Breaking off from the original thread which was so neatly derailed, this is a discussion on the use of the Principles of War for writing military-themed science fiction and fantasy.
The particular Principles under discussion are those employed by the modern United States military. Why? Because those are the ones I learned first, and I'm starting the thread.
Links:
Principles of War
United States Principles of War
In brief, as a reminder to everyone what the original discussion was about, here are the principles as quoted from Wikipedia citing the US Army Field Manual:
Objective - Direct every military operation toward a clearly defined, decisive, and attainable objective.
Offensive - Seize, retain, and exploit the initiative.
Mass - Mass the effects of overwhelming combat power at the decisive place and time.
Economy of Force - Employ all combat power available in the most effective way possible; allocate minimum essential combat power to secondary efforts.
Maneuver - Place the enemy in a position of disadvantage through the flexible application of combat power.
Unity of Command - For every objective, seek unity of command and unity of effort.
Security - Never permit the enemy to acquire an unexpected advantage.
Surprise - Strike the enemy at a time or place or in a manner for which he is unprepared.
Simplicity - Prepare clear, uncomplicated plans and concise orders to ensure thorough understanding.
Every operation from taking a hill to invading a country to blockading a port can be analyzed using these principles. This is not to say that every principle is vital to every operation. In a purely defensive action, for instance, Offensive isn't high on the priority, but a wise commander would allow for the possibility to exploit an enemy's weakness and turn a defensive action into an offensive one. That's a bit of an aside. Apologies.
Now, how do you use this stuff in your writing? That's the rub, and the valid criticism is here:
Dclary's statement is a perfect example of scope. In Squad Leader you take on the role of a force commander (lieutenant, usually). Now, I know it's a game and not a book, but in our writing, don't we do much the same? Some books are written about generals others about privates. A general needs to know how to effectively employ his tanks and aircraft, and a private doesn't. So if my story is about a private surviving in the trenches, sure, the private doesn't need to know what the general would do. But as the writer, I should have some notion of what's available for me to use as I build my scenes. In that regard, you should look on force composition and employment as tools in the worldbuilding toolbox for composing scenes and adding character conflict.
Now, for our example of using the Principles in worldbuilding for a scifi/fantasy novel with a distinctly military flavor, let's use purely classic elements for The Invading Legions of Darkness. This is the prophesied apocalypse wherein the Evil races conquer the Good races. Our Strategic Objective (as determined by the Dark God as the ultimate political authority) is to invade the Great and Bountiful Empire and occupy its lands.
Objective - Seize the Shining Capital thereby shattering the enemy's command structure.
Very straightforward. The enemy's opposing force will be the Imperial Legions. They're tough, disciplined, and mildly fanatical (especially in a religious conflict as this surely is). Getting them out of the way would be beneficial, so a distraction is called for. In this case the objective defines a secondary objective.
Offensive - A lightning thrust to the heart of the Empire.
Resistance throughout the Empire will utterly collapse with the seizure of the Imperial City. To that end, the Imperial City is the only important goal. Supply lines will not be possible, and secondary objectives will be kept to a minimum. This is a high-risk offensive, but will end the conflict decisively and rapidly. The risk is considered worth the reward.
Mass - In this case, we're bringing everyone. Every One. This particular strategy leaves no room for error.
The Hinterlands, while a harsh and unforgiving territory where the Evil races were banished so long ago, has bred entire generations of tough, resolute people willing to give their lives in service to the Dark God. So, giants, goblins, orcs, dark elves, centaurs, and barbarians. Each troop type adds another tool to the box.
Economy of Force - Keep secondary objectives to a minimum, but be generous for the initial Feint.
We're bringing every last possible fighting creature, so Economy is kind of going by the wayside for the primary force. The Legions may end up being pushovers, or they may exceed their reputations. Hard to say. Individual fighting actions and secondary objectives will absolutely require that only the necessary forces are expended to accomplish those so that every available fighting arm is saved for the siege of the Imperial City. For the story, this could be a blind spot for the invading commanders, and a definite advantage for the Good Guys.
Maneuver - Keep the Legions off-balance through wide-ranging raids of important enemy positions.
The Legions tend to rely on foot infantry. We've got a lot of centaurs and barbarian cavalry at our command. We'll menace enemy cities, burn vulnerable townships, and sack relatively undefended monasteries. The cumulative effect will be to have the regional rulers hoarding their dedicated defenders and keeping them from massing for a counterattack on the primary invading force.
Unity of Command - The Dark Lord is in charge.
Straightforward, but not as simple as first glance may make it. The dark elves, centaurs, and barbarians all have their own sub-commanders dealing with the battlefield strengths they excel at. The orcs, goblins, and giants have their own leaders, but they're stupid, belligerent, greedy, and relatively undisciplined. Fortunately, unlike the 'good guys' our commander can enforce a very heavy-handed manner of discipline through simple execution.
Security - Scout. Scout. Scout. And Scout some more!
Keeping the general location of the invading horde a secret is going to be next to impossible. Keeping the specific location a secret should be a known goal. The absolute last thing they need is the opposing Legions massing up on terrain of their choosing, or attacking the (very) long column unannounced. To that end, the very troops that participate in raids and sackings should report in every last shred of intelligence they find. Additionally, let the Dark Elves fight their shadow wars with the Light Elves, and support the Dark Elves everywhere they require it.
Surprise - Let no knowledge of the impending invasion escape the Hinterlands before the horde actually gets underway.
The first sign of attacks from the Hinterlands should be the Feinting force making their noise a few hundred leagues away from the planned invasion route. Beyond that, strategic surprise is going to be nearly impossible to maintain. We're relying on our offensive initiative and overwhelming mass to see us through.
Simplicity - Invade the enemy city.
Everyone in the force from the top down knows the ultimate goal. An isolated element, like a raiding party that gets cut off, knows what's up. In that way, they can head that direction themselves. Additionally, each element knows its own role, raiding, scouting, main force, etc... When in doubt, look to the simplest immediate goal.
So that's our scenario. From this we can build many many possible stories. The Dark Lord's contention with his suboordinates. A raiding party cut off from the main force. A goblin in love with a dark elf. The little giant that could. At this point we narrow (or broaden) the scope. The military action sets the stage, and we have a somewhat solid idea of what the backdrop is.
Now, are these terms (Mass, Economy of Force, etc) going to be bandied about? In Fantasy writing, I'd tend to think not. This is rather distilled thinking, and, yes, on a very macro level. But, as you can see, working it all out gives us a few potential sources of conflict for the entire operation. Economy is a problem. They're not establishing a supply line in the hopes of destroying the empire inside of a month rather than in several years worth of campaigning. A breakdown of security could lead to a stall in the column and a halt to the entire offensive. Potentially disastrous, but can the Dark Lord's strategic prowess pull them out? So on, etc...
Now, working things out this way is clearly not the only way to do this. Many authors write quite successful scifi/fantasy without going into all of this detail. My assertion is that in works that have a solid basis in military actions, considering these principles will greatly assist in that writing. So, my question would be, what do other folks use to aid their worldbuilding in military scifi/fantasy?
The particular Principles under discussion are those employed by the modern United States military. Why? Because those are the ones I learned first, and I'm starting the thread.
Links:
Principles of War
United States Principles of War
In brief, as a reminder to everyone what the original discussion was about, here are the principles as quoted from Wikipedia citing the US Army Field Manual:
Objective - Direct every military operation toward a clearly defined, decisive, and attainable objective.
Offensive - Seize, retain, and exploit the initiative.
Mass - Mass the effects of overwhelming combat power at the decisive place and time.
Economy of Force - Employ all combat power available in the most effective way possible; allocate minimum essential combat power to secondary efforts.
Maneuver - Place the enemy in a position of disadvantage through the flexible application of combat power.
Unity of Command - For every objective, seek unity of command and unity of effort.
Security - Never permit the enemy to acquire an unexpected advantage.
Surprise - Strike the enemy at a time or place or in a manner for which he is unprepared.
Simplicity - Prepare clear, uncomplicated plans and concise orders to ensure thorough understanding.
Every operation from taking a hill to invading a country to blockading a port can be analyzed using these principles. This is not to say that every principle is vital to every operation. In a purely defensive action, for instance, Offensive isn't high on the priority, but a wise commander would allow for the possibility to exploit an enemy's weakness and turn a defensive action into an offensive one. That's a bit of an aside. Apologies.
Now, how do you use this stuff in your writing? That's the rub, and the valid criticism is here:
Dclary's statement is a perfect example of scope. In Squad Leader you take on the role of a force commander (lieutenant, usually). Now, I know it's a game and not a book, but in our writing, don't we do much the same? Some books are written about generals others about privates. A general needs to know how to effectively employ his tanks and aircraft, and a private doesn't. So if my story is about a private surviving in the trenches, sure, the private doesn't need to know what the general would do. But as the writer, I should have some notion of what's available for me to use as I build my scenes. In that regard, you should look on force composition and employment as tools in the worldbuilding toolbox for composing scenes and adding character conflict.
Now, for our example of using the Principles in worldbuilding for a scifi/fantasy novel with a distinctly military flavor, let's use purely classic elements for The Invading Legions of Darkness. This is the prophesied apocalypse wherein the Evil races conquer the Good races. Our Strategic Objective (as determined by the Dark God as the ultimate political authority) is to invade the Great and Bountiful Empire and occupy its lands.
Objective - Seize the Shining Capital thereby shattering the enemy's command structure.
Very straightforward. The enemy's opposing force will be the Imperial Legions. They're tough, disciplined, and mildly fanatical (especially in a religious conflict as this surely is). Getting them out of the way would be beneficial, so a distraction is called for. In this case the objective defines a secondary objective.
Offensive - A lightning thrust to the heart of the Empire.
Resistance throughout the Empire will utterly collapse with the seizure of the Imperial City. To that end, the Imperial City is the only important goal. Supply lines will not be possible, and secondary objectives will be kept to a minimum. This is a high-risk offensive, but will end the conflict decisively and rapidly. The risk is considered worth the reward.
Mass - In this case, we're bringing everyone. Every One. This particular strategy leaves no room for error.
The Hinterlands, while a harsh and unforgiving territory where the Evil races were banished so long ago, has bred entire generations of tough, resolute people willing to give their lives in service to the Dark God. So, giants, goblins, orcs, dark elves, centaurs, and barbarians. Each troop type adds another tool to the box.
Economy of Force - Keep secondary objectives to a minimum, but be generous for the initial Feint.
We're bringing every last possible fighting creature, so Economy is kind of going by the wayside for the primary force. The Legions may end up being pushovers, or they may exceed their reputations. Hard to say. Individual fighting actions and secondary objectives will absolutely require that only the necessary forces are expended to accomplish those so that every available fighting arm is saved for the siege of the Imperial City. For the story, this could be a blind spot for the invading commanders, and a definite advantage for the Good Guys.
Maneuver - Keep the Legions off-balance through wide-ranging raids of important enemy positions.
The Legions tend to rely on foot infantry. We've got a lot of centaurs and barbarian cavalry at our command. We'll menace enemy cities, burn vulnerable townships, and sack relatively undefended monasteries. The cumulative effect will be to have the regional rulers hoarding their dedicated defenders and keeping them from massing for a counterattack on the primary invading force.
Unity of Command - The Dark Lord is in charge.
Straightforward, but not as simple as first glance may make it. The dark elves, centaurs, and barbarians all have their own sub-commanders dealing with the battlefield strengths they excel at. The orcs, goblins, and giants have their own leaders, but they're stupid, belligerent, greedy, and relatively undisciplined. Fortunately, unlike the 'good guys' our commander can enforce a very heavy-handed manner of discipline through simple execution.
Security - Scout. Scout. Scout. And Scout some more!
Keeping the general location of the invading horde a secret is going to be next to impossible. Keeping the specific location a secret should be a known goal. The absolute last thing they need is the opposing Legions massing up on terrain of their choosing, or attacking the (very) long column unannounced. To that end, the very troops that participate in raids and sackings should report in every last shred of intelligence they find. Additionally, let the Dark Elves fight their shadow wars with the Light Elves, and support the Dark Elves everywhere they require it.
Surprise - Let no knowledge of the impending invasion escape the Hinterlands before the horde actually gets underway.
The first sign of attacks from the Hinterlands should be the Feinting force making their noise a few hundred leagues away from the planned invasion route. Beyond that, strategic surprise is going to be nearly impossible to maintain. We're relying on our offensive initiative and overwhelming mass to see us through.
Simplicity - Invade the enemy city.
Everyone in the force from the top down knows the ultimate goal. An isolated element, like a raiding party that gets cut off, knows what's up. In that way, they can head that direction themselves. Additionally, each element knows its own role, raiding, scouting, main force, etc... When in doubt, look to the simplest immediate goal.
So that's our scenario. From this we can build many many possible stories. The Dark Lord's contention with his suboordinates. A raiding party cut off from the main force. A goblin in love with a dark elf. The little giant that could. At this point we narrow (or broaden) the scope. The military action sets the stage, and we have a somewhat solid idea of what the backdrop is.
Now, are these terms (Mass, Economy of Force, etc) going to be bandied about? In Fantasy writing, I'd tend to think not. This is rather distilled thinking, and, yes, on a very macro level. But, as you can see, working it all out gives us a few potential sources of conflict for the entire operation. Economy is a problem. They're not establishing a supply line in the hopes of destroying the empire inside of a month rather than in several years worth of campaigning. A breakdown of security could lead to a stall in the column and a halt to the entire offensive. Potentially disastrous, but can the Dark Lord's strategic prowess pull them out? So on, etc...
Now, working things out this way is clearly not the only way to do this. Many authors write quite successful scifi/fantasy without going into all of this detail. My assertion is that in works that have a solid basis in military actions, considering these principles will greatly assist in that writing. So, my question would be, what do other folks use to aid their worldbuilding in military scifi/fantasy?
