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One showstopper in stories that have a heavy focus on the fantasy navy and war revolves around a great battle on the seas. In the last part of these stories, ships are firing cannon-fire upon the opposing fleet, determined to inflict as much damage as they can with the purpose of winning the battle. While the sight of ships duking it out on the ocean is a spectacle worth watching, it is the culmination of decisions made long beforehand.
Naval battles don’t occur in a vacuum, rather they are strategic in nature as both sides have their own objectives they’re striving to attain. Sometimes they are spontaneous and just erupt at a moment’s notice but many more have had a fair degree of planning beforehand. For instance, all combatants have to consider what type of ships to use, how many to send, where and when to strike, and so on.
Want to incorporate the fantasy navy and war into the story you’re creating? There are several elements to keep in mind as you go about it. For example, naval battles are a wholly different beast compared to their land brethren and come with their own set of rules. The navies involved have far fewer options at their disposal than the armies on land do.
What kind of battles do you customarily see on the sea? The grand battle where armadas of ships clashing is always popular but there are other choices you can go with. You can use hit-and-run battles or besieging a port, harbor, or castle though they each serve their own function.
What is it about the fantasy navy and war that draws eyeballs? Is it merely the sight of seeing two great opposing fleets of ships fighting each other or is it because it’s so different than watching two armies clashing on land?
This is the eleventh article in the fantasy military series. For more, take a gander at our blog page where you shouldn’t have any trouble finding an article you’re interested in reading!
When it comes to war, it’s fair to say that the land-based one gets pretty much all the glory. After all, it’s where most of the action takes place. While it deserves its fair share of attention, naval battles deserve to have their moment in the sun, for they offer something different than their land-bound counterpart.
As an equal branch of the military, the navy has its own objectives it consistently endeavors to achieve. However, it does do having access to fewer resources than the army. This is because the ships and all other equipment and buildings it uses are considerably more expensive and require more regular maintenance.
When it comes to the fantasy navy and war, the former has to use its resources far more strategically and efficiently than the army does. Thus, when it comes to girding for a battle, there is a more intricate detail of planning that goes into it. For battles, admirals are tasked with the planning, organization, and execution and the captains of the ships at their command are charged with implementing the admirals’ orders.
The navy doesn’t just rely on one type of ship to do all the work. It uses more than one, with each one serving a function whether it be transporting troops or materiel or one dedicated to annihilating enemy craft in a short span of time. This is why many fleets have a mixture of vessels. They all work together in perfect harmony.
The type of ships used in battle depends on what the target is. Admirals and captains know which kind are best suited for the mission at hand and the former has the power to change the makeup of the fleets at their command to ensure that they have the exact one they want prior to battle.
So what type of battles do you expect to see when it comes to the fantasy navy and war? It depends on what’s going on in the war at any given moment. Major battles occur at different intervals during said war and have the power to drastically alter the trajectory of victory and defeat for all factions involved. Minor ones happen far more frequently and serve to set up for the next major one or the one that will determine the war’s outcome.
One type that gets seen a decent number of times is the hit-and-run one. Here, one side suddenly strikes the other side, whether it be a docked enemy fleet, a major fortress critical to the war effort, or any other target and inflicts great damage and retreats before the defenders can mount an effective defense. This serves to dampen psychological morale or sow the seeds of confusion, leaving one side uncertain as to where the other side will hit next.
Another kind of battle that draws attention is when a port, harbor, or seaside castle is attacked from the sea. This occurs when one faction is making a bid to takeover an area controlled by its enemy. This can persist for hours, days, weeks, and even months though the longer it drags on, the more the occupying force has to maintain a steady supply line in order to keep up the pressure. All the defending side has to do is withstand the barrage and make it so difficult for the attackers to win that they have no choice but to withdraw.
A type of battle in the fantasy navy and war that doesn’t get a lot of time is the one that mainly focuses on softening up the target before the main event begins. Think of it like an appetizer in that the attacking side dispatches a small force to weaken the target — it could be a port, seaside city, castle and so on — before the main force arrives. This makes it easier for the advancing naval fleet to move in and destroy the target and mop up any remaining stragglers.
Last and not the least is the grand battle, you know the one that engenders the most interest. This one essentially pits the might of two navies against each other in a no-holds-barred contest for supremacy of the sea. The prize: complete and absolute victory with the losing side shattered beyond repair.
There’s no denying that seeing two opposing fleets of ships battling each other is a showstopper but why is that the case? How does this make for terrific storytelling and should you bring it into your own story?
One reason why this takes center stage in the story is because it occurs near or at a key point in the story or the climax. That is where many plot-lines converge into one epic showdown, leading to the resolution of these plot-lines for better or worse. It has the power to drastically shape the remainder of the story afterward.
The lead-up to the battle perfectly sets the tone for what’s about to happen for the fantasy navy and war. The audience sees both sides making a series of decisions in an unmistakable aura of ever growing tension. They see the characters they’ve come to love or loathe making choices that could lead to their death which increases the anxiety they’re feeling.
This makes for riveting storytelling in that it is an epic showdown between two powerful armadas with the fate of the land or world hanging precariously in the balance. The best creators don’t immediately jump right into the action, they take a methodical approach, ever so gently amping it up as time goes on.
No matter which type of battle of the fantasy navy and war that’s occurring within the story, creators deliberately make the outcome ambiguous at the onset and throughout. This is meant to keep the audience invested so that they witness every wild moment from start to end and still be uncertain of which side will prevail. Battles are great opportunities to include a plot twist or two like a character’s sudden demise or the discovery of something that will shift the fortunes of war in one side’s favor.
The fantasy navy and war is rife with a plethora of dramatic moments, also known as battles. In these events, two or more factions vie to prevail in the immediate conflict and hope to parlay that victory into an insurmountable advantage. Sometimes said advantage materializes, other times it doesn’t.
Having not as many resources as the army, the navy has to work smarter, not harder. That means a great deal of planning for an upcoming battle, the logistics involved, what type of ships to use, and however many is needed. All these elements help the navy reach the objectives they’re striving to attain both in battle and war.
While the grand battle is the most popular one, there are other types that involve the fantasy military and war. For example, there’s the classic besieging of a port, harbor, or seaside castle where an enemy fleet blockades and pummels the target into submission. Other kinds include the hit-and-run and softening the target so that it’s in a weakened state when the main force arrives.
The battles within a naval war are all part of a larger story. Creators use this to their advantage to stage action-packed skirmishes that keep their audience constantly guessing as to who will prevail in the clash. The war then culminates in a no-holds-barred grand finale where opposing armadas give it everything they’ve got in order to claim victory and witness the earth-shattering defeat of the other side.
While the navy might not play a major role in the story, it is integral to the world it takes place in. Should you decide that one of your major plot-lines feature war on the mighty sea, be sure to make it feel realistic to both your audience and the characters involved. Making it uncertain as to who will emerge the victor is a superb way to keep your audience invested in the storyline since they’ll want to see the outcome!
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