Questions tagged [tactics]

For questions about short term actions, often in a military context. Consider also [military].

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Defensive Middle Ages measures against magic-controlled "smart" arrows

Hear hear, with the latest arcane technology, archers on the battlefield are able to shoot "smart arrows". Smart arrows are propelled by a little unit of magiteck, which allows the archer to ...
Liquid's user avatar
  • 3,806
1 vote
5 answers
372 views

Sustaining linear warfare in futuristic combat [closed]

In my sci-fi setting, I’m looking for a way to have linear infantry formations, or something similar, in a world where airplanes and machine-guns also exist. It is made possible by the existence of ...
PetAmerican's user avatar
5 votes
3 answers
346 views

How to non-lethally capture a sapient gorilla using only what can be found in an average American kitchen? [closed]

I'm writing this story where a good friend of the main character gets kidnapped by a clan of sapient Gorilla-like creatures. In order to find where they are keeping him captive, the MC decides that ...
SmartBulbInc's user avatar
  • 1,503
6 votes
2 answers
1k views

What would make winged centaurs a reasonable fighting force? [closed]

Within my world of Astarious, I have a race known as the Pegtauri, winged centaurs, who for a time were feared raiders on villages near the mountains that separated their plains from the rest of ...
Cyrania De Bergerac 's user avatar
3 votes
10 answers
1k views

How to defeat Mesoamerican military without gunpowder? [closed]

Question : What weapons, armors and tactics required to defeat mesoamerican armies without gunpowder? Assume that your army is made of native Texans unified under one leader. Clarification: Native ...
Khaos321999's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
186 views

Realistically, how much redundancy needs to be added to crucial industries?

One thing I love to play with in worldbuilding is the dialectic of centralisation-decentralisation. Decentralisation has many advantages: when something (e.g. food) is produced decentrally, ...
wokopa's user avatar
  • 4,657
4 votes
4 answers
334 views

Could the source of nightly attacks from underground on a bronze age society stay undetected for an extended period of time [closed]

In a short story I am writing, a human kingdom on the technological level of late bronze age greece, has begun to be raided by a species of cruel catfolk called grimalkin. The humans are neither aware ...
Amianas's user avatar
  • 839
-3 votes
2 answers
170 views

How Nazi Germany should use it's new Nukes to quickly and efficiently conquer the entire world [closed]

The premise is thus; A neo-nazi time traveler with a ton of money to throw around who's also done a ton of research into the manufacturing, mechanisms, and uses of nukes, brings a few construction ...
Brinstar77's user avatar
  • 1,487
15 votes
7 answers
3k views

What kind of tactical situation/s would be best approached with trained jetpack pilots?

I'm writing a story where there's a civil war fought by people with weapons and technology based on 50s experimentals, kind of like a subtle "What-if" aesthetic. How can I manipulate what ...
Yun Kirk Ackerman's user avatar
3 votes
5 answers
424 views

What good are undead cavalry as part of a modern army (fighting mostly orcs and goblins)? [closed]

Basically, the question is, what alterations would the necromancer/biomancer make to his horses to make them viable again? The horses can be trained and are sentient. The necromancer can repair them ...
OsiriumWrites's user avatar
6 votes
4 answers
2k views

How might Elves in this setting survive?

I'm working on a short story. In in this story there are elves. I'm hoping to realistically write how they would fight both one another and other races. NOTE: The elves didn't naturally evolve, they ...
Atriol's user avatar
  • 353
3 votes
2 answers
170 views

Can brittle but harder swords be preferred in period context or against unarmored opponents?

So its already been repeatedly established that any harder material will inevitably be more brittle than steel and more likely to break on impact in comparison to steel. However, what if the primary ...
Fantasy Science's user avatar
7 votes
10 answers
3k views

How much of a tactical advantage does a single conspicuously dressed soldier give?

Why have one soldier dressed differently from the rest, ideally in a primary colour? Try looking at the picture bellow. This is the famous "black dot on a white page". As you can see, it is ...
LiveInAmbeR's user avatar
  • 10.5k
13 votes
14 answers
5k views

How to make a weapon that never friendly fires?

On some computer games it is common to have a setting that disables friendly fire, it does not prevent shooting but it the bullets don't harm friend players. In real life would it be possible to make ...
André Dias's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
132 views

How can these people fight these monsters? [closed]

On an alternate earth, lethal Pliosaurs size creatures infest the ocean, making sea travel impossible. Their cousin species tries to invade the surface every five years. The advantages of this ...
Eddy96's user avatar
  • 169
6 votes
6 answers
888 views

How could an ancient army go about defeating a giant army of monsters? [closed]

I've been trying to study military victories against the odds but a lot of the stuff doesn't apply it seems. The armies in those battles are usually not outnumbered as severely and when they are, they'...
I'mAnOkayPerson's user avatar
-2 votes
4 answers
166 views

How would an infantry army deal with infantry with shields? [closed]

Scenario: In a future conflict, one of the BRICS nation's infantry have effectively fielded personal shields, with medium long-term mobility. The logistics of the shield is such a way that every ...
Lawrence's user avatar
31 votes
20 answers
9k views

What would be the most effective role to place 150-300 modern soldiers in during the Civil War? [closed]

So, let’s say 300-ish modern American Soldiers/Marines are sent back to the civil war. They lack any heavy weaponry, but overall this is what their armament consists of: 250 of them have basic M4 ...
DT Cooper's user avatar
  • 11.3k
7 votes
4 answers
2k views

How effective would a scythe be in a one-on-one, sword-versus-scythe fight?

In one-on-one combat, with one combatant using a sword, the other the aforementioned false Death, how effective would a scythe be in combat? What tactics could be utilized with it, and what tactics ...
Bill's user avatar
  • 99
2 votes
5 answers
564 views

Plausibility of tank-borne infantry in a world with very short sight ranges and rare, awful radios

This question takes place in the same setting as that of this post (tl;dr: the world is bathed in thick magic fog, the naked eye can't see past a hundred meters, an M4's effective range is 50 meters, ...
Engineer B-7214's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
293 views

World war-tier weaponry and lackluster electronics in a world with severely compressed effective ranges - how does tactical doctrine change? [closed]

The setting: Every relevant part of the world is bathed in a thick, soupy, magic juice fog (visibility hovers around a hundred meters on most days). Among other effects, it makes firearms extremely ...
Engineer B-7214's user avatar
37 votes
5 answers
3k views

How Would the Square-Cube Law change Medieval/Ancient Warfare Between Tiny Humanoids

My story has a battle between two tiny races of humanoids. Assume that both of these races have developed in relative isolation from one another so they have not had a lot of time to develop ...
Nosajimiki's user avatar
  • 87.8k
5 votes
8 answers
1k views

Advanced Tech beats Combined Arms [closed]

TL;DR: If I am insistent on a nation having a single weapons system spread throughout all of its troops, how much of a technological advantage is necessary to conquer the benefits of the enemy having ...
Cyrus_The_Great_Fanboys_Only's user avatar
20 votes
12 answers
4k views

Battlefield Tactics for eleven pixies carrying a machine gun

So, imagine a traditional fantasy world that has progressed into the modern age. Assume technology similar to that we had in world war 2. With the humans, orcs, elves, dwarves, and the like constantly ...
Globin347's user avatar
  • 5,787
17 votes
15 answers
4k views

What tactical advantages can be gained from frenzied, berserkir units on the battlefield?

Let's picture a medieval world, where a tribe of Viking-like mercenaries live for the thick of the fight, the blood nourishing the ground, and the honour of the gods of war. So they are equipped, ...
Tortliena's user avatar
  • 7,468
7 votes
11 answers
1k views

How would a modern military deal with an organized uprising from a group of werewolves?

I remember hearing in a discussion about modern geopolitics and military strategy how modern terrorist groups for a Western liberal democracy. The technological advantage most modern militaries have ...
user2352714's user avatar
  • 13.9k
0 votes
1 answer
172 views

How these characteristics effect war doctrines? [closed]

I like to put a few humanoid races in my world, each with some boons and/or banes. While it is easy enough to figure out the major implications of a single isolated characteristic, things get more ...
LuizPSR's user avatar
  • 2,180
1 vote
0 answers
116 views

19th Century Warfare With 18 Fantasy Races: Or, 19th Century Combat With Magic and No Guns [closed]

Alright, my races from this question (Rail Transportation with Races Described Below - Specifically, Seating) are going to war. However, combat works differently here. They lack gunpowder weapons ...
The Darke Lorde's user avatar
15 votes
8 answers
4k views

Medieval style tactics vs high-positioned archers

I am working out a situation where an army is invading a heavily wooded land, two large units of regular footmen with sword and shield and supporting archers, against a force almost exclusively of ...
distracteded's user avatar
3 votes
3 answers
439 views

Would dragons with automatic grenade launchers strapped to their backs be useful?

My Dragons: Smaller and cuddlier than their original version (well, most writers copy Smaug to varying degrees). They have long lifespans and human intelligence. They can mimic just about any sound ...
Mephistopheles's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
222 views

How could dragons and gryphons reduce their hitbox?

So, the thing is that this world (let's call it World A) is shared between several sapient races, some smaller (kobolds), some bigger (dragons, gryphons, minotaurs, centaurs) than humans. Storywise, ...
Mephistopheles's user avatar
-2 votes
1 answer
117 views

How would larger quadrupeds dodge gunfire and use cover?

Okay, it's not exactly "dodging", more like running for cover, but you should get the point. There are a handful of creatures in my setting that are quadruped and cover the same size range ...
Mephistopheles's user avatar
4 votes
3 answers
389 views

How would a higher delta in human performance effect medieval warfare?

In this universe the average human's physical ability is the same but the extremes are greater. There is a 5 percent chance that a human is born much stronger/weaker then baseline humanity. This isn't ...
Cubedspartan's user avatar
20 votes
5 answers
5k views

Rhino cavalry charge! How horrible would it be?

There have been questions asking if rhino, hippo and other similar kinds of cavalry are feasible. Now let's for a moment skip that and assume we have some special means, on the end of which, we get ...
Failus Maximus's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
174 views

Tactics people with electricity powers would develop against people with water powers during a death tournament, and vice versa? [closed]

For centuries, on the day the moon would turn a blood red, a portal would open across various worlds. Chosen warriors from these worlds would enter the portal, usually at most five people per world, ...
Eye of Magic's user avatar
5 votes
9 answers
512 views

Tactics people with wind powers would develop against people with fire powers during a death tournament, and vice versa?

For centuries, on the day the moon would turn a blood red, a portal would open across various worlds. Chosen warriors from these worlds would enter the portal, usually at most five people per world, ...
Eye of Magic's user avatar
3 votes
4 answers
245 views

Military strategy in a world of fixed opaque wormholes [closed]

(This is based on the old wargame Starfire... but don't bother providing answers based on newer versions of said game.) Spacecraft travel by inertialess drive -- that is, beyond mere reactionless ...
Tristan Klassen's user avatar
12 votes
4 answers
439 views

Would submarines be well defended from space based lasers? What about railguns?

When a planet is under seige, obviously its airports, missile silos, and launch sites are the first targets of bombardment, to prevent a counterattack. It thus seems that submarines, which can fire ...
qazwsx's user avatar
  • 891
10 votes
2 answers
729 views

Are medieval flamethrower chariots viable?

Historically, the Byzantine Empire used ship-mounted Greek Fire throwers to defend Constantinople. These weapons were pretty advanced and horrifying for the enemy. The existence of these historic ...
TheDyingOfLight's user avatar
14 votes
15 answers
5k views

What types of tactics would humans develop against creatures that are hurt by light in a literal dark post-apocalyptic world?

In a post-apocalyptic world, monster-like creatures have taken over most of the planet, and twenty years later, only a few clusters of humanity still remain with somewhat functioning governments, and ...
TheWatcher's user avatar
16 votes
21 answers
6k views

What is the best way to defeat a enemy of superior numbers but inferior technology?

Our protagonist civilization is based on a large island in the middle of the pacific(think half the size of Australia), has a population of 100 million, has abundant resources and is totally self-...
Sync's user avatar
  • 587
1 vote
1 answer
81 views

How would a military with 18th Century artillery and technology attack an enemy entrenched in a fantastical forest? [closed]

I'm writing a story in which there are large swathes of dense, magically-enhanced forests home to all manner of creatures. There's a town close the edge of one of these forests and it's being ...
Red Robin's user avatar
  • 630
-1 votes
1 answer
147 views

In battle, how many soldiers would an indestructible fighter be worth? [closed]

There is a magical set of armour that protects its wearer from all physical harm. The armour is absolutely indestructible; blades will break against it, battering rams would bounce off it, even ...
Archtea's user avatar
1 vote
4 answers
348 views

So, how do you ground a dragon?

I was tempted to make this question about grounding the dragon in a different way, then the title would have been "How to make an acid-resistant home/prison for a dragon?". Grounding the dragon is a ...
Mephistopheles's user avatar
3 votes
3 answers
347 views

How would gryphons go about defending themselves against humans?

So, let's start turning the tables. Previously, we talked about humans slaying gryphons, now let's talk about gryphons fighting back against humans. Gryphons Gryphons are hexapodal creatures, ...
Mephistopheles's user avatar
8 votes
6 answers
2k views

How to trap and kill a T-Rex-like creature?

The story: in a fantasy iron age world, a T-Rex-like animal (actually more like the size of allosaurus) has emerged from the forest and started killing people. The animal always retreats to the forest ...
M Arif Rahman Winandar's user avatar
9 votes
7 answers
502 views

Best Military Use of Mercenary Giant Ape Men?

In my setting there is a race descended from Gigantopithecus blacki. These creatures retain much of their ancestors physical features, such as: •An impressive height of 2.75 meters (9 feet in freedom ...
user avatar
26 votes
10 answers
4k views

How to utilize dragons that are too small to ride in warfare?

Dragons in my setting are significantly smaller and less physically powerful than most depictions. The large males reach about 100 kilograms and just over two meters tall. This means that they ...
user avatar
4 votes
8 answers
712 views

Is The Use of Mounted Infantry a Viable Tactic for a Nomadic Empire?

By “Nomadic Empire” I am referring to an expansionist power that resembles the empires created by Eurasian Nomads throughout history ranging from the Scythians, Huns, and of course Mongols. Their ...
user avatar
7 votes
10 answers
868 views

Medieval military tactics, given the presence of a single invincible champion in every nation's army

The setting is low fantasy medieval. Magic (and other supernatural things) belong exclusively to the realms of the gods, and are not for mortal beings to wield. However, there is one major exception. ...
Makst's user avatar
  • 955