War Fantasy

Military Organization of Gondor (Expanded)

The True Weight of Medieval Weapons – Fact and Fiction

Right now, Mecha Break is my favorite multiplayer game. And it is definitely the favorite shooter game I had ever played. Background Story of Mecha Break is simple: infectious crystal – Corite – is taking over the planet, and surviving humans are engaged in a massive struggle for resources. Gameplay Mecha Break’s gameplay is fast-paced, with a lot of factors to consider, yet it is not too…

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…

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…

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…

How Easy Is It To Use Siege Weapons in Fiction?

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…

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

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.…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…