covering each other while maintaining a dispersal wide enough to keep communication flowing while making the line a less-appealing target. Your average foot-slogger will be wearing studded leather armor and carrying a shield. At range, he uses a shortbow or a crossbow and has a stout spear and shortsword or dagger for melee.
He fights in a company of around forty, led by a knight. Unless the knight is a fool who gets himself killed, then one of the 3-4 Veterans takes over. The company leaders know their base mission and are alert for runners, horn calls, and flags signaling changes. In essence, the mission is usually some variant of "close with and kill the enemy." That's good enough for them. It was good enough for me when I was a soldier.
Tomorrow: sieges, and why city walls still matter.
But the generals, solid students of an age of march and countermarch, and lines of infantry blasting away under a hole was made for the cavalry to charge through, kept trying to apply those 19th-century tactics to a 20th-century war. The result was carnage and a strong lesson learned. Even by 1918 massed charges over the top had given way to fire and maneuver by smaller teams in support of one another. 24-hour artillery barrages that did nothing but allow the enemy to shift reinforcements were abandoned in favor of shorter preparation fires that allowed attacking units to move into position.
By the dawn of WWII, these experimental tactics had become sound doctrine, and even then, we weren't ready. But there are many books on that subject, and it's not what I was thinking about. Instead, I'm thinking about war in most D&D-ish fantasy settings. The places were extremely powerful magic is uncommon but available, and lower-power magics, both arcane and divine, are pretty common.
The common assumption is to just paint a fantasy skin on how medieval wars were fought. Masses of levied troops, companies of noble knights, with dwarf axemen or elvish archers. The problem here is this setting has its own machineguns and artillery. "Fireball" would rip huge holes in that formation, while your clerics call down plagues of locusts and pillars of flame. Your nice, clean battle line is a smoldering ruin.
Now, of course, you'd be doing the exact same thing to your foe. Which suggests the need for counter-magics. Mages and clerics employed solely in blocking the enemy spells and banishing their conjured creatures. Which leads to an entirely new level of battle as the magic wielders turn their attention to each other. Safety tip: don't stand next to the wizards. They draw fire.
This also implies a new level of fantasy special operations. Murat the Distinctly Off can't aid the enemy if he hasn't got his head! (Or maybe he can. Better steal his head and burn everything else.) Small bands of skilled people can kill wizards, steal their material components, and things on fire. This, by the way, was a campaign idea.
But where is all this magical firepower coming from? If your side has the backing of a major faith or church, clerics will flock to your banner, and most faiths have orders militant to provide skilled troops. Be warned, churches always want something. However, if you just want to throw gold at the problem and make it go away, I can absolutely see the rise of Condottieri leading forces of mixed magical and practical soldiers. Many would be veterans of fighting off orc migrations or defending towns from wandering dragons.
These companies, ranging from a few dozen hardened veterans to near-armies of a thousand or more, will help you assemble and train your forces, plan and lead your campaign (while making sure you look just smashing on your charger) and arrange for all the arcane support you could ask for. You'll have an empty treasury, and many Venture-Captains are loathe to actually join battle since battles cost money, but you'll have the best army money can buy. This, by the way, was another campaign idea.
But back to that army in the field. What does it look like if it's not nicely lined up waiting for the chain lightning bolts to arrive? Well, much like forces today, operational command much lower down the chain and subunits moving and covering each other while maintaining a dispersal wide enough to keep communication flowing while making the line a less-appealing target. Your average foot-slogger will be wearing studded leather armor and carrying a shield. At range, he uses a shortbow or a crossbow and has a stout spear and shortsword or dagger for melee.
He fights in a company of around forty, led by a knight. Unless the knight is a fool who gets himself killed, then one of the 3-4 Veterans takes over. The company leaders know their base mission and are alert for runners, horn calls, and flags signaling changes. In essence, the mission is usually some variant of "close with and kill the enemy." That's good enough for them. It was good enough for me when I was a soldier.
Tomorrow: sieges, and why city walls still matter.
