warfantasy

[warfantasy]

Worldbuilding – Recruiting a Medieval Army

Historical medieval armies were a complex affair. While some fiction may bring the impression that the medieval armies consisted of a handful of pampered knights in their shiny white armor and masses of dirty, despondent peasants in torn rags and armed with broken and rotting agricultural implements, this was really far from the truth. A medieval army was often a very complex affair, and…

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Medieval Fighting Snails

Medieval world was under siege by a swarm of giant snails, and the brave knights were the only thing standing in the monsters’ way. Or at least, that is what medieval manuscripts want you to believe. Margins and initials of medieval manuscripts often hold depictions of knights fighting against snails. And snails could be formidable opponents indeed. They were giant, they were slippery, and some…

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Mongol Invasion of Hungary 1241, Part 2 – Why Did Mongols Withdraw

Mongols had arrived almost out of nowhere, and laid waste to territory from Poland to the Balkans, defeating several armies in the process. Then they equally suddenly left. Mongol invasion of Hungary, and Europe in general, was a defeat. All the areas which the Mongols had invaded from 1236 to 1242 were absorbed into the Mongol empire, with the exception of those in Europe. Mongol withdrawal was…

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How Easy Is It To Use Siege Weapons in Fiction?

How Easy Is It To Use Siege Weapons in Fiction?

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Mongol Invasion of Hungary 1241, Part 1 - The Invasion

Mongols had invaded Hungary and Croatia in 1241 – 1242 period. Contemporaries described the invasion in the apocalyptic terms. While in the long run far less damaging than the later Ottoman wars, effects were much more immediately obvious and pronounced in the short term. Lowland areas, especially in Hungary, were basically depopulated and overall population losses were significant. Hungary was…

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“One Does Not Simply Screen, Guard, and Cover:” The Failure of Security Operations in Fantasy Warfare

“One Does Not Simply Screen, Guard, and Cover:” The Failure of Security Operations in Fantasy Warfare

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Short History of Artillery -Antiquity to 19th Century

Artillery is the king of the battlefield. Even today, with air power, smart ammunition and drones, most of the damage is still being done by the artillery. In July 2024, Ukrainians were firing 2 000 rounds per day while Russians were firing 10 000. From at least the Crimean war until today, most of the damage and casualties was typically caused by the artillery. Yet it wasn’t always this way.…

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Klis Fortress: The Key of Dalmatia

Klis Fortress is known also as a Key of Dalmatia, and for a good reason. It is a large (300 meters by 70 meters) fortress protecting one of few good entrances into Croatian littoral area. Specifically, it protects the Klis canyon which separates the mountains of Mosor and Kozjak, as well as being most immediate path between coastal city of Split and the Dalmatian hintherlands. It is thus…

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Military Potential of Realistic Slaver's Bay

While Westeros is essentially an unrealistic dystopian version of medieval feudalism, Slaver’s Bay is a slaver society run on the stupid mode. And that is most easily seen in the Slaver’s Bay militaries. Even if everything else was realistic, just the military setup of the Astapor, Yunkai and Meereen will have resulted in their collapse. As with my Westeros estimates, first I will discuss the…

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Military Potential of Realistic Westeros

Westeros is not exactly a well-designed and realistic example of fantasy worldbuilding on any level. While far superior in every aspect to trainwreck that is Essos, it still has major issues. But one major issue I have to adress here is demography and military potential. Now, let us be clear: there is a difference between military power and military potential. Medieval feudal societies, for one…

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Historical Armies - Army of King Tomislav

Baptized Croatia musters as many as 60 thousand horse and 100 thousand foot, and galleys up to 80 and cutters up to 100. The galleys carry 40 men each, the cutters 20 each and smaller cutters 10 each. This great power and multitude of men Croatia possessed until the time of Prince Krasimer. But when he was dead and his son Miroslav, after ruling for four years, was made away with by the ban…

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Night's Watch Doesn't Work

Night’s Watch has many problems. And the biggest one is that it shouldn’t exist in the manner it exists in right now. To put it simply, the Night’s Watch is a bastard love child of a monastic military order, border patrol and a prison complex. Yet all of these have significant issues which mean that they cannot be combined. Like a monastic military order, members of the Night’s Watch swear an…

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The True Weight of Medieval Weapons - Fact and Fiction

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The Byzantine Militia

THE BYZANTINE MILITIA

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Women Warriors Are A Bad Idea

While it is popular to think that there are no real biological reasons for why women generally didn’t fight in history, that is not the case. In reality, differences between men and women are quite significant, and are a result of basic biological factors such as genes / chromosomes and sex hormones. Even the same genes may express themselves differently due to impact of sex hormones. Both men…

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Demographic Losses in Croatian-Ottoman Wars

Croatia has fought against the Ottomans for four hundred years, from 1391, when Ottoman raids began penetrating southern reaches of Hungaro-Croatian kingdom, until 1791, when last Austrian-Ottoman war concluded with rather meagre Austrian gains due to threat of Prussian intervention. Most of the warfare however consisted of constant raids and attacks, which targeted the civilian population in…

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Fictional Warships - Garp's Flagship

Garp’s flagship is a modification of a normal Marine battleship. Marine battleships in One Piece are fundamentally based on the 18th century ship of the line. They are built of wood, with relatively short but tall hull with a raised forecastle and poop deck. Much like other Marine battleships, Garp’s flagship is a weird combination of Age of Sail ship with a dreadnought battleship. Ship is…