The Horrors Of War VS Scifi

[KSK]

Warhammer 40K is a really bad example to pick anyway given that the entire setting is contrived to fit the needs of a tabletop game. Taking out your opponent with a nuclear airburst might be strategically sound but would make for a rather quick and dull game.

Similarly, for most fiction, a detailed consideration of tactics isn’t really the point. They fall in that awkward middle ground between big picture stuff to clue the reader in to what’s going on and close up scenes involving characters doing their stuff.

Writing about a squad level (or smaller) skirmish is immediate, impactful, and let’s you focus on a handful of main characters. The more you scale up from there, the more you end up with a faceless cast of thousands and too much detail to track, without bogging the story down in lengthy info dumps.

[StrandedonEarth]

6 hours ago, DDE said:

Fiction, really. No era seems to evade that fate. Even caveman warfare.

 

42 minutes ago, KSK said:

Similarly, for most fiction, a detailed consideration of tactics isn’t really the point. They fall in that awkward middle ground between big picture stuff to clue the reader in to what’s going on and close up scenes involving characters doing their stuff.

As an exception to “most fiction”, have you read any of Wilbur Smith’s Ancient Egypt novels? In particular, River God and Warlock? Several large and small ancient battles with seemingly sound or innovative tactics. There are other novels in the series, but I think those two are the best in terms of large-scale bloody battles  

There was a TV-movie-miniseries called The Seventh Scroll based on Smith’s novel of the same name, which also involved Ancient Egypt, but since it was made in the eighties (or early nineties) it couldn’t do the battles justice

[KSK]

7 hours ago, StrandedonEarth said:

As an exception to “most fiction”, have you read any of Wilbur Smith’s Ancient Egypt novels? In particular, River God and Warlock? Several large and small ancient battles with seemingly sound or innovative tactics. There are other novels in the series, but I think those two are the best in terms of large-scale bloody battles  

There was a TV-movie-miniseries called The Seventh Scroll based on Smith’s novel of the same name, which also involved Ancient Egypt, but since it was made in the eighties (or early nineties) it couldn’t do the battles justice

I haven't but I like Ancient Egypt as a setting so I'd be up for giving them a try. Cheers for the recommendation!

[DDE]

11 hours ago, KSK said:

Writing about a squad level (or smaller) skirmish is immediate, impactful, and let’s you focus on a handful of main characters. The more you scale up from there, the more you end up with a faceless cast of thousands and too much detail to track, without bogging the story down in lengthy info dumps.

There is such a genre, but demand for it, as far as I know, is relatively low.

11 hours ago, KSK said:

Warhammer 40K is a really bad example to pick anyway given that the entire setting is contrived to fit the needs of a tabletop game. Taking out your opponent with a nuclear airburst might be strategically sound but would make for a rather quick and dull game.

Depends on the scale of the game. A global wargame doesn't sell miniatures, though.

*ahem* "miniatures"

[StrandedonEarth]

4 hours ago, KSK said:

I haven't but I like Ancient Egypt as a setting so I'd be up for giving them a try. Cheers for the recommendation!

I should probably add the warning that Wilbur Smith's rather graphic depictions tend towards an 'R' rating (NSFK)

[kerbiloid]

21 hours ago, KSK said:

Warhammer 40K is a really bad example to pick anyway given that the entire setting is contrived to fit the needs of a tabletop game.

Depends on the planet where you live.

Maybe it's something like modern Earth where you have no idea about the dreadful war devastating the galaxies with invisible weapon.