Tag Archives: Fantasy

Warfare for Writers - Officers

Warfare for Writers - Officers covers commissioned and non-commissioned officers, different from the days when one could buy a rank. From a Timons Esaias lecture.

Non-commissioned officers - sergeants and corporals and rarely sergeant-majors - are the foreman of the military.

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Commissioned officers lead companies, or their equivalent, and up. Officers are the quarterbacks of the team, they tell everybody else what to do and are responsible if they don't get it done. If officers work well together, they combine their strengths. If they squabble, they make their weaknesses prominent. Think plot conflicts!

An overwhelming concern for officers in most armies in history, is seniority. Armies, since ancient Rome, have had strict rules on who gets what job based on seniority down to minutes and seconds. If a higher ranking officer shows up, based on seniority, even in the middle of a battle, he assumes command and he can change the battle orders. If your character is an officer in a civilized military, this needs to be on their mind. If your character is a knight in a feudal military, then he is concerned about honor and precedence becoming more important, more complex, and more vexing.

Confusion for writers - in addition to names and official ranks there are positions and brevets. Positions are the jobs officers do, adding meanings to their rank with titles such as: executive officer, quartermaster, master, commander, first mate, officer of the day, and so on. Brevets or field commissions are acting ranks usually awarded doing wartime, giving the power of the rank without postwar privileges and pensions.

The one absolute SIN of an officer in the field, if he commands a unit, is not to reconnoiter his position. (Which is, to find out where other units are, and the nature of the surrounding terrain.) This sin is all too common and is utterly inexcusable!

If you find this post useful, please share and add to your social media platform(s). Thanks, Dameon

 

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Cover Artist 5

Brian C. Hailes is my Cover Artist 5. He has worked as a professional illustrator, designer, author and commission artist for fifteen years, and has received numerous awards for his art from across the country, including Winner of the L. Ron Hubbard Illustrators of the Future contest out of Hollywood. He has written and illustrated two graphic novels, entitled Dragon's Gait and Devil's Triangle. Other titles he has illustrated include Passion & Spirit: The Dance Quote Book, Continuum (Arcana Studios), as well as McKenna, McKenna, Ready to Fly, and the 2015 Girl of the Year ebook, Grace & Sylvie (American Girl). His work can be seen at www.HailesArt.com

Blink by BC Hailes_screen Continuum A_Hailes Devil's Triangle OGN_cover_web Heroic_front cover

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Warfare for Writers - Fortifications

Warfare for Writers - Fortifications -- another in the series by Iimons Easisa' lectures with his permission.

There are nine things that tend to be missing when you visit fortifications:

  • The surface
  • The Glacis -- . . . the glacis prevents attacking cannons from having a clear shot at the walls of a fortress, as one usually cannot even see the walls until the glacis is crossed and the ditch, bounded on either side by the smooth, masoned scarp and counterscarp, is reached. Wikipedia
  • Top structures
  • Firing steps
  • Moats
  • Full gate structures
  • Barbicans -- A barbican is a fortified outpost or gateway, such as an outer defense to a city or castle, or any tower situated over a gate or bridge which was used for defensive purposes. Usually barbicans were situated outside the main line of defences and connected to the city walls with a walled road called the neck. In the 15th century, with the improvement in siege tactics and artillery, barbicans lost their significance. However, several barbicans were built even in the 16th century.Fortified or mock-fortified gatehouses remained a feature of ambitious French and English residences into the 17th century.

    Fortifications in East Asia also featured similar structures. In particular, gates in Chinese city walls were often defended by an additional "archery tower" in front of the main gatehouse, with the two towers connected by walls extending out from the main fortification. Called literally "jar walls", they are often referred to as "barbicans" in English.

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  • Original approach roads
  • Firing slit stoppers --
    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    An arrowslit at Corfe Castle. This shows the inside - where the archer would have stood.

    An arrowslit at Cité de Carcassonne. The wall thickness is reduced to 0.7 m to accommodate the niche and the embrasure widens at an angle of 35º.

    An arrowslit (often also referred to as an arrow loop, loophole or loop hole, and sometimes a balistraria) is a thin vertical aperture in a fortificationthrough which an archer can launch arrows.

    The interior walls behind an arrow loop are often cut away at an oblique angle so that the archer has a wide field of view and field of fire. Arrow slits come in a remarkable variety. A common and recognizable form is the cross. The thin vertical aperture permits the archer large degrees of freedom to vary the elevation and direction of his bowshot but makes it difficult for attackers to harm the archer since there is only a small target to aim at.

    Balistraria can often be found in the curtain walls of medieval battlements beneath the crenellations.

    ...more to come!

 

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Belladonna, and other tasty treats! - Dameon Cox Author Blog

Belladonna,tumblr_inline_mh6ryeDGZh1qi77y6 and other tasty treats!

Poisoning has been around for a long time. Socrates was forced to drink hemlock in the year 399 by his own hand. Of course, in today's world many toxins are around to do one in. I've listed some of the longtime favorites to whet your appetite. Over the years, I've found several incidents where an author used a poison not yet discovered. You can make up your own in fantasy or sci-fi, but I advise checking out your toxins if your setting is real world.

Belladonna is also know as Nightshade. Belladonna, or "pretty woman" in English is a flowering plant that can, over years, grow ten feet tall. The shiny black berries are the most poisonous, but the rest of the plant can kill you, too. It's found in Europe.

Another plant to reach ten feet is Poison Hemlock. It has pretty flowers and fleshy roots. It's not related to the Eastern Hemlock Tree grown in the United States. Paralysis of the lungs is usually the cause of death. The victim can't move, but is aware of what's happening around him until the very end. Not a happy way to go.

Arsenic inhibits the production of necessary enzymes and has been linked to cancer in small amounts. It was used in the middle ages, think the Borgias. The symptoms are similar to cholera.

Strychnine comes from Asia and Australia and wasn't discovered until 1818 by Pierre-Joseph Pelletier and Joseph Caventou.

Curare is slow and horrific. It comes from the Amazon (the forest, not the website). It's used in hunting and tribal warfare. Unless you're Indiana Jones, you probably won't need it.

 

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Way of the Warrior: Conduct

Art Work by Eric Guerrero
Art Work by Eric Guerrero

Interesting fact: The longest bronze-age sword measured out at seventeen inches. Longer swords used on foot left the  warrior open to attack in close quarters.  DC

Way of the Warrior
: Code of Conduct  (Author Unknown)

Way of the Warrior: Content - If these sound like the Boy Scout Rules of Conduct, you wouldn't be far wrong. If the warrior in your novel has no flaws, he or she wouldn't be very interesting. Bring depth to your character by giving the warrior failings to overcome. While the warrior may strive to improve, he or she may not. DC

HONESTY AND JUSTICE

Be acutely honest throughout your dealings with all people. Believe in justice, not from other people, but from yourself. To the true Warrior, there are no shades of gray in the question of honesty and justice. There is only right and wrong.

POLITE COURTESY

A Warrior has no reason to be cruel. They do not need to prove their strength. A Warrior is courteous even to his enemies. Without this outward show of respect, we are nothing more than animals.

HEROIC COURAGE

Rise up above the masses of people who are afraid to act. Hiding like a turtle in a shell is not living at all. A Warrior must have heroic courage. It is absolutely risky, It is dangerous. It is living life completely, fully, and wonderfully. Heroic courage is not blind; it is intelligent and strong.

HONOR

A true Warrior has only one judge of honor, and this is himself. Decisions you make and how these decisions are carried out are a reflection of whom you truly are. You cannot hide from yourself.

COMPASSION

Through intense training the Warrior becomes quick and strong. He is not as other men. He develops a power that must be used for the good of all. He has compassion. He helps his fellow man at every opportunity. If an opportunity does not arise, he goes out of his way to find one.

COMPLETE SINCERITY

When a Warrior has said he will perform an action, it is as good as done. Nothing will stop him from completing what he has said he will do. He does not have to "give his word." He does not have to "promise."

DUTY AND LOYALTY

For the Warrior, having done some "thing" or said some "thing," he knows he owns that "thing." He is responsible for it, and all the consequences that follow. A Warrior is immensely loyal to those in his care; to those he is responsible for, he remains fiercely true.

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Warfare for Writers - Dec. 1, 2014

Bodiam Medieval Castle I attended the World Fantasy Convention 2014 and I was fortunate to attend a presentation by Timons Esaias on Warfare for Writers. He graciously agreed to allow me to use his material for this blog, which covers ancient to modern eras. Timons is a great speaker and he is well known as an expert in the field of Warfare. I can’t thank him enough for his kindness and help. I hope he doesn’t mind my placing a few comments in the material.

Interesting Fact 1: In World War II the German Panzer Divisions were known in books and film as being fast for that type of vehicle. Well, they were. The problem was, the fuel to run them was carried on horse drawn wagons. (I wonder if that is where the phrase, “Hurry up and wait,” came from? DC)

Let’s start with a few definitions and what they mean to writers. You may have heard of some or all of these, but what about your reader? 

skirmishers: It is common to send troops out in "loose order" to cover your flanks and to keep the main body of troops from walking into a trap. This is called "skirmishing out" and the folks who do it are called skirmishers while they are doing it. Basically they spread out so as not to make much of a target, and get away from the main body. If they run into enemy units, they take potshots and see if they can disrupt or drive off the enemy. Often the skirmishers of both sides run into each other, and when they fight it's a, surprise, skirmish. (The French called them tirailleurs, sharpshooters, in the Napoleonic era, and that name is still used.)

light, medium and heavy stuff: You will constantly hear the terms light and heavy used to describe units, warriors, and weapons. Light infantry and heavy infantry, light cavalry and heavy cavalry, light artillery and medium tanks and heavy tanks, and so on. They mean pretty much what you'd think. If it's "light" it weighs less, can take less punishment, can deal out less hurt. On the other hand, "light" often means it's faster, cheaper, and more flexible. Light infantry moves faster, heavy infantry hits harder. Light tanks are cheap and fast, medium tanks are slower but tougher. Heavy artillery packs a bigger punch, but moves like a snail on hashish.

Weapons: The main distinction here is between "individual" weapons, and "crew-served" weapons. Your own sword, shield, spear, shotgun, and laser rifle are personal weapons. Anything that requires two or more people (belt-fed machine gun, trebuchet, 18-lb. culverin) is crew-served.

Garrisons: The soldiers who occupy and defend a fixed location, like a city, town, or fortress, are the garrison of that place.

Reconnaissance: The is the word for the action of trying to find out what the land around your army is like, and where the enemy might be. When you send a unit out to look around, you are making a reconnaissance, or reconnoitering.   The unit is your "reconnaissance force."

Pickets: When one is in camp, it is often wise to put little groups of one or two soldiers in a circle around the camp, who might notice the enemy coming before they get to the camp. These are the guys who say, "Halt, who goes there?" or "Stand and deliver." The little groups are "pickets" and the folks are doing "picket duty." The cavalry equivalent, a guy on horseback, is a vedette.

Engineers: These are the guys responsible for construction projects in the military. They manage building fortifications, bridges, and roads. They may also undermine castle walls.

Pioneers: These folks go ahead of an army, clearing roads and setting up camps.

Reserves: These are the guys on the bench and in the bull-pen. In warfare it is generally wise not to put all your warriors into the line at one time. One keeps a force "in reserve" to use to plug a gap in an emergency, or to throw at the enemy when you've worn them down, or to go around the flank once they are pinned down. A reserve can also cover the retreat of a main army, if things go badly. Reserves are generally to the rear of the front line, for obvious reasons.

Detachments: The bane of all units is the constant need for detachment. You start out with a big army, but then you have to detach 50 guys to cover the bridge behind you. And 200 guys to protect your supply wagons. Another batch to protect the hospital, more to garrison two forts you captured, still more to hold the high ground overlooking your camp. And you've got guys detached to find food, guys detached to bring water, guys detached to guard the supply wagons that are bringing more stuff to your camp. Result, you arrive on the field of battle, look around, and discover that it's just you, your aide, and four other warriors, and two of them have bad head-colds.

There is also attachment which is the adding of units to a unit they don't normally belong to. Your regiment might be given an artillery battery to give it more oomph, so it is "attached" to the regiment and is under the command of the regiment's colonel.

Camp followers: Sometimes this term is used to imply prostitutes, and there's a long history of that, but this is actually not a pejorative term. There's a lot of work involved in keeping an army moving, and it's usually cheaper and more efficient to have civilians do it than to detach soldiers to do laundry, drive wagons, and so forth. "Civilian contractors" is the term we use today, but it's the same old thing. Armies often had an official number of soldiers' wives (British Empire did, and so did the Roman) on the payroll to do such chores; and there would be cooks, officers' servants, clerks, and the list goes on and on. And yes, these folks would physically follow the military camp from place to place, including enemy territory.

 

 

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