Medieval strategising

There are lots of options as mentioned above... one thing you need to consider here are logistics in your world. Are you in a fantasy world or a purely historical one? Which medieval period are you talking about if the latter? There is a wealth of difference between 10th century (or earlier) tactics and 14th century and as you move into the early modern period (what normal people call the Renaissance) these changes get more pronounced.

For example, in earlier periods a king was expected to 'lead from the front' and go into battle with his men (which was how Richard III died) whereas later periods they were expected to stay behind the lines or not even be anywhere near the battlefield.

Communication (how do you pass orders from a leader to the frontline?), supply (how does your army get fed as it moves to where the battle is) and terrain (where are the defensible areas?) are important things to consider and how you manage these changes with changes in technology.

So, establish what technology you have available and work out how your army will use that. Maybe look at some historic accounts of battles to see how they did it (anything from classical Roman accounts and the stories of Homer right up to descriptions of battles during the Wars of the Roses and the Battle of Hastings).

Silence said:

Thank you areteus.
It is for a fantasy world, in a Medieval period, similar to Medieval England.

Click to expand...

Medieval could be anythin from the 6th to the 15th century so that's pretty vague. Your strategy will depend on your tech level - what kind of archery is available? Cavalry?

Most often when people think 'Medieval warfare' they think of heavy cavalry. Is that what you mean? That would probably put you in the 12th century and ahead. In the early Middle Ages, people rode to the battle field but dismounted to fight. Due to the kind of horse furniture available, mounted warriors (when they did fight from horseback) fought with light spears. Lances were a later weapon. Same with bows - range and efficiency of archers will vary over the period. Are you envisioning crossbows? That also impacts strategy.

I suggest picking your tech level and the look indepth at real battles for ideas. Depending on what feel you prefer, the appropriate conflict will vary, but if I dare venture a guess, the Hundred Year War between England and France might be a good fit.

Read some Machiavelli, he was one of the foremost writers on the subject during the period, Dell’Arte della Guerra in particular. You can probably find it on the Gutenberg Project or elsewhere online for free.

To get an idea of what any army faces during the times you speak of, I strongly suggest reading some historicals, or historical fiction.

For historical fiction, you can't get much better than Bernard Cornwell and his Heretic series. Start with The Burning Lands. There is also his Archer series, start with The Archers Tales.

The reason I point these stories out is because while they are fictional, Cornwell does a very good job of portraying all the troubles an army faces, battle plans, and the pecking order of the men from great lords to the lowest man. Both series deal with different time periods so you get a good sense of various forms of battles and combat.

Good luck with this...

I'm just going to add: I'm better at later eras, but generally when you construct a strategy, picking the right place to fight is vital. Can you do like the Duke of Marlborough right before Blenheim and manage to surprise your enemy by turning up where he didn't expect you? That's always a good one. If possible, you want the higher ground as that gives you several advantages (much harder for his archers to shoot upwards, but your archers will have a good reach and if you are going to sweep down in a shock attack, you gain impact). You can also use things like rivers for cutting off parts of his army, and use woods for cover.

Further questions that will impact your strategy: Is he tired? Are your troops tired? What's your strongest side? What's his? Are you heavier than him? Faster? Do you outnumber him or him you? How's morale? Can you break his spirit or is there a risk that your troops break and run?

You basically have 3 sections to play with; centre, left flank and right flank. Where you need the most force depends on who you're fighting and what strategy you think they will employ, as well as the territory. It's also up to you if you want to go all out straight away or keep your best troops for later.

Again, using my knowledge of 17th and 18th century warfare, usually your side is composed by several leaders, usually in charge of their own troops. Quite often one person is the 'head commander' but there will be several commanders below him. Minor lords and kings might secretly think themselves equals or even superiors to the 'head commander' and that can be a source of conflict when they plan the strategy. There will also be a lot of fuss of who gets the best shot at glory and plunder and who takes the biggest risks.

Once the fighting starts, you can never be sure that people won't diverge from the original plan because they think they know better (or fail to adapt to a situation that turns out to be different than expected). Some troops will break and run when they should have stood their ground, and some commanders may press on when they should back down, which that might lead to great sacrifices that weaken your overall battle line. Your soldiers may become heady with triumph and pursue when they shouldn't, which might break your line and give your enemy an advantage... All sorts of things can go wrong, basically. The more of those things you have planned against, the better.

I hope that gave you a few ideas, but overall, I think reading about real battles is probably going to be most useful for you.

Two books that will help: The Art of Warfare in Western Europe (J.F. Verbruggen) & War in the Middle Ages (P. Coutamine). The Oxford Companion to Military History is also useful.

And always remember that anything can happen in a battle.
"War is the realm of uncertainty; three quarters of the factors on which action is based in war are wrapped in a fog.... War is the realm of chance. No other human activity gives it greater scope." (Clausewitz, I,3).

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http://andiriel.blogspot.com

Everyone has such great ideas!! I love talking medieval wars. Yeah, but not so good on dates.

Just stuff to add:

Who is fighting? Peasants or knights? Trained or not trained?

How many are fighting?

What is the weather like (You'd be surprised as to how many wars were lost or won by the weather.) what's the terrain? (again, you'd be surprised as to how many wars lost/won by the terrain.)

What is the religious attitude? Priests told the knights if you die in this battle for God, you go straight to heaven. Sort of like terrorists who believe you die in battle, you go to heaven. So if I tell Sir Pete the enemies of God have attacked God's chosen people and you die in battle, you go to heaven, that takes care of the fear factor and it pushes the battle forward.

And then there's the Celtic fighters. They painted their bodies, wore no armor, were stark naked and high. So you had stoned naked mad men running around a battle field, screaming like a banchee and chopping off heads. A man who wears no armor is either really good or really crazy, not someone you'd want to meet.

Remember, knights were trained military men who had to bring their own armor. Some had money and so they could buy the best out there, and yet others bought what they could, so someone may just have chain mail and leather. Don't forget the horses, at least 4 horses per knight. There was also Chivary with knights which meant some knights would only fight other knights. To fight anyone else was an insult. Some kings used that to their advantage to win a war.

Now in the early medieval times, the soldiers provided their own weapons and if the king was a smart king, he'd provide weapons to the peasants and then have someone teach them those weapons or he'd have his own army, if he was smart.

IF they are peasants, they would probably use axes, poles, stuff like that. Every male in the kingdom from age 10 and up HAD to learn to use the bow and arrow. Anyone can use the long bows, which is why it was manditory. A lot of men also knew how to use the axe, which is a great army weapon b/c almost everyone knew how to use a axe. It was a house hold tool and great in battle.

Now later in the medieval times, most armies were paid mercenaries or knights and their noble troups who fought. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't.

And remember, war wasn't just for men. There were women there who maybe carried water, helped with the wounded, cleaned clothes, fed the men, etc. And some of these women, Whew!! They were meannnnnnn!! i mean meeeaaannnn!!! You didn't mess with these ladies. They'd tear out your intestine and use it to strangle you.

You need to also know all the weapons involved and how they use them. For instance, say everyone posted below were on the same battle lines, then we would all be on 'a line'. It's very important to 'hold the line', this is where they get the saying Hold the Line. I protect Vomaxx, who protects Silence, who protects flicka, etc and we stand so close together that our arms touch and there's not a lot of room to move. So you want to break our line. If say you, the enemy, slip in between Flicka and Silence, you can stab them in the back, but Vomaxx, Richard and myself still have to deal with enemy in front of us while dealing with what's behind us. So Richard and I may stand back to back (which really happened in the day) and fight like that, until one of us drops. He protects me, I protect him. So your goal should be to break that line. If you break that line, you can start hacking at anything that moves and you'll probably win the battle. The more you can break down the enemy's resolve, the faster you can win.

Here's something else to think about. You know when you see all those flags the infantry carries? those basically mean what house the soldiers are under. The most important standard is the king's standard. As long as the standard stands, it means the king's alive. Now you'll have the bravest knights guard that standard, b/c if it falls, that means the king is dead and the troops will run away. So it's best to try to kill the king and destroy that banner, then you can destroy the army.

You need to know where to put the archers, the calvery (Knights), pikesmen, infantry, etc based on the terrain and weather. So you need to understand how each one is used and why and the terrain.

So you need to look at all of these different catagories, including the other posts, in order to create the fight strategy that you need. It's not going to come over night. It's best to take some time off and just study different fight scenes. Check out Youtube for English documentaries on English battles, those are so very cool. They'll tell you alot about battles. Look at the books listed on the previous posts and check out the book, The Chronicle of the Third Crusade by Helen Nicholson. That's my favey. This can help you: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_warfare

Good luck in your new adventures. )