How likely is.....?

[Discount_Blade]

How likely is it that a realistic medieval-war fiction would gain any traction here? No magic, no fantasy, just typical savagery, butchery, slaughter, massacre, occasional rape, potential genocide, senseless mind-numbing carnage and chaos, betrayal, slavery, and battles and tactics? Long story short, big empire falling apart. Closest example without giving anything away is the fall of the western Roman empire after the great migration with all the barbarian tribes and all that nasty war goodness that accompanied.

No nation or person will be real though several will have historical similarities to real people.

 

[ohko]

How likely is it that a realistic medieval-war fiction would gain any traction here? No magic, no fantasy, just typical savagery, butchery, slaughter, massacre, occasional rape, potential genocide, senseless mind-numbing carnage and chaos, betrayal, slavery, and battles and tactics? Long story short, big empire falling apart. Closest example without giving anything away is the fall of the western Roman empire after the great migration with all the barbarian tribes and all that nasty war goodness that accompanied.

No nation or person will be real though several will have historical similarities to real people.

I think it honestly depends on the story! It's pretty hard to make this kind of prediction, imo -- because there are lots of things that can make a story interesting (or boring)!

 

[YuriDoggo]

Might read a historical fiction novel then. I can't say there won't be an audience, but most of the stuff here seems fairly fantastical.

 

[mrsimple]

Don't rule it out. Right now, I think there is an audience here for specific kinds of reads. In my opinion, most here are influenced by the Novel Updates community. They'll have expectations.

On this, I'd love to read a realistic gothic novel. Gimme!

 

[Jakotheshadows]

Ooh the Scourge of God as your inspiration for a story huh, I'd give it a try for sure. What a terrifying dude, I personally went for the Mongol horde as my inspiration instead, Atilla was just too out there for me to accurately capture the reality of him in any single character.

 

[ohko]

Might read a historical fiction novel then. I can't say there won't be an audience, but most of the stuff here seems fairly fantastical.

Don't rule it out. Right now, I think there is an audience here for specific kinds of reads. In my opinion, most here are influenced by the Novel Updates community. They'll have expectations.

On this, I'd love to read a realistic gothic novel. Gimme!

Hmm, I dunno about what most readers are like, but some people coming from NU do read historical, although much of it is asian-inspired.

There are plenty of more realistic ancient chinese (no wuxia/xiania) novels on NU

...although a lot of these that I've personally read have tilted in the romance genre (or are a transmigration into that setting -- although I've also read a bunch that are not transmigrations). I can also name of boatload of historical manga (asian-themed again).

EDIT: CN novels can get quite bloody so I think you'd have an audience for gore if the story is good

 

[Discount_Blade]

Ooh the Scourge of God as your inspiration for a story huh, I'd give it a try for sure. What a terrifying dude, I personally went for the Mongol horde as my inspiration instead, Atilla was just too out there for me to accurately capture the reality of him in any single character.

Plenty of other famous barbarian warlords during the great migration besides attila. One of my personal favs was Gundobad of the Burgundians. That and Gaiseric if the Vandals. Several Frankish warlords were epic. The Goths were just wow...especially Alaric. First man to sack Rome since during its Republic days. I always found the Frisians interesting just because almost nothing is recorded about them except for their constant pissing contests with the Frank's which got them conquered. Then there is Widikund, pretty interesting Saxon. Charlemagne, or his real name, Charles Martel. Plenty of other Frank's. Then the Lombards were amazing. Theodoric the Great and his rival/predecessor Odoacer. So many awesome examples. My story I'm working on a backlog for is similar to that but not quite. It's more like an established empire collapsing with constant civil war and different warlords declaring independence and vying for the throne or trying to carve out their own nation.

Then their will be other countries having their own issues or just interfering with the man characters lives. I have several MC's, most if then are siblings but not all

 

[Jakotheshadows]

Plenty of other famous barbarian warlords during the great migration besides attila. One of my personal favs was Gundobad of the Burgundians. That and Gaiseric if the Vandals. Several Frankish warlords were epic. The Goths were just wow...especially Alaric. First man to sack Rome since during its Republic days. I always found the Frisians interesting just because almost nothing is recorded about them except for their constant pissing contests with the Frank's which got them conquered. Then there is Widikund, pretty interesting Saxon. Charlemagne, or his real name, Charles Martel. Plenty of other Frank's. Then the Lombards were amazing. Theodoric the Great and his rival/predecessor Odoacer. So many awesome examples. My story I'm working on a backlog for is similar to that but not quite. It's more like an established empire collapsing with constant civil war and different warlords declaring independence and vying for the throne or trying to carve out their own nation.

Then their will be other countries having their own issues or just interfering with the man characters lives. I have several MC's, most if then are siblings but not all

So are you going to focus on the barbarian tribes or the horse nomads more? Or is it going to be a mix of both?

 

[Jakotheshadows]

So are you going to focus on the barbarian tribes or the horse nomads more? Or is it going to be a mix of both?

To clarify will you be distinguishing between the two in your novel or are you going to group them into a warlord category?

 

[Discount_Blade]

So are you going to focus on the barbarian tribes or the horse nomads more? Or is it going to be a mix of both?

Neither. All countries and individuals will be fictional. I'm also going to make the combat more Briton/Saxon based except I'll actually use archers and cavalry, something that was very rare in the conflicts between those two peoples.

 

[Discount_Blade]

Neither. All countries and individuals will be fictional. I'm also going to make the combat more Briton/Saxon based except I'll actually use archers and cavalry, something that was very rare in the conflicts between those two peoples.

Though I suppose combat would resembles closer to barbarian than horse nomad. To be honest, I can describe battles, but writing from a horse archers perspective seems kind of unwieldy to me.

 

[Jakotheshadows]

Neither. All countries and individuals will be fictional. I'm also going to make the combat more Briton/Saxon based except I'll actually use archers and cavalry, something that was very rare in the conflicts between those two peoples.

Fair enough, will it be a third person recollection? Something like a retelling from a survivor? Or first-person accounts from whoever you set up as the central character?

 

[Discount_Blade]

Third-person. Haven't decided if I'll do the multiple generations thing or not thougi

 

[Jakotheshadows]

Third-person. Haven't decided if I'll do the multiple generations thing or not thougi

Holy Moly the CK2 experience in a novel would be nuts tbh

 

[Discount_Blade]

One of my favorite aspects of early medieval warfare, meaning 500AD to 1000AD, was duels between champions. Before the main battle, one guy from an army would step forward to issue a challenge, and someone from other army would accept. The winners side would get a massive morale boost. Was typical of infantryman. Cavalry rarely did this. It happened less and less through history and by the time of the Crusades, 1100AD, it was almost unheard of. Nonexistent by Hundred Years War 1300-1400AD

 

[Discount_Blade]

Holy Moly the CK2 experience in a novel would be nuts tbh

Most I would attempt is third-gen meaning mc's grandkids

 

[Jakotheshadows]

One of my favorite aspects of early medieval warfare, meaning 500AD to 1000AD, was duels between champions. Before the main battle, one guy from an army would step forward to issue a challenge, and someone from other army would accept. The winners side would get a massive morale boost. Was typical of infantryman. Cavalry rarely did this. It happened less and less through history and by the time of the Crusades, 1100AD, it was almost unheard of. Nonexistent by Hundred Years War 1300-1400AD

I mean the Hundred years war so much about the longbow having superior range than the crossbow but less penetrating power, it was a hard time for infantry.

 

[Discount_Blade]

I mean the Hundred years war so much about the longbow having superior range than the crossbow but less penetrating power, it was a hard time for infantry.

Lol was a hard time for Cavakry too!!! Knights didn't start mattering again until the last 15-20 years of the war. Poor guys. All that training and armor just to get sniped. Coincidentally, Joan of Arc and her lift of the Siege of Orleans is when the Frenchies actually started winning again. Had been getting kicked around nearly the entire war before then.

 

[Discount_Blade]

My biggest problem so far is keeping the army sizes realistic for the battle style. I'm having the fighting style very Briton/Saxony but with Mainland/Continental sized forces. Meaning 20 to 30 thousand troops being a massive army but 5 to 10 thousand being sort of typical. At first I wanted to go smaller but it didn't fit with the narrative i was going for.

 

[mrsimple]

My biggest problem so far is keeping the army sizes realistic for the battle style. I'm having the fighting style very Briton/Saxony but with Mainland/Continental sized forces. Meaning 20 to 30 thousand troops being a massive army but 5 to 10 thousand being sort of typical. At first I wanted to go smaller but it didn't fit with the narrative i was going for.

Just take into account the difficulties involved in warfare. So far, the chronicles of the ages is what I'm seeing here. Not like that is a bad thing, but there is a lot more involved than going out and stuffing your fist down some warrior's throat. Like how much food is being harvested and rationed by the populace and how much would be consumed by the defensive garrison. Don't even contemplate the logistics for an expeditionary force unless ya got some rich contributors. It is insane how expensive a moving project can get to move a bunch of people from point A to point B without somebody from X, Y, and Z fucking everything up. Those folks simply need not meet your strategist's expectations to have the whole plan to fall apart before you even set foot outside the front door. Well, lemme say you get your stuff and march on outta here. Then ya'll have to worry about how unfamiliar your people are in this new place. One sneeze and a careless wipe of the nosy could snuff out a whole band of your folks. Lets leave alone reaching the point where the numbers have grown against ya and a big-buff lone champion wants ta grease up and wrestle with ya finest. There are a helluva lot of factors to consider. A big one are political factions working against the whole damn thing being approved to begin with! They have their own agenda that may not have anything to do with your idea of conquest. And then there's the blind spots. Ya never know what could be sailing in off the coast to have their own raiding party crashing in on your fun. Oh, hey, defensive garrison might need a new wall rebuilt... And maybe a few extra men from your expedition to refill the gaps? Also, after the raid, a lot of the men are talking about safer havens. Could we get a pay raise? Please?

That's frustrating and infuriating, a lot to think about, but that's also realistic.