Tag Archives: Writers

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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SO, YOU WANT TO BLOG

When I started my blog, I thought long about what to feature. There are many blogs covering a host of posts on just about any subject. I decided to make mine an informational blog for authors. I've gotten several comments from readers stating they  like the content of the various posts; and, I thank you! After reading my blog, I'd appreciate your comments

Courtesy of AboutDo
Courtesy of AboutDo

Today, my blog comes from a summary of material by Giselle Aguiar (AZSocialMediaWiz.com). Disclaimer: I am one of Giselle's clients, but these are general tips for any post.

So, you want to blog! Giselle suggests not copying in Word material. It might be okay with straight sentences, but in some uses and platforms, the Word formatting is also transferred. You might not want that. Test it out and see if you get the desired results; if not, retype it into your platform.

 

Some Tips: 

Write Quality Content - Don't Plagiarize - See my earlier post on Copyright Law

I -0 Copyright symbolGive Solutions to your readers' problems.

Keep it simple; don't use fancy words

Remember your audience

Preview your posts, and by all means, read it several times for mistakes. I found two in this post.

Godo lcuk and hapy bloggering! Remember to check your post for mistakes!

 

 

 

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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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Warfare for Writers - 5

NOTE: As those who follow my blog know, I don't use it to self promote my novels. Nonetheless, like all authors, a little help is needed. If you enjoy my blog and find it useful, please follow and like me on the social media platforms you use. I'm on Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, GoodReads and Linkedin. Thanks for the help, Dameon

Warfare for Writers - 5 is another in the series graciously permitted by Timons Esaias for distribution by me from his lectures.military cloumn

What is a "line" ? 

In army terms, a line is a formation in which each soldier, or artillery piece, or horse or chariot is facing forward, and the other members of the unit are side-by-side. If a second line of soldiers/horses/guns is behind the first, this is called a double line or a two-man line. There can be triple lines, and so forth, but the nature of a line is that it is wider than it is deep. In the old days, when most military vessels were oared (galleys) and their major ship-to-ship weapon was the ram, a naval line was the same as an army line, vessels shoulder-to-shoulder, facing forward. We now call this formation line abreast. With the invention of the cannon, however, the business end of the ship was actually its sides, so the "battle line" got turned 90°, and ships moved nose to tail. So now a line on land is the opposite of a line at sea.

What is a "column" ??

The column is the "opposite" formation from a line, and can be created simply by having everyone in a line formation turn 90° to the right or left, in place. In the part-wrestling-match that is close combat, this formation is used to break through the enemy, or at least push them around, by piling up against them. If people in the front are killed, they can be replaced by folks immediately behind, without stopping to reorganize.  A column is generally deeper than it is wide, though starting in a solid square was quite common. The column also applies more "peer pressure" on the troops in it to stay in formation. (It takes more discipline to stand steady in a line than it does in a column, because there are fewer folks behind you to make you stay.) Each line in a column or in a multiple-line formation is called a rank, and the rows of guys from front to back are called files. Since these formations are made up of the most common soldiers, this is where our expression "rank-and-file" (meaning the grunts who do the real work) comes from.

Which flank is which?

The "right" and "left" of a unit is judged as you would a person, as they face forward. When arrayed for battle one generally faces the enemy. Your right will be to your right, and opposite your right will be the enemy left.

Enemy Right              Enemy Center                        Enemy Left

Your Left                    Your Center                             Your Right

 

 

 

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Cover Artists Series - 1

Cover Artists Series - 1

I've often seen posts on various social media asking for advice on getting a book cover done. I will showcase artists who will produce a cover for up to $700.00, as this artist will do. Some artist charge less. The main purpose of these posts is to show artists' work in different price ranges so the writer might make an informed decision on what is available to them within their budget.

The first artist is Trevor Smith. (Trevorsmithart.com)  He is an award winning artist, highly educated in art and who not only does book covers using 100% digital techniques, but is also a Fine Artist specializing in nature and landscapes, although those pieces cost much more.

Trevor did not do my covers.

As always, it's my desire that this series will provide value to my fellow authors. Dameon

Trevor Smith
Trevor Smith
Trevor Smith
Trevor Smith
Trevor Smith
Trevor Smith

 

These tend to be on the dark side of books. Of course, Trevor can be light and airy depending on what is needed.

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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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