A Great Warrior at Heart: The Fantasy Strategist

Armadas are a popular sight of the fantasy navy and war. Five galleon-like ships are cruising on a blue ocean with a reddish sky and white clouds above. Each ship features white sails and blue port windows. A fantasy strategist plans out its operations.
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Sunfire

CONTENTS

Overview

When two countries in an imaginary world go to war, they each have a list of objectives to attain in order to proclaim victory. To assist them in achieving their goals, they depend on at least one fantasy strategist, someone who is well-versed in battle tactics and planning. The strategist works with the tools he has available to make it happen.

In order to become a strategist, a prospective candidate must have certain qualities. For instance, he must be brilliant and have an astute understanding of logistics and know which resource to use at the opportune time. He must also be able to execute his plans in a timely manner and maximize gains while minimizing losses.

The beauty of the fantasy strategist is that due to his expertise, he is able to spot things most people miss. He uses this to his advantage to create an excellent course of action that catches his opponents off guard using weak points they had no idea existed. This of of course makes him a dangerous foe to underestimate.

Regarding his role in the world, the strategist’s main purpose is to help the country he’s fighting for win the war. He spends hours poring over all kinds of data that might be mundane to most people but to him, all data points are relevant in the grand scheme of things and help him identify patterns that he can use to his advantage.

This is the nineteenth article in the fantasy character series. For more, check out our ever-growing library of articles, all on our blog page!

Qualities Needed to Become a Fantasy Strategist

When people think of a military strategist in the fantasy genre, one indomitable person stands out: Grand Admiral Thrawn from Star Wars. He possesses all of the requisite qualities and he uses them to devastating effect in the stories he appears in. His military brilliance is one reason why he is one of the best villains in all of fantasy.

For an aspiring fantasy strategist, one critical quality he must have is having a deep knowledge of all military things. This doesn’t just encompass the part of the military he’s in but the institution as a whole. For instance, for someone in the navy, he must be well-versed in the army and airforce since the strategist uses units from different parts of the military to create a battle plan that incorporates elements from all its different branches.

There's 7 question marks, each in a bubble, in red, blue, green, and yellow colors. The background is a purple gradient with the darker on the bottom, lightening as you move up. These question marks represent things to think about when killing off a character in your story.

Logistics is another core component of being a strategist. He must be able to get all the units he needs in position within the timeframe so that he can begin executing his plan. Additionally, he is also responsible for monitoring them in realtime and make adjustments as needed when they encounter unexpected obstacles.

Communication is key when it comes to the fantasy strategist. When briefing the forces under his command, he must succinctly explain the details of the mission in a way that everyone understands. This helps reduce confusion since everyone is clear on what their role in the upcoming mission is as well as its overall goals. The strategist also tells them what they can and cannot do.

The ability to handle pressure well is perhaps one of the most important qualities for a would-be strategist. He holds the lives of his men in his hands and he has to make decisions that affects their lives. Furthermore, he also has to keep an eye on the ever-changing conditions on the battlefield and adjust as needed while keeping a cool and collected composure which can be difficult to do in the midst of a heated battle. 

How the Fantasy Strategist Sees Things Other People Don’t

A crucial element of the strategist is seeing things that people miss or overlook. It could be patterns, objects, weak points, or something else. He then uses them when drawing up battle plans to hit the other side with things they never saw coming. This can shift the fortune of war to the side he’s fighting for.

You might wonder, how is it possible that he sees things that only he sees? While it depends on the person, one common characteristic is that the fantasy strategist goes over all types of data he deems relevant to the mission at hand. It’s not just what weapons he has at his hands or the battle conditions but information such as documents covering business transactions or shipping. He is searching for potential attack vectors to base his plan on.

The average fantasy sailor lives on fantasy navy ships like this brown one with a white sail sailing past a gray shipyard with brown docks. Behind the ship is the green sky with white clouds.

Another characteristic is that he has excellent observational skills. He studies the movement of enemy troops with the enemy commander he’s facing to determine his state of mind. If he believes their movements are based on a commander being overly cautious, he will use that caution against him by devising an aggressive course of action. In other words, he plots his plan based on his opponent’s state of mind in order to defeat him on the battlefield.

A wise fantasy strategist never attacks his enemy from a place he expects him to hit from. Rather, he strikes from an unorthodox place, taking them wholly by surprise. This is due to him observing their movements from afar and discovering weak spots in their movements and exploiting it fully.

Information is key in winning the war. The strategist doesn’t just concentrate solely on military matters, he takes things such as politics and economics into account. He considers how the politics and the economics of his enemies influence their actions and prepare plans that sow confusion and turmoil in their ranks, thereby increasing the odds of victory since he’ll be dealing with an enemy who is bogged down in non-military drama.

The Fantasy Strategist and the World

In the world, the central purpose of the strategist is to help the country he’s fighting for win the war. He is one of the military’s most valuable resources for his knowledge in many subject is unparalleled and he utilizes that knowledge to devastating effect against his opponent in a multitude of ways. He has a goal to accomplish and he will do whatever it takes to achieve success.

The fantasy strategist views war as a puzzle to solve. Using the right combination of military units, their correct placement, attack vectors, and the enemy layout, he is able to compose a winning strategy and execute it in a swift manner. Each battle and skirmish is only one part of the overall puzzle.

Fantasy cities are important in the genre. This image depicts a city with a castle on a hilltop above it. The city has both rectangular- and square-shaped buildings with a wavy roof on each one. The buildings come in four colors: light yellow, brown, light blue, and white. The roofs come in the following colors: dark blue, red, light black, and dark brown. Many of these buildings have windows and some have a visible door. The road itself runs down the middle of the image, swaying to the right and then the left, ending at the doorstep of the castle. The road also meets two others, one that runs to the left, and the other to the right. Behind the city is a grassy field with blades of grass scattered throughout. A river cuts through the field, meandering from the left edge to the right edge of the image. The castle itself is white with gray shadows. It has four red turrets and diamond-shaped windows. The sky above is a bright blue with two white clouds. Some birds are flying on the left side, above the castle, and the right side. It also features a fantasy marketplace.

The strategist spends hours and days glossing over all sorts of information, determining which ones are relevant to the mission at hand and keeping the extraneous ones for later, perceiving that they might be useful at a later time should such an opportunity arise. He lays down the groundwork for both the upcoming mission and those that come later on since planning is a vital ingredient in winning.

He is a powerful asset for the commander due to his ability to craft ingenious ways of taking the enemy by surprise. Whenever he receives an assignment, he is given great leeway to come up with a mission that achieves exactly all the requisite objectives. He watches as the mission he created is carried out in realtime so that he can make on-the-fly changes as they come.

The fantasy strategist appears in all of the branches of the military though he knows that a successful mission doesn’t just rely on the branch he works for. He incorporates elements from the different branches which help unify them and solidify their bonds of friendship. He keeps himself up to date on all of the technological advancements the military makes and takes advantage of them to create winning missions.

Tying it all Together

In summary, the fantasy strategist is one of the military’s most valuable resources. He is tasked with developing and executing missions that advance the military’s goals and interests whether it be an incursion into enemy territory or obtaining vital information that has the chance to dramatically shift the tide of the war into their favor.

Not just anyone can be a strategist. In fact, only a select few have the potential and capabilities to become a strategist. Qualities such as a superb understanding of logistics and communication are essential components and those who don’t possess them ought to look elsewhere.

One common characteristic of the fantasy strategist no matter where he works is that he sees things that other people fail to notice. Their overlooking both obvious and subtle things give him a chance to capitalize on them since they won’t see it coming. Hours and hours of sifting through all kinds of information pay dividends down the road.

As for his role in the world, the strategist’s main purpose is to help the country he’s fighting for win and he has no qualms about using everything he has at his disposal to make it happen. He is a trusted ally for the commander since he knows things a lot of people don’t which makes him quite useful in times of war.

When developing the military in your world, you’d be remiss to not include the strategist. He serves an unique role in the military and he is one of the most knowledgeable people in the world which he uses to help win the war.

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Thanks for reading this and until the next time,

Sunfire

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